Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Friday 7/1/11

Tuesday's Starter Stats - Freddy Garcia - 6.0 Innings Pitched - 1 Strikeout - Win - 3.00 ERA - 1.33 WHIP
Thursday's Starter Stats - Carlos Zambrano - Stats Not Available As Of Posting. Will Update.
Cumulative Starters' Stats - 508 Innings Pitched - 356 Strikeouts - 6.31 K/9 - 32 Wins in 83 Starts - 3.70 ERA - 1.24 WHIP
Starter Stats Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

Apologies for the lack of a recommendation on Wednesday and the shorted recommendation for Thursday.  I was still recovering from my overnight work and was exhausted but couldn't sleep.  I seem to have straightened myself out now, so hopefully I'll be able to work uninterrupted moving forwards.

Freddy Garcia delivered six innings of average ERA and WHIP ball on the way to picking up a win.  Nothing to write home about, but still a quality outing from a spot started pitcher.  Yankee starters are always good for wins, so keep an eye on Phil Hughes when he comes back to the rotation.  If he returns to form he'll be ownable in basically all leagues.

Onto Friday's pickups.  We've reached July and you would think that the good pitchers would all be owned by now and yet there are still quality options available to us every day that are owned in less than 50% of leagues...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Monday 5/23/11

Sunday Starter One's Stats - Rick Porcello - 8.0 Innings Pitched - 3 Strikeouts - Win - 0.00 ERA - 0.38 WHIP
Sunday Starter Two's Stats - Edwin Jackson - 5.2 Innings Pitched - 7 Strikeouts - Win - 1.59 ERA - 1.23 WHIP
Week Seven Final Stats - 53.0 Innings Pitched - 25 Strikeouts - 4.25 K/9 - 3 Wins in 8 Starts - 2.21 ERA - 1.02 WHIP
Cumulative Starters' Stats - 396 Innings Pitched - 291 Strikeouts - 6.61 K/9 - 25 Wins in 63 Starts - 3.61 ERA - 1.20 WHIP
Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

At the end of a strong week seven, Porcello and Jackson were the Sunday cherry on top.  Porcello started a little earlier and turned in eight great innings of one hit ball.  You'd love more strikeouts, but there is no way to complain about eight innings of spotless ERA and near spotless WHIP and a win.  Porcello needs to be owned in more leagues than he is owned in right now.  Pick him up if you have the roster spot or need the pitcher. Jackson also went out there and turned in a very acceptable start. His ERA and WHIP weren't as great, but were still sparkling and he gave you seven strikeouts.

Week seven delivered great ERA and WHIP numbers with a decent number of wins even though the strikeouts weren't there.   However, I'm not going to change anything with my selection process.  The ERA and WHIP have been there, and just got unlucky with decent strikeout pitchers not picking up strikeouts.  Monday's spot starter is coming up...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Sunday 5/22/11

Saturday Spot Starter One's Stats - Clayton Richard - 5.0 Innings Pitched - 2 Strikeouts - Loss - 5.40 ERA - 1.60 WHIP
Saturday Spot Starter Two's Stats - Mark Buehrle - 7.0 Innings Pitched - 1 Strikeout - Win - 2.57 ERA - 1.00 WHIP
Week Seven Starters' Stats - 39.1 Innings Pitched - 15 Strikeouts - 3.43 K/9 - 1 Win in 6 Starts - 2.75 ERA - 1.12 WHIP
Cumulative Starters' Stats - 382.1 Innings Pitched - 281 Strikeouts - 6.61 K/9 - 23 Wins in 61 Starts - 3.72 ERA - 1.22 WHIP
Starter Stats Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

One good and one bad start combine for an average day here Saturday.  Clayton Richard got beat up by Seattle in a surprise of a start.  It wasn't long enough or bad enough to kill your ERA or WHIP, but there weren't enough strikeouts  to make up for it.  Luckily, Buehrle gave a solid start with basically exactly what you've come to expect from him.  You can't bank on him for strikeouts, but his ERA and WHIP are passable on the year and good against certain matchups and he picks up a decent amount of Wins with the White Sox.  Not enough strikeouts to own him regularly, but hes always good in matchups.

Week Seven has been a slow strikeout week, but we've been churning along the ERA and WHIP.  Have a pair of guys going with more strikeout potential on Sunday coming up...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Tuesday 5/3/11

Monday's Starter's Stats - Bartolo Colon - 7.0 Innings Pitched - 7 Strikeouts - No Decision - 3.86 ERA - 1.00 WHIP
Cumulative Starters' Stats - 240 Innings Pitched - 195 Strikeouts - 7.31 K/9 - 15 Wins in 39 Starts - 3.56 ERA - 1.16 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Here

On the first day of week five, Bartolo gave us seven very workable innings.  The 3.86 ERA isn't great, but it's coverable, and you have to be excited to pick up seven strikeouts and a solid seven innings of 1.00 WHIP.  Bartolo is going to eat a lot of innings for the Yankees this year with stats very similar to this, except with a good chance at plenty of wins.  As a note for the starters today, Kyle McClellan and Anibal Sanchez are both under the 50% owned line as i write this on Monday night, but will both likely elevate over the 50% line by Tuesday proper.  As such I'm not ranking either of them...Both should be owned but I'm not really excited about starting either of them  If you want the guy I am excited about, Tuesday's spot starter is coming up...

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...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Friday 4/8/11

Thursday's Starter Stats - Edwin Jackson - 8.0 IP - 13 Strikeouts - Win - 1.13 ERA - 0.63 WHIP

Cumulative Stater Stats - 49 IP - 43 Strikeouts - 7.9 K/9 - 4 Wins in 8 Starts - 3.49 ERA - 1.18 WHIP
Starter Spreadsheet here

I told you Jackson was a no-brainer.  The Tampa lineup is just dreadful, and Jackson made them look silly.  His one earned run came in the eighth inning, late in a start for this early in the year.  The 13 Ks are one less than the last three guys I suggested combined.  All in all it was an amazing start for fantasy purposes.  As I wrote in my Week 1 Thoughts and Pickups column Thursday, Jackson is worth rostering in all leagues.  He has a decent match-up with the As next followed by another game against Tampa Bay.  But if you need help sooner for this week's matchup, I have another great starter for you after the jump...

Fantasy Baseball Musings And Pickups From Week 1 (3/31-4/7)

This column is going to be all about the season so far.  Where you should be reacting.  Where you shouldn't be reacting.  Who to grab off of waivers.  All the good stuff you need to know through the first week.

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

Wednesday's Starter - Mike Minor - 4.1 IP - 2 Strikeouts - No Win - 10.38 ERA - 2.54 WHIP

Cumulative Starter Stats - 41 IP - 30 Strikeouts - 3 Wins - 3.95 ERA - 1.29 WHIP
Starter Spreadsheet here

Wow, Minor was just horrible.  He walked the first three batters he faced in the game and I knew it was going to end bad from there.  Thats two misses in a row I'd like to apologize for.  Hopefully you don't judge my work based on just those two outings.  Even after having two pitchers get blown up I still have an ERA under 4.  It's workable.  Today's starter pick is a better pitcher and has an amazing match-up.  Find out who after the jump...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickup For 4/2/11

Whether you are streaming starters or just looking for a spot start because of injury, you've come to the right place. Everyday here on my blog I offer the best starting pitcher that is readily available in espn.com standard leagues and rank the rest of the available pitchers in the order I would pick them up.  See who I recommend today right after the jump.