FANTASY BASEBALL: Daily Pitcher Rankings (May 12th)
FANTASY BASEBALL: Daily Pitcher Rankings (May 12th)
By Muntradamus
Now in most of the pitcher analysis you will see highlighted batters in BOLD to keep an eye on. This is a way to increase your likelihood of winning your daily Salary Cap Leauges. Speaking of which, BEAST DOME has recently teamed up with DRAFT STREET to give you Free Roll tournaments to win money. More on this announcement in the next Daily Pitcher Rankings, the competition is not until next Friday.
Once again do not hesitate to join the BEAST DOME NATION to have an identity when chatting with the rest of the community. You can see the chat on the sides of the articles to get an idea.
Also starting today I am going to start a winning streak of pitchers. No ERA, no K’s just W’s.
Day #1. Phil Hughes vs. Sea
(You can read more about Hughes and all the pitchers below.)
SALARY CAP TEAM: (5/12)
C: Carlos Santana
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
2B: Danny Espinosa
SS: Troy Tulowitzki
3B: Brett Lawrie
OF: Eric Thames
OF: Alex Rios
OF: Delmon Young
UTI: Ryan Doumit
UTI: Adam Dunn
SP: Roy Halladay
SP: Trevor Cahill
RP: Chris Sale
SP: Brian Matusz
Daily Pitcher Rankings (5/12):
ELITE STARTERS:
1. ROY HALLADAY VS. SD
Halladay lost earlier this season to SD, but that should not happen this time around when he is at home. The Phillies offense has been doing enough damage lately to give him at least a run or two which will be plenty against a Padre team that lacks Cameron Maybin right now.
2. CHRIS SALE VS. KC
Sale is back into the White Sox rotation, and the timing could not be better as the Royals offense is Ice Cold. Look for Sale to have a statement game that he will and should be a starter for the rest of his career. It will help in a game like this where he should get plenty of run support.
3. TREVOR CAHILL VS. SF
Cahill could possibly come into this start and just trash the Giants. Cahill is coming off of back-to-back good road starts in the East Coast, and SF just has no offense going right now. No Giant has any solid history against Trevor.
GOOD STARTERS:
4. JORDAN ZIMMERMAN @ CIN
Zimmerman has been elite all season, but keep in mind that Joey Votto, and Jay Bruce have already hit HRs off of him in his career. This should be a safe start, that can turn into a bad if one if he makes a few bad pitches. Especially in that ballpark.
5. MATT CAIN @ AZ
Cain had trouble in his first start against the D-Backs giving up 5 ER in 6 INN. 6 different Diamondbacks have hit HRs off of Matt, and I would start him with the same confidence I gave Felix Hernandez against the Yankees. Cain should dominate, but for some reason just may not.
6. BRANDON MCCARTHY VS. DET
McCarthy is one of the best pitchers in the AL. Since he is at Oakland, this should be another solid start where he has not given up more than 2 ER in a home game all season. Prince Fielder is a pick for someone to avoid completely. Delmon Young is a nice sleeper pick.
RISKY STARTERS:
7. PHIL HUGHES VS. SEA
If you want a sleeper for a W, Hughes is your guy. The Marines offense has been pretty weak as of late, and Hughes should get plenty of run support. He also has 13 Ks in his last 12.1 INN. Just hope for less than 4 ER, either way a W is expected.
8. BRANDON BEACHY @ STL
Beachy has been one of the greatest pitchers in the NL this season with a 1.62 ERA to go along with his 0.95 WHIP. The Cardinals come into this game as maybe the hottest hitting team in the NL which makes this not such a safe start. If Beachy can overcome the odds of this game, he will rise to another level.
9. RICKY NOLASCO VS. NYM
Not only does David Wright come into this game hot off of a 3 hit performance, he is a lifetime .386 hitter with 4 HRs off of Ricky. Wright should be the one and only trouble as Nolasco has been great so far this season. A bit of risk, but a nice amount of upside.
10. MAT LATOS VS. WAS
Latos is starting to figure out again how to be elite. He will have a bad start that is sandwiched by two great starts. The Nationals are carrying some hot bats into this one, and do not be surprised to see Ryan Zimmerman or Adam LaRoche build off their past success against Mat. This is not as safe of a start as you would hope for.
11. EDINSON VOLQUEZ @ PHI
Volquez is such a better Home Pitcher, that you almost want to bench him in this start. The Phillies do not have a lot of hot bats, but they do have players that have had recent success. Volquez will not get run support against Halladay and this will likely be a not so great start. Ty Wigginton is the sleeper hitter to watch who is a .444 hitter with 2 HRs in 9 ABs vs. Edinson.
12. SHAUN MARCUM VS. CHC
Marcum has good history against the Cubs with a 2.70 ERA. However they are hot right now and will look to continue the madness as they scored 7 runs Friday. Alfonso Soriano is an interesting sleeper pick for a HR.
13. MATT MOORE @ BAL
Moore cannot get it together this season consistently. When he starts to look good, he starts to fade the wrong direction. This is a matchup he should win, and it will not be easy. If he does accomplish this look for his value to go straight up. Matt Wieters has hit a HR in his only AB against Moore.
14. DOUG FISTER @ OAK
Fister gets his toughest challenge all season. Stopping the Red-Hot Oakland A’s led by Mr. Josh Reddick. He could be this year’s Jose Bautista who sparks to a new level, but chances are he will fade soon. Fister has yet to give up an ER all season, and I doubt he leaves this game with the same result. Brandon Inge is hot coming into the game and he could hit a surprise HR since already has off of Fister before.
15. R.A. DICKEY @ MIA
Let me start by saying Omar Infante is hitting .480 against Dickey in his career. Gabby Sanchez is the only other Marlin who is coming in with real success. Infante comes into this game hot and he will look to make things rough for Dickey who has 5 of 6 QS’s coming into the game. Including 1 ER in 8 INN performance at Houston in his last start. Dickey may have some trouble, but he has sleeper potential.
16. MATT HARRISON VS. LAA
Torri Hunter remains a threat to hit a HR. Besides him, Harrison should be able to cruise especially with the way his offense is playing behind him.
17. BRIAN MATUSZ VS. TB
Matusz was rocked in his last start, but that was against Texas. Tampa Bay does not do well off of Left Handed pitchers, especially ones of quality. Ben Zobrist is the only D-Ray to hit a HR off of Brian, and it will be interesting to see if he can be the spark plug this team is missing without Jennings.
18. FELIX DOUBRONT VS. CLE
Doubront has not been the definition of solid, but he does have nice K potential. The Indians offense should be able to produce runs off of Queen Felix. Nobody has any real history against him which should work in his favor, look for Carlos Santana to continue to produce.
19. C.J. WILSON @ TEX
Wilson gets round 2 against the Rangers after giving up 4 Runs in 0.1 INN. This obviously will not be an easy start as he has to deal with the Blistering-Hot Josh Hamilton and the rest of the Rangers crew. Stay away.
20. J.A. HAPP @ PIT
Happ comes into this game Ice cold without being in a true QS since April 15th. Andrew McCutchen is a career .364 hitter with 3 HRs in 22 ABs vs. Happ. He could cause some trouble in this one, and I would avoid using J.A.
21. JUAN NICASO @ LAD
Nicaso was good in his last against the Dodgers giving up 2 ER in 6 INN on April 30th. The Dodgers offense is not hotter now than it was then, but I would still worry about Andre Ethier who is swinging a very hot bat. Andre has already HR’d off of Nicaso in his career.
22. ADAM WAINWRIGHT VS. ATL
Wainwright is starting to look better again as he has thrown 2 QS’s out of his last 3 games. Those QS’s came against the Cubs and Pirates. The Braves are at another level than the Pirates and are coming off of a 9 run performance. I would not trust Wainwright in this start, Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman are good picks for a good game.
BAD STARTERS:
23. DREW HUTCHINSON @ MIN
Hutchinson has not looked so great so far as a starter in the Big Leagues. Minnesota has a pretty hot offense going right now with Josh Willingham and Ryan Doumit. It would be wise to avoid Drew in this start.
24. CHRIS VOLSTAD @ MIL
Volstad has been terrible all season long, and now is facing a Brewer team that was able to get rid of Matt Garza after 5 INN. They also scored 8 runs in the game and now Aramis Ramirez is starting to heat up with the already hot Ryan Braun. Lethal combo.
25. CHARLIE MORTON VS. HOU
Morton has not been good at all in his last two starts giving up 9 ER in 10.1 INN. The ‘Stros do not have any hot hitters, but regardless you cannot trust a pitcher of Morton’s caliber with the arrow his production is pointing. Carlos Lee is a .348 hitter off Morton in his career.
26. AARON HARANG VS. COL
Harang was rocked in his last start against Colardo, and it would not be surprising to see it again. Harang just has not gotten the hang of being a Dodger pitcher as he is still without a home QS. Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez have both had a lot of success against Harang.
27. LUKE HOCHEAVER @ CWS
Luke has given up 16 ER in his last 6.1 INN. Why he is still in the majors has me dumbfounded, and all White Sox players should have the opportunity for big games. Especially the RED-HOT Adam Dunn.
28. JOSH TOMLIN @ BOS
Tomlin is coming off of some of one of his better starts with 2 ER in 7.1 INN with 8 Ks against the White Sox. However this game could be a problem for Josh as the Red Sox hit very well at home. They just clobbered Ubaldo, and I expect them to do the same to Tomlin. The Big Lefties of Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz should have great games.
29. HECTOR NOESI @ NYY
Noesi has been calming down a bit as his ER per start has dropped in every one since his 6 run explosion after his 8 INN shutout against Oakland. The Yankees come into this game hot, and I expect them to continue to do damage like they did against Felix Hernandez Friday night.
30. P.J. WALTERS VS. TOR
This is a dream come true for P.J. who gets to face his former team from a season ago. Problem is Jose Bautista is coming off of a 2 HR game, and this could be another start where things get really bad for Twins pitching. I would not use Walters in this one.