Fantasy Football Pickups And Drops Week Seven 2011

It's pickup and drop time here for week seven.  The pickups are a little late to help most of you with your waiver claims, but it should still help you navigate free agency throughout the week.  Not all of these moves need to be made, and you should always consider your team before doing anything, but here is a short list of guys for you to be picking up or dropping this week...

Fantasy Football Pickups And Drops Week Five 2011

Changing things up here this week.  Pickup and drop column coming out today as usual, but the regular wrap up and Reality of Fantasy columns are getting a change this week.  Instead of two big columns, I'm going to go game by game in much smaller posts over the next two days.  This should allow me to write more about each team without the daunting prospect of having to do all sixteen teams at once.

Also, before we get into the pickups and drops, I'm going to talk a bit of fantasy strategy right after the jump...

Fantasy Football Pickups and Drops Week Two 2011

You should have already read my Reality of Fantasy week one recap column and if you haven't go do that before you start here in the pickups and drops column.

This column is going to be very straight forward.  I'm simply going to go position by position and offer my pickup recommendations, listed in the order I would pick them up.  Then each position will have a section of guys who are owned in more than 50% of leagues that I would be comfortable cutting for the guys on the pickup list.  At some positions the lists will be longer than other positions, and the lists will vary greatly from week to week.  These fringe players only need a slight uptick or downtick of value to make them rosterable or unrosterable, so some of these players are going to bounce back and forth from rosters to free agency all season long.

All that out of the way, onto the content...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Wednesday 8/10/11

Thursday 8/4/11 Starter Stats - James McDonald - 7.0 Innings Pitched - 3 Strikeouts - Loss - 5.14 ERA - 0.57 WHIP
Starter Spreadsheet With Stats Online Here

Just going to update with the previous starters stats here from now on the rest of the baseball season, as I'm way behind on fantasy football as it is.

McDonald would have turned in a fine start here if three of the four hits he gave up didn't go for home runs.  He didn't walk anyone, and three strikeouts wouldn't be a problem if it came with good ERA and a win.

Quick columns for the rest of the year, just like it is here...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Sunday 7/31/11

Saturday's Starter Recommendation One - Alex Cobb - 6.1 Innings Pitched - 9 Strikeouts - Loss - 4.27 ERA - 1.11 WHIP
Saturday's Starter Recommendation Two - Bartolo Colon - 5.0 Innings Pitched - 6 Strikeouts - Win - 3.60 ERA - 1.40 WHIP
ESPN Week 16 Starter Stats - 31.2 Innings Pitched - 34 Strikeouts - 9.66 K/9 - 3 Wins in 5 Starts - 2.84 ERA - 1.23 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Stats - 658.2 Innings Pitched - 480 Strikeouts - 6.56 K/9 - 44 Wins in 105 Starts - 3.40 ERA - 1.20 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

Saturday wasn't a great day for the spot starters here, but it wasn't bad either.  The ERA and WHIP weren't great, but they were definitely survivable when they also picked up 15 strikeouts and a win.

It's pretty late here on Saturday night, so I'm just going to get right to the recommendations...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Saturday 7/30/11

Friday's Starter Recommendation - Jeff Niemann - 6.2 Innings Pitched - 11 Strikeouts - Win - 0.00 ERA - 0.90 WHIP
ESPN Week 16 Starter Stats - 20.1 Innings Pitched - 19 Strikeouts - 8.41 K/9 - 2 Wins in 3 Starts - 2.21 ERA - 1.23 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Stats - 647.1 Innings Pitched - 465 Strikeouts - 6.46 K/9 - 43 Wins in 103 Starts - 3.39 ERA - 1.20 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

I said yesterday that there was shutout potential on Friday night, and I was right.  I had hoped it would have been a complete game, but 6.2 innings of shutout ball is nothing to sneeze at, especially when you throw in the eleven strikeouts and the win.  It was an amazing all around start that cost you nothing but a free agent pick up to throw out there.  Niemann should be held onto if you picked him up, as he's on a streak of five great starts.

It's Saturday, and that means two recommendations as we reach the end of head-to-head match-ups for the week.  As always, all recommendations are available in more than 50% of ESPN leagues...

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...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Wednesday 7/27/11

Monday's Starter - Freddy Garcia - 7.2 Innings Pitched - 5 Strikeouts - Win - 3.52 ERA - 1.17 WHIP
Cumulative Starters' Stats - 634.2 Innings Pitched - 451 Strikeouts - 6.40 K/9 - 43 Wins in 101 Starts - 3.43 ERA - 1.20 WHIP
Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

Garcia came out on Monday and turned in a very average performance on the way to a win.  The 3.52 ERA and 1.17 WHIP weren't great, but they aren't going to hurt you either and if it gets you a win for free, it's totally worth the start.

Wednesday has plenty of guys available to choose from below the fifty percent owned line, but they are all guys with bad stats or guys who you can't trust right now.  I'd like to pick Cory Luebke, but he's up above the 50% owned line still.  So it's going to be a risky pick here...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Sunday 7/17/11

Saturday's Recommended Starter Stats - Cory Luebke - Results Not In Yet

Cumulative Starters' Stats - 582.2 Innings Pitched - 413 Strikeouts - 6.38 K/9 - 37 Wins in 94 Starts - 3.40 ERA - 1.19 WHIP

Cumulative Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

First, sorry for labeling yesterday's post as Friday, just brainfarted.  

Luebke is just starting to pitch as i write this, so it's right on to the Sunday starter...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Friday 7/8/11

Thursday's Starter Stats - Cory Luebke - 6.0 Innings Pitched - 8 Strikeouts - Loss - 3.00 ERA - 1.00 WHIP

Week 14 Starter Stats - 28 IP - 23 Strikeouts - 7.39 K/9 - 2 Wins in 4 Starts - 1.61 ERA - 0.82 WHIP

Cumulative Starter Stats - 575.2 IP - 409 Strikeouts - 6.39 K/9 - 37 Wins in 93 Starts - 3.41 ERA - 1.20 WHIP

Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

Riding a nine game hot streak here into Friday, with the worst of any of the starts having come today.

Luebke was solid on Thursday and gave us six innings with just two earned runs and a flat 1.00 WHIP.  Not as good as the last few days, but still a very fine start when you add in the eight strikeouts.  Luebke is still striking out more than a batter per inning and gets to pitch in the friendly confines of Petco when he is home.  He's definitely worth a pickup if you need pitching help in your league.

Andrew Miller was the alternate option for Thursday, and he wasn't very good.  Three runs over five innings without any strikeouts isn't what you want out of a starter, but he did give you a win and that's why he was the alternate choice for the day.  Getting the win makes the start salvageable.

Friday is a good spot starter day, featuring many former recommendations.  We're going to go with a pitcher we've spot started for each of his last two rotation turns...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Thursday 7/7/11

Wednesday's Starter Stats - Jason Vargas - 8.0 Innings Pitched - 6 Strikeouts - Loss - 2.25 ERA - 0.75 WHIP

Week 14 Starter Stats - 22 IP - 15 Strikeouts - 6.14 K/9 - 2 Wins in 3 Starts - 1.23 ERA - 0.77 WHIP

Cumulative Starter Stats - 569.2 IP - 401 Strikeouts - 6.34 K/9 - 37 Wins in 92 Starts - 3.41 ERA - 1.20 WHIP

Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

I picked the wrong starter yesterday.  Recommended Vargas with Guillermo Moscoso as an alternate, but had the two backwards in this particular pitchers' duel.  Moscoso pitched seven scoreless innings of just two hit ball on his way to a win.  Vargas wasn't no slouch himself, but he got hit up by Scott Sizemore on a solo shot and an RBI single, and that was his downfall on the day.  Still, short of picking up the win Vargas did deliver spendidly with an 8 inning complete game of low ERA and WHIP ball.  Can't complain about that.

A bunch of starters are under the line on Thursday, but most of them aren't very good.  Luckily there are a few gems available....

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Wednesday 7/6/11

Monday's Starter Stats - Vance Worley - 7.0 Innings Pitched - 6 Strikeouts - Win - 0.00 ERA - 0.57 WHIP
Tuesday's Starter Stats - Jeff Karstens - 7.0 Innings Pitched - 3 Strikeouts - Win - 1.29 ERA - 1.00 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Stats - 561.2 IP - 395 Strikeouts - 6.33 K/9 - 37 Wins in 91 Starts - 3.43 ERA - 1.21 WHIP
Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

Late small post today because I fell asleep at my computer last night and never wrote this up.  Want to get it out as quick as possible so people do have a chance to see it and update their rosters before games start at 1:10.

Both Worley and Karstens have been great to start this Week 14.  14 Innings in the book already with just a solo home run keeping them from being scoreless.  Two wins in two starts also never hurt anyone.

Wednesday starter coming up....

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Monday 7/4/11

Sunday's Starter One - Freddy Garcia - 7.0 Innings Pitched - 1 Strikeouts - No Decision - 1.29 ERA - 0.86 WHIP
Sunday's Starter Two - Ervin Santana - 7.2 Innings Pitched - 8 Strikeouts - Win - 1.17 ERA - 0.91 WHIP
Week 13 Starter Stats - 50 Innings Pitched - 32 Strikeouts - 5.76 K/9 - 4 Wins in 8 Starts - 2.34 ERA - 1.14 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Stats - 547.2 Innings Pitched - 386 Strikeouts - 6.34 K/9 - 35 Wins in 89 Starts - 3.50 ERA - 1.22 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Here

Closed out a great week here Sunday night. It started off ugly, but the spot starter choices over the weekend got the ERA and WHIP down to fantastic levels.  Could use more strikeouts, but an otherwise solid spot starting week.

Freddy Garcia turned in another great start here Sunday.  His strikeout totals will never be high, but as long as he turns in these one run outings, he'll do great things for your fantasy team.  He would have picked up a win here Sunday too, but a rare blown save by Mariano lost the game for them.

It's a full slate of games here on a holiday Monday, but only half the starters are available under the 50% owned line, and the two most owned options under the line have been scratched from their Monday starts.  Still, I found a pair of strong options from the thirteen available starters....

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Sunday 7/3/11

Saturday's Starter One - Bartolo Colon - 6.0 Innings Pitched - 6 Strikeouts - Win - 0.00 ERA - 0.83 WHIP
Saturday's Starter Two - Doug Fister - 9.0 Innings Pitched - 7 Strikeouts - Loss - 1.00 ERA - 0.78 WHIP
Week 13 Starter Stats - 35.1 Innings Pitched - 23 Strikeouts - 5.86 K/9 - 3 Wins in 6 Starts - 2.80 ERA - 1.25 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Stats - 533 Innings Pitched - 377 Strikeouts - 6.37 K/9 - 34 Wins in 87 Starts - 3.56 ERA - 1.23 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Here

Another solid day to help clean up a week that started off poorly.  Fifteen innings of one run ball will help out any ERA or WHIP.

Colon came out in his first start off the DL and turned in a strong six innings against a decent Mets lineup before being taken out after 80 pitches.  He's picked right back up where he left off before he went on  the DL and should be allowed to go deeper into his next start.  Pick him up if he's available in whatever league you are in.

Fister was robbed by his offense of a win, as the complete game of one run ball should have gotten the job done.  That's the drawback with a Mariners pitcher, can't rely on any sort of run support.  Even when Fister is great like Saturday night, he still will lose more than he wins.

Onto Sunday's starters.  Two recommendations coming right up...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Saturday 7/2/11

Thursday's Starter Stats - Carlos Zambrano - 1.0 Innings Pitched - 1 Strikeout - No Decision- 9.00 ERA - 4.00 WHIP

Friday's Starter Stats - Jason Vargas - 9.0 Innings Pitched - 7 Strikeouts - Win - 0.00 ERA - 0.67 WHIP

Cumulative Starters' Stats - 518 Innings Pitched - 364 Strikeouts - 6.32 K/9 - 33 Wins in 85 Starts - 3.65 ERA - 1.24 WHIP

Starter Stats Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

Sorry this post is so late, but better late then never.  Should still have an hour to get your moves in here on Saturday.

Thursday night didn't go well, with Carlos Zambrano lasting an inning before being removed with a back injury and placed on the disabled list.  As always, can't predict injuries here... So just forced to take the bad inning of stats and move on.

Luckily Friday night went amazing to make up for Thursday.  Jason Vargas went the distance for his third complete game shut out of the year.  I alluded to the possibility in yesterday's column, and I turned out to be right.  Doesn't get any better really.  Nine innings of shut out ball off the waiver wire is as good as it gets, especially with a solid seven strikeouts.

Onto Saturday's starters.  It's the weekend, so that means a pair of starter recommendations for you all...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Tuesday 6/28/11

Monday's Starter Stats- Nick Blackburn - 4.1 Innings Pitched - 1 Strikeout - Loss - 14.55 ERA - 3.23 WHIP
Cumulative Starters' Stats - 502 Innings Pitched - 355 Strikeouts - 6.36 K/9 - 31 Wins in 81 Starts - 3.71 ERA - 1.24 WHIP
Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

My return to daily writing was the opposite of triumphant.  Hoped to return to a great game from Blackburn to help build my credit back up with my readers, but instead got a poor performance from a guy who had been great over his last ten starts.  Rather than dwell on Blackburn's bad start, I'm going to mention that alternate recommendation John Lannan was great yesterday, and move right on to Tuesday's recommendation.  As always, the following player is the one I recommend most that is available in more than fifty percent of ESPN leagues...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Monday 6/27/11

I'm back. I'm going to update the spreadsheet with the full stats from while I was gone later today, but for now I wanted to get everyone my recommendation for a starter here on Monday night.  It's a decent travel day here Monday, but there are still quality options available in more than fifty percent of leagues for you to add to your team...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Sunday 6/12/11

Still working overnights but will be off them and returning to a normal schedule soon.  A week or two.  Until then it's going to be short posts like this.  Sorry.  Anywho, Sunday's spot starter is a good one.

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Friday 6/10/11

Still on a short posting schedule here for Friday adjusting to my overnight work, but wanted to keep updating you guys with spot starters...

Spot Starters For 6/8/11 and 6/9/11

Too tired from adjusting to working overnights to pound out the full column, but didn't want to leave any loyal readers hanging any longer.  Will update the spreadsheet and everything at some future point, but just a pair of quick recommendations...

6/8/11 Starter - Jason Vargas - He is coming off a complete game shut out of the Rays and his matchup with the White Sox is the best of some bad draws for other good pitchers.

6/9/11 Starter - Aaron Harang - Harang has been good over his last four starts and draws a solid matchup here home against the Nationals.  He is unowned because of his past performances, but as a Padre now, it's going to be all gravy for Harang.