Mapes Fantasy Special’s have been doing quite well since making a comeback on the blog to help you out in your fantasy playoffs. Travis Wood, Clayton Richard, and Wei-Yin Chen have combined for three quality starts, with a 2-0 record, 1.63 ERA, 0.82 WHIP and 18 strikeouts in 22 innings. Hope you were able to grab all three. Let’s see what’s in a bag of tricks for Friday.

Looks like I pulled out Padres flamethrower Andrew Cashner! Cashner returned from injury to give up 2ER in 5 innings against the Diamondbacks and now gets a last-place Rockies team at Petco. The Rockies are 28th in MLB in road OPS this season and have had their troubles away from hitter-friendly Coors Field. Cashner also provides some great strikeout potential with 50K in 41.2 IP this season. Cashner is owned in just 14% of Yahoo! fantasy leagues.

There are some other good options for a spot start tomorrow that are available in 50% or more of Yahoo! fantasy leagues. Athletics Tommy Milone (44% owned) is home against the Orioles who as I type just walked-off against the Rays in the 14th inning and have to travel all the way across the country. Milone has a 2.77 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP at home this season. You can use him before the Athletics hit the road against some tough competition.

White Sox Francisco Liriano looks intriguing against his old team, the Twins, at Target Field. The 33% owned pitcher gave up 2 runs in 6 innings with 8 strikeouts the first time he faced his former team on the road. If you can afford the WHIP hit and need strikeouts, he may be worth the risk. Be warned though that the Twins are the 2nd hardest to strikeout in the Majors this year.

If you’re looking for ERA/WHIP help I’d go Milone. If you’re looking for strikeouts, I’d go Liriano. However, I think it’s Andrew Cashner that will get the best mix of everything on Friday and is available in the most leagues. Good luck in your fantasy playoffs!

-Bryan Mapes (@IAmMapes)