In many fantasy leagues, owners do not have the ability to update their rosters on a daily basis. Instead, they must set their lineups at the beginning of the week and hope for the best. One aspect of fantasy baseball that this kind of format greatly affects is pitching. In contrast to positional players, starting pitchers obviously do not take the field every game. Therefore, it is important for fantasy owners to strategize correctly and maximize the amount of stats that they can obtain in their pitching categories. One way to accomplish this is to look at the coming week’s two-start pitchers…
(NOTE: These are projected pitchers for Week 5 – April 28 thru May 4 – of the MLB season, and does not take into account any postponed or cancelled games after the date at which this article has been posted.)
FAVORABLE MATCH-UPS
Fausto Carmona, CLE - vs. SEA (4/29) and vs. KC (5/3)
Cole Hamels, PHI - vs. SD (4/29) and vs. SF (5/4)
Dan Haren, ARI - vs. HOU (4/28) and vs. NYM (5/4)
Derek Lowe, LAD - @ FLA (4/29) and @ COL (5/4)
Jason Marquis, CHC - vs. MIL (4/29) and @ STL (5/4)
Tim Redding, WAS - vs. ATL (4/29) and vs. PIT (5/4)
TWO-START PITCHERS TO STAY AWAY FROM
Roy Halladay, TOR - @ BOS (4/29) and vs. CWS (5/4)
Typically, Halladay would be a solid two-start pitcher in any fantasy format – and how could a pitcher who has had two complete games in five starts in 2008 not be? Well, first and foremost, Halladay has allowed 3+ ER in four of his five outings this year, including 9 ER in his last two. Secondly, Toronto is 2-8 in their last ten. Couple those struggles with the fact that Halladay is scheduled to pitch opposite Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka and Chicago’s Javier Vazquez, and Week 5 just does not seem to be the best of situations for this former Cy Young Award winner.
Greg Maddux, SD - @ PHI (4/29) and @ FLA (5/4)
Still searching for his 350th career win, Maddux will have his work cut out for him in the coming week. Like Toronto, San Diego has gone 2-8 over the last ten games and currently sits near the bottom of the barrel in runs scored (75 for 2nd worst in the majors). The 42-year-old veteran will have to take his bid for 350 on the road this week against two fairly potent offenses – Philadelphia and Florida. As of right now, Maddux is projected to have two tough pitching match-ups against Cole Hamels and Andrew Miller.
Mike Mussina, NYY - @ CLE (4/28) and vs. SEA (5/3)
Sure, Mussina had a nice outing against the White Sox this week, but how quickly we forget about his struggles in the two previous games in which he pitched – 8.2 IP, 9 ER on 15 hits and 2 K. The Yankees travel to Cleveland this coming week for Mussina’s first start against an Indians team that seems to be pulling things together. In his second start of the week, the Yankees host Seattle and Mussina is projected to be pitching opposite Felix Hernandez, who is 2-0 with a 1.67 ERA over five starts.
Ian Snell, PIT - @ NYM (4/28) and @ WAS (5/3)
Snell is one of those pitchers who has the potential to be lights out, but constantly seems to underachieve. He has had some quality starts so far in 2008, but with an offense behind him that struggles to put runs on the board, it is tough to gauge which Snell will come out to pitch. In Week 5, however, things don’t necessarily match up well for Snell, as he will make two starts on the road against two very hot pitchers. To start the week, Snell is projected to face Mets ace Johan Santana, and then the Pirates will head to our nation’s capital, where Snell will be opposite John Lannan (1-0, 13.0 IP, 1 ER and 15 K over his last two starts).
TWO-START PITCHERS TO CONSIDER
Cliff Lee, CLE - vs. SEA (4/29) and vs. KC (5/4)
What an amazing turnaround for Cliff Lee in 2008. After going 5-8 with a 6.29 ERA in 2007, and not even being on the Indians active roster for the playoffs, Lee has bounced back tremendously to the tune of a 4-0 record with a 0.28 ERA, 0.41 WHIP and nearly a 15:1 K/BB ratio. In addition, Cleveland looks to finally have gotten things back on pace, as they have won 6 of their last 8 games. Lee gets two starts at home in Week 5 and is projected to match-up against two pitcher with a combined record of 2-6 and both with 4.00+ ERAs.
Franklin Morales, COL - @ SF (4/28) and vs. LAD (5/4)
Heading into the 2008 season, I projected Morales to be one of the top rookie pitchers to keep an eye on. In his first start this year, it looked as though I was right on point, as Morales went 6 innings, allowing only 2 hits and no runs. However, over his next three starts, the 22-year-old allowed 14 ER in 15.0 IP, leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth. To put it bluntly, Morales must pitch well this week or there is a strong possibility that he will get sent down to the minors. I believe that he will step up to the occasion. He has one projected match-up against a struggling Matt Cain in San Francisco, and ends the week at home against Derek Lowe and the Dodgers. Morales will be put to the test in Week 5, but he definitely has the ability to pull through and succeed.
Joe Saunders, LAA - vs. OAK (4/29) and vs. BAL (5/4)
Much like Cleveland’s Cliff Lee, Saunders has bounced back from a sub-par 2007 campaign and started the season on fire – 4-0 with a 2.55 ERA over five starts. Is he for real? Well, behind the Angels potent offense (4.8 runs per game over their last ten), Saunders’ chance for success are above average. With a home-and-home in Week 5, Saunders has two favorable match-ups against Seattle and Baltimore. If he is able to continue down the same path, there is no doubt that Saunders will outshine Jered Weaver as the interim ace in Los Angeles while John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar are still on the shelf. |
