Bryce Miller is throwing harder than ever and seems to recognize that his fastball is his best weapon again, dominating with 60 percent of them in his recent outing against the White Sox. He may be piggybacking with Luis Castillo rather than starting these games against the Athletics and Nationals, but the innings should be enough to justify the play.
ARI
Arizona
• #19
•
Age: 28
Ryne Nelson has a 2.36 ERA and 0.93 WHIP in his past five starts starts, so he seems to have recovered from a two-start rough patch that included a high-elevation outing in Mexico City. He makes for a fine play against a Mariners lineup that ranks in the bottom third in runs scored.
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MIL
Milwaukee
• #43
•
Age: 24
Logan Henderson has now made 10 starts in the majors, and only one (April 4 this year) has been a miss. He even came through against the Dodgers over the weekend, so there’s nothing to fear about his matchup with the Cardinals.
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ARI
Arizona
• #29
•
Age: 37
Though Merrill Kelly’s strikeouts remain down, he’s taken advantage of some favorable matchups to deliver three straight quality starts. He has a couple more of those matchups this week, with the Giants ranking dead last in runs scored and the Mariners ranking in the bottom third of the league.
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ARI
Arizona
• #57
•
Age: 33
Eduardo Rodriguez’s data set is pretty unimpressive and not befitting of a pitcher with a 2.24 ERA, so my hunch is that he’s just been taking advantage of some extremely favorable matchups recently. The good news is that he has another one of those this week against a Giants lineup that ranks dead last in runs scored.
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KC
Kansas City
• #67
•
Age: 36
Seth Lugo has been hit or miss this year, with more of the misses coming recently, but he has an optimal matchup this week against a Rangers lineup that ranks fourth-to-last in runs scored. When he’s good, he piles on the innings, which makes him an especially attractive play in points leagues.
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CIN
Cincinnati
• #41
•
Age: 26
Andrew Abbott has seemingly righted the ship after a rough start with a 1.29 ERA in his past five, but the walk and strikeout numbers leave something to be desired. He’ll be facing a Mets team, though, that ranks in the bottom third in runs scored and is even worse against lefties.
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CHC
Chi. Cubs
• #32
•
Age: 26
Ben Brown would rank higher if we could trust him to go five innings, which he’s done only once during his transition from the bullpen. In a two-start week, though, the cumulative totals should be good enough for a guy with a 2.09 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. Just understand that a win is unlikely.
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MIN
Minnesota
• #52
•
Age: 26
Zebby Matthews has delivered back-to-back quality starts since rejoining the Twins rotation. He was struggling at Triple-A but was mixing in his secondaries more down there, perhaps as a developmental matter, and has reverted to a more typical pitch selection in the majors.
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TEX
Texas
• #22
•
Age: 26
Jack Leiter has been more miss than hit lately, but he remains a good bat-misser with 10.4 K/9 in May. For the sake of an extra start, you might consider using him this week, particularly since the matchups are pretty favorable.
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