In his final season in 1966, Sandy Koufax averaged a whopping 24.2 points per start over, wait for it, 41 starts. The season before he averaged 25.9 points per start. To put it simply, those numbers are incredible. However, before his season was cut short last year, Jacob deGrom was averaging 26.2 points. By the way, he is expected to make his 2022 debut this Tuesday. It will be interesting to see how well he pitches. A deGrom-Scherzer one-two punch is going to pack quite the wallop. But I’m not here to talk about the Mets. Sandy Alcantara has been one of the top starting pitchers in points leagues. He has 432 points over 21 starts. That’s an average of 20.5 points per start. Only Shane McClanahan (22.28), Justin Verlander (21.39) and Max Scherzer (20.92) have higher points per start averages.
Here are my rest of season (ROS) estimations for starting pitchers. These estimations are based on the following scoring system:
WIN (+5), LOSS (-5), IP (+3), K (+1), BB (-1), SAVE (+7), BLOWN SAVE (-3), ER (-1), HIT (-1), HBP (-1), WP (-1)
As you can see, I have Alcantara as the top pitcher rest of season, but there are several pitchers nipping at his heels. If deGrom is able to pitch consistently, his estimation jumps up to 226 points, putting him between Corbin Burnes and Gerrit Cole.
Clayton Kershaw is currently the 45th ranked SP based on total points. He’s number 6 if you go by points per start. If he can stay on the mound, The Claw is going to be a pitcher you want on your roster for the home stretch as I am predicting that he will finish at 31 overall based on points. That’s a 14 spot rise.
Brandon Woodruff is another pitcher I’d like to own rest of season. Currently ranked 54th, he has a good shot at jumping up 20 spots to about 34th. That equates to a bunch of fantasy points over the next bunch of weeks.
I’ve been making moves in most of my leagues to acquire Shane Bieber. Especially in keeper leagues.
Ex-Reds pitcher, Luis Castillo, is in line for a nice boost with his move to Seattle. Other pitchers to keep an eye on are Brady Singer, Lucas Giolito, Nathan Eovaldi, Johnny Cueto, Cristian Javier, and perhaps Aaron Ashby. I drafted Ashby in a lot of my leagues and he’s been a disappointment. With that said, he actually looks decent and does have 98 strikeouts in 80.6 innings pitched.
Keep an eye on Freddy Peralta returning from injury.
On the flip side, here are a few pitchers I might be willing to move. Tony Gonsolin, Zac Gallen, Kyle Wright, Jameson Taillon, and Merrill Kelly. I just don’t expect to get the same production out of them rest of season. But that’s just me throwing numbers at the wall and seeing what sticks. Or what doesn’t. Wait, why are my walls so sticky?
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