by Ryan Lester of Lester’s Legends
Some reasonably available players to assist you in the Strikeouts category. Realize that some of these will come with high ERAs & WHIPs because if a Pitcher has low numbers in those categories and a good K total, they’re already spoken for.
Gavin Floyd, Chicago White Sox – Gavin Floyd finally looked like a 17-game winner last week picking up 16 Ks with a 1.69 ERA and 0.81 WHIP. His K/9 ratio was 9.0 and his K/BB ratio was 4.0. On the year he’s 3-5 with 51 Ks, a 6.12 ERA, and a 1.59 WHIP. He’s owned in 52% of Yahoo!, 25.7% of ESPN, and 78% of CBS leagues.
Joe Blanton, Philadelphia Phillies - Blanton struck out 15 in a pair of victories with a 3.75 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. His K/9 ratio was 11.25 and his K/BB ratio was 5.0. On the year he’s 3-3 48 Ks, a 6.14 ERA, and a 1.58 WHIP. He’s owned in 9% of Yahoo!, 2.7% of ESPN, and 38% of CBS leagues.
Jordan Zimmermann, Washington Nationals - Zimmermann has displayed a knack for the strikeout, but he’s getting smacked around a bit too much. Last week he had 15 Ks, a 5.25 ERA, and a 1.42 WHIP. His K/9 ratio was 11.25 and his K/BB ratio was 5.0. On the year he’s 2-2 with 47 Ks, a 6.07 ERA, and a 1.48 WHIP. He’s owned in 41% of Yahoo!, 9.7% of ESPN, and 52% of CBS leagues.
Carl Pavano, Cleveland Indians - Pavano had a great week for the Indians going 2-0 with 14 Ks, a 2.77 ERA, and 1.00 WHIP. His K/9 ratio was 9.7 and his K/BB ratio was 4.67. On the year he’s 5-4 with a 5.50 ERA, 46 Ks, a 5.50 ERA, and a 1.42 WHIP. He’s owned in 24% of Yahoo!, 4.4% of ESPN, and 25% of CBS leagues.
Andrew Miller, Florida Marlins - Miller picked up 13 Ks last week along with a 2.77 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. His K/9 ratio was 9.0 and his K/BB ratio was 2.17. On the year he’s 1-2 with 20 Ks, a 4.55 ERA, and 1.58 WHIP. He’s owned in 8% of Yahoo!, 1.3% of ESPN, and 21% of CBS leagues.
Edward Mujica, San Diego Padres - Mujica was lights out in relief for the Padres last week picking up 11 Ks with a 0.00 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. His K/9 ratio was 19.8 and K/BB ratio was 11.0. On the year he’s 2-1 with 28 Ks, 1 Save, 5 Holds, a 2.59 ERA, and a 1.07 WHIP. He’s owned in 9% of Yahoo!, 0.4% of ESPN, and 2% of CBS leagues.
Trevor Cahill, Oakland A’s - Cahill had 10 Ks last week with a 2/70 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. His K/9 ratio was 6.75 and his K/BB ratio was 5.0. On the year he’s 2-5 with 24 Ks, a 4.45 ERA, and a 1.50 WHIP. He’s owned in 14% of Yahoo!, 2.7% of ESPN, and 31% of CBS leagues.
Any thoughts on these players? Who would be your first choice?
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Nice job on this Ryan. Personally, I wouldn’t touch Joe Blanton with a 10-foot pole. He’s been a disaster waiting to happen this season and a couple of good starts is not going to suddenly change my mind.
Gavin Floyd is the one that I would recommend most. He was terrible early on, but we all knew he had to improve on that. His last two starts have been strong and he is in-line for two starts next week, one of which against Oakland.
Just picked up Mujica in my league. Didn’t even notice how good he’s been. I like to have a reliever or two who can help suppress some of those bad starts you may get during the week. One who can strike guys out like Mujica is a bonus.
And Professor, I agree with you on Floyd. He’s got an extremely high BABIP- .346 and it’s about time that luck goes his way and not to the hitters.
Jordan Zimmerman hasn’t really been walking people either. I have to think at some point his ERA will go under 4.50 at the very least.
Cahill is interesting. He hasn’t shown a knack at all for Ks yet. Horrible horrible K/BB ratio. Surprised he made your list.
In regards to Cahill:
24 K over 54.2 IP is anything but impressive. He has struck out 10 over his last two starts, however. He also struck out 264 over 238.2 innings over his minor league career. I know it was at lower levels (only spent 37 innings at Double-A), but it does lead you to believe that he’s been better then he’s shown thus far.
I’m not going to say that I agree with Ryan that he’s a great strikeout option, but there is reason to believe that he’s going to be better then he’s shown.
I wouldn’t touch Blanton either, but in deep leagues where he starts twice he may be worth gambling on. Same with Cahill, though it could be the start of something. Don’t run out and grab him, but keep him on the radar.