Last week our borderline fantasy starters, I came away with an 3.95 ERA. Not too shabby considering two of those earned runs came from Ross Ohlendorf, who I warned you to only start in extreme circumstances, and Travis Wood got absolutely rocked for 7 earned runs. Without those two, the ERA was 2.90 in 62.1 IP. There were also 62 Ks with 6 Wins. 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 listed alphabetically. Anyway, here’s some borderline starters for this week in fantasy baseball:
Friday, August 27th
Barry Enright – Hey, ya’ll! It’s Uncle Barry Enright. Hey, Uncle Barry, good luck in your game vs. the Giants, and please stop touching me there.
Nelson Figueroa – I went to school with a Nelson Figueroa. He was a midget. Don’t think it’s the same guy. Not a great kickoff to the streaming post, but Figueroa has a 2.25 ERA with 15 Ks in his last 16 IP.
Saturday, August 28th
Nick Blackburn – He’s dazzlingly bad, but he gets the Mariners who are slightly worse. In most leagues, because of his lack of Ks, it’s thans, but no thans.
Joe Blanton – Is in Petco. Yes, that’s all you need to know.
Jon Garland – See 1/8th of an inch above.
Daniel Hudson – I’m guessing at some point his ownership will move up to normal levels, but, for now, here ya go.
Sunday, August 29th
R.A. Dickey – Was a bit surprised to see him owned in so few leagues. I don’t trust knuckleballers, but he gets the Astros in his next start.
Jason Hammel – Has a 3.36 ERA at home this year and gets a team (Dodgers) that he’s owned in his career. Hopefully he can settle that with Jamie and Frank McCourt.
Bud Norris – Goes to Metco. You’re not going to get Wins, but you will get Ks.
Clayton Richard – Hodgepadre.
Monday, August 30th
Jorge de la Rosa – Solid vs. the Giants and they’re in AT&T Park (is that still the name of it?).
Jake Westbrook – Last week I said something along the lines of, feel free to ignore this recommendation. And that’s me paraphrasing me!
Carlos Zambrano – If I come out of this day without recommending a real clunker, I’d be surprised. FWIW, Big Z gets the Pirates.
Tuesday, August 31st
Brian Duensing – Has like twenty quality starts in a row! (The preceding was a small exaggeration, but Duensing has been good outside of his last game in Arlington, which you can’t blame on him.)
Mike Minor – Back in the rotation to go against the Mets.
Wednesday, September 1st
Tom Gorzelanny – Goes against the Pirates, who are marginally better vs. lefties, but, in the end, they are still the Pirates. Argh.
Jason Vargas – Who says I don’t like AL pitchers? (As streaming options, I really don’t like them. Vargas is only listed because I hadn’t recommended many AL starters and felt bad. Don’t start Vargas in mixed leagues. I almost recommended TBA on the Angels over Vargas.)
