A new week, and a new opportunity to add pitching help in fantasy baseball. Our Week 17 fantasy baseball waiver wire target list includes several pitchers who’ve excelled in recent weeks, including Keider Montero & Kyle Leahy.

Best Week 17 pitchers to target

• SP Kyle Leahy (Cardinals)
• SP Keider Montero (Tigers)
• SP AJ Smith-Shawver (Braves)
• SP Zac Thornton (Mets)
• SP Brandon Young (Orioles)

In a year where things have gone awry for the Mets, one thing that has gone right is the fact that the club does have some building blocks for the future, both in the rotation and in the lineup.

Nolan McLean and Christian Scott have established themselves as pitchers but there’s another one: Zac Thornton. The rookie left-hander sparkled on July 21, as he tossed six innings and didn’t allow an earned run against a good Brewers club. Since his MLB debut on May 20, Thornton tossed at least six innings in each of his next three starts.

It’s not an overpowering arsenal for Thornton, who relies more on command and finesse. He has limited walks in the Minors, something that fantasy owners should like hearing.

Keider Montero hasn’t been a pitcher on the radar this season, simply because the righty hasn’t worked as a starter full-time. However, he’s been a very good pitcher this season, and that continued this past week when he struck out eight over 5.1 IP against the Cubs on July 22. What should excite fantasy players even more was the 37.9% Whiff% he had over the past week.

Both Montero and Thornton should be considered priority two-start options for Week 16.

Brandon Young and Kyle Leahy both had very good weeks, too. Leahy, who’s been very reliable for two months now, struck out four and allowed just one run over his last six innings. Young, meanwhile, struck out 13 over 13.1 IP and nabbed a win.

Lastly, consider AJ Smith-Shawver a low-risk buy. His rehab assignment will finish up shortly, and the righty has pitched well & the velocity has been where it should be. The only question is whether the Braves will push him back into the big-league rotation once he is ready.

Overview of Week 16

It was a mixed bag of results for Shane Drohan. The rookie left-hander struck out nine and picked up a win against the Brewers to start his two-outing week. However, he conceded five earned runs against the Rockies despite a six-strikeout performance.

Jake Bennett picked up two wins this week, one against the Rays and the other against the Orioles. He continues to be a must-own, even though Bennett will be challenged in Sacramento this upcoming week.

Peter Lambert didn’t pick up a win in his first two post-break starts. However, he struck out 13 over 12 innings and allowed just three runs over those two outings. Like Bennett, hold on Lambert.

Check out more of our fantasy baseball coverage, including our Week 17 hitters to target.