Looking to cycle spot-starters each day? Check out the Stream Team, where we tab pitchers that are likely to help you in your quest for fantasy gold.Thursday leaves us with another shortened schedule of baseball, and as usual, that leaves us with not many good options for the Stream Team. Luckily though, there's one rookie pitcher that stands out above the rest: Brett Anderson.
The Oakland A is finishing his rookie season strong, winning his last four starts (at home against Seattle, in Minnesota, and at home against Cleveland and Texas). He has definitely saved his best baseball for September, as his 4.12 ERA is the lowest it's been all season.
Still not convinced? Check out Anderson's K/BB ratio -- starting pitchers generally need to have that ratio above 2.0 to be successful, and above 2.5 to be great. Anderson's K/BB ratio is currently 145/44, which is about 3.25. Over 170 innings, that's astounding for such a young pitcher.
Usually we see high strikeout rates mixed in with bad walk rates, but Anderson has conquered any control problems a rookie might expect to encounter. As he's gotten better in September, it's been reflected in his walk rate, as he's walked just three batters in 23.2 innings this month. That's reflective of his post-All Star break dominance -- he's posted a remarkable 81/19 K/BB ratio over 83 innings in that time frame.
Anderson should be owned in all dynasty leagues at this point, and he should stay on the mind of owners in redraft leagues, as his second-half numbers really hint at a great 2010 for Anderson. He'll try to finish the season off strong against the Mariners on Thursday, and he should give the Team another quality start.
