There’s no better time than now to pick up rookie Junior Guerra in fantasy baseball.
I’ve been on a Milwaukee Brewers kick lately, and I’m continuing that trend with this week’s best two-start pitcher prediction. The Brewers have quietly gone 5-5 in their last 10 games and are .500 at home, just where Guerra will start this week before traveling to Philadelphia, which has lost six of its last eight games.
So why another Brewers pitcher? Guerra is 3-0 in five starts, has 17 strikeouts in his last two outings and owns a 1.13 WHIP to go along with a 3.30 ERA. He’s a 31-year-old rookie and has been well-traveled in his career, starting out in the Minors in 2006. Through his time in the Minors and in other leagues, he’s shown a keen ability to register strikeouts, with an 8.5 strikeout-per-nine-inning average in his career.
He’s still getting the hang of the starter role as he managed just 97 starts in 233 career appearances. He’s adjusted well so far and that should continue with two starts this week.
He squares off against St. Louis’ Carlos Martinez on Monday, and then returns to the bump later in the week against Philadelphia. Martinez is on a five-game losing streak and hasn’t made it out of the fifth inning in his last four starts. A win shouldn’t be out of the questions for Guerra against the Cardinals, especially since St. Louis, despite scoring a good amount of runs this month, still is only batting .253 as a team in May.
The Phillies, meanwhile, haven’t been able to find much offense this month, scoring 77 runs in the entire month, second-worst in Major League Baseball.
I’ve been all over the Brewers of late for some decent starting opportunities. Guerra has enough in the tank this week to give fantasy baseball owners two quality starts.
