Thursday, April 28, 2011

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Thursday 4/28/11

Wednesday's Recommendations' Stats - Bartolo Colon - 8.0 Innings Pitched - 6 Strikeouts - Win - 1.13 ERA - 1.00 WHIP
Week Four Cumulative Stats - 19.1 Innings Pitched - 11 Strikeouts - 5.12 K/9 - 1 Win in 3 Starts - 5.12 ERA - 1.40 WHIP
Cumulative Total Stats - 196 Innings Pitched - 151 Strikeouts - 6.93 K/9 - 13 Wins in 32 Starts - 3.58 ERA - 1.18 WHIP
Starter Spreadsheet Online Here

Bartolo Colon goes out there and gives us eight great innings a day after Brandon McCarthy ruined everything for us.  Stick with me and I'll churn out more good days than bad, as my cumulative stats show through almost 200 innings.  Bartolo gave us six strikeouts and just one run over the eight innings, and Robinson Cano had a three run homer in the first to give him plenty of cushion for the win.  Going with another great starter today, coming up right now...


Kyle McClellan - St. Louis Cardinals at Houston Astros - 8:05 PM EST - 42.2% Owned in ESPN Standard Leagues

I avoided McClellan last time out in the rotation because he ran up against the Reds, but he still managed to go six innings and give up just two earned runs.  He's pitched a quality start each time out so far this year and now gets a game against the Astros who are starting Nelson Figueroa out there.  The Astros offense isn't scary, and the St. Louis offense is going to have no problem racking up the runs against Figueroa.  Expect another quality start plus four or five strikeouts from McClellan to go with an easy win here.

The rest of the players are listed in the order that I would start them.  Ownership percentages are listed in parenthesis.

Scott Baker (9.6%) - Minnesota vs Tampa Bay - Baker has been good in his last to starts, and he's coming home to Target Field against a still not scoring to highly Tampa Bay team.  Baker shut them down to the tune of one run and six strikeouts over seven innings.  He's got a K/9 rate of over 8 so far this year, and has done well so far.  He'll strikeout at least six or seven on a cruise of a start with a shot at a win.

Chris Capuano (0.1%) - NY Mets at Washington - Capuano struck out 8 Nationals over 6 innings last time he started against them, and is coming off a one run performance against Houston.  The Nationals offense isn't that scary, and the Mets are riding a six game winning streak into this game.  Capuano has a career K/9 of up over 7, and that is always a great sign for a spot starter.  Look for six or seven innings of a quality start, with a solid chance for a win and plenty of strikeouts.

Jeff Karstens (0.1%) - Pittsburgh vs San Francisco - Karstens had a good start the last time out against Washington, but thats it all that is very positive on his resume.  The strikeout totals have been up this year though.  This recommendation is mostly a gut recommendation, so I had to put him above the line here.

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

Brad Penny (0.6%) - Detroit vs Seattle - Penny had his first good start of the year last time out against the White Sox letting up just one hit over seven innings.  I think he's turning it around here, and will have another good game here.  A match-up against Seattle is always nice, so play him here in your deeper leagues, but don't bank on him in standard leagues.

Livan Hernandez (5.5%) - Washington vs NY Mets - Livan is Livan.  You know you aren't going to get too many strikeouts, but he's in the wily veteran stage of his career where he gives you solid enough ERA and WHIP to make him worth playing in your NL leagues.

Ryan Vogelsong (0.0%) - San Francisco at Pittsburgh - Vogelsong has had a pair of good relief appearances so far this year, and is making his first spot start in place of Barry Zito on Thursday.  He's got a career K/9 over 6 and was projected for K/9 of above 7 on the year.  Its a good match-up against Pittsburgh, so start him if it's needed in your NL leagues.

Edwin Jackson (45.9%) - Chicago at NY Yankees - Edwin started the year hot, but has had a pair of bad starts his last two times out.  Here he runs up against the Yankee lineup at Yankee Stadium, which is never a great place to pitch.  You have to start him in your AL-Only leagues, but thats about it.

Pick A Winner
Jeff Niemann (0.5%) Tampa Bay at
Nick Blackburn (1.0%) Minnesota
Both of these guys have been getting beat up so far this year, but both of these teams also have fairly poor offenses so far this year.  Niemann had a better outing than Blackburn when they both started in different games during the last series between these too teams, but neither have been quality enough to be worth starting in shallower leagues.  In AL-Only leagues, decide who you think will win and play them.

Pick Another Winner
Kyle Davies (0.0%) Kansas City at
Fausto Carmona (8.0%) Cleveland
Carmona got blown up his last time out, and Kyle Davies was getting blown up to start the year and has settled down, but neither is a good choice today because they are playing one another.  Each of these offenses has been good so far this year, so I can't recommend either to much today.  Only value here is going to come from the win, so find your winner and play them in your AL leagues.

No Start Recommended
Brad Bergesen (0.0%) - Baltimore vs Boston
Barry Enright (0.0%) - Arizona vs Chicago Cubs
Nelson Figueroa (0.0%) - Houston vs St. Louis
None of these guys are any good and none should be starting in any league right now.  Bergesen might have value someone sooner, but these guys don't have much worth.  Just ignore these guys.

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