Fantasy Baseball: Daily Pitcher Analysis (May 15th)
Fantasy Baseball: Daily Pitcher Analysis (May 15th)
By Muntradamus
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DAILY DRAFTSTREET TEAM (5/15):
C: Buster Posey
1B: Eric Hosmer
2B: Michael Young
3B: Pedro Alvarez
SS: Sean Rodriguez
OF: Josh Hamilton
OF: David Murphy
OF: Jose Bautista
UTI: Corey Hart
UTI: Andre Ethier
SP: Josh Johnson
SP: Chad Billingsley
SP: Bartolo Colon
RP: Joel Hanrahan
YESTERDAY RESULTS
DAILY PITCHER RANKINGS (5/15):
ELITE STARTERS:
1. STEPHEN STRASBURG VS. SD
Strasburg will dominate the Padres. Nobody on that team is hot, and Stras is coming off of a 6 INN 13 K performance against the Pirates. Strasburg will dominate this game.
2. CLIFF LEE VS. HOU
Lee in his last start had a little bit of trouble against a hot Mets offense. Now he faces the weakest offense in baseball, Houston. Lee should find his CY Young form in this one, if he can avoid Carlos Lee who is a .387 hitter with 4 career HRs off of Cliff. I think Lee should be fine and I expect to see 7+ Ks. Joe Blaton looked elite against them if that tells you anything.
3. ZACK GREINKE @ NYM
The Mets offense is very hot. But Zack Greinke is pitching at a CY Young level, and I expect him to cruise on through this one. Last game against the Reds he gave up 2 Hits in 8 INN to go along with 11 Ks. Greinke should continue to pitch strong.
GOOD STARTERS:
4. DAVID PRICE @ TOR
Price was easily the best SP in fantasy baseball before getting rocked by the Yankees in New York. Now he travels to Toronto to face a hot Jose Bautista. Him and Edwin Encarnacion are the only players with a live bat for that team right now. Jose Bautista is a .357 Hitter with 4 HRs off Price, he could do some damage in this one.
5. TIM LINCECUM @ COL
Last time Lincecum faced the Rockies, he gave up 8 ER in 2.1 INN. CarGo hi 2 3B’s off of him. Since that start Lincecum has gotten better, in his last 4 starts he owns a 3.13 ERA. His value does go up if Tulo misses the game, I still would not guarantee an elite start at all. Todd Helton has hit .371 in his career off of Lincecum, Carlos Gonzalez has 2 HRs.
6. JOSH JOHNSON VS. PIT
Johnson is coming off of his best start of the season @ Hou with 2 ER in 7 INN. He better throw a good game in that situation, and this is another game where he should fine success. However the Pirates did score a couple of runs off of Anibal Sanchez, so they do have a chance to do a little damage to Johnson. Jose Tbata has had the most success with a .429 average off of Johnson. I expect Johnson to continue his success.
7. CHAD BILLINGSLEY VS. AZ
The Diamondbacks offense is so bad right now, nearly any pitcher can have a QS. Billingsley is having the roughest part of his season, but this matchup could be exactly what he needs to get going. His last QS was April 28th against the Nationals.
8. JOSH BECKETT VS. SEA
Beckett was just terrible in his last start giving up 7 ER in 2.1 INN against the Tigers. That was his first start since the DL, and now he should be ready to go knowing his body can hold up. The Marines offense is very cold coming into this one, and Beckett has to get on track with a good start tonight. Justin Smoak is starting to heat up, and could be a good sleeper. Mike Carp is also a dark horse who has hit a HR off of Beckett in his career with a .400 average.
9. JOHNNY CUETO @ ATL
The Braves come into this game hot, but Cueto comes into this game as the best pitcher in the NL. With a WHIP of 0.97, I would not trust any Braves hitter in this game. Cueto has given up 2 HR’s to Brian McCann in his career, but with the way Johnny is pitching. You just have to respect how good he is. The tough matchup pushes him down a tier.
10. CC SABATHIA @ BAL
Sabathia is starting to pitch like Elite CC. The Orioles are coming into this game pretty hot offensively, and this will be a great matchup. J.J. Hardy is very hot and he could do some damage, Adam Jones is a .333 hitter with 2 HRs off of CC. If I owned him in a daily league I would throw him out there, but I would also be a bit worried that the Orioles could put up 4 ER.
11. COLBY LEWIS VS. KC
The Royals offense does not have a lot going on, and the fact they only scored 3 runs in a game where Scott Feldman was pitching is disappointing. Alcidies Escobar is starting to pick it up, and could be a good salary cap play. Eric Hosmer could also snap out of his slump as he is a .667 hitter off of Lewis in 3 ABs.
12. ERVIN SANTANA VS. OAK
Santana has had 3 QS’s in a row, and now faces an Oakland team that has offensive fire power. This is a big test for Santana to show that he is ready to turn the corner for the rest of the season, or remain a semi-inconsistent option. Santana gave up HR’s to Jonny Gomes and Yoenis Cespedes in their last game on April 18th. Seth Smith and Josh Reddick come into this game hot, and they could do some damage.
13. JAKE PEAVY VS. DET
Peavy is still pitching at an elite level this season. On May 4th, Peavy gave up 3 ER in 7 INN with 6 Ks. He can easily do that again, but keep in mind Delmon Young is starting to heat up. That Tigers offense can go off at any moment and I would not say this is a safe start at all. This is more of a good test for Peavy owners to prove how good he is. Delmon has hit a HR in his career off of Peavy.
14. TIM HUDSON VS. CIN
The Reds offense is coming into this game semi-hot. Jay Bruce and Joey Votto have their power sticks going. It will be up to Tim Hudson to continue his momentum after shutting down a hot Cubs team with 1 ER in 7 INN. Jay Bruce is hitting .500 with a HR off of Hudson, but that is only off of two ABs.
15. KYLE LOHSE VS. CHC
Lohse is starting to give up more hits which has resulted in less INN pitched. This start against the Cubs is huge, because the Cubs are hot coming into this game and if they show Lohse is not as strong as he has led everyone on to be. His value will drop tremendously. Bryan LaHair is the real-deal, and he could make an impact in this game. Alfonso Soriano is a deep sleeper with 3 career HRs and a .386 average against Lohse.
RISKY STARTERS:
16. MAX SCHERZER @ CWS
In Scherzer’s last start against the White Sox (May 5th), he had 9 Ks with 1 ER in 7 INN. Adam Dunn comes into this game hot, and has already HR’d off Max twice in his career. I expect him to possibly create some trouble. Scherzer looks to be well past his problems earlier in the season, and this game is a great test to see if he is going to be okay.
17. BARTOLO COLON @ LAA
Colon is starting to head in the wrong direction with his fantasy value. 10 ER in his last 7.1 INN will make people believe the great story is over, but one of the teams that helped create this great season was the Angels. Earlier this year Colon gave up 0 ER in 8 INN to go along with 5 Hits. The Angels offense is cold, and Colon could get back on track with this one. Albert Pujols is a career .400 hitter with 1 HR against Bartolo, but I do not expect his bat to get going in this one.
18. DEREK LOWE @ MIN
Josh Willingham and Ryan Doumit are hot coming into this game. Recently Derek Lowe has surprised the fantasy world with 6 INN and 2 ER @ Bos. The start before that he put up the same numbers against the Rangers. I expect Lowe to continue to pitch well, but those two hitters could be a problem. Josh Willingham does have 3 career HR’s off of Lowe, he also has a .187 average.
19. WEI-YIN CHEN VS. NYY
Chen gave up 2 ER in 5.2 INN in his very first start against the Yankees. Jeter hit a HR in the very first AB of the game, and after that Chen completely settled down. He now faces the Yankees again, and comes in with an amazing 2.43 ERA. The Yankee hitters are hot, and if I had to pick one I would go with Mark Teixeira. He is over-due for a big HR streak. Chen is a semi-safe, semi- I would start a better option if I had one pitcher.
20. HENDERSON ALVAREZ VS. TB
Alvarez has been finding a way to get it done in every start this season. Every start but one, and that one was against the Rays where he gave up 6 ER in 6 INN. However in that game, Longoria and Jennings did all of the damage. With both of them out, Alvarez has a chance to for a QS. Ben Zobrist is very hot coming into the game.
21. WADE MILEY @ LAD
Miley is starting to fall after his 3-0 start. Last two starts for Miley he owns a 5.62 ERA. Andre Ethier is RED-HOT, and he should find a way to have a productive fantasy day. I do not trust Miley in this start.
22. PAUL MAHOLM @ STL
Maholm may own a 1.07 ERA in his last 4 starts, but in the start previous to this streak, he gave up 6 ER in 4 INN to the Cardinals. Matt Carpenter had a breakout 4-4 1 HR, 5 RBI game. If he gets the spot-start he will be a sneaky play. I think the bats are too overqualified for Maholm, though he did hold the Braves to 0 ER in 7 INN in his last start. This is a dark horse pick I would stay away from.
23. KEVIN CORREIA @ MIA
Correia is starting to lose his touch after his hot start to the season. His ERA has jumped from 1.50 to 3.47 in his last 4 starts. Miami is starting to get some power offensively, but for the most part a mediocre pitcher could shut them down. Possibly Hanley Ramirez, John Buck, or Giancarlo Stanton can keep their bats hot. Kevin has a 2.20 ERA against the Marlins in his career, sneaky spot start.
BAD STARTERS:
24. JASON MARQUIS VS. CLE
Marquis is not pitching well at all coming into this one, 5 ER in 4 INN against the Jays. The Indians offense is starting to cool down, but all of them are capable of having big games in his one. Travis Hafner has hit a HR off of Marquis this season, there is a chance he can add to that total.
25. ANTHONY BASS @ WAS
The Nationals come into this game with a lot of offensive momentum. Bass was able to recover from his Miami whooping with a semi-solid 5+ INN start with 5.2 INN, 1 ER, 4 Ks. What makes Bass special is his ability to get 6-8 Ks in a game, I do not see him have much success in this one. Look for Ian Desmond to create havoc as the lead-off hitter. Roger Bernandina is a good sleeper who is on a 5-game hitting streak with 2 HRs, 5 RBIs, and 2 SBs. Bryce Harper is a good value at $5,372.
26. JORDAN LYLES @ PHI
The Phillies offense is a joke. 1-4 hitters are in a slump, 5-8 can do enough damage for a whole team. Jordan Lyles does have a chance for a QS as he held the Reds to 2 ER in 6 INN @ CIN, which is impressive. Nobody has any real history, but Carlos Ruiz and Freddy Galvis are hot.
27. DILLON GEE VS. MIL
Gee is having trouble staying fantasy relevant. This start against the Brewers is not a good one, and I would avoid him as Aramis Ramirez, Jonathan LuCroy, and Ryan Braun are all swinging hot bats. Either one could do damage.
28. JEREMY GUTHRIE VS. SF
Guthrie makes his 1st start since landing on the DL with a right shoulder strain. Maybe the worst injury you want a mediocre pitcher to go out there with. Melky Cabrera was hot this weekend and has hit Guthrie well in his career, but I really like Buster Posey to build off of his 2 hit 1 RBI performance. Last game Guthrie pitched against the Giants, he gave up 6 ER in 3.1 INN. Stay away.
29. BLAKE BEAVEN @ BOS
Never would I trust a not-elite pitcher to pitch well to the Red Sox in Boston. Beaven has not had a QS since April 15th, and that is long enough to expect the Red Sox to pile on the runs. Daniel Nava is surprisingly very hot and he could make a big impact. David Ortiz is hitting .429 with a HR off of Blake, he could add to those totals.
30. VIN MAZZARO @ TEX
This may be a prank..If Mazzaro really takes the mound against Texas, we could see 5 runs in the first 2 INN easily. Mazzaro has been demolished by Josh Hamilton, Mike Napoli, and Michael Young. I look for any and all Rangers to make a fantasy impact off of Vin. Lifetime 9.49 ERA against the Rangers.