Start: July 20th at Kansas City Royals
ESPN ownership: 44.2%
Kyle Gibson skeptics have no doubt noticed that the skills metrics underneath the righty's improbably strong 2018 numbers have begun to buckle in recent weeks. The late-blooming Minnesota Twins hurler carries a crisp 3.25 ERA in 52.2 frames since the start of June, but that number is underwritten by a somewhat suspect 4.13 fielding independent pitching (FIP) along with spikes in homer rate and hard contact allowed.
But owners in shallow leagues who continue to cast a stink eye at this unlikely fantasy fixture are playing into streamers' hands in Week 16. Gibson seems criminally under-owned in advance of a weekend jaunt to Kansas City to face a Royals team with a skeleton crew lineup that's managed a 19% strikeout-minus-walk rate against righties over the last month.