Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Pickup And Drop Ideas For Wednesday 5/25/11

Two Weeks Ago's Recommendation - Drop Jose Lopez and Pickup Scott Rolen

Lopez has been hitting .353 over the last two weeks, but has picked up just two runs and a single stolen base.  Rolen has hit for a similarly solid average at .342 but has been much better in the counting stats, picking up six runs and five RBIs with a stolen base.  This is going to continue to go this way.  Rolen plays in a better offense so he'll pick up more counting stats, and he will hit for a better average as well.

Last Week's Recommendation - Drop Josh Tomlin and Pickup Madison Bumgarner

It's harder to evaluate a pair of pitchers after just one week because generally they will only have one start each, and that's what happened here.  Both guys did turn solid starts in wins.  Bumgarner went a little deeper into the start so he had a better ERA, but Tomlin let up less hits and walks so he grabbed a better WHIP.  That was the only difference between the two through one week.  We'll keep an eye on this for a while, but I have to insist that you drop Tomlin.  He's going to blow up soon.  He's not this good of a pitcher.

This Wednesday we are also going to look at a pair of starting pitchers.  I write about spot starter recommendations every day, but that doesn't help you evaluate pitchers that are owned in more than fifty percent of leagues.  One to drop and one to pickup coming up...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Tuesday 5/17/11

Monday's Recommended Starter's Stats - Joel Pineiro - 7.0 Innings Pitched - 2 Strikeouts - No Decision - 3.86 ERA - 1.29 WHIP

Cumulative Starter's Stats - 350 Innings Pitched - 268 Strikeouts - 6.89 K/9 - 22 Wins in 56 Starts - 3.83 ERA - 1.23 WHIP

Starters' Stats Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

Pineiro wasn't great, but in the end he didn't hurt anything.  The ERA and WHIP are both passable numbers, and two strikeouts are better than none.  He was in position to pick up a win when he left the game, but Jordan Walden and Fernando Rodney blew the game for him.  If you went with Homer Bailey, you picked up a win but with worse ERA and WHIP.  It was the better start, and it looks like you can trust Homer going forward.  The deep league players who went with John Lannan got a solid ERA performance, but a bad WHIP and missed out on picking up the win.  It was a pretty average start to the week overall, hopefully can pick it up with some better choices here on Tuesday...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Monday 5/16/11

Sunday's Recommended Starter One's Stats - Carlos Zambrano - Rained Out
Sunday's Recommended Starter Two's Stats - Mark Buehrle - 6.1 Innings Pitched - 6 Strikeouts - Win - 4.27 ERA - 1.58 WHIP
Week Six Starters' Final Stats - 54.2 Innings Pitched - 39 Strikeouts - 6.42 K/9 - 5 Wins in 9 Starts - 4.45 ERA - 1.45 WHIP
Cumulative Starter's Stats - 343 Innings Pitched - 266 Strikeouts - 6.98 K/9 - 22 Wins in 55 Starts - 3.83 ERA - 1.23 WHIP

Starters' Stats Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

Zambrano was our best starter option but he was rained out, and I failed to provide an alternate catchup starter for rain-outs yesterday.  Luckily, Buehrle came through and delivered exactly what you expect from Buehrle.  I thought he'd go a little deeper into the game with the Sox' light bullpen, but you expect something around a 3 or 4 ERA and he's always a bit of a WHIP risk.  He balance out the ERA and WHIP by delivering nearly a strikeout per inning and picking up a win to get me to five wins in nine starts on the week.  It wasn't a great ERA and WHIP week, but managed to pick up a bunch of wins from my spot start choices.  The deep league starters have been good as well, and if you played Capuano you got Buehrle's day with better ERA and worse WHIP.  A great start in a deep league.  Monday's starter recommendation to kick off week seven coming up...