Fantasy Baseball Weekly: Hurtubise's Hurlers Handle The Heat

Mitchell Hurtubise
Jul 3
4 min read

The dog days of the fantasy baseball season have arrived and if this week proves anything, it’s that pitching isn’t just king… it’s chaos.

With Week 14 now in the books and week 15 underway, the gap between elite arms and unlucky matchups is defining the standings. Some managers are riding dominant rotations to the top, while others are watching strong performances get buried under brutal opponent weeks. Last week the leagues sluggers were show cased and broken down team by team. Now, it's time for the pitchers!

Let’s get into it.

A beautiful shot of Coors Field in Colorado, home of a few NL all-stars leading the way.

Week 14 Recap: Statement Wins & Reality Checks

Last week delivered a mix of dominance and separation across the league:

Mitchell Hurtubise (6-6 vs Percy Thomas)
A dead-even battle that perfectly captured the volatility of pitching categories. Without the strength of Hurtubise's arms, this could've ended horrendously for him. Thomas had 6/7 batter categories, and Hurtubise had all 5 pitching categories. A closely contested matchup nonetheless.
Dave McLeod (7-5 over Tyler Evans)
The league leader kept things rolling, grinding out another win behind consistent category control. McLeods m.o. continues to be getting on base and cashing in runners via base hits. Evans won the HR category 11-2 and had one of the leagues lowest ERA week total of 0.91 over 39.2 innings, and still somehow it was not enough for the weeks victory.
Jarrod Culver (11-1 over Jason Fishpool)
Absolute demolition. Culver’s pitching categories exploded, exposing one of the most lopsided outcomes of the season. He amassed 72.2 innings (a stunningly large amount) and managed to keep the team ERA under 3.00 (2.60). Somehow he did not record a save, which was the only category Fishpool squeaked out! A timely week for Culver to separate himself from the slog of squads eying that 8th and final playoff spot. He now sits 7th, 5 games ahead of 8th place Andrew Westlaken and 7.5 games back of 6th place Fishpool. Massive ground was gained!
Mike McClymont (8-4 over Tucker McSwain)
Quietly one of the most impressive weeks. Strong across nearly every category. In nearly the same amount at bats, Mike exceed Tucker by 20 RBI's (36-16) and dominated in batting AVG and OPS. Pitching was tight, but 3/5 were taken by Mike.
Ty Gerosavas (10-2 over Braeden Price)
A statement that his pitching staff can still swing matchups hard. It seems Price's offence has been quite the disappointment this season but his middle of the pack pitching has kept him from the basement up to this point. Gerosavas has seen a steady climb in the standing after a slow start and emerged as a real contender. Player to watch this week: Bo Bichette makes his return to the Rogers Centre tonight for a three game set against the Blue Jays. A return worth keeping an eye on.
Josh Goodings (7-5 over Luke Todd)
Solid, controlled win. No wasted categories on the offence side. Goodings hit a whopping 23 HR's last week and collected a team OPS of almost 1.000 (.967). Easily one of the most dominant offensive performance's of the season. The story here was very similar to McLeods 7-5 win over Evans. 6/7 offensive categories were dominated by Goodings, but Todd over 73 innings pitched to a jaw-dropping 0.62 ERA alongside 6 W's, 7 QS and 81 K's and won 4/5 pitcher categories. Any other week would've proven Todd victorious. Unlucky timing, certainly.
Andrew Westlaken (8-3 over Austin Patrick)
An important victory for Westlaken to hold onto the 8th and final playoff spot. The postseason begins in six weeks, but loses against struggling teams will haunt teams vying for playoffs. He took care of business and coasted to victory with some ugly stat lines - .198 AVG and .595 OPS are are dismissible to say the least, but it worked out for him!

Pitching Breakdown: Real Talk Stuff

Best Pitching Staff — Mitchell Hurtubise

52 Wins, 68 Saves, 824 Ks, 3.70 ERA, 50 QS
Elite across the board, especially in strikeouts and saves dominance
His category records back it up: double-digit wins in Ks and strong ERA control
top 5 across all pitching categories

This is the gold standard of balance and firepower.

Luckiest Pitching — Mike McClymont

Category records: 11-1-2 (W), 10-4 (K), 7-7 ERA
Not always overwhelming statistically, but consistently winning the right weeks
Opponents have repeatedly underperformed at the wrong time

A masterclass in timing over raw dominance.

Unluckiest Pitching — Jason Fishpool

League best ERA (3.37) and 4th in saves (42)
But multiple losses tied to running into buzzsaw weeks (see 1-11 week 14 loss to Culver)
Inconsistency with W's, K's and QS'

Better than the record shows. Results are due to schedule, timing has been brutal.

Worst Pitching Staff — Andrew Westlaken

30 Wins, 3 Saves, 523 Ks, 4.26 ERA
Lags in nearly every counting category
Even good weeks don’t translate into consistent matchup wins

Simply not enough volume or category strength to compete weekly.

Pitching Category Leaders:

Wins: Jarrod Culver (56)
Saves: Mitchell Hurtubise & Tucker McSwain (68)
Strikeouts: Mitchell Hurtubise (824)
ERA: Jason Fishpool (3.37)
Quality Starts: Dave McLeod (66)

Notice the split: no single team owns everything, but Hurtubise comes closest across all weighted categoies.

⚔️ Week 15 Matchups: What to Watch

Mitchell Hurtubise vs Josh Goodings

A clash of top-tier contenders.

Hurtubise brings elite strikeouts and saves
Goodings counters with steady category wins

This one could swing playoff positioning.

Jason Fishpool vs Mike McClymont

The unlucky vs lucky narrative comes to life.

Fishpool has the underlying numbers
McClymont has the results

If trends hold, expect another tight—and telling—battle.

Dave McLeod vs Tucker McSwain

First place vs a dangerous middle-tier climber.

McLeod dominates in QS and consistency
McSwain thrives in saves and opportunistic wins
A potential upset alert.

Standings Watch: The Tight Middle

Positions 8 through 11 are a war zone:

Andrew Westlaken (8th)
Tucker McSwain (9th)
Tyler Evans (10th)
Percy Thomas (11th)

These teams are separated by only a handful of points. Every week and category matter.

One strong week = playoff push. One bad matchup = buried.

Final Take

Pitching has become the great divider in this league:

Mitchell Hurtubise sets the standard
Mike McClymont wins when it counts
Jason Fishpool deserves better results
Andrew Westlaken is running out of time

And at the top?

Dave McLeod. Silky and Smooth.

As Week 15 unfolds, expect more chaos, more heartbreak… and maybe, just maybe, some clarity among the pack.