Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Tuesday 4/19/11

Monday's Recommended Starter's Stats - Carlos Zambrano - 8.0 Innings Pitched - 10 Strikeouts - No Decision - 0.00 ERA - 0.50 WHIP
Cumulative Starters' Stats - 132.1 Inning Pitched - 107 Strikeouts - 7.28 K/9 - 10 Wins in 21 Starts - 3.40 ERA - 1.15 WHIP
Starter Spreadsheet Online Here

Week three started off amazingly here, as Big Z did everything you could ask of him in a Cubs win over San Diego.  He didn't get the win, but he went eight innings and didn't allow any runs while striking out ten.  He did everything in his power to deliver you a strong fantasy day. So who do I like as a spot start for Tuesday?  Find out right here....


Brandon Beachy - Atlanta Braves at Los Angeles Dodgers - 10:10 PM EST - 5.1% Ownership in ESPN Standard Leagues

Zambrano was bad last time out but gave us a great start yesterday and I think Beachy can do the same for me here.  I recommended Beachy on Thursday and he had a bit of a let down against the Florida Marlins, but he's too good a young pitcher to keep doing poorly.  Even against Florida he let up 4 runs over 5.1 innings but still managed to strike out 8 guys in that time.  He'll keep striking guys out and if he does, he'll get the ERA and WHIP down.  Outside of early-MVP Matt Kemp, the Dodgers offense has been pretty atrocious so far this year.  Beachy should give you six or seven innings and at least six strikeouts and I like his chances to get a win.

The rest of the guys here are listed in the order I would play them.  Percentage owned in ESPN Standard Leagues in parenthesis.

Jonathon Niese (1.1%) - New York Mets vs Houston Astros - It's not a pretty day in spot starter land, but Niese makes a nice choice on a weak day.  Niese is a strong strikeouts per nine pitcher, and pitches in a nice home park.  The Astros have been doing a good job scoring runs early, but I don't really believe in that offense.  Niese should get you a strong start here and makes a good second choice to Beachy.

Sam LeCure (1.2%) - Cincinnati vs Arizona - LeCure has been good so far this season, and he's another strong strikeout pitcher.  His home park isn't too great for pitching, but he's got the strikeout ability to keep his ERA and WHIP low anyways and he's always a candidate to steal a win with the Cincinnati offense backing him up.  The Arizona offense is the only worry here, and it knocks LeCure down to third here on the day.

Carl Pavano (30.1%) - Minnesota at Baltimore - Pavano has had back to back strong starts, but he's still not a high recommendation for me here.  Because he's not going to strike anybody out, I don't get why anyone is excited about starting Pavano.  He makes the cut over the line here because of his matchup, but I personally am not starting him here.

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This is the ten-team mixed league line. Anyone below this line is only being recommended for deeper and AL/NL-only leagues.

Dustin Moseley - (0.3%) - San Diego at Chicago Cubs - Moseley has been pitching great so far this year and is due to catch some run support to have a shot at a win at some point.  Even without it, you have to like the sparkling numbers he has put up so far, so definitely start him here in NL-Only leagues.

Pick A Winner
Phil Coke (1.6%) at Doug Fister (0.2%) - Detroit at Seattle - Phil Coke has been pretty impressive so far in a turn from the bullpen to starter and Doug Fister has been a bit up and down early here, but neither is too exciting here.  The exciting part of the match-up is Safeco Field and neither guy is going to strike out a bunch of hitters, so figure out who you think is going to win, and start him in your AL-Only league.

Paul Maholm (0.6%) - Pittsburgh at Florida - Maholm has been solid for ERA and WHIP so far this season, and looks sharp.  He won't strike too many guys out, but in a good match-up against Florida here, he's playable in deep leagues.  Maholm is due to catch some run support at some point, so I like the shot at the win here.

Chris Volstad (0.2%) - Florida vs Pittsburgh - Of course, if you think Maholm will continue to not get run support, Volstad is definitely a playable candidate here.  He isn't going to get you any strikeouts either, but should give you decent numbers against Pittsburgh's offense.

Pick Another Winner
John Lannan (0.5%) at Jake Westbrook (5.9%) - Washington at St. Louis - Westbrook has been getting rocked early but has a good match-up here against Washington and Lannan has been good early but has a bad match-up here with the St. Louis offense.  Pick a winner and ride em in your NL-Only league, but otherwise don't bother.

Jake Arrieta (0.5%) - Baltimore vs Minnesota - Arrieta is Arrieta and hasn't been great so far this year, but start against Minnesota is going to be hard to pass up for those of you in AL-only leagues.

Decent Pitchers... Horrible Matchups
Randy Wolf - Milwaukee at Philadelphia
Bruce Chen - Kansas City vs Cleveland
Armando Galarraga - Arizona at Cincinnati
Both Chen and Wolf are very spottable right now and Galarraga can be decent at times, but I can't recommend any of them here with these match-ups.  Bench em here, and avoid the threat to your ERA and WHIP.

Real Life Spot Starters
Jeanmar Gomez (0.1%) - Cleveland at Kansas City
James Russell (0.1%)- Chicago Cubs vs San Diego
Matt Palmer (0.0%)- Los Angeles Angels at Texas
We're always looking for spot starters in Fantasy, but the guys who are spot starting in real life, you have to avoid.  If you are absolutely scraping the barrel and have to start one, Gomez has the best stuff and a clean slate to screw up in his first start.

The +15.00 ERA Club
John Lackey (35.4%) - Boston at Oakland - Yeah... Lackey is in an ERA club all his own.  Don't play him. Cut him now. You can get better performance from waivers.

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