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, they're already spoken for.

Oliver Perez, New York Mets

I hate to endorse Perez, but he has been striking out batters as a pretty high clip lately. He had 14 in 11-and-two-thirds innings (10.8 K/9) with a 1.54 ERA and 1.37 WHIP. He'd struck out seven in his last three starts and has averaged six in his last six. On the year he's 2-3 with 58 Ks (60-1/3 IP), a 5.97 ERA, and a 1.91 WHIP. He's owned in 21 percent of Yahoo!, 5.4 percent of ESPN, and 28 percent of CBSSports leagues.

Bud Norris, Houston Astros

Norris had 13 Ks in 11 innings (10.6 K/9) while picking up a pair of victories. He posted an ERA of 4.91 and a WHIP of 1.73 so it wasn't all roses. On the year he's 3-0 with 22 Ks (21 IP) with a 3.00 ERA, and a 1.38 WHIP. He had 112 Ks in 120 innings for Triple-A Round Rock earlier this year. He's owned in 35 percent of Yahoo!, 3.7 percent of ESPN, and 55 percent of CBSSports leagues.

Dustin Nippert

He got bombed with a 7.50 ERA, but Dustin did manage 10 Ks in six innings (15 K/9) and a 1.33 WHIP. On the year he's 3-1 with 30 Ks (32-1/3 IP), a 3.62 ERA, and a 1.24 WHIP. He's owned in 18 percent of Yahoo!, 1.1 percent of ESPN, and 8 percent of CBSSports leagues.

Junichi Tazawa

Tazawa started off his career with 8 Ks in 6.2 innings (10.8 K/9) with an ERA of 4.005 and a WHIP of 1.50. He had 88 Ks in 98 innings for Double-A Portland earlier this year, and 114 Ks in 113 innings for Nippon Oil last year. He's owned in 8 percent of Yahoo!, 0.6 percent of ESPN, and 17 percent of CBSSports leagues.

Matt Daley, Colorado Rockies

Daley had 7 Ks in 3-1/3 Innings (18.9 K/9) with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.30 WHIP. On the year he's 0-1 with 34 Ks (33-1/3 IP), 8 Holds, a 2.97 ERA, and a 0.96 WHIP. He's owned in 2 percent of Yahoo!, less than 1 percent of ESPN and CBSSports leagues.

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Originally published at LestersLegends.com.