James Shields’s ERA is scary.
The 4.68 ERA isn’t something most fantasy owners want on their roster. But it doesn’t tell the whole story of Shields.
The recent White Sox pickup just rattled off his sixth straight quality start during a shutout victory against the Chicago Cubs. And with a start Sunday at Minnesota, there’s no reason to believe that will stop this week.
That’s why Shields, who is owned in 30 percent of leagues on ESPN.com, is a solid back-end starter this week for your fantasy team.
Big Game James wasn’t quite the big game guy we got to know during his years with Kansas City. He was not very good and that was most evident during a three-game stretch from June 8 to June 18, when he allowed 21 earned runs in only 8.2 innings of work.
But he’s been pretty good since that time. He’s allowed two or fewer runs in each of his last six starts. He can have some problems with walks, so his WHIP isn’t going to be top-tier, but his track record of limiting runs in recent starts should be good enough to get some quality statistics this week for your fantasy team.
It also doesn’t hurt he finishes off the week against Minnesota. He owns a career 3.91 ERA in 19 starts against the Twins in his career, and this year’s version of Minnesota, is one of the worst he’s faced. Since the All-Star break, the Twins have been one of the worst hitting teams in Major League Baseball, notching a .227 batting average. That’s par for the course this season as Minnesota has consistently ranked in the bottom-half of MLB in batting average.
There’s no reason to look at Shields’s season ERA anymore. Grab him now and get a solid start at week’s end.
