Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Tuesday 8/2/11

Sunday's Starter Recommendation One - Freddy Garcia - 6.0 Innings Pitched - 6 Strikeouts - Win - 3.00 ERA - 1.17 WHIP
Sunday's Starter Recommendation Two - Brandon McCarthy - 6.0 Innings Pitched - 9 Strikeouts - Win - 4.50 ERA - 1.33 WHIP
ESPN Week 16 Final Starter Stats - 43.2 Innings Pitched - 49 Strikeouts - 10.10 K/9 - 5 Wins in 7 Starts - 3.09 ERA - 1.24 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Stats - 670.2 Innings Pitched - 495 Strikeouts - 6.64 K/9 - 46 Wins in 107 Starts - 3.41 ERA - 1.20 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

Sunday capped off a nearly perfect week on Sunday night.  Both starters picked up wins and plenty of strike outs in the process.  The ERA and WHIP on the week were both very good, and five wins in seven starts is a great rate, especially when you are throwing for more than a strikeout per inning.

Unfortunately, I have to try and follow up that amazing week here in Week 17 as i start on Tuesday.  As always, the recommendation is available in more than 50% of ESPN leagues....

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 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 Monday 7/25/11

Sunday Starter One's Stats - Bartolo Colon - 7.0 Innings Pitched - 4 Strikeouts - Win - 2.57 ERA - 1.29 WHIP
Sunday Starter Two's Stats - Rick Porcello - 6.0 Innings Pitched - 4 Strikeouts - Win - 3.00 ERA - 1.17 WHIP
ESPN "Week 15" Final Starters' Stats - 44.1 Innings Pitched - 33 Strikeouts - 6.70 K/9 - 5 Wins in 7 Starts - 3.86 ERA - 1.22 WHIP
Cumulative Starters' Stats - 627 Innings Pitched - 446 Strikeouts - 6.40 K/9 - 42 Wins in 100 Starts - 3.43 ERA - 1.20 WHIP
Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

Pair of starts on Sunday and a pair of solid wins.  They were essentially the same start, just Colon went an inning further into his game than Porcello.  Boh guys picked up a win and four strikeouts while letting up just two runs.  It was as advertised here on Sunday, as both guys were picked for their win chances and delivered.

Monday starts a new week here and hopefully a new streak will continue here.  I may seem like a homer here, but the schedule says what the schedule says...

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 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 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 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 Tuesday 5/31/11

Sunday Starter One's Stats - Vance Worley - 3.0 Innings Pitched - 1 Strikeout - Loss - 15.00 ERA - 4.00 WHIP

Sunday Starter Two's Stats - Ryan Dempster - 6.0 Innings Pitched - 5 Strikeouts - Win - 3.00 ERA - 1.17 WHIP

Week Eight Starters' Stats - 51.2 Innings Pitched - 31 Strikeouts - 5.40 K/9 - 2 Wins in 9 Starts - 3.14 ERA - 1.30 WHIP

Cumulative Starters' Stats - 447.2 Innings Pitched - 322 Strikeouts - 6.47 K/9 - 27 Wins in 71 Starts - 3.56 ERA - 1.21 WHIP

Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

Starting this one off with multiple apologies.  One apology for the lack of a Monday column.  Decided to hang out late at a Memorial Day BBQ on Sunday night, so took Memorial Day off.  This is probably going to be something I do with holidays most of the time, though with more notice in the future.  Usually going to miss the day after the holiday, as I write my columns the night before.

The second apology, is to all those who went with Vance Worley on Sunday night.  He cost me ERA and WHIP in my week eight matchup on Sunday night, and I'm sure some of you readers got bit as well.  I had no reason to think he'd be bad here but he just didn't have his control on Sunday night.  Hopefully you had also played Dempster, who delivered a fully solid start in all aspects while grabbing a win.  If you were in a deep league and went with Guillermo Moscoso, the ERA wasn't pretty, but the WHIP was good and he picked up a win for you.  

Starting week nine here late on Tuesday.  Today's recommended pitcher that's available in at least fifty percent of leagues is coming up...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Friday 4/29/11

Thursday's Recommendations' Stats - Kyle McClellan - 5.2 Innings Pitched - 2 Strikeouts - Win - 7.94 ERA - 1.77 WHIP

Week Four Cumulative Stats - 25 Innings Pitched - 13 Strikeouts - 4.68 K/9 - 2 Win in 4 Starts - 5.76 ERA - 1.48 WHIP

Cumulative Total Stats - 201.2 Innings Pitched - 153 Strikeouts - 6.83 K/9 - 14 Wins in 33 Starts - 3.70 ERA - 1.20 WHIP

Starter Spreadsheet Online Here

It was a weak starting pitcher day Thursday and McClellan was just one example of that.  My second recommendation, Baker, ended up being pushed back to Friday, and the only good starts that came from anyone were Jeff Niemann and Carlos Carrasco.  McClellan didn't do much else, but he did squeak out a win because of the amazing Cardinal offense.  It's been a rough week, but as we get into the weekend we have a few solid spot choices coming up Saturday and Sunday, and we'll make up this bad week yet.  Fridays starter coming up...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Wednesday 4/6/11

Tuesday's Starter Stats - Gavin Floyd - 7.0 IP - 5 Strikeouts - No Decision - 5.14 ERA - 1.29 WHIP

Cumulative Starter Stats  - 36.2 IP - 28 Strikeouts - 3 Wins - 3.19 ERA - 1.15 WHIP
(Full Starter List With Full Stats Here)

Floyd was my first big miss so far this year.  The five Ks weren't bad, but any ERA over 5.00 has to be considered a failure.  Buehrle had a worse ERA, but that was only because he was left in too long with the White Sox having a double digit lead.  I apologize for Floyd, but if you've been taking my starter recommendations since I've started it shouldn't affect your ERA too much.  Anyways, just click through the jump break to find out who I like today.