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The MLB All-Star Break is over and depending on your Fantasy Baseball league schedule you either began Week 15 on Friday or will start on Monday. Either way we've got you covered....so let's get after it!
Week 15 Interleague Matchups
Pittsburgh Pirates at Kansas City Royals (3 games, Monday-Wednesday)
Tampa Bay Rays at Philadelphia Phillies (3 games, Monday-Wednesday)
Texas Rangers at Colorado Rockies (3 games, Monday-Wednesday)
St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago White Sox (2 games, Tuesday-Wednesday)
Indians at Milwaukee Brewers (2 games, Tuesday-Wednesday)
Oakland Athletics at San Francisco Giants (3 games, Friday-Sunday)
Royals at Cardinals (1 game, Thursday)
Week 15 Fantasy Baseball Bullpen Report
Jim Johnson is now closing games for the Atlanta Braves. Johnson is taking over for Jason Grilli who is out for the rest of the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Johnson has 2 saves and an ERA of 0.00, WHIP of 0.86 with 3 strikeouts and 1 walk in 7 innings pitched. Johnson is currently owned in 47 percent of Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Roberto Osuna is still closing games for the Toronto Blue Jays. Over the last 14 days Osuna is 0-1 with 2 saves. He's struck out 3, walked none and allowed 1 bomb for a 3.58 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in 5.3 innings pitched. Osuna is currently owned in roughly 32 percent of Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Two Start Pitchers for Week 15 Monday-Sunday
Jacob deGrom (Tue-Sun), Matt Harvey (Mon-Sun), Brett Anderson (Mon-Sun), Danny Salazar (Tue-Sun), Taijuan Walker (Tue-Sun), Mat Latos (Mon-Sat), Carlos Rodon (Tue-Sun), Matt Wisler (Mon-Sun), Kendall Graveman (Tue-Sun), Odrisamar Despaigne (Tue-Sun), Wei-Yin Chen (Tue-Sun), Matt Garza (Tue-Sun), Kyle Gibson (Tue-Sun), David Phelps (Tue-Sun), Brandon Beachy (Tue-Sun), Matt Moore (Mon-Sun), Yordano Ventura (Mon-Sun), Rubby De La Rosa (Mon-Sat), J.A. Happ (Mon-Sat), Clayton Richard (Mon-Sun), Tim Hudson (Mon-Sun), Chris Rusin (Mon-Sun), Nathan Eovaldi (Tue-Sun), Jeremy Hellickson (Tue-Sun), Wandy Rodriguez (Mon-Sun) and Michael Lorenzen (Mon-Sun).
Week 15 Waiver Starting Pitching Waiver Wire Options
Each of the probable starting pitchers below is available in over 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball league/
Kyle Gibson Minnesota Twins: Over his past 4 starts Gibson is 4-0 with a 1.30 ERA, 2.75 FIP and xFIP of 2.79 striking out 23, walking 8 with just 1 bomb. Excellent 1.01 WHIP and .253 BABIP over 27.2 innings pitched. Gibson is on the road against the Angels on Tuesday and home against the Yankees on Sunday.
Erasmo Ramirez Tampa Bay Rays: Ramirez has a Friday home start against the Orioles this week. Ramirez is 2-1 over his last 3 starts with a 1.53 ERA to go along with a 4.61 FIP and xFIP of 3.74. Ramirez has also struck out 15, walked 5 and has given up 3 bombs over the last 17.2 innings pitched including a 0.79 WHIP and .143 BABIP. The Orioles are in trouble on Friday.
Marco Estrada Toronto Blue Jays: Estrada has a Saturday road start against the Mariners. Over his past 3 starts Estrada is 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA, 5.36 FIP and xFIP of 6.75. Estrada has 6, strikeouts, 6 walks and 2 bombs over 14 innings pitched. His WHIP of 1.64 is also high and his .283 BABIP over that 3 game period isn't very encouraging either so why start him? Seattle has a 24 percent strikeout rate at home with a wOBA of .276 and wRC+ of 72 which makes them dead last offensively at home.
Wei-Yin Chen Baltimore Orioles: Chen has a Tuesday road start against the Yankees and a Sunday road start against the Tampa Bay Rays. Over his last 4 starts Chen has posted a 2.48 ERA with a 5.08 FIP and xFIP of 3.97. Chen has struck out 19, walked 6 and given up 6 bombs in 29 innings pitched. Excellent 1.05 WHIP and .205 BABIP over that same 29 innings. You might want to consider starting Chen against both the Yankees and Rays this week.
Taylor Jungmann Milwaukee Brewers: Jungmann has a Saturday night start against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Over his last 3 starts Jungmann is 2-0 and has posted a 1.57 ERA with a 3.38 WHIP and 3.97 xFIP. Jungmann has struck out 15, walked 6 and given up 1 bomb over 23 innings pitched. Excellent 0.86 WHIP and extremely low .180 BABIP. Look for a pile of strikeouts on Saturday against a Diamondback team that has a 20 percent home strikeout rate.
Kendall Graveman Oakland Athletics: Graveman has a Tuesday home start against the Blue Jays and a Sunday road start against the Giants. Over his past 3 starts Graveman is 2-1 with a 1.83 ERA and 3.13 FIP with a 4.33 xFIP. Graveman has 10 strikeouts and 7 walks with zero bombs over his last 19.2 innings pitched. Decent 1.22 WHIP and fairly decent .288 BABIP over that same 19.2 inning stretch that was mostly due to a tough outing in Cleveland. I would consider starting Graveman on both Tuesday against the Blue Jays and on Sunday against the Giants.
Week 15 Starting Pitching Streaming Options Monday to Thursday
Each of the probable starters listed below is available in over 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Monday: Brett Anderson Los Angeles Dodgers: Anderson and the Dodgers are in Atlanta to take on the Braves for a Monday evening matchup. Over his past 4 starts Anderson is 2-1 and has posted a very good 2.77 ERA and good 3.35 FIP and even better 2.65 xFIP. Average 1.19 WHIP and his BABIP with 25 strikeouts, 5 walks and 3 bombs over 26 innings pitched. The Braves have a 22 percent strikeout ratio at home to go along with a wOBA of .308 and wRC+ of 94. This could be a good night to stream Anderson.
Tuesday: Nathan Karns Tampa Bay Rays: Karns and the Rays are in Philadelphia for a Tuesday night game with the Phillies. Over his last 3 starts Karns is 0-2 with a 5.21 ERA, 2.92 FIP and xFIP of 3.16. Over his last 19 innings pitched Karns has 22 strikeouts, 4 walks and 2 bombs to go along with a 1.42 WHIP and .389 BABIP. The Phillies have a 22 percent strikeout rate at home with a wOBA of .297 and wRC+ of 84. This one is all about the strikeouts and Karns could wind up with double digit strikeouts on Tuesday.
Wednesday: Robbie Ray Arizona Diamondbacks: Ray and the Diamondbacks are at home against the Miami Marlins for a Wednesday evening contest. Over his past 3 starts Ray has a 1-2 record with a 2.75 ERA, 2.01 FIP and 4.20 xFIP . Ray has 15 strikeouts, 3 walks and zero bombs over 19.2 innings pitched. Great 0.97 WHIP and .267 BABIP. The Marlins strike out 26 percent of the time on the road with a wOBA of .298 and wRC+ of 86. Ray should be good in all scoring categories against the Marlins on Wednesday night.
Thursday: Drew Hutchison Toronto Blue Jays: Hutchison and the Jays are in Oakland for a Thursday afternoon game with the A's. Over his past 3 starts Hutchison is 1-1 with a 5.28 ERA, 2.29 FIP and xFIP of 3.57. Hutchison has 18 strikeouts, 7 walks and zero bombs with a 1.83 WHIP and .467 BABIP over 15.1 innings pitched. He'll face an A's team with a 14 percent strikeout rate to go with a wOBA of .338 and wRC+ of 120 at home. Hutchison should be a good source on Thursday for strikeouts and maybe a win.
Week 15 Position Player Waiver Wire Suggestions
Each of the players below is available in over 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
John Jaso C Tampa Bay Rays: Over the past 7 days Jaso has slashed a .409/.481/.636/1.117 line with 1 bomb, 3 RBI and 4 runs scored. Big .227 ISO, .444 BABIP, .469 wOBA and wRC+ of 214. Obviously the sample size is small but Jaso is hot and widely available this week.
C.J. Cron 1B Los Angeles Angels: Over the last 7 days Cron has slashed a .600/.619/1.000/1.619 line with 2 bombs, 4 RBI and 4 runs scored. Huge .400 ISO and .625 BABIP with a .690 wOBA and 368 wRC+. As long as the Angels are using the DH and at least this week they will Cron is good to go.
Rougned Odor 2B Texas Rangers: Over the past 7 days Odor has slashed a .320/.357/.560/.917 line with 1 bomb, 5 RBI, 5 runs scored. Nice .238 ISO and not so nice .294 BABIP with a .360 wOBA and wRC+ of 127. He's going to be the Rangers everyday second baseman and should be consistent and also probably get you a couple of stolen bases a week.
Erik Aybar SS Los Angeles Angels: Over the last 7 days Aybar has posted a .357/.345/.429/.774 line with 1 RBI and 4 runs scored. Terrible 0.97 ISO and very good .385 BABIP with a .331 wOBA and wRC+ of 117. Like Odor he's the everyday Angels shortstop and he'll be a decent option and maybe get you a couple of stolen bases also.
Brock Holt 2B 3B OF Boston Red Sox: Over the past 7 days Holt has slashed a .250/.323/.250/.473 line with 1 RBI and 2 runs scored. Awful 0.000 ISO and good .353 BABIP with a wOBA of .257 and wRC+ of 56. It was a tough week but the triple eligible Holt is going to rebound and you will be happy.
Odubel Herrera SS OF Philadelphia Phillies: Over the past 7 days Herrera has posted a .333/.375/.600/.975 line with 1 bomb, 2 RBI, 1 run scored and 1 stolen base. Excellent .253 ISO and .538 BABIP to go along with a wOBA of .444 and wRC+ of 188. Herrera is hot and being duel eligible and playing every day is a good thing.
Good luck this week Fantasy Baseball owner!
