Fantasy Baseball Free Agent Pool: Strikeout Kings

Some reasonably available players to assist you in the Strikeouts category.  Realize that some of these will come with high ERAs & WHIPs because if a Pitcher has low numbers in those categories and a good K total, they’re already spoken for.

Jeff Niemann, Tampa Bay Rays - Niemann’s two-hit Shutout last night helps his cause.  He went 1-1 last week with 13 Ks, a 0.75 ERA, and 0.75 WHIP.  His K/9 ratio was 9.75 and his K/BB ratio was 6.5.  He’s has not been much of a Strikeout Pitcher, as evidenced by the 39 Ks he has in 59-2/3 Innings, but he has averaged 6 Ks/game over his last three starts. 

On the year he’s 5-4 with a 3.77 ERA & 1.37 WHIP.  He’s owned in three percent of Yahoo!, 1.4 percent of ESPN, and 19 percent of CBS leagues.

Clayton Richard, Chicago White Sox - Clayton picked up 19 Ks in his last three starts going 2-1 with a 3.44 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP.  His K/9 ratio was 9.33 and his K/BB ratio was 2.38.  On the year he’s 2-1 with 34 Ks, a 3.97 ERA, and 1.50 WHIP.  He’s owned in six percent of Yahoo!, 3.7 percent of ESPN, and 42 percent of CBS leagues.

Josh Outman, Oakland A’s - Outman struck out 11 last week going 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA, and a 1.05 WHIP.  His K/9 ratio was 7.43 and his K/BB ratio was 2.75.  On the year he’s 3-0 with 42 Ks, a 3.02 ERA, and a 1.19 WHIP.  He’s owned in 17 percent of Yahoo!, 6.8 percent of ESPN, and 46 percent of CBS leagues.

Randy Wells, Chicago Cubs - Wells has 18 Ks in his last three start with a 2.57 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP.  On the year he’s 0-2 with 27 Ks (in 32 Innings), a 1.69 ERA, and 0.97 WHIP.  He’s owned in 21 percent of Yahoo!, 8.5 percent of ESPN, and 32 percent of CBS leagues.

J.P. Howell, Tampa Bay Rays - Howell had his good stuff working last week picking up 9 Ks in 4-2/3 Innings.  He did not give up a run and had a 0.43 WHIP.  Howell has multiple strikeouts in his last four outings.  On the year he’s 0-2 with 33 Ks (in 26-2/3 Innings), 1 Save, 4 Holds, a 2.36 ERA, and 1.09 WHIP.  He’s owned in 10 percent of Yahoo!, 3.2 percent of ESPN, and 10 percent of CBS leagues.

Originally published at LestersLegends.com.