Astros in Fantasy: Fantasy Players of the Week- Week 9

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Week 9 Pitcher:

May 22, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel (60) reacts after a play during the sixth inning against the Texas Rangers at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

Dallas Keuchel (Owned in 91.2% of ESPN leagues)

Like Correa, Keuchel has not met his expectations for 2016. In his 11 starts, Keuchel is 3-6 with a 5.58 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP.

In his last start against the Angels though, Keuchel looked like the ace of the rotation. It started off rough for Keuchel as he gave up back-to-back home runs to Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. Then he was locked in. Keuchel only gave up one more hit and retired 18 straight. He also struck out five.

As one of the pitchers with low velocity in the Astros starting rotation, Keuchel relies on his ability to fool people with movement on his pitches. Keuchel’s ground ball percentage has decreased to 55.7% and his hits per nine innings have increased to 9.9.

Astros writers have wondered after every one of his solid starts whether it would be the one to turn it around. Keuchel has a good chance at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday afternoon.

Last year, against the Diamondbacks, Keuchel only limited their hitters to 10 hits in 52 at bats and a .276 on base percentage against.

Also, Keuchel has been more successful at home than on the road. In his four starts, he is 1-2 with a 4.97 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. Yes, still they are not numbers for a fantasy owners to go crazy about, but he has only given up two home runs in those 25.1 innings pitched.

If he can keep the ball in the ballpark against sluggers like Paul Goldschmidt and David Peralta, Keuchel should have back-to-back quality starts for the Astros.

**Statistics provided by Baseball-Reference**

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