Shane Smith and David Peterson Among Fantasy Baseball Pitchers Trending Up in June
Looking at pitching stats from the start of June to see what fantasy pitchers are trending up.
We discussed fantasy baseball hitters trending up and down over the past week on Tuesday and are now going to look at some fantasy pitchers moving up and down.
We'll start with pitchers trending up. Check back later for the story on pitchers trending down.
We will use stats from the start of June.
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Best ERAs
Among qualified pitchers, Arizona's Merrill Kelly and San Diego's Stephen Kolek are the only ones who haven't allowed an earned run.
Kelly has made two starts, going 1-0 and covering 13 innings. He's allowed five hits and three walks, while striking out 15 batters. Kelly is up to 94% rostered and is trending up. The D-Backs need him to be great after they lost Corbin Burnes for the season.
Kolek is rostered in 23% of leagues - his own percentage has risen and fallen as he makes starts. He's covered 11 1/3 innings over two starts this month. Kolek has allowed six hits and six walks, while striking out just five batters.
Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes is at a 0.57 earned run average in two June starts so far. He's somehow 0-1 though. Skenes has allowed a run on six hits and three walks over 13 innings, while striking out 12 batters. Skenes is one of the best fantasy pitchers in the game, and would be an even better fantasy asset if he had a decent offense behind him.
Toronto's Jose Berrios has a 0.71 ERA over two June starts. He's covered 12 2/3 innings, allowing a run on eight hits and four walks, while striking out six batters. Berrios is up to 86% rostered.
Detroit's Jack Flaherty has a 2-0 record and 0.75 ERA over two June starts. He's allowed a run on six hits and four walks over 12 innings, while punching out 13. Flaherty is rostered in all leagues and starting to look like the elite fantasy arm he can be for stretches.
Athletics' Mitch Spence is a surprise name on the ERA leaderboard. He's 1-0 with a 0.75 ERA over 12 innings this month. Spence has allowed a run on seven hits and a walk, while striking out 10 batters. He's owned in just 4% of leagues right now, and is someone to keep an eye on after his hot start to the month.
Houston's Hunter Brown and Chicago White Sox' Shane Smith are both at 0.79 ERAs this month.
Brown is 1-0 with 14 strikeouts over 11 1/3 innings. He's allowed a run on five hits and nine walks. Brown has emerged as one of the top fantasy arms in the game, and is showing no signs of slowing down.
Smith is 2-0 and has 10 punchouts over his 11 1/3 innings. He's allowed a run on 10 hits and four walks. Smith has been a good fantasy pitcher this season, with his dreadful team holding him back from being owned in more leagues - he's at 56% rostered.
Most Strikeouts
Atlanta's Chris Sale and Boston's Garrett Crochet each have 21 strikeouts this month, and they've each only made two starts.
Sale is 1-1 with a 1.38 ERA over 13 innings. He's allowed two runs on eight hits and six walks. Sale has settled in after a slow start to the season (by his standards) and is looking like a top-end fantasy arm of late.
Crochet is 2-0 this month but has a 4.15 ERA over his 13 innings. He's given up six runs on 11 hits and three walks. His big strikeout numbers help his fantasy outlook despite allowing a few runs, showing just how great of a fantasy pitcher Crochet is.
San Diego's Dylan Cease has 18 punchouts over two starts this month. He's 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA over 12 innings. Cease has allowed three runs on eight hits and eight walks. Cease has been good outside one start this season, and is maybe coming off his best start of the season, so his fantasy outlook is trending up.
San Francisco's Logan Webb, Seattle's George Kirby and Tampa Bay's Ryan Pepiot are all at 17 punchouts over two starts.
Webb doesn't have a win or loss and has covered 14 innings. He's allowed two runs on 12 hits and no walks. Webb is one of the better fantasy arms in the game, but I feel he's still undervalued, so maybe you could land him in a trade for a respectable price.
Kirby has a win and loss and 12 innings covered over his two starts. He's allowed four runs on 10 hits and a walk. Kirby's first two starts this season were rough, but he's looked like his more dominant self the last two times out, so maybe he's about to take off.
Pepiot is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA over 11 2/3 innings this month. He's allowed five runs on eight hits and four walks. Pepiot is down to 81% rostered, but I'm not a fan of dropping him because of these big strikeout totals.
Innings Pitched Leaders
Sometimes fantasy pitchers are overlooked with higher ERAs, but they cover enough innings to still have fantasy value.
New York Mets' David Peterson has worked 16 innings so far this month. He's 1-0 and has allowed just three runs on 13 hits and two walks, while striking out 12 batters. Peterson is trending up, but still available in about 20% of leagues.
Cincinnati's Andrew Abbott has logged 15 innings over two starts this month. He's 1-1 and has 11 strikeouts along the way. Abbott has allowed five runs on 10 hits and two walks. He's up to 93% owned after a complete game shutout of the Guardians in his last start.
Atlanta's Spencer Schwellenbach worked a complete game on Wednesday against the Brewers. He's logged 15 innings in June, earning a win and striking out 13 along the way. Schwellenbach has allowed six runs (five earned) on 11 hits and two walks. Depending on your opinion on the Atlanta starter, now is either time to enjoy his success or sell him high in a trade.
Toronto's Chris Bassitt and Minnesota's Chris Paddack each have worked 14 innings across two starts.
Bassitt is 2-0 and has allowed five runs on 11 hits and four walks, while striking out nine. He's at 87% rostered. Bassitt has allowed four or more runs in three of his past four outings, otherwise he'd probably be at 100% owned.
Paddack hasn't gotten a win or loss this month, but has allowed just three runs on eight hits and three walks, while punching out 12. He's rostered in 44% of leagues, and it should be much higher than that looking at his recent starts - and really every start since the first one where he allowed nine runs.
Best Relievers
Boston's Aroldis Chapman, Toronto's Jeff Hoffman and San Francisco's Camilo Doval all have four saves this month.
Chapman hasn't allowed an earned run over 5 1/3 innings. He allowed an unearned run on a hit and walk, while also striking out eight batters this month. Chapman is trending up and is now rostered in 81% of leagues.
Hoffman is at 93% rostered. He's allowed two runs on three hits and a walk over 4 2/3 innings this month. Hoffman also has a win and seven strikeouts. He might be a little shaky when closing out games, but he's in firm control of the closer role for the Blue Jays.
Doval is up to 70% rostered after his hot start to June. He's allowed three runs on 11 hits and six walks, but that's also over 7 1/3 innings. Doval has eight punchouts during his time on the mound. He's the new closer in San Fran, and is a good fantasy asset while he holds that role.
