Ottoneu Starting Pitching Drip: May 15–18

Welcome back to the SP Drip. My goal for this bi-weekly column is to comb through the upcoming schedule each week to find a few under-owned pitchers (less than 50% ownership across Ottoneu) who could be used to help you hit your games started cap in head-to-head leagues or to make sure you’re hitting your innings pitched cap in points leagues. Tuesday’s article will cover the weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and Friday’s article will cover the upcoming week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday). That way, you’ll have time to start your auctions in time to actually drip these pitchers into your lineup.

Upcoming Schedule:

Teams with favorable schedules next week include the Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Giants, Marlins, Nationals, Padres, Phillies, Pirates, and Tigers.

Teams with tougher schedules include the Astros, Braves, Mariners, Mets, Rangers, Reds, Rockies, Twins, and Yankees.

Highlighted matchups:

There are a pair of starters in that short two-game Pirates-Tigers series that make for nice targets. Rich Hill has put together a solid stretch of starts, particularly against some weaker opponents. Michael Lorenzen is a bit more of a risk against a Pittsburgh offense that’s been pretty potent to start the season. However, the Pirates have scuffled a bit over the last two weeks (.305 wOBA) and Comerica Park provides a friendly venue.

Nick Pivetta could also be a risky start, though the Mariners offense has been really struggling recently. He can’t stop allowing home runs, allowing at least one in every start save one (against the Rays of all teams). With a HR/9 over two, he’s been killing his Ottoneu value despite a passable strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Hot Starters:

Dane Dunning has been filling in for the injured Jacob deGrom and has put together two solid starts against the Angels — five scoreless with just two hits allowed — and the Mariners — six innings of two-run ball. His stuff isn’t overpowering, but if he’s hitting his spots with his command, he can be effective. So far, that seems to be what’s driving his success. His next start will be against the Braves which will be a pretty significant challenge. Monitor that start and see how he looks afterward.

Dean Kremer has turned in a pair of impressive starts against some very difficult opposition, holding the Braves to just a single run last week and keeping the Rays off the board in his start this week. Those are the two best offenses in the league and his ability to handle them feels like a pretty significant step forward for him.

Recap: May 8–11

Now that’s more like it. Even with the stinker of a start from Jhony Brito, Dunning, Lorenzen, Hill, and Battenfield carried a huge amount of points this week. The only nit to pick from that quartet of wins was the lack of bulk from Hill despite the great points per IP.