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 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 7/24/11

Friday's Starter's Stats - Phil Hughes - 4.1 Innings Pitched - 3 Strikeouts - Loss - 14.55 ERA -3.00 WHIP
"Week 15" Starters' Stats - 31.1 Innings Pitched - 25 Strikeouts - 7.18 K/9 - 3 Wins in 5 Starts - 4.31 ERA - 1.21 WHIP
Cumulative Starters' Stats - 614 Innings Pitched - 438 Strikeouts - 6.42 K/9 - 40 Wins in 98 Starts - 3.44 ERA - 1.20 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

A second total dud in the row made me just duck and hide from picking starters on Saturday.  Trusting Javy and Phil on back to back days was a bad idea in retrospect.  Luckily it's still not that bad of a week in ERA and WHIP considering those last two horrible starts.

Sunday we have a pair of starters coming in who probably aren't going to make the ERA and WHIP much better, but will rack up some strikeouts and have the best shots at the wins you need on Sundays...

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Friday 7/22/11

Thursday's Starter's Stats - Javier Vazquez - 4.1 Innings Pitched - 6 Strikeouts - Loss - 10.39 ERA - 2.54 WHIP

"Week 15" Starters' Stats - 27 Innings Pitched - 22 Strikeouts - 7.33 K/9 - 3 Wins in 4 Starts - 2.67 ERA - 0.93 WHIP

Cumulative Starters' Stats - 609.2 Innings Pitched - 435 Strikeouts - 6.42 K/9 - 40 Wins in 98 Starts - 3.37 ERA - 1.18 WHIP

Cumulative Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

All good things must come to an end... and this isn't the first good thing to end because of Javy Vazquez.  It was a weak day, and I got sucked in.  I don't have any real excuses here.  Luckily there was such a string of good starts leading up to him that it didn't destroy my ERA and WHIP too badly.  

Also I'd like to note here that Cory Luebke is still my favorite available play, but he is just slightly above the 50% owned line that I use for this column, so I won't be selecting him as my play today.  If he's available in your league though, I'm rolling him out there.

Hopefully, if you just joined me yesterday,  I can make up for it for you with Friday's starter...