Fantasy Baseball Free Agent Pool: 2010 Strikeout Kings, Vol. 5 (June 24)

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.

R.A. Dickey, New York Mets

Dickey is not traditionally a strikeout pitcher, but he has stepped up his game in his last three starts, picking up 19 in 21 innings (8.1 K/9), going 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. On the year he’s 6-0 with 35 Ks (6.8 K/9), a 2.33 ERA, and a 1.29 WHIP. R.A. is owned in 25.5 percent of ESPN and 38 percent of CBS leagues.

Manny Parra, Milwaukee Brewers

Parra has 23 Ks in his last 17.1 innings (11.9 K/9), going 0-2 with a 3.63 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. On the year he’s 1-5 with 50 Ks (8.7 K/9), a 3.91 ERA, and a 1.57 WHIP. Manny is owned in 0.6 percent of ESPN and 10 percent of CBS leagues.

Bruce Chen, Kansas City Royals

Since joining the Royals’ rotation, Chen has 25 Ks in 27 innings (8.3 K/9), a 2-2 record, a 4.33 ERA, and a 1.37 WHIP. On the year he’s 3-2 with 34 Ks (8.4 K/9), a 3.96 ERA, and a 1.43 WHIP. Bruce is owned in 0.6 percent of ESPN and 3 percent of CBS leagues. 

Jeremy Bonderman, Detroit Tigers (pictured)

Bonderman has 16 Ks in his last 20 innings (7.2 K/9), going 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. On the year he’s 3-5 with 62 Ks (6.9 K/9), a 4.20 ERA, and a 1.24 WHIP. Jeremy is owned in 6.5 percent of ESPN and 44 percent of CBS leagues.

Trevor Cahill, Oakland A’s

Cahill has 22 Ks in his last 25.2 IP (7.7 K/9) while going 2-0 with a 3.51 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. On the year he’s 6-2 with 42 Ks (5.6 K/9), a 3.21 ERA, and a 1.13 WHIP. Trevor is owned in 21.5 percent of ESPN and 61 percent of CBS leagues.

Felipe Paulino, Houston Astros

Paulino has 22 Ks in his last 26.2 innings (7.4 K/9) while going 1-1 with a 4.39 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP. One of those starts he was bombed for 10 runs on 11 hits in 4.2 innings. He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in his other six most recent starts. Felipe is owned in one percent of ESPN and 15 percent of CBS leagues.

Justin Masterson, Cleveland Indians

Masterson has 15 Ks in his last 22 innings (6.1 K/9) while going 1-1 with a 3.27 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. On the year he’s 2-6 with 70 Ks (7.7 K/9) with a 4.87 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. Justin is owned in 2.3 percent of ESPN and 38 percent of CBS leagues.

High Strikeout Middle Relievers  (stats over past 15 days)

Justin Miller, LAD: 11 Ks, 6 IP, 4.50 ERA, 1.50 WHIP
Luke Gregerson, SD: Win, 11 Ks, 5.2 IP, 3.18 ERA, 0.88 WHIP
Joaquin Benoit, TB: 10 Ks, 7.1 IP, 1.23 ERA, 0.68 WHIP
Jason Motte, ST: Save, 10 Ks, 5.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.24 WHIP
Jason Berken, BAL: 10 Ks, 9.2 ERA, 0.93 ERA, 0.83 WHIP

Also check out:
- Fantasy Baseball Box Score Breakouts: June 23, 2010
- Fantasy Baseball Streaming Pitcher Option: June 24, 2010