Spot Starters for Fantasy Baseball – August 22

Wednesday is a jam-packed day of Major League Baseball with games from afternoon to late at night as is usual on Wednesday and a double-header thrown in to give us a total of 16 games. One of those teams in the double-header actually has two options worth looking at if you find yourself in search of starting pitching help. Here’s the four starters I think are solid options that are owned in less than 50% of ESPN leagues and the results of the picks for the last week at the bottom of the post.

Possible Pickups for 8/22

Hisashi Iwakuma-Sea: (5.1% owned) Iwakuma gets to pitch at Safeco against the visiting Indians. In his last ten appearances he’s only allowed more than three earned runs once and on the season is 4-3 with a 3.79 ERA.  His ERA at home is 2.53 and in August it’s been 2.84. He only pitched against Cleveland once this season in relief allowing one run in four innings. He should be able to have a solid start although Zach McAllister who he faces has also been strong as of late.

Wade LeBlanc-Mia: (1.5%) In the night-cap of the double-header the Marlins send Wade LeBlanc against D-Backs callup Tyler Skaggs. Skaggs will be making his MLB debut against LeBlanc who has been pitching well lately. His last start was by far his weakest. but it happened was at Coors Field which makes it a little bit of an aberration. Prior to that  outing LeBlanc had three starts allowing one run in each while going 15.1 innings walking just three and striking out 11. He’ll try to return to that form as he takes on the Snakes in game two of the double-dip.

Ross Detwiler – Was: (35.8%) Detwiler has been up-and-down a little lately but still has potential to be a solid pickup as the Nats host the Braves. He enters 7-5 with a 1.16 WHIP and a solid 3.25 ERA in his 25 games 19 of which have been starts. He’s 2-1 over his last four starts with three quality starts and a tough one in Arizona where he was physically ill prior to the game. He’s matched up with the red-hot Kris Medlen, but should be able to match him in another low-scoring close game.

Jacob Turner-Mia: (0.2%) Turner was acquired in the Anibal Sanchez/Omar Infante trade from Detroit. He has dominated in Triple-A with a 1.98 ERA. He’ll get the call for game one of the double-header Wednesday as he matches up with NL Rookie of the Year candidate Wade Miley or Arizona. Turner was solid in two of three starts with the Tigers earlier this year although he did get crushed by the Angels in the other resulting in his 8.03 ERA on the season. He should fare much better in the NL in general and against the D-Backs Wednesday afternoon specifically.

Picks from the Past