One week is in the books and we’ve all either panicked or felt much better about our fantasy baseball teams.
There’s no sense in even thinking about week 1, though, since everyone is just getting accustomed to being back on the job. I don’t start worrying about fantasy production until at least the end of April, and even then it might be too early.
But it’s never too early to get two starts from a pitcher.
Here’s two pitchers who can offer value with two starts this week.
Jared Eickhoff, Philadelphia Phillies
I like Eickhoff. He’s still young so there’s room for improvement, but so far in his career, he’s shown the ability to be a trusted fantasy baseball starter at times.
In his first full season, he tallied a 3.65 ERA in 33 games last year, striking out 7.6 batters per nine innings. Those are decent numbers for a player who is on more than half of ESPN’s fantasy leagues’ waiver wires.
Even in his first start this season, he was solid, despite the loss. He struck out six batters and gave up two earned runs over 6 2/3 innings. This week he faces the New York Mets and Washington Nationals.
He’s not an option every week, but I’d take a chance on his stuff this week.
Brandon Finnegan, Cincinnati Reds
Finnegan is likely to stab you in the back as a fantasy owner, but he’s OK in spots where he’s not a weekly option.
Finnegan will get starts this week against Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, two teams that don’t generally light up the scoreboard.
And Finnegan has enough stuff to look dominant. In his first outing, he shut out the Phillies in seven innings, allowing only one hit and striking out nine batters. Finnegan is more than capable of being a top-flight starter at times, with his ability to register strikeouts. The only issue is that he blows up at times, which can completely derail your week.
But I like him in these matchups. And who knows? Maybe Finnegan is going to take that stuff and be dominant more times than not this season.
