It's week fourteen of the Fantasy Baseball season and if you are the proud owners of David Wright and Hanley Ramirez you had better be ready for some DL time for both players. Wright was sent back to New York to have an MRI done on his ailing shoulder and shoulder issues have kept Ramirez on the pine. We'll know more regarding both players but please keep your eye open for further reports. The following question came in this week regarding Tommy Milone.
Dear Phil,
I'm a big fan of the A's Tommy Milone and am considering adding him to my 12 team standard Head to Head league. Is he a worthy addition and if not does he have any Fantasy Value anywhere?
Thanks for the question.
I like Milone as well. I especially like him when he's pitching in the friendly confines of the Coliseum where he is 3-0 so far this season. Considering Milone has a 42% fly ball rate his home record makes sense. While 9.6% of those fly balls leave the yard his 2.49 walks per nine innings lets us know those bombs aren't usually the three run variety that can kill an otherwise decent outing. While his strikeout rate of 5.62 over nine innings won't raise too many eyebrows it isn't that bad either. All in all Milone is probably under appreciated and many just pass on him and look to other bigger names. (Stats)
I probably wouldn't add him on a 12 team league such as yours but there are a couple other options for you to consider. The first one would be to use him as a streamer on the nights he pitches at home or on the road in bigger ballparks like Camden Yards or Safeco Park and the second one would be in a daily Fantasy league with multiple starting pitchers. He usually is right around $10,000 over at DraftStreet and if he's pitching at home that's a great value pickup for sure.
Here are three players I'm looking at this week from the waiver wire for week fourteen.
Joe Smith RP Angels: Even though the Angels traded away Ernesto Frieri for Jason Grilli Smith, at least for now is the closer. How long this lasts is anyone's guess but if saves are what you need this week maybe Smith is your man. (Stats)
Ian Kennedy SP Arizona: If strikeouts are what you need Ian Kennedy might be your man. Kennedy has amassed 111 strikeouts and 27 walks in 103.1 innings of work. He's struggled a bit during the month of June but he's pitching at home on Tuesday against Cincinnati and would make a nice streaming candidate or even a permanent roster addition. (Stats)
Jason Vargas SP Royals: Vargas has been my steady main streamer go to guy this season and rarely disappoints me. He's not a big strikeout guy (5.89 per 9 innings) but his walk rate of 2.12 and his ability to go deep into ballgames makes him a great streamer candidate or even a deeper standard league option. He's up against Minnesota on Wednesday so maybe he can be an option for you this week. (Stats)
On this week's Fantasy Baseball Weekly Eric Johnson and I talk streaming strategy, closer's on the hot seat and suggest some sleepers and waiver wire options for week 14. I'll leave the player below or you can download the 30 minute show here.
Good luck this week Fantasy Baseball Owner!