Friday, July 29, 2011

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Friday 7/29/11

Wednesday's Starter Recommendation - Phil Hughes - 6.0 Innings Pitched - 3 Strikeouts - Loss - 3.00 ERA - 1.67 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Stats - 640.2 Innings Pitched - 454 Strikeouts - 6.38 K/9 - 43 Wins in 102 Starts - 3.43 ERA - 1.20 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

Not the greatest start out there Wednesday for Hughes, but definitely not the worst.  He pitched well wnough to pick up the win, just the Yankee offense (and his bullpen later) didn't back him up on the day.  The WHIP isn't pretty, but the ERA balances it out.

Friday brings us a handful of choices, including the always interesting situation where there are two playable fantasy pitchers in one game...

Friday's Recommended Starter - Jeff Niemann - Tampa Bay Rays at Seattle Mariners - 10:10 PM ET - 23.6% Owned in ESPN Leagues

During his time in the Tampa rotation this year, Niemann has a 3.86 ERA and 1.29 WHIP on the season, but that doesn't tell the whole story here.  He's been amazing over the last month.  Over the last thirty days, he has a 1.32 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP with 23 strikeouts in 27.1 innings.  Now he gets to play in pitcher lovely Safeco Field against the worst offense in the league.  This is an all systems go start here, as there is serious shutout potential here Friday night and the Rays offense is much better than the Mariners offense.  Niemann has a great chance to pick up a win.

Friday's Alternate - Erik Bedard - Seattle Mariners vs Tampa Bay Rays - 10:10 PM ET - 49% Owned in ESPN Leagues

From the other side of that game, we get Erik Bedard.  He's coming off the DL, but he's generally very effective whenever he is on the mound.  He's also very used to coming back from the DL in general.  The Rays offense has been kind of erratic since the All-Star Break, so Bedard should be able to perform well against them here.  He would be the recommendation today if Niemann wasn't pitching so well, and he might even be the better pick up long term.

That's a wrap here today.  Going to do my best to get out the full Saturday version of this column here.  Hopefully the NFL moves will slow down some tomorrow and I'll have more time for it.

-Fred "Big Derf" Tobin

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