We will be discussing several MLB pitchers who have been performing poorly in games over the past 30 days.
We’ve just shown you which pitchers are trending upwards, but now let’s take a look at which pitchers are heading in the opposite direction.
Check your play statistics for the last 30 days.
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Struggling pitcher
Typically the pitcher with the lowest ERA over the past month is the streaming option, but this time it’s a familiar name: the Minnesota Twins’ .
Lopez has made five starts over the past 30 days and is 1-4 with an 8.00 ERA, striking out 24 batters in 27 innings. Lopez has allowed seven home runs and nine walks in his five starts.
Lopez has been a very solid pitcher over the past three or four seasons, but has taken a big step back so far this season. Given Lopez’s impressive resume thus far and his still-solid strikeout numbers, I expect him to do better in the near future. He’s currently a big-name, cheap trade candidate that could simply be kept on the bench until you’re ready to free him up.
The Boston Red Sox player is another big name player with a high ERA recently.
Crawford is 0-4 with a 6.43 ERA in his last five starts, striking out 25 batters in 28 innings pitched, allowing four home runs and nine walks.
Crawford was owned in almost every fantasy league up until a few weeks ago, but now his ownership rate has dropped to 77%. Even after some rough starts, Crawford is posting a career-best ERA of 3.51 this season. He’s probably a legitimate streaming option at this point and should be owned again in almost every league once he gets back on track. So, I’d recommend keeping an eye on him or just keeping him in storage until Crawford can turn things around.
He has a 5.08 ERA in his past six starts for the San Diego Padres, going 1-3 with 41 strikeouts in 33 2/3 innings.
Cease hasn’t been great lately, but he’s still not a bad fantasy option due to his strikeout numbers, and he may have bounced back on Monday, striking out eight batters and allowing just one run over six innings. If you’re interested in trading for Cease, now is the time, as his value is likely at its lowest this season.
Another surprising name on the list, he has a 4.66 ERA in his last five starts, going 0-4 but with 43 strikeouts in 29 innings pitched.
Glasnow has struggled recently, but his fantasy game hasn’t struggled as much due to his high strikeout numbers. Still, his high ERA is not what fantasy owners want to see. I think Glasnow is pretty similar to Cease in that he’s a bit less valuable right now, so now would be a great time to acquire Glasnow.
San Francisco Giants pitcher Harrison is 1-2 with a 4.94 ERA in his last five starts, but the most concerning number is his 1.46 WHIP, in which he has struck out 23 batters in 27 1/3 innings.
Looking at his game logs from the past five games, he doesn’t seem to be too terrible in terms of runs allowed. The most he’s allowed is four runs, which he’s recorded twice, and he’s also allowed three runs twice. As a second-year pro pitcher, I was hoping he’d be better in his second year, but his ERA has only improved slightly so far.
That means Harrison is now a streaming option in many leagues. Definitely target him against weak hitting teams and/or teams with high strikeout rates. If Harrison has a couple of good performances in a row, I’d ditch the streamer tag and put Harrison on the roster permanently.
He is 2-1 in his last five starts for the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 4.28 ERA and 1.39 WHIP. He has struck out 23 batters and walked 11 in 27 1/3 innings.
Walks were an issue for Jones coming into the season. He started the season well, but the walks started to show up during his toughest time as a starter. Because of his strong start to the season, Jones is still owned by 91% of the league. If you believe in Jones (and I do), now is your chance to acquire him. His value is at its lowest it’s been all season.
I could talk about a few more starting pitchers, but before I wrap up today’s article, I want to touch on some struggling relief pitchers. A few of these guys are mentioned in stories about them on the rise, but only because they had a lot of saves.
The St. Louis Cardinals pitcher was credited with leading the league with nine saves over the past 30 days, but he also gave up four runs in nine innings pitched.
While that doesn’t seem like a lot of runs, a 4.00 ERA isn’t great for a top fantasy pitcher. Helsley allowed nine hits and four walks in nine innings, so that’s definitely something to keep in mind. If you can find someone willing to trade for Helsley, you could get a pretty big payoff thanks to his impressive save numbers.
Minnesota’s Duran has seven saves over the past 30 days, but his ERA is 7.45. He’s 1-2 but hasn’t missed a save opportunity. Duran has struck out eight in 7 2/3 innings, but has also allowed three home runs and five walks.
Again, Duran has a high number of saves, so if you don’t trust him in the long run, you might be able to trade him for a solid return. I don’t think Duran is too talented to struggle with for much longer.
The Cincinnati Reds have struggled over the past 30 days. Diaz is 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA and one failed save. He struck out 11 batters in 10 innings, allowing just one home run and walking eight batters.
Diaz has struggled for the majority of this season, so I doubt many fantasy team owners will be interested in trading for him, and in fact, he’s already dropped in about 15% of leagues, so if you’re really interested in “buying low,” you might be able to acquire him off the waiver wire if he struggles for another two weeks.
The Colorado Rockies closer is not a star player, but any closer gets the attention of fantasy team owners, so let’s discuss him for a bit.
Beeks was 0-1 with a 6.94 ERA over the past 30 days. Beeks missed half of his six save opportunities and posted a 1.54 WHIP in 11 2/3 innings. Beeks recorded 13 strikeouts, which boosted his fantasy value, but the two home runs and six walks he allowed didn’t do him any favors.
His recent struggles have seen him fall from a potential waiver wire addition to one to avoid entirely in most fantasy leagues. He just hasn’t pitched well enough right now, making the Rockies’ closer situation one to avoid for the time being. The team’s closer situation is one to keep an eye on, as someone could step up soon.
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