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 and WHIPs because if a pitcher has low numbers in those categories and a good K total, he's already spoken for.

Ricky Nolasco, Florida Marlins

Ricky is beginning to turn it around. He had 12 Ks last week while going 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. His K/9 ratio was 9.0, and his K/BB ratio was 12.0. 

On the year he’s 4-6 with 62 Ks, a 6.42 ERA, and a 1.56 WHIP. He’s owned in 56 percent of Yahoo!, 70 percent of ESPN, and 85 percent of CBS leagues.

Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies

Ubaldo continues to produce. He also had 12 Ks last week, going 1-1 with a 3.29 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. His K/9 ratio was 7.9, and his K/BB ratio was 3.0. 

On the year he’s 6-7 with 81 Ks, a 3.83 ERA, and a 1.36 WHIP. He’s owned in 56 percent of Yahoo!, 43.8 percent of ESPN, and 89 percent of CBS leagues.

Joe Blanton, Philadelphia Phillies

Blanton had a solid game last night, picking up 10 Ks in seven innings while allowing two runs on six hits. On the year he’s 4-4 with 77 Ks, a 5.26 ERA, and a 1.42 WHIP. He’s owned in 11 percent of Yahoo!, 4.9 percent of ESPN, and 57 percent of CBS leagues.

Vin Mazzaro, Oakland A’s

He hasn’t put up huge strikeout numbers but has averaged five per game over his last three starts. 

In five starts he’s 2-2 with 20 Ks, a 2.56 ERA, and a 1.07 WHIP. He’s owned in 22 percent of Yahoo!, 5.5 percent of ESPN, and 43 percent of CBS leagues.

Randy Johnson, San Francisco Giants

The Big Unit has been a nice find for the Giants. Last week he had 11 Ks, a 3.55 ERA, and a 1.11 WHIP. His K/9 ratio was 7.8, and his K/BB ratio was 5.5. 

On the year he’s 7-5 with 75 Ks, a 4.68 ERA, and 1.31 WHIP. He’s owned in 62 percent of Yahoo!, 82.8 percent of ESPN, and 72 percent of CBS leagues.

Brandon Morrow, Seattle Mariners

Morrow is easing into Seattle’s rotation. In his two starts last week he picked up 10 Ks in nine innings with a 5.00 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. His K/BB ratio was 5.0. 

He has 34 Ks in 30.1 innings. He’s owned in 45 percent of Yahoo!, 51.6 percent of ESPN, and 51 percent of CBS leagues.

Hiroki Kuroda, Los Angeles Dodgers

Kuroda looked sharp in his last start, picking up nine Ks in 8.2 innings and allowing two runs on four hits. He did not walk a batter. 

On the year he’s 2-3 with 30 Ks, a 3.44 ERA, and 0.95 WHIP in 36.2 innings. He’s owned in 38 percent of Yahoo!, 79.8 percent of ESPN, and 75 percent of CBS leagues.

Barry Zito, San Francisco Giants

The founder of Strikeouts for Troops did his part in his last start, racking up eight Ks in seven innings (10.3 K/9 ratio) while allowing two runs on two hits. He did walk four batters though. 

On the year he’s 4-7 with 63 Ks, a 4.54 ERA, and a 1.44 WHIP. He’s owned in 10 percent of Yahoo!, 8.1 percent of ESPN, and 41 percent of CBS leagues.

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Originally published at LestersLegends.com.