Astros in Fantasy: Fantasy Players of the Week- Week 17

Week 17 Pitcher:

Doug Fister (Owned in 47.2% of ESPN Fantasy leagues)

Jul 7, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Doug Fister (58) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Oakland Athletics at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Fister has become the unsung hero of the 2016 Astros starting rotation. With limited expectations coming into the season, Fister has pitched very well.

In his 19 starts, he has a record of 10-6 with a 3.46 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. Averaging only 5.6 strikeouts per nine innings, Fister has 74 strikeouts in his 118.1 innings pitched.

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Coming out of the All-Star break, Fister has won his last two starts, limiting his opponents to three earned runs on nine hits in his 12 innings of work. With both starts away from Minute Maid Park, Fister continued his success in away ballparks, with a 3.04 ERA.

His next opponent, the New York Yankees, fit Fister’s pitching style perfectly. They are 13th in the American League with a .249 batting average and a .703 OPS. However, he main reason that Fister is a good fit against the Yankees is their low strikeout numbers. They are 13th in the AL with 665 strikeouts as a team.

This pattern showed in Fister’s last start against the Yankees. In his first start of 2013 with the Detroit Tigers, Fister went 5 innings and struck out only two batters. However, he gave up three earned runs on six hits and two walks.

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With a 1.15 WHIP at Minute Maid Park and a 47.3% ground ball percentage this season, Fister will have to keep the ball on the ground to be successful against this Yankee offense. The Astros offense has done the rest in most of Fister’s starts, winning 13 of his 19 starts, including all of them in June.

***Stats provided by Baseball Reference, MLB.com, and FanGraphs***

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