Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Risers and Fallers in May so Far

We just took a look at some fantasy baseball hitters who were hot and cold over the past week, and now it's time to discuss starting pitchers.

We'll expand our timeframe to the entire month of May. Again, we'll focus on the most notable pitchers when discussing struggling ones.

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Pitchers Trending Up

Innings Pitched

Houston's Framber Valdez leads the MLB with 27 innings pitched over the month so far. He has a 3.00 earned run average and a 2-1 record over four starts. Valdez has 28 punchouts in that span, while allowing nine runs on 22 hits and six walks.

Valdez has lived up to his preseason hype for the most part. His ERA is a touch high, so it's worth seeing if his fantasy owners might sell him a bit low.

San Francisco's Robbie Ray has covered 26 innings in his four starts this month. He's 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA. Ray has allowed four runs on 18 hits and eight walks, while punching out 29.

He's rostered in just about every fantasy league now, and has about as high of a fantasy value as he might have this season with a 6-0 record and 2.67 ERA. Ray is a better trade option in deeper leagues, but really desperate standard league teams might be willing to pay up for Ray.

Seattle's Bryan Woo, Arizona's Merrill Kelly, Kansas City's Kris Bubic, New York Yankees' Max Fried, Baltimore's Dean Kremer and Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes all have between 25-25 2/3 innings pitched so far this month.

Woo is 2-0 with a 2.10 ERA over his 25 2/3 frames. He's allowed six runs on 18 hits and a walk, while punching out 25. Woo is owned in all leagues and has a really high fantasy value right now. I like how his career is trending, so I'd be more interested in keeping him, or trading for him, than I would be sending him away.

Kelly is 2-1 with a 1.78 ERA over his 25 1/3 innings. He's allowed five runs on 19 hits and three walks, while striking out 27. Kelly has been good this season and is trending up now. Owned in 85% of leagues, he's a better deep-league trade asset, but could be swapped for a similar level player in standard leagues.

Bubic has been one of the bigger fantasy surprises this season. He's 3-0 with a 0.36 ERA over his 25 1/3 innings this month. Bubic has given up one run on 18 hits and six walks, while striking out 24 batters. After being an early-season waiver add, I'd more want to keep Bubic than try to sell him high - now might be the best time to do that though.

Fried has been one of the top fantasy arms this season. He's 1-0 with a 1.44 ERA this month over 25 innings. Fried has allowed four runs on 13 hits and six walks, while striking out 27 batters. Fried is a sell-high trade candidate with his stellar season numbers so far, although I'd again be more inclined to keep him on my team.

Kremer is a surprise name here, but he's got a 1-1 record and 3.60 ERA over 25 innings this month. He's allowed 10 runs on 22 hits and seven walks, while striking out 20 batters. Kremer is only owned in 11% of leagues, but maybe his inclusion among the leaders in innings shows he's worthy of more streaming starts moving forward.

Skenes is 0-3 despite having a 2.52 ERA over 25 innings this month (the Pirates are that bad). He's allowed seven runs on 17 hits and 12 walks, while striking out 23. His fantasy outlook is capped by his team, but Skenes is still an elite fantasy arm, and I'd want to roster him, not trade him away.

Best ERAs

Among pitchers with at least 20 innings worked this month, Bubic leads the way with his 0.36 ERA.

Cincinnati's Andrew Abbott is next with a 0.45 ERA over four starts and 20 innings. He's allowed two runs (one earned) on 15 hits and seven walks, while striking out 23. Abbott has been really good this season, and while regression is coming, his 74% own mark is far too low. Add him and help fix that problem.

Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler is third with a 0.90 ERA over 20 innings. He's covered those innings in just three starts, going 3-0 and striking out 23 batters along the way. Wheeler has allowed two runs on 10 hits and three walks. He's one of the top fantasy arms in the game, and is someone to roster instead of sell high because of his strong history of success.

Most Strikeouts

Detroit's Tarik Skubal has 31 strikeouts this month, despite only making three starts so far. He's 1-0 with a 3.26 ERA over 19 1/3 innings, allowing seven runs on 13 hits and a walk. Skubal hasn't been quite to the level of his pitching last year, but he's trending up now. Look to roster him instead of trying to trade him away.

St. Louis' Sonny Gray has 28 strikeouts, which is tied for the third most with Valdez, and after Ray's 29 Ks. Gray is 2-1 with a 4.71 ERA across 21 innings. He's allowed 13 runs (11 earned) on 22 hits and six walks this month. While the overall numbers might not be the best, Gray's strikeout numbers have helped him remain a good fantasy pitcher. He might actually be a buy-low trade option looking at his season-long numbers.

Pitchers Trending Down

Worst ERAs

Among starting pitchers with at least 10 innings worked this month, Arizona's Eduardo Rodriguez and Athletics' Osvaldo Bido are tied for the worst ERA (9.75).

Tampa Bay's Shane Baz is the first notable pitcher with a high ERA on that list. He's 0-3 with a 9.61 ERA over four starts and 19 1/3 innings this month. His own percentage is way down to 59%, and he's looking more like a deep-league option who could be streamed against weaker-hitting teams now.

Cincinnati's Brady Singer has a 9.45 ERA over three starts and 13 1/3 innings. He's 1-1 and has allowed 25 baserunners so far this month. Singer was getting standard league keeper attention before this stretch, and now he's tough to trust in any league - I expect him to bounce back soon.

Some other notable names with bad ERAs so far this month are: Boston's Tanner Houck (9.00 ERA over 14 innings), New York Mets' Tylor Megill (8.76 ERA over 12 1/3 innings), Baltimore's Zach Eflin (8.71 ERA over 10 1/3 innings), Boston's Lucas Giolito (8.16 ERA over 14 1/3 innings), Philadelphia's Aaron Nola (7.98 ERA over 14 2/3 innings), Miami's Sandy Alcantara (7.47 ERA over 15 2/3 innings) and Max Meyer (7.16 ERA over 16 1/3 innings) and Detroit's Jack Flaherty (6.91 ERA over 14 1/3 innings).

Highest WHIPs

A lot of the guys we already mentioned are among the pitchers with the worst WHIPs this month.

Washington's MacKenzie Gore has a 1.83 WHIP over 15 1/3 innings this month. He was a star early in the season, but is starting to trend downward. His own percentage is still near 100, for now. It might be time to sell high.

Boston's Brayan Bello has a 1.82 WHIP this month over 20 1/3 innings. He's a standard league streaming option, but is tough to trust looking at his recent results.