With just a month left in the fantasy season, some managers are struggling with their ratios (WHIP and ERA) but could move up in strikeouts and Wins. Today, I'm going to focus on the available pitchers who have recently been striking out the most batters.
Using second-half stats (min 30 IP), I found the starters rostered in fewer than 90 percent of leagues in the NFBC's Rotowire Online Championship. Then I ranked them by strikeouts per game. Here are the pitchers:
| Name | G | K/G | K/9 | Roster% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacob Lopez | 7 | 6.7 | 10.9 | 77% |
| Matthew Liberatore | 7 | 6.3 | 11.2 | 65% |
| Gage Jump | 8 | 6.1 | 11.1 | 67% |
| Connor Prielipp | 6 | 5.8 | 9.8 | 24% |
| Kyle Leahy | 7 | 5.7 | 9.7 | 83% |
| Shane Drohan | 7 | 5.3 | 9.4 | 59% |
| Kumar Rocker | 7 | 5.3 | 9.1 | 50% |
| Patrick Sandoval | 7 | 5.1 | 9.2 | 16% |
| Grayson Rodriguez | 8 | 5.1 | 9.1 | 39% |
| Robert Gasser | 7 | 5.0 | 8.8 | 45% |
| Dean Kremer | 7 | 4.9 | 8.3 | 52% |
| Zebby Matthews | 7 | 4.9 | 8.3 | 44% |
| David Peterson | 7 | 4.7 | 8.3 | 31% |
| J.T. Ginn | 6 | 4.7 | 7.1 | 80% |
| Anthony Kay | 8 | 4.6 | 7.8 | 35% |
| Bryce Elder | 7 | 4.6 | 7.0 | 77% |
| Brandon Young | 7 | 4.6 | 7.4 | 77% |
| Jack Perkins | 7 | 4.6 | 8.8 | 5% |
| Brady Singer | 8 | 4.5 | 6.8 | 42% |
| Tyler Phillips | 7 | 4.3 | 8.9 | 2% |
And here are my thoughts on a few of them.
Matthew Liberatore: Liberatore has taken a major step forward in the second half, increasing his K-BB% from 13 percent to 23 percent, the 16th-best mark of the second half. He's probably scaring away
With just a month left in the fantasy season, some managers are struggling with their ratios (WHIP and ERA) but could move up in strikeouts and Wins. Today, I'm going to focus on the available pitchers who have recently been striking out the most batters.
Using second-half stats (min 30 IP), I found the starters rostered in fewer than 90 percent of leagues in the NFBC's Rotowire Online Championship. Then I ranked them by strikeouts per game. Here are the pitchers:
| Name | G | K/G | K/9 | Roster% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacob Lopez | 7 | 6.7 | 10.9 | 77% |
| Matthew Liberatore | 7 | 6.3 | 11.2 | 65% |
| Gage Jump | 8 | 6.1 | 11.1 | 67% |
| Connor Prielipp | 6 | 5.8 | 9.8 | 24% |
| Kyle Leahy | 7 | 5.7 | 9.7 | 83% |
| Shane Drohan | 7 | 5.3 | 9.4 | 59% |
| Kumar Rocker | 7 | 5.3 | 9.1 | 50% |
| Patrick Sandoval | 7 | 5.1 | 9.2 | 16% |
| Grayson Rodriguez | 8 | 5.1 | 9.1 | 39% |
| Robert Gasser | 7 | 5.0 | 8.8 | 45% |
| Dean Kremer | 7 | 4.9 | 8.3 | 52% |
| Zebby Matthews | 7 | 4.9 | 8.3 | 44% |
| David Peterson | 7 | 4.7 | 8.3 | 31% |
| J.T. Ginn | 6 | 4.7 | 7.1 | 80% |
| Anthony Kay | 8 | 4.6 | 7.8 | 35% |
| Bryce Elder | 7 | 4.6 | 7.0 | 77% |
| Brandon Young | 7 | 4.6 | 7.4 | 77% |
| Jack Perkins | 7 | 4.6 | 8.8 | 5% |
| Brady Singer | 8 | 4.5 | 6.8 | 42% |
| Tyler Phillips | 7 | 4.3 | 8.9 | 2% |
And here are my thoughts on a few of them.
Matthew Liberatore: Liberatore has taken a major step forward in the second half, increasing his K-BB% from 13 percent to 23 percent, the 16th-best mark of the second half. He's probably scaring away some managers with his 6.62 ERA in the second half, however.
Most of the improvement came from attacking the strike zone (48.5 percent zone rate to 51.4 percent). I wish a change in his pitch mix or velocity could better explain the change, but sometimes there isn't a smoking gun.
Right now, he throws six pitches between four and 31 percent of the time. The only ones that have good results are his slider (18 percent swinging strike rate) and curve (12 percent swinging strike rate). His four-seamer is acceptable, with his sinker, cutter and changeup doing very little.
Connor Prielipp: The more I dive into Prielipp, the more I see the chance for major improvement. His rostership rate is so low because of his second-half 6.68 ERA, which comes with a 57 percent strand rate and a .341 BABIP. During this stretch, he has a 3.52 xFIP and a 3.62 botERA. Both of those metrics are more predictive of future performance than regular ERA.
He has the arsenal to get by in the majors with two useful fastballs and two secondaries with a 14 percent swinging strike rate. He needs to drop his changeup (11 percent usage, nine percent swinging strike rate) and focus on the other four pitches.
Part of his struggles might be related to the team's bottom-five defense, as he has a 47 percent groundball rate.
Kumar Rocker: Since the middle of June, Rocker's strikeouts jumped from 7.1 K/9 to 9.6 K/9, with the only noticeable change being him dropping his changeup.
As with many of the guys featured, his rostership lags because of his walks (3.6 BB/9), leading to a 4.41 ERA and 1.40 WHIP.
Patrick Sandoval: Sandoval is a strikeout play and nothing else. He averages five innings per start with a 9.3 K/9. The problem is the walks. His 4.1 BB/9 inflates his ERA to 4.54 and his WHIP to 1.76. The strikeouts are nice, but ratio damage will be coming.
Grayson Rodriguez: After a horrible first half of the season (7.55 ERA, 1.74 WHIP), Rodriguez became streamable in the second half, with his K-BB% improving from six percent to 15 percent, which includes a couple of blowups right after the All-Star break. Looking at his last six starts, he has a 3.03 ERA (3.61 xFIP) and 1.19 WHIP.
He improved his approach by attacking hitters early, with his first pitch strike rate jumping from 54 percent to 67 percent. That's led to more strikeouts and fewer walks. When he gets ahead in the count, he's been productive over his short career.
Zebby Matthews: I should take Matthews more seriously, but he feels like a pitcher a team throws out every six days to suck up innings and rest the bullpen. In the second half, his strikeout rate increased by 1.1 K/9 compared to the first half, with no clear reason for the improvement.
This week is probably the best chance to roster Matthews as he'll make two starts, one at the Athletics and one versus the White Sox.
