Tim Lincecum and Jon Lester could finish strong for you in roto leagues

The All Star Break provides time for reflection, and a chance to look at just where your team has gone wrong. Or right, if the case may be.

As all of you fantasy veterans well know, you can never be too comfortable in first place, or too far out in last. Not with more than two months left of the season. That said, now is the time to start looking for those players that can help you gain elusive points in category leagues.

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That is where I come in. I will provide players that can help in each 5×5 category at each position. Some of these guys may be one-category wonders, but if you need that category, is it really such a bad thing?

Most of these guys you will have to trade for. Trades are not a bad thing. They are often the only way you can get your team back into contention.

Would you trade him for

Billy Hamilton

? Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

In one of my leagues for example, someone just traded Carlos Gonzalez for Billy Hamilton. Straight up. He was miles ahead in runs and homers, but near the bottom in steals. So he went out and got the one guy who can net him upwards of five points in that category for the rest of the season. Some in the league complained, but I thought it was brilliant. There is no one else that can give him what he needs like Hamilton.

This piece will focus on starting pitchers. The catchers are here. The first basemen are here. The second basemen are here. The shortstops are here. The third basemen are here. The outfielders are here.

For once, I will not be offering my opinions here. You can tell by the standings what your team needs to stay in contention.

For the outfield, we will do things a little differently. There are so many more players, so I will include the top ten in each category.

The numbers should speak for themselves.

The Price is right for K’s. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Strikeouts:

David Price, 173

Felix Hernandez, 163

Stephen Strasburg, 158

Yu Darvish, 154

Corey Kluber, 152

Max Scherzer, 150

Johnny Cueto, 141

Ian Kennedy, 137

Madison Bumgarner, 135

Masahiro Tanaka, 135

Jon Lester, 134

Garrett Richards, 134

Sleeper: Clayton Kershaw. Calling him a sleeper anywhere seems flat out dumb, but his K rate is one of the best. If he hadn’t missed a month of the season, he would be right up there. I’m guessing that he finishes the season in the top ten.

Sometimes all you need to pad your win totals is to pitch well for a good team like Porcello does. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Wins:

Adam Wainwright, 12

Rick Porcello, 12

Alfredo Simon, 12

Masahiro Tanaka, 12

Zack Greinke, 11

Scott Kazmir, 11

Felix Hernandez, 11

Max Scherzer, 11

Clayton Kershaw, 11

Madison Bumgarner, 11

Garrett Richards, 11

Lance Lynn, 11

Sleeper: Tim Lincecum. Don’t look now, but Lincecum has four wins and a 1.24 ERA since June 20th.

It’s Kershaw vs. Wainwright for the NL Cy Young this year. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

ERA:

Clayton Kershaw, 1.78

Adam Wainwright, 1.83

Jake Arrieta, 1.95

Felix Hernandez, 2.02

Chris Sale, 2.08

Johnny Cueto, 2.13

Josh Beckett, 2.26

Scott Kazmir, 2.38

Garrett Richards, 2.47

Masahiro Tanaka, 2.51

Sleeper: Jon Lester. Lester has a 0.88 ERA over his last seven starts. Ride him while he’s still hot!

Sale can really help you WHIP. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

WHIP:

Clayton Kershaw, 0.83

Chris Sale, 0.84

Johnny Cueto, 0.89

Felix Hernandez, 0.90

Adam Wainwright, 0.91

Scott Kazmir, 0.98

Hisashi Iwakuma, 0.99

Masahiro Tanaka, 1.01

Jake Arrieta, 1.01

Garrett Richards, 1.03

Josh Beckett, 1.03

Sleeper: Chris Young. He has a 0.78 ERA over the last month.

What we know here is that anyone who owns Kershaw or Felix won’t give him up easily. Guys like Kazmir and Richards have been great finds so far, and there may still be some owners that aren’t fully on board. If you need pitching help, target the non-household names on this list, and they should come at a discount.

The Golden Rule for fantasy baseball is not to overpay for pitching, especially later in the season. Realistically, all of the names on this list have a maximum of 13 starts left. That is roughly a third of the season. Take that into consideration when peddling position players for pitching.

Next we will look at the final installment, the relievers!

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