Monday, April 11, 2011

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups for Monday 4/11/11

Sunday Pitcher Stats-
Aaron Harang - 6.0 Innings Pitched - 2 Strikeouts - Win - 1.50 ERA - .83 WHIP
Gavin Floyd - 8.0 Innings Pitched - 8 Strikeouts - Win - 0.00 ERA - .63 WHIP

Cumulative Stater Stats - 74.1 Innings Pitched - 65 Strikeouts - 7.87 K/9 - 7 Wins in 12 Starts - 2.91 ERA - 1.13 WHIP
Starter Stat Spreadsheet Here

A nice way to wrap up the first fully head to head week.  Two pitchers with that ERA and WHIP are great for your overall totals and Floyd made up for Harang's minor absence of strikeouts.  Curiously enough, both pitchers I selected on Sunday had a run cross the plate that wasn't charged to their ERA because of an error even though in both cases, the pitchers themselves were charged with the error.  I feel like, because the error is on the pitcher the run should probably be charged to the pitcher, but who am I to argue with it as it helps my pitcher's ERA, right?  Anyways, ranking Monday starters available in more than 50% of mixed leagues coming up right after the jump....


Alexi Ogando - Texas Rangers at Detroit Tigers - 1:05 PM EST - 8.3% ESPN Ownership

Ogando went basically unranked by me in his first start, but put up a good day against the Seattle Mariner lineup even playing at home.  6 innings of no run ball is always helpful for your ERA.  Ogando worried me as a young player making his first major league start, but the Rangers have been doing a great job developing their starting pitchers.  His problem from the minors coming up and through the majors has always been getting lefties out.  Luckily for Ogando, the Tigers don't quite have enough lefties in their line-up to really get to him to badly.  He's not going to have a permanent spot in the Texas rotation, so take the starts while you can get them now.  Look for six or so innings with just a run or two and a handful of strike outs on his way to the win.

And the rest of the available starters ranked in the order I would use them...

Daisuke Matsuzaka (7.9%) - Boston vs Tampa Bay - Its a travel day Monday and we are missing a third of the league today, so Matsuzaka rises near the top of a weak pool of available players because of his cushy match-up against the Tampa Bay Rays.  The Rays are still last in the league in runs scored and Matsuzaka is a guy who can take advantage of a poor lineup.  If Boston's offense could be counted on, Daisuke might be my recommendation, but even with the reduced chance of a win, he still makes a good second option.

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This is the line. Anyone below the line is only recommended for AL/NL-Only or Deep Mixed leagues.  It is a weak travel day and fifth starter day here and the first match-up day of the week, so don't reach over this line if you don't like Daisuke or Ogando.

Mark Buehrle (14.1%) - Chicago White Sox vs Oakland - Despite me having selecting him two starts ago, Buehrle really shouldn't be owned in any standard ten team mixed leagues.  My cumulative starter stats have shown that whatever Buehrle is going to give you in a 10 team league, you can get better than that from the available guys on the waiver wire.  Having said that, if you are in an AL league or a deeper league and own Buehrle, he's worth starting here in a good matchup against Oakland.  You know you're not going to get the strikeouts, but solid enough ERA and WHIP and a chance at a win.

Jesse Litsch (0.2%) - Toronto at Seattle - Litsch had a strong first outing against Oakland, and that doubled with Litsch's nice outing at Safeco field make him seem like a pretty decent starting option for the day.  However, he's probably not going to match his strikeout total from his last outing and drew a match-up against King Felix Hernandez.  Don't expect the win or strikeouts but Litsch could give you some solid ERA and WHIP.

Mitch Talbot (0.1%) - Cleveland at Los Angeles Angels - Talbot had a solid first outing in terms of strikeouts, but the Red Sox drove up his pitch count quite a bit and had him out of the game after just 4.1 Innings.  The Angels have been hot early, and might also drive Talbot out the game quickly.  Don't expect too much, but the power Cleveland offense gives him a good chance at a win if he performs well.

Kyle McClellan (4.5%) - St. Louis at Arizona - McClellan had a good first outing against Pittsburgh and but has a less than ideal match-up here with Arizona.  He has been a 7.00ish K/9 from his time in throughout the minors into the majors, which is enough to make him worth getting a start on occassion, but with Arizona hitting well to start the season and St. Louis hitting poorly, this isn't a good spot for him.

Jason Hammel (0.4%) - Colorado at New York Mets - Hammel didn't have a strong first outing against the Dodgers even though he picked up the win, and the Mets offense has been much better than the Dodgers offense has been.  Hammel is a career 6.61 K/9 pitcher, but only grabbed two in his first go around.  I'd pass this start up here.

Barry Enright (0.1%) Arizona vs St. Louis - Enright is making it this high only on matchup and based on his offense's early season performance.  He's a guy who doesn't strike out a lot of batters and can be an ERA and WHIP risk, but St. Louis' offense hasn't been good and Arizona's has been, so he might pick up a win here.

Dallas Braden (7.3%) - Oakland at Chicago White Sox - Braden is owned in more leagues than I would expect.  He doesn't have a great K/9 on his career and he doesn't have a great offense behind him.  I also especially wouldn't start him here against the number one offense in the league at U.S. Cellular Field.

Mike Pelfrey and Nelson Figueroa - Pelfrey has been worse but i expect him to do better in this start than Figueroa.  Regardless, neither of these guys is getting near my starting lineup until they turn in a start that brings their ERAs down below 10.00

That's a wrap for the Monday pickup column.  Going to try to post another article at some point during the day Monday, but haven't decided on what yet.  Been tossing around a few different ideas.

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