HOT
Roenis Elias
In nine starts this season, Seattle Marines starting pitcher Roenis Alias has allowed one earned run in four times on the mound.
The most earned runs he’s allowed this season is four, and that also happened to be his shortest outing at 5 1/3 innings. He’s turned in six or more innings of work in seven of his nine starts.
Despite all of that, he’s still barely owned in fantasy baseball leagues.
He’s factored in the last five starts, going 3-2, and allowed nine earned runs in those five starts. He’s allowed one earned run in four of his last six starts.
That has helped take his season ERA down to 2.79, with a 1.24 WHIP. Over the last 30 days, he ranks 19th among starting pitchers in Major League Baseball with a 2.29 ERA, the best number for anyone on the Mariners pitching staff.
He’s not striking out batters at clip to put him in the discussion with the best fantasy baseball pitchers, striking out 6.7 batters per nine innings. However, he showed last year in his first year in MLB that he could strike out batters at a decent clip, going for 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings.
He has offered up seven quality starts in nine games this season, making him a smart play going forward for any fantasy baseball owner.
NOT
Fernando Rodney
Closers are hard to come by, so it’s understandable that many fantasy baseball owners are holding on to Seattle Mariners closer Fernando Rodney. However, he’s added no value to fantasy baseball rosters in the month of June, and was recently given time off to work on his mechanics.
During June, Rodney had one blown save, a loss, and two other appearances, where he allowed one earned run, and struck out two batters.
During his last 11 appearances, he has a 9.00 ERA, with five saves and 2.00 WHIP. In that time, he’s had two blown saves.
His ownership is dropping in many fantasy baseball leagues, so he does present a possible coup for struggling fantasy baseball owners with a need for closer. In his current state, Rodney would not be an adequate option at closer, especially considering his season ERA of 7.03.
However, if he can get his mechanics working again, he’s a proven closer, with 133 saves during the last three seasons.
