Last week my borderline fantasy starter post regressed to the mean, if ‘the mean’ means getting pantsed in the six grade in front of the girl you have a crush on, but you’re wearing skintight gotchies so no one actually sees anything except your stained underwear. You know, not great, not terrible. My line for last week was: 3.43 ERA in 84 IP. The innings were low because guys were bumped or injured. Masterson pitched well (7 IP, 1 ER), but it was two days after I recommended him, so I didn’t count it (but I did mention it — natch!). The WHIP was 1.31 with 5 Wins and 52 Ks. To recap, these aren’t guys I’d drop anyone worthwhile to get, these starters are meant for streaming purposes and all of their ownership in ESPN is under 50%. These streamers are in no particular order. Also, in the final month of the season, managers juggle their lineups more, so there’s no guarantee all of these guys are listed on the right day. Anyway, here’s some borderline starters for this week in fantasy baseball:
Friday, September 10th
Clayton Richard – Unfortunately, there weren’t a whole lot of guys to recommend on this first day. Richard should be started every time out in Petco and that’s where he is on Friday.
Saturday, September 11th
Nick Blackburn – Don’t really like Blackburn, but he’s thrown three straight quality starts and gets the Indians.
Madison Bumgarner – The Bum goes to Petco in what will be a barn burner of a series if you’re into pennant chases and that sorta thing. Is it weird that I follow baseball daily for six months and I barely know what teams are in first? You’re right, Murray Chass, fantasy bastardizes the sport! (And I’m a bastard.)
Jake Westbrook – I’m recommending him because the Braves aren’t hitting, but they did hit yesterday. If they hit again tomorrow, I’d be cautious.
Sunday, September 12th
Jhoulys Chacin – It’s actually a bit insane that he’s only owned in 10% of ESPN leagues, but there ya go.
Kevin Slowey – Might not be able to go more than 5+ innings, but gets the Indians, which is always nice.
Jordan Zimmermann – Had some control problems in his last start, but gets the Marlins on Sunday who aren’t the most patient team.
Monday, September 13th
Joe Blanton – In his career, he has a 3.35 ERA vs. the Marlins, who he just happens to face next Monday. Coinkydink, huh?
Chris Narveson – Chris Narveson has two things going for him. 1) He gets the Astros. 2) His name sounds like the Christian name for the Domino’s advertising icon, The Noid.
Tuesday, September 14th
Trevor Bell – When you see his name in the box score listed as “T. Bell,” you pray he doesn’t give you heartburn.
R.A. Dickey – He gets the Pirates and he has a 2.91 ERA on the year.
Jason Hammel – Has a 3.43 ERA at home and gets the Padres. And, yes, it’s insane that I’m recommending Hammel, Dickey and Bell on the same day. I realize that.
Justin Masterson – Okay, if I get out of this day without some serious bombings, I’d be shocked and you’ll be awed.
Wednesday, September 15th
Brian Duensing – Just went over my Brian Duensing fantasy.
Carlos Zambrano – The problem with recommending guys this far in advance is things change between now and then. Big Z goes out and loses his shizz in the start before this or if the Cards start hitting, this start then isn’t as enticing.
Mike Minor – I wouldn’t be surprised to see him bumped before this start happens. A minor issue. Hehe, who-who, haha… Um, yeah.
Thursday, September 16th
Jake Westbrook – Yeah, he got the patented double recommendation for this week. Hopefully it doesn’t haunt me. Twice.