We are at the latter-half point of our Week 2 matchups, so hopefully you have secured a win in your first matchup and are working on another. Or maybe your team started out rough and you dropped the first one, and are looking for redemption Week 2. Or maybe, just maybe, you lost the first matchup and you are realizing there is no way you will come back to win this one either. Whatever the case may be, don’t panic (or celebrate) yet! Especially in H2H leagues that each category counts as a win/loss, a week is never over until it is actually over. The season is a grind, and those that pay the closest attention and don’t give up will usually be victorious at the end.
Last week I went over some hitters to look at that may help fill the void for an injured or under performing player that you no longer want. Starting pitchers are an especially tough breed, whether due to their increased susceptibility to injury or extreme variance in performance. You never want to give up on a pitcher after just a couple starts, but sometimes it is incredibly hard not to with seemingly better options available. Often times you are better off swapping a later round choice you thought would break out for a pitcher that has been seeing a much more favorable start. Especially if you like streaming pitchers to maximize K’s and win opportunities, the waiver wire churns out some solid options to roll with. Here are some starting pitchers to keep an eye on if you are in need of some help…
Sean Manaea – Oakland Athletics (69% owned in ESPN, 76% in Yahoo)
Manaea has seen his ownership spike after his first few starts, but grab him if he is still out there. He has been only 1-2 in his 3 starts this year, but he has posted a 1.74 ERA and 0.77 WHIP through his 20.2 innings. His ERA and WHIP will surely regress to more normal levels, as they are currently buoyed by a .208 BABIP and 100% LOB rate. Even after his numbers come back to Earth, I think we are looking at a pretty decent pitcher. He seems to have taken a step forward this year, and should finish better than his 4.37 ERA and 1.40 WHIP marks from last year. He has held batters to a .194 average, while posting an impressive 16:2 K/BB ratio thus far. The walks are especially encouraging, as his 8% walk rate from last year needs to be improved upon to continue to succeed. He has already let up 3 home runs on a 15% HR/FB rate so homers still seem to be a concern. The positive is that he is also inducing a lot of ground balls (51.8%). If he can get some more run support and bump his K’s up a little, he has the potential to be an impactful H2H pitcher this season. His next start comes Monday 4/16 against the White Sox.
Jake Junis – Kansas City Royals (51.8% owned in ESPN, 68% in Yahoo)
Admittedly, it may be tough getting behind someone pitching for the team that has scored the least amount of runs (29) so far this year. But if people drafted/own Danny Duffy, then you should be able to get behind Jake Junis. The lack of offense hasn’t seemed to hinder Junis, who is 2-0 with a super sustainable ERA of 0.00 and a 0.50 WHIP in his first two starts. He has gone 7 scoreless innings in both of his two starts, with a 9:3 K/BB ratio and incredibly stingy .089 BAA. Junis carried a no-no into the 7th inning his most recent start against the Seattle Mariners, before surrendering a single hit over 7 innings. His .111 BABIP and 100% LOB rate are further indications that regression is to come, but after just a couple starts regression is expected league-wide. He won’t strike out a ton of hitters (19% K rate last year), but his swinging strike rate of 9% hints that they could creep up from last year. Junis has always displayed great command (5.9% BB rate) which should help limit his mistakes in his first full season. Expect his ratios to jump significantly as they have no place to go but up, but he seems poised to put forth a solid year. His next outing (4/14) will prove to be tough as the Angels have scored the most runs in the league so far.
Reynaldo Lopez – Chicago White Sox (29.7% in ESPN, 32% in Yahoo)
After recording 5 quality starts in his 8 games started last year, Lopez seems to be continuing that trend into this season. Though 0-1 in his first two starts, he carries a very nice 0.69 ERA and 0.85 WHIP through 13 innings pitched in his 2 quality starts. Hitters are batting .098 against him and he holds an 11:7 K/BB ratio thus far. He recorded 5 walks his last start against Detroit, something that he will want to limit if he wants to maintain his early season success. He has a 9.4% BB rate over his first 104.2 innings in the MLB, so it is definitely something to monitor. In addition to his electric fast ball (96.6 MPH), he has added a slider to his repertoire which seems to have made a considerable improvement to his game. It looks good and he seems comfortable using it (17.8% of pitches) which will hopefully translate to prolonged success. His 22.9% K rate thus far is a huge jump from last year’s 14.5%, so hopefully it is more of a step forward than a benefit of small sample size. You may be shy of a rebuilding White Sox team backing him, but they are actually in the top half of runs scored and possess some great young talent. His next appearance comes Friday the 13th at Minnesota.
Sean Newcomb – Atlanta Braves (13.2% owned in ESPN, 22% in Yahoo)
Truly saving the best for last! He only appears last since I am going by ownership percentages, but Newk is the real deal. I may be biased, but I say he has the highest ceiling of all these listed and will prove to have the best career. Newcomb is coming off a start in which he held the Colorado Rockies to 5 hits in 6 scoreless innings at Coors Field, adding 9 strike outs and no walks. In case you haven’t heard, Coors is the most hitter-friendly park in the entire universe. Newcomb must not have gotten the memo, as he became just the third player in history to go 6+ innings with no runs allowed, no walks, and 9+ K’s. The most encouraging takeaway is that he did not walk a single batter, which has been the only real thing holding him back from dominance. I am not saying the walks will completely go away (12.2%), but Newcomb has shown that he is able to buckle down and improve his command. The walks and strikeouts will lead to him throwing lots of pitches, but he is a durable pitcher capable of eating innings. He recorded 108 strike outs in 100 innings last year, and could break the 200 K mark if he pitches 200 innings. Last year he posted an impressive 23.7% K rate, and his 11% swinging strike rate shows he has the ability to miss a lot of bats. If he further improves his command, his work ethic and filthy stuff will bring along amazing results for Newk. His next matchup comes Saturday 4/14 against the Cubs in Chicago.
