BY SOME GUY NAMED STEVE
Folks, it’s once again that time of the week where I give you three players to pick up that will help your teams immediately! As a refresher, all of the players I mention will be owned in less than 50% of ESPN leagues. For this week, we have three young pitchers who all have a very high ceiling!
Logan Gilbert: Seattle Mariners SP (25.6% ESPN Ownership)
The first player on this week’s list is one of the top pitching prospects for the Seattle Mariners. Logan Gilbert made his debut last night vs. the Cleveland Indians and lasted four innings, allowed four runs on five hits, struck out five, and walked none while throwing 71 pitches.
Gilbert is currently the 2nd ranked pitching prospect in the Seattle Mariners organization and should have a regular spot in the Mariners rotation because of all the injuries. Gilbert features a high 90s fastball with a hard-cutting slider as well as a curveball and change-up. He is 24 years old and has yet to pitch in the MLB but dominated during his only season in the minors. In 2019 Gilbert went 10-5 with a 2.13 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and 165 strikeouts over 135 innings across high A and double A level baseball. A few reasons why I love Gilbert’s potential is he has always thrown strikes, and his pitches create a lot of swings and misses. Gilbert has the potential to be very good for fantasy because he will limit walks and accumulate a lot of strikeouts. Gilbert is available in over 70% of all ESPN leagues, so I would highly recommend picking him up. Rookie pitchers can be risky, but Gilbert has a high enough ceiling where I think picking him up is worth the risk.
Cole Irvin: Oakland Athletics SP/RP (39.5% ESPN Ownership)
The next player on today’s list is a starting pitcher who has been very effective but has flown under the radar all season long. Cole Irvin is entering his third year in the MLB, and while he struggled during his first seasons with Philadelphia, it appears Irvin has found new life pitching for Oakland. So far this season, Irvin is 3-4 with a 3.29 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and a 37:6 strikeouts to walk ratio over 41 innings. Irvin has become an important piece of the Athletics rotation and is pitching especially well as of late. Over his last five starts, Irvin has had four quality starts and struck out 32 batters while walking just four. He has had a 3.00 ERA or lower in 4 of 5 starts and has had a WHIP of 1.00 or lower in 3 of 5. Irvin is projected to start against the Twins on Saturday and could definitely help your rosters if you need some pitching stats for the weekend.
Adbert Alzolay: Chicago Cubs SP (15.7% ESPN Ownership)
The final player on today’s list is a pitcher who I think will improve greatly as the season goes on. Adbert Alzolay is a 26-year old pitcher for the Chicago Cubs and has about as high of a ceiling as any pitcher you will find in free agency currently. Adbert Alzolay is currently 1-3 on the year with a 4.50 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP with 36 strikeouts over 32 innings. Don’t be scared off by the high ERA because Alzolay has been pitching much better than it suggests. Alzolay has a strikeout rate of 29.3% and a walk rate of 5.7% that are both much better than the MLB average of 23.2% and 8.7%. Azolay has yet to give up more than 5 hits in any of his starts this season and has had under a 1.00 WHIP in his last 5 starts. The downfall to Alzolay so far this season is that he has allowed 6 home runs in six starts and, as a result, has yet to have a start where he’s allowed less than 2 runs. I expect Alzolay to improve as the season goes on. He is a very accurate pitcher who gets a ton of swing and misses, and the results should show sooner rather than later. He has a high enough strikeout rate where his value will increase drastically once his ERA lowers. I say get out ahead of the curve and pick up Alzolay this week. He is projected for a two-start week next week against the Nationals and the Cardinals.
Honorable Mentions
- Miguel Rojas: Miami Marlins SS (47.5% ESPN Ownership)
- Harrison Bader: St. Louis Cardinals OF (17.8% ESPN Ownership)
- Nick Pivetta: Boston Red Sox SP (47.2% ESPN Ownership)
- Kendall Graveman: Seattle Mariners RP (42.7% ESPN Ownership)
In case you missed it check out last week’s TWS Fantasy Baseball – Episode 5
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