Period starts Monday the 15th.

Right now I have:

SP- Lackey
SP- Peavy
RP-Rivera
RP- Broxton or B. Wilson
P- Myers
P-?
P-?

On my bench are Scherzer (no expected starts), Nolasco (HOU, @CIN, @NYM), Garza (MIN, @BAL, @DET), Marcum (BAL, BOS, @BAL) and Lester (@TOR, CLE). Barring any crappy developments, I plan to use Nolasco and Garza. Does that seem right?

Also, if it looks like my h2h competition will not have all 5 starters starting 3 times, should I sit Garza or Nolasco and pitch Lester instead?

I would go with Lester instead of Garza because Garza seems like he can't put back-to-back starts together anyway.

Good point, and so strange (and consistent!) on his part. Although if he pitches in his regular pattern, I should be able to get two great and one sub-par starts. But that would be putting way too much faith in his pattern.

Another Q re: the same period. Markakis and Fielder are really dragging down my offense. About a week ago you stated that you would never bench Prince. Do you still feel that way? Aviles, Swisher, Overbay, Ian Stewart, Pablo Sandoval and Uribe are available.

As far as Markakis is concerned, I also am benching Victorino, so he could take his place, but he's playing like ass as well. And so is Kemp, another of my OFs. So I have 5 OF spots, and right now have Kemp, Markakis, Granderson, Hamilton, Victorino, Nelson Cruz, and Rios. Hamilton, Granderson and Rios are obviously in, but who should I trust for the other 2 spots? Cruz is extremely tempting... while TEX only plays 12 games in the relevant period, 9 of em are at home.

I hate benching my top guys. Most of the time by the time you get the guy to your bench, he's hitting again. If you're in your H2H playoffs, and it's a now or never type scenario, you have to do what you have to do. I wouldn't bench them. With that said, Overbay's been hot. I wouldn't switch them out for longer than a day or two at a time. So if this is a weekly league, I wouldn't bench Prince for a week. But by the 15th, maybe Prince will be out of his funk.



Can we check in closer to the 15th to see if any of these guys break out? Cause Kemp's about to go to Coors. I'd like to see what he does there.

Yeah, it can totally wait until then... no one's going anywhere.

Now that Marcum's had a couple of brilliant starts in a row, should I start him instead of Lester? I think Marcum's facing BAL (Liz), BOS or NYY (the latter seems more likely), and BAL away.

Marcum's stat line from tonight 7.1 IP, 2.45 ERA, .82 WHIP, 6K, 1BB. The runs resulted from him leaving with 1 out in the eighth and runners on 1st and 2nd, and apparently Downs gave up a double and a homer.

Marcum for three? Sure, that seems fair.

Brian Roberts has been spewing muddy torrents on my otherwise sparkling team lately... His September splits are rotten, too, so should I drop him for Asdrubel, who will spew less despite his name, or Kelly Johnson, or just keep him in and hope he decides to reject his past and play great for the rest of September?

Also, b/c of the idea that my roster is not set for the entire two week period, I'm beginning to look at possible 2 start streamers. What do you think of: Parr (PHI and NYM), S. Lewis (MIN and DET) and Volstad (HOU and PHI)? Any worth a flier if my opponent has a bunch of 2 starters? Volstad has been really good against both PHI and NYM. All three are really risky, but Volstad seems the most reliable.

As long as you don't need the occasional steal from Roberts, I'd drop him for Kelly Johnson.

I'd agree with Volstad and would go with him.

Well, this is my current lineup:

C- Shoppach
1B- Teixeira
2B- B Roberts
3B- Wright
SS- Hanley
IF- Fielder
OF- Rios
OF- Hamilton
OF- Kemp
OF- Granderson
UTIL- Markakis
BN- Nelson Cruz
BN- Victorino

So I think I should be okay on steals, although the players I expect to get em haven't done so this week (Roberts and Hamilton each have one).