Fantasy Baseball: Daily Pitcher Analysis (May 14th)
Fantasy Baseball: Daily Pitcher Analysis (May 14th)
By Muntradamus
BEAST DOME NATION. This article will have you ready to set your weekly lineup, as well as give you players to look for this week. Of course the Daily Pitcher Rankings with in-depth analysis is on the bottom.
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BEASTS OF THE WEEK (7) Who are ready for Week (8):
*Not Ranked in Any Order.
Catcher:
Joe Buck
Jonathan LuCroy
Ryan Doumit
Carlos Ruiz
Brian McCann
A.J. Ellis
Matt Wieters
Mike Napoli
1B/DH:
David Ortiz
Adam Dunn
Kila Ka’aihue
Adrian Gonzalez
Adam LaRoche
Joey Votto
Kendry Morales
Mark Trumbo
Brett Pill
Michael Cuddyer
Freddie Freeman
2B:
Jason Kipnis
Ian Kinsler
Jemile Weeks
Danny Espinosa
Dan Uggla
SS:
Jose Reyes
Rafael Furcal
Elvis Andrus
Starlin Castro
Asdrubal Cabrera
Alcides Escobar
3B:
David Wright
Adrian Beltre
Ryan Roberts
Aramis Ramirez
Ian Stewart
Martin Prado
Miguel Cabrera
Brandon Inge
Edwin Encarnacion
Will Middlebrooks
OF:
Carlos Beltran
Andre Ethier
Nelson Cruz
Matt Holliday
Allen Craig
Daniel Nava
Ryan Braun
Josh Hamilton
Josh Reddick
Seth Smith
Jay Bruce
Jose Bautista
Melky Cabrera
David DeJesus
Andrew McCutchen
Nick Markakis
Mike Trout
Trent Colvin
Carlos Gonzalez
Corey Hart
Giancarlo Stanton
Milton Bradley
Jason Heyward
Roger Bernadina
HOTTEST HITTING TEAMS ENTERING WEEK 8:
1. Texas Rangers
2. Atlanta Braves
3. St. Louis Cardinals
4. Boston Red Sox
5. Oakland Athletics
6. Chicago Cubs
7. Detroit Tigers
8. Milwaukee Brewers
9. Cleveland Indians
10. Cincinnati Reds
11. Miami Marlins
12. Baltimore Orioles
13. Toronto Blue Jays
14. Colorado Rockies
15. Los Angeles Angels
16. Washington Nationals
17. San Francisco Giants
18. Kansas City Royals
19. New York Mets
20. Chicago White Sox
21. Tampa Bay Rays (Can only hit RHP pitching)
22. New York Yankees
23. Los Angeles Dodgers (Matt Kemp Injury hurts)
24. Seattle Mariners
25. Philadelphia Phillies
26. Minnesota Twins
27. Pittsburgh Pirates
28. Arizona Diamondbacks
29. San Diego Padres
30. Houston Astros
Daily DRAFTSTREET Salary Cap Team (5/14):
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C: Brian McCann
1B: Adam Lind
2B: Ryan Raburn
SS: Jhonny Peralta
3B: Aramis Ramirez
OF: Jay Bruce
OF: Jose Bautista
OF: Nelson Cruz
UTI: Ben Zobrist
UTI: Kendry Morales
SP: Anibal Sanchez
SP: Ryan Vogelsong
SP: Casey Janssen
RP: Jose Vlaverde
Daily Pitcher Rankings (5/14):
ELITE STARTERS:
1. ANIBAL SANCHEZ VS. PIT
Sanchez is averaging 10.5 Ks per home start. The Pirates offense does not come into this game particular hot outside of Andrew McCutchen, and I expect all of them to get a bit colder after this one. Sanchez is a beast this season, and Pittsburgh cannot hang.
2. CLAYTON KERSHAW VS. AZ
The Diamondbacks have one of the softest offenses in the NL. I expect Kershaw to mow down this team with ease. The W is not guaranteed, but the 8+ K game pretty much is.
3. JON LESTER VS. SEA
Lester is starting to get his groove back, and faces a Seattle team that is not very hot right now. I believe Lefties also have an advantage over the abundance left handed Mariner hitters. Lester owns a 3.97 ERA against Seattle, I expect that number to drop in this one. Ichiro Suzuki has 2 career HRs off of Jon, I do not believe he will add a 3rd.
4. IAN KENNEDY @ LAD
Kennedy has not faced the Dodgers yet this season, but so far every matchup he should pitch well in. Kennedy usually succeeds. With Matt Kemp most likely missing this game, I look for Kennedy to throw a gem in a good start against Clayton Kershaw. James Loney is a deep sleeper with his .364 career average against Ian, I would probably still avoid him in this one.
GOOD STARTERS:
5. JOE BLANTON VS. HOU
The Astros offense is terrible right now. Anybody can throw a quality game, even Charlie Morton had a shutout. I expect Blanton to rebound from his poor outing against the Mets, and refer back to his complete game shutout ways vs. the Braves in Atlanta!
6. DREW SMYLY @ CWS
Smyly has already faced the White Sox offense and held them to 2 ER in 6 INN to go along with 7 Ks. The White Sox offense is starting to get very cold, and I expect Smyly to continue to roll as he is looking like a lock for AL ROY with his 1.59 ERA. Do not play Adam Dunn in this one.
7. ROSS DETWILER VS. SD
Ross has had QS’s in nearly every game where you expect to him be great. He has yet to give up more than 3 ER in a game, and that trend should continue against a cold Padres lineup. Ross should have another QS in this one no doubt.
8. RYAN DEMPSTER @ STL
Dempster has been elite in every start this season, including his last one in Atlanta where he gave up 0 ER in 7 INN with 7 Ks. The Cardinals offense is one of the hottest in baseball, but a good pitcher like Dempster can shut them down. I would roll the dice with Ryan in this one. If I had to pick a sleeper hitter, Carlos Beltran and his .500 career average against Dempster would be my man. He is also the second hottest hitter in baseball.
9. YOVANI GALLARDO @ NYM
This is a game where Gallardo could be brilliant and build off of his 6 INN, 2 ER, and 8 K performance against the Reds. Or he could let the wheels fall apart as the Mets are one of the hot sleeper teams right now. I am not telling you to bench Gallardo, but Lucas Duda could build off of his career 2 HRs against Yovani. David Wright has also had success against Gallardo going yard.
10. BRANDON MORROW VS. TB
Morrow gave up 6 ER in 6 INN against the Rays earlier this season. Easy his worst start, and things will not get much easier as the Rays found their strokes again with a 9 run game. Ben Zobrist hit a HR, and he already has hit a HR off of Morrow this season. With him being hot, I like the matchup for him to do some damage. I would avoid Morrow in this start.
11. TIM STAUFFER @ WAS
Stauffer is making his first start of the season, and faces a pretty hot Nationals lineup. Through 4 starts Tim has a 1.68 ERA against the Nationals, and he should be able to keep that trend in the same area as he was light outs in his rehab starts. Tim is not a pitcher I would necessarily trust in this matchup, but I am expecting a QS.
12. JAKE WESTBROOK VS. CHC
The Cubs offense is ready to get hot, but in Westbrook’s first start against them he gave up 2 ER in 7 INN with 2 Ks, but this was without Bryan LaHair. He should make an impact in this game as well as the surprisingly very hot David Dejesus. If Westbrook can do damage control, he should find himself in a pitcher’s duel. I would personally feel semi-optimistic about the start.
13. RYAN VOGELSONG VS. COL
Vogelsong has been elite all-season and has been great of 5/6 starts. The Rockies offense is starting to heat up, but Vogel is a career 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA against the Rockies. It also helps he has 30 Ks in 35 INN. Carlos Gonzalez and Michael Cuddyer are hot, but this may be a disappointing game for them.
14. JASON HAMMEL VS. NYY
The Yankees offense is not as hot as they should be. Hammel has been elite in every start, including a game earlier against the Yankees on April 30th where he allowed 2 ER in 6 INN to go along with 5 Ks. Eric Chavez was the only Yankee to do any damage in that game, and that is why I expect Hammel to add to those great starts.
RISKY STARTERS:
15. DAN HAREN VS. OAK
Haren needs to figure it out because his ERA at 4.19 with 1 W so far this season is not cutting it. The A’s offense is very hot, and I expect them to continue to do damage. This being despite the fact that Haren limited the A’s to 1 ER in 6.2 INN earlier this season. Brandon Inge has a chance to keep his hot streak alive as he has already HR’d off Haren in his career.
16. CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH @ SF
After a great start against SD where Christian gave up 1 ER in 6 INN with 7 Ks. He now faces a semi-hot Giants lineup featuring the hot Brett Pill and Melky Cabrera. This matchup is not as easy, and I would be surprised to see back-to-back QS’s from a guy who was not so highly touted coming into this season.
17. IVAN NOVA @ BAL
Baltimore got to Nova with 5 ER in 6.1 INN back on May 2nd. The Orioles offense has started to cool down since then, and Nova has in fact gotten better. I expect Nova to rebound and throw a quality game, Matt Wieters has had HUGE success off of Nova in his career.
18. JASON VARGAS @ BOS
Vargas owns a 1.80 ERA in his last 3 starts. The Red Sox offense is a lot better at home than on the road, and just destroyed Justin Masterson. Vargas has historically been good against Boston with a 3.26 ERA in 3 starts. I expect Vargas to not be terrible, but a pitcher I would not trust in this environment.
19. CARL PAVANO VS. CLE
Pavano will be thrilled to face his former team. In his career against Cleveland he has a 2.83 ERA and always seems to pitch well vs. the AL Central. The Indians do have a lot of hot bats coming into this matchup, but is entirely possible Pavano has was one of those rare QS’s. Shin Soo-Choo would be my sleeper hitter if I had to choose one.
20. JOHN DANKS VS. DET
Danks is looking to turn it around after his slow start to the season. In his last start against a good Indians team in Cleveland, Danks had 2 ER in 7 INN. He has not faced Detroit yet this season, but has terrible history against Delmon Young, Austin Jackson, and Ryan Raburn. All of them are great sleepers in this one.
21. RANDAL DELGADO VS. CIN
Delgado has been looking good as of late with 3 ER in his last 13.2 INN. Those starts were against the Cubs and Phillies. Both of those teams do not compare to the Reds who have a hot Joey Votto and Jay Bruce. This is not a great start for Delgado at all and I would use him with extreme caution if I had to.
22. BRAD LINCOLN @ MIA
The Lincoln experiment begins with his 0.69 ERA. Brad looked great filling in for the injured Erik Bedard earlier in the week. The Marlins offense is beginning to show some light, especially John Buck and Giancarlo Stanton. I expect Lincoln to remain solid, but only 5 INN max. May not be enough for the W as he goes up against Anibal Sanchez.
23. JEANMAR GOMEZ @ MIN
Gomez has been special all-season until his last start against the White Sox where he gave up 8 ER in 6.2 INN. The Twins offense has some fire going with Ryan Doumit, and Josh Willingham starting to heat up. I do not expect Gomez to make a QS, but I would not be surprised if he did either.
24. SCOTT FELDMAN VS. KC
Feldman will make his 2nd start of the season after only lasting 3.1 INN earlier against the Yankees. The Royals offense is not very hot right now, but Billy Butler does have a HR off of Scott in his career. Feldman has a career 3.48 ERA against KC, and I expect that to rise. He will earn the W if he lasts 5 INN.
BAD STARTERS:
25. JEFF NEIMANN @ TOR
Neimann has limited damage control all season with his ERA. In a start earlier in the season against the Blue Jays, Jose Bautista hit a HR while Jeff gave up 5 runs, only 2 of them were earned. He faces Brandon Morrow who has been lights-out, but not against the Rays. I would still avoid Neimann in this matchup. Adam Lind is also a deep sleeper who hit his only HR this season off of Jeff, his 3rd against him for his career.
26. HOMER BAILEY @ ATL
Bailey was terrible in his last start with 6 ER in 3.2 INN against the Brewers. The Braves are the hottest hitting NL team, and will look to do a lot of damage to Homer. In one career start Bailey gave up 2 ER in 6 INN to Atlanta. I am not expecting a QS like that at all, bench Homer.
27. TYSON ROSS @ LAA
Ross is not a great pitcher to begin with. He was bombed in 2 of his last 3 starts against Tampa Bay and Baltimore. Both games were on the road. Earlier at home in his first start he held the Angels to 2 ER in 6 INN. Though on the road Ross is a terrible pitcher with a 2.29 WHIP. Look for Kendry Morales to stay hot.
28. MIGUEL BATISTA VS. MIL
The Brewers offense is hot coming into this one. Somehow Batista was able to only allow 2 ER in 5.1 INN to the Phillies in his last start, I do not see this being the same result. Ryan Braun is one of the hottest hitters to go along with a vastly improving Jonathan LuCroy, Aramis Ramirez, and possibly see Corey Hart get it going. Bench Batista.
29. LUCAS HARRELL @ PHI
Harrell is night and day a better pitch at home than on the road (6.36 Road ERA). The Phillies offense is beginning to cool down, but I expect Harrell to be the remedy to heat them up. Hunter Pence was very hot just before the Padres series this weekend, he is a good pick. If you want a real sleeper check out Jeremy Mayberry.
30. BRUCE CHEN @ TEX
Chen was great against Boston only giving up 3 ER in 6.2 INN. Now that he is on the road against the hottest hitting team in Texas. I will avoid Chen at all costs. Too many hot Ranger hitters, and a career 10.58 ERA is too high. Nelson Cruz is on the verge of having a monster week, I like him in this one.