It’s a confusing week for me to grasp. Some formats are a short week, others role on until literally the middle (or end) of next week. So first things first, I will tackle the short 4 game week and give you some unbridled gems of the streaming variety. Stay tuned on Saturday for the following week’s two start thinga-ma-bobbers. If this is a short week for you, it’s prolly best to grab as many of these guys as possible, longer week not so much as you may want to call Laurel and tell him to take a breather. So enjoy the short week or long and I will give you an update later this week for week 15 ½ or 16. (Please keep in mind that pitchers and matchups change.)
7/14 Bruce Chen @ Min (Liriano) – 2.50 ERA since DL stint return. Is the definition of a streaky low end good/bad pitcher.
Jason Vargas vs. Tex (Holland) – Basically needs to go the distance to have a chance at a win. 1.70 ERA in last 4 starts.
Aaron Harang vs. SF (Bumgarner) – The primate in the zoo, Hodgepadre indeed.
7/15 Andrew Miller @ TB (Price) – 4 starts, 3 wins plays for the best lineup in baseball. That is all.
Doug Fister vs. Tex (Lewis) – Gets zero run support. I really feel bad for him because if you haven’t seen him pitch, he is very unheralded and unrewarded.
Jeff Karstens @ Hou (Myers) – Is he awesome, no. Effective lately yes. Regression will ensue.
Josh Tomlin @ Bal (Arrieta) – Sneaky 10 win pitcher, other numbers say he is pitching exactly the way he should be.
Vance Worley @ NYM (Dickey) – Awesome since mid-June. If he isn’t owned, your league is dull.
7/16 Paul Maholm @ Hou (Norris) – 4-2 with a 1.75 ERA in last 7 starts. For the soon to be first place Pirates.
Barry Zito @ SD (Luebke) – 3 wins, tiny ERA since DL return.
Edwin Jackson @ Det (Scherzer) – Huh, yeah I wanted to highlight that this will be his last start in Chi-town. That’s me predicting me!
Carlos Zambrano vs. Fla (Vazquez) – Fresh from the DL, seems like a trend for this post. Pitches just effectively enough to be added/dropped about 10 times a year. Ah, but look closer, he has RP elig, sneaky play for a Saturday.
7/17 Chris Volstad @CHC (Wells) – Stop trying to strike everyone out, you’re a groundball pitcher.
Matt Harrison @ Sea (Beavan) – Seattle O is good twice a week. Coincidentally, that’s how much my garbage is picked up.
Brian Duensing vs. KC (Paulino) – Sneaky good lately, here for the added eligibility.
Kevin Correia @ Hou (Rodriquez) – Is money on the road.
Apparently, A-Rod’s got a bucket list (get creative with letter replacements for b) that he wrote when he was 15 years old. Madonna, check. Cameron Diaz, check. Christie Brinkley, check. “I wonder if Phoebe Cates will come to my pool party.” To spice things up, he puts on Betamax copies of Skinemax movies. “Oh, Emmanuelle…” Who needs Derek Jeter’s rejects when you can have Mickey Rourke’s? So with the media circus surrounding Jeter’s 3000 hit, Rudy and I both couldn’t make it out to The House They Built Next To The House Ruth Built, but we were able to send Keith Morrison of Dateline. “Hello, I’m Keith Morrison of Dateline. It’s in this small, bucolic town, the South Bronx, that Alex Rodriguez calls home. Everything seemed right in the world this weekend. The famed Yankee captain, Derek Jeter, did what no other Yankee had done before, but quietly in the corner of the clubhouse something was brewing below the surface — A-Rod’s knee and his love of cougars.” A-Rod is going to miss the next 6 weeks or so with knee surgery. If you’re wondering if your team will be all right without his power, look at his stats for the last month. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
CC Sabathia – 9 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 9 Ks while A-Rod made eyes at his mom.
Paul Maholm – 7 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 8 Ks. Now has a season ERA of 2.96. Has helped me remove some of the odor from dropping Anibal the first week of the season.
Pedro Alvarez – It’s a cruel twist of fate when you draft someone, they suck, get injured and then sadly you leave them on your DL for two months hoping they’ll turn their season around when they return only to be demoted. Unfortunately, the cruelness won’t end there because I’ll probably draft him again next year. Alvarez, please use an alternate route than Ian Stewart.
Jake Peavy – 4 1/3 IP, 5 ER. There’s guys like Luebke on your waivers and you continue to roll out Peavy. That there is why you’re losing. Sorry, it’s Tough Love Time with Grey Albright. Our next guest will be the guy who still has Pedro Alvarez on his team. Wait, that’s me. No, tables, don’t turn!
Adam Dunn – Hit a homer on Friday and that’s it all weekend. They should put him in the Home Run Derby so we can see our first strikeout.
Jordan Zimmermann – 6 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 6 Ks. Didn’t say I didn’t like him when I said to sell him on Friday. Don’t put words in mouth, you know I don’t like that. Now eat your vegetables.
Carlos Gonzalez – Headed for an MRI on Monday. Wait, that’s today? Unless you’re in New Zealand — weirdos! If it’s bad news about the CarGo MRI, I give you permission to cry if A) You own him. B) You’re a Rockies fan. C) There’s no C.
Jhoulys Chacin – 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 4 Ks. Here’s what I said after his last start, “Hopefully he’ll start to turn things around again. Just putting that out into the universe. It’s the secret.” It works! Now if I could win the lottery… Wink-wink, Universe. Are you listening? BTW, speaking of having more money than you know what to do with, I was watching Real Sports the other day and they had a segment on Saadi Gaddafi. He threw his money around to get on a professional soccer team and, even though he was worse than a high school player, no one said anything because he could have them killed. Then he hired the shamed Olympic gold medalist, Ben Johnson, to teach him how to run. I won’t give away the whole thing, but seek it out. It’s brilliant.
Mark Trumbo – 4 homers in the last five games to bring his season tally to 17. I actually find it more surprising that the Sciosciapath hasn’t decided to randomly bench him for Jeff Mathis or Maicer Izturis.
Eric Thames -3-for-5, 2 RBIs and his 4th home run. Nice of Bautista to let him carry the home run conch shell for one day.
Brett Cecil – 6 IP, 0 ER, 9 baserunners, 6 Ks. I will now pick him up in every league and potentially bench him for his next start, depending on the matchup. It’s all about the dangling modifier. That’s what she said!
Wandy Rodriguez – 5 1/3 IP, 5 ER. The Wandwagon has come off the tracks three of the last four starts. He’s around a 3.50 ERA pitcher and his season ERA sits at 3.52. So I guess he’ll now shave off that .02, and that’s my two cents.
Emilio Bonifacio – 3-for-3 with 3 steals. Now has 5 steals in his last 3 games. Emily Boneface isn’t just an awkwardly translated name, it’s a steals machine. BTW, I wonder if Josh’s brother, Gosh Johnson, ever did any scenes with Emily Boneface.
Chase Utley – 2-for-4 with 2 steals. Now has 8 steals and 4 homers. Didn’t he have knee problems? So now he’s a speedster with little power? I’m more confused by what he’s doing this season than Charlie Manuel watching Jeopardy.
Raul Ibanez – 2-for-5, 6 RBIs and his 2nd homer this weekend. Giraffe’s gestation period is shorter than it took Ibanez to get hot, but he’s there now. Actually, I looked at Ibanez in one league last week and wish I grabbed him, but I got William Shatner finger and I….just…couldn’t….pick…him…up.
Dontrelle Willis – 6 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners (4 BBs), 4 Ks. You’re only looking at him because he was good like five years ago.
Francisco Cordero – Who was the one who went into the bathroom and forget to flush? *Cordero blushes.* Dusty would be one of the slower managers to react to a faltering closer, but CoCo is doing everything in his power to make him flinch. You can handcuff with Aroldis, who should be owned anyway.
Mark Reynolds – Should be fine after being hit on the hand by a Weiland pitch. Supposedly, Weiland was mad Reynolds compared him to Eddie Vedder.
Vladimir Guerrero – Will also be fine after being hit by a pitch. In the bullpen, Kevin Gregg hulk-smashed a gagged-and-bound Johnny Pesky.
Nate Schierholtz – 4-for-4 on Sunday, hitting near .400 over the last week. With a last name that is German for pantyhose, you’d think he’d generate more excitement for me. He just doesn’t give huge power or speed.
Javy Guerra – Got two saves this weekend. Looks like he’s officially won the job of Dodgers closer, which is like beating conjoined twins in a race to put on pants.
Ted Lilly – 5 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks. He’s been like the NL Liriano and Scherzer, so it pains me to point out Lilly was solid after the break last year (3.17 ERA).
Andre Ethier – 2 homers. Now on pace for 17 homers. No wonder Kemp pulls all the ladies.
David Wright – Supposed to start a rehab assignment on Wednesday. Mets said he should be back sometime in July. They failed to mention what year.
Holy hell, it’s July already, cue the fireworks. Roll the stock footage of Bill Pullman from Independence Day, except make it sound cool with a nice fantasy touch, “This week we celebrate our wins above replacement day!” This week’s list is littered with crafty lefties and dudes who wear pseudo-athletic glasses, which are also cool for squash. The season is getting interesting and I can’t wait for the first shoe to drop in the trade market. Why that expression makes any sense is beyond me, because shoes are supposed to be on the ground anyways so why would we wait for them to drop? Any the who! Good luck on this week’s fantasy endeavors, and don’t eat too many hot dogs. (Please keep in mind the pitchers and matchups change.)
One Start Options:
7/6
Jason Vargas @ Oak – Cahill
Dustin Moseley @SF – Bumgarner
Tyler Chatwood vs. Det – Penny
7/7
Derek Holland vs. Oak – Harden
Joe Saunders @ Stl – McClellan
Cory Luebke @ SF – Zito
7/8
R.A. Dickey @ SF – Vogelsong
John Lannan vs. Col – Hammel
Jordan Lyles @ Fla – Vazquez
Mike Pelfrey (@LAD vs. De La Rosa, @SF vs. Cain) Ugly ERA on the road. Mets are tattooing the ball right now and scoring a crapton of runs. Needs to avoid the dreaded big fly to have any success.
Vance Worley (@Fla vs. Nolasco, Atl vs. Lowe) It’s been years since a Vance had fantasy value, Law in ‘88 is the best I can think of. Before that it was Cousin Vance on the crappy Dukes of Hazzard years. Been effectively lucky, BB’s will be his only downfall.
Paul Maholm (Hou vs. Myers, CHC vs. Zambrano) Loves the perks at PNC, home ERA just over a deuce. Put the win/loss record aside and look deeper. I just wish the ‘Burgh had money to make a splash, because to me they are just on the cusp and need a big bat.
Chris Capuano (@LAD vs. Lilly, @SF vs. Lincecum) Another Met pitcher, another HR magnet. Pitched decent in May even better in June, it’s now July so I guess it’s either Vegas or bust.
Clayton Richard (@SF vs. Lincecum, @LAD vs. Lilly) It’s hodgepodge on opposite day. The epitome of a whiptard. Usually shows up every other week for a start that you shouldn’t have sonavabenched.
Charlie Furbush (@Ana vs. Pineiro, @KC vs. Hochevar) Top 5 all time names in sports. Detroit need to infuse some potential into there starting rotation. Averages over a K /inning in the minors. Dudley Dawson said it best, “We’ve got bush!”
Brian Duensing (TB vs. Price, @CHW vs. Buerhle) Pitches just well enough to keep himself on this post. Nothing that jumps out and says “Hey, you’re fantasy worthy,” and I’m here to say you’re correct. Typical low end 2 start worthy guy who flounders on wire.
Joel Pineiro (Det vs. Furbush, Sea vs. Hernandez) Look up. You see what I wrote for Duensing? Okay, do the same with Joel but read it right handed.
Chris Volstad (Phi vs. Hamels, Hou vs. Rodriquez) He’s a groundball wizard. Gets himself into trouble when he tries to K too many. ERA lower by a run a half at home, unfortunately the Marlins just plain stink.
Brett Cecil (@Bos vs. Lester, @Cle vs. Carrasco) Went to the minors to build up arm strength. Translation to fantasy: he was awful and not hurt. Potential is there to be decent, better to get in on the bottom floor for free, just needs to build quality innings.
Derek Jeter left yesterday’s game with a Grade 1 strain of his calf as reported by ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN News, ESPN U., ESPN Deportes and on the ticker at the bottom of the screen while they aired Mr. 3000 on ABC. Yes, I’m just as bad for even talking about it. Hey, pot, what’s up? Kettle, here. You black? Whatever, it was a slow day yesterday in fantasy baseball — shoot, Justin Ruggiano was almost the lead. Member a few years ago when people were talking about how Jeter could get to 4,000 hits? I’d be surprised now to see him get to 3,400. Dorian Gray paint is starting to fade. You read me? Yeah, you do. My guess is Jeter will avoid the DL and make us endure more 3,000 hit talk after he rests his veal for a few days. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Russell Martin – Scratched with back stiffness. See, I’m usually scratched with back itchiness.
Carlos Carrasco – 7 IP, 0 ER, 8 baserunners, 7 Ks. If you started him in The House They Built Next To The House That Ruth Built, you deserved this win. Crazy thing is, Carrasco’s pitching better than his ERA is showing, but, outside of this game, the Ks have been pretty pedestrian. You ride the lightning in AL-Only leagues; I’d avoid still in mixed leagues.
Justin Ruggiano – 2-for-3 and hitting near .500 in the last week. Sam Fuld handed off his magic beans to a new past-prime prospect. So is this on par, ma, for Ruggiano? Will he melt under the hot lights? Or will he be solid enough to great? In Triple-A, Ruggiano had back-to-back years of 15 homers and 23+ steals. The problem with anyone who’s seeing their first look in the bigs in three years when they’re 29 years old is why. While why is a question that self help gurus teach to help you keep a conservation going, I don’t particularly want to talk about Ruggiano all that much more. He’s currently hitting enough to pick up in all leagues, but I don’t think he’s going to keep it going.
Alex Cobb – 5 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 10 baserunners, 7 Ks. This was a better-than-decent start, but right now it looks like Cobb’s headed to the minors after one more start. Gary Glitter, “That don’t sound bad at all!”
Brandon Lyon – 1 IP, 3 ER. Now has 8 earned runs since he returned. Hey, he looks like his old self! If someone prematurely dropped Melancon from their team, I’d go ahead and make the grab.
Wandy Rodriguez – 6 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 5 Ks. The Wandwagon returned from the DL and got immediately back on the right track.
Brett Anderson – Set to rehab for six weeks but will be reevaluated in three weeks. So that puts his next setback around two weeks away.
Ricky Nolasco – 3 IP, 5 ER, 12 baserunners, 3 Ks and he was pitchslapped by Zach Duke (who took a couple of right crosses too). I said I wouldn’t touch Nolasco in any league this preseason and I didn’t. He now sits at a 4.23 ERA and he always seems to push that over 5. Amazing how much good will he got from one solid year out of five.
Justin Morneau – Time for a daily check-in on this sad robot. “Tears make me rust!” That’s Morneau. He just had an MRI on his wrist. The Vottomatic comes with titanium wrist joints. Why’s Morneau having his wrist checked? He needs to have his head checked. He probably needs a new operating system. On Morneau’s player card it says POS: 1B. The POS is right.
Vicente Padilla – Will miss an extended period of time with neck surgery. It doesn’t look like he has a neck in this picture of Padilla.
Paul Maholm – 7 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 4 Ks. Now has a 3.12 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and not the greatest Ks. You say to me, “Hey, Grey sweet ‘stache, it’s like you have three eyebrows. Pregunta: Should I pick up Maholm?” His ERA will end close to 4 and he has no Ks. I own him in one H2H league but wouldn’t touch him in most roto leagues. In H2H, the inevitable terrible start, which is coming, is erased in a week, but in roto you gotta live with your decisions a lot longer. Wow, I sound like a guidance counselor.
Hunter Pence – 3-for-4, 4 RBIs and his 9th home run. Now has a 23-game hitting streak. Or 23 more games than Morneau.
Randy Wolf – 7 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks. Wolf’s coming in this afternoon’s post about pitchers who are getting lucky, but he was also in the same post last month, so what the FIP do I know?
Jordan Schafer – 2-for-5 with his first home run. In the past week, he has 6 steals. He’s an intriguing name in deep leagues. Just don’t jump out the window until you see how real the fire is.
Vernon Wells – 2-for-4, 3 RBIs and 2 homers. As frequent commenter, Terrance Mann, said, “Projections on any significant HRs the rest of the year from HGH Wells are pure science fiction.”
Anthony Bass – 5 IP, 1 ER, 9 baserunners (4 BBs), 1 K. Outside of NL-Only leagues, I wouldn’t touch him yet. Like Juba’s pizza dough on The Next Food Network Star, he’s too raw.
Charlie Blackmon – 2-for-4 and now has 3 steals in the last three games. Maybe when he’s in the tunnel to the stadium, Eric Youg Jr. hands him a Pepsi.
Manny Ramirez – The Dodgers owe him $8.3 million in deferred payments. In related news, the Dodger Dog prices were raised to $17,000 per hot dog.
It’s back again, but this time for longer. No, you won’t need any ointment, it’s just interleague play. It starts at the tail end of this week and continues into week 12. I am still not a fan for fantasy porpoises. (That’s a league of dolphins called Hard to the Albacore, in case you were wondering.) Interleague messes up everything; lineups, in game situations and my ability to conjugate verbs. So be careful when setting your lineups this week, certain players will lose at bats, causing them to lose a little value. On the other hand, pitching gains some value. As they face teams that never have seen them before or just not as frequent. So grabbing an extra relief pitcher or spot starter makes a lot of sense to me. So good luck this week as you peruse the week 11 low end pitching options for fantasy baseball. (Please keep in mind that match-ups and pitchers may change.)
ONE START OPTIONS:
6/15
Mark Buerhle @ Min – Blackburn
Charlie Morton @ Hou – Happ
Joe Saunders vs. SF – Bumgarner
6/16
Mike Minor vs. NYM – Dickey
Ryan Vogelsong @ Ari – Kennedy
Jeff Francis vs. Oak – Godfrey
6/17
Scott Baker vs. SD – Richard
John Lannan vs. Bal – Matusz
Kevibn Correia PIT @ Cle – Tomlin
Randy Wolf (@CHC vs. Dempster, @Bos vs. Lester) Unfortunately, road ERA is higher, that and he faces the demon known as the Red Sox lineup. Last five starts 1-0 with a 2.58 ERA. I still reminisce of the days when fans used to wear wolf masks and do a semi-Thriller inspired dance in Philly.
Carlos Carrasco (@NYY vs. Burnett, Pit vs. Maholm) Comes off the stellar start vs. the Triple-A team in Minnesota. ERA 2 runs lower on the road. Innings he needs to build, good stretch I see in his future. Thanks, Yoda.
Josh Outman (KC vs. Duffy, SF vs. Cain) Seems like Oakland has a series of plug and play pitchers that keep them in games. Low K potential. The Coliseum helps anyone outperform because of its wasted space, which is getting its own home and garden show.
Alex Cobb (@Det vs. Coke, Fla vs. Nolasco) Stays in rotation, for now, until Niemann is better from his boo-boo. Never going to be an ace, but should be a decent fill-in guy for AL only or deep leagues in the future. Needs to stop with the free passes to be effective.
Mike Pelfrey (@Pit vs. Maholm, Ana vs. Chatwood) Previously lambasted by the Buccos. Is usually aided by the confines of Flushing. Gives up way too many hits to be a consistent fantasy contributor. Based on match-ups it’s worth a shot.
Aaron Cook (SD vs. Moseley, Det vs. Verlander) Lunch pail, deep end of the pool pitcher. Only desperation and a start at Petco make him special. Well, what do ya know? He has neither this week. If he really is a cook, then thousands die from food poisoning.
Carlos Villanueva (Bal vs. Britton, @Cin vs. Arroyo) Chuck New House is still undefeated as a SP. Toronto has been killing the ball and last time I checked run support is important. LH batting .155 against.
Paul Maholm (NYM vs. Pelfrey, @Cle vs. Carrasco) A victim of fantasy unfairness. Run support. Still sports an ERA under 3.40 and only has 2 wins to show for his efforts. ERA at 2.45 at home and BAA is a low .223.
Jason Vargas (Ana vs. Haren, Phi vs. Hamels) Is on the cusp of fantasy legitimacy and then this week happens, 2 starts against two top ten pitchers. Previous mastery of Angels helps his cause for an add this week, Philly start makes me regret what I just typed.
Bronson Arroyo (@CHC vs. Dempster, Tor vs. Villanueva) Named after Charles Bronson, and all along I thought he was named after the “Perfect Strangers” guy, who knew? Falls into the same category as Wolf as guys who are always at the top of the waiver wire but are never on a team long.
Josh Collmenter ARI (SF vs. Cain, CHW vs. Floyd) His ERA is barely enough to buy an ice cream, 1.11. His numbers scream out luck, but why not take advantage of a good thing while it lasts; his pitching not the ice cream. Though I was thinking the same thing.
