Fantasy Baseball: Daily Pitcher Rankings (May 25th)

By Muntradamus

 

DAILY DRAFTSTREET TEAM (May 25th):

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MONEY LEFTOVER: $68

C: Mike Napoli – $4,821
1B: Adrian Gonzalez – $6,094
2B: Dan Uggla -$5,785
3B: Brett Lawrie – $4,511
SS: Jose Reyes – $6,647
OF: Nelson Cruz – $4,909
OF: Giancarlo Stanton – $7,147
OF: Cameron Maybin – $5,629
UTI: Delmon Young – $5,942
UTI: Carlos Pena – $4,438

SP: Anthony Bass – $12,493
SP: Clayton Kershaw – $18,288
RP: Casey Janssen – $1,500
SP: Tim Hudson – $11,728

 

 

GOOD DRAFTSTREET VALUES:

 (Players that are Hot coming into this Week)

C:

 

Russell Martin – $4,716
Devin Mesoraco – $4,251
Jesus Montero – $4,979

1B:

Carlos Pena – $4,438
Kendrys Morales – $5,522
Adrian Gonzalez -$6,094

2B:

Rickie Weeks – $2,852
Dan Uggla – $5,782
Brandon Phillips – $6,693

3B:

Brett Lawrie – $4,511
David Freese – $6,372
Todd Frazier – $4,982

SS:

Dee Gordon – $5,227
Alexei Ramirez – $3,834
Jose Reyes – $6,647

OF:

Nelson Cruz – $4,909
Cameron Maybin – $5,629
Alex Gordon – $5,133

 

 

 

 

DAILY PITCHER RANKINGS (MAY 25TH)

 

 

ELITE STARTERS:

 

1. CLAYTON  KERSHAW ($18,288) VS. HOU

 

Kershaw has not allowed an ER in his last 22 INN.  He owns a 2.61 ERA against Houston, and when he faced them earlier he had a 7 INN shutout.  It is pretty safe to say, you are going to get a dominant start out of Clayton.

 

2. A.J. BURNETT ($12,125) VS. CHC

Burnett owns a 1.57 ERA at home this season, and now faces an ICE-COLD Cubs roster that has no hot hitters.  I expect Burnett to be vintage, I would not be surprised to see double-digit Ks.  The Cubs offense failed to do anything against the Astros in their last series.

 

3. TIM HUDSON ($11,728) VS. WAS

Hudson in 23 starts against Washington owns a 14-3 record, with a 2.05 ERA.  He is coming off of a shutout at Tampa Bay, and there is no reason to think he cannot keep this momentum up against a Nationals offense that ran into some trouble against Cole Hamels.  Now they travel to Atlanta where only Jayson Werth has had success against Tim.  He of course is injured.

 

4. YOVANI GALLARDO ($13,394) @ AZ

Gallardo is starting to get it back together again.  After a rough start, he has only allowed 5 ER in his last 3 starts.  His career ERA is 1.20 against the Diamondbacks, and there is no reason to believe he will not have a QS in this one.  No active Diamondback has really had any success off of him, but Ryan Roberts is swinging a hot bat coming into this one.

 

5. ERVIN SANTANA ($12,988) @ SEA

Santana is pitching like the ELITE option many of his owners thought they would see.  In his last 36 INN he has only allowed 5 ER, which results in a 1.25 ERA.  Seattle was just completely shut-down by Dan Haren, and I expect Ervin Santana to produce similar results.

 

6. CLIFF LEE ($17,182) @ STL

Cliff owns a 1.48 ERA against the Cardinals in his 3 starts, and currently stands with a road ERA of 0.56.  Despite how hot the Cardinals are, there is no way you can bench Lee, or even expect a bad start.  He did have trouble against Boston in his last start, but that was Boston and now he is on the road where he thrives.  Matt Holliday and David Freese are very hot right now, and they will have to ignite the offense to make something happen.

 

 

GOOD STARTERS:

7. ANTHONY BASS ($12,493) @ NYM

Bass has not allowed more than 2 ER in his last three starts.  He also owns a 2.57 road ERA, and a 2.25 ERA against the Mets in 4 relief appearances’.  The Mets offense is one of the worst in baseball right now, making Bass a Superb start.  I expect him to dominate.

 

8. RYAN DEMPSTER ($13,742) @ PIT

Dempster has been terrible against the Pirates with a 5.57 ERA in 24 starts.  He is also coming off of back-to-back games of allowing 4 ER in 6 INN.  Although the Pirates offense is cold, I do expect them to do enough damage to get on the board.  Andrew McCutchen will need to carry his team tonight.  Six different Pirate hitters are hitting above .300 against Dempster, and all have a HR.  McCutch is one of those six.

 

9. JOHNNY CUETO ($12,080) VS. COL

Cueto owns a 1.69 ERA against Colorado, and a 1.42 ERA at home.  However this is only his 4^th home start, and his only challenge was STL where he gave up all 3 of his ER’s that he has allowed at home in only 5 INN.  When Troy Tulowitzki coming into this game with the hottest bat in the NL.  I would say Cueto is in more trouble than we think.  Especially when you look at that 7 ER in last 11 INN.

 

10. BRANDON MORROW ($13,800) @ TEX

Morrows owns a 0.63 ERA on the road this season.  He is coming off of a CG shutout against the Mets.  On top of that, he should get run support as Holland will have trouble with all these right handed bats.  The matchup does not look great on paper for Morrow, but it is a lot better than it really seems.  Especially when you consider Kevin Millwood was able to slow down this team a few days ago.

 

11. IVAN NOVA ($11,156) @ OAK

The A’s offense does not have anything going right now.  No batter in this lineup is hot, and Nova is coming off of a career high 12 Ks.  However he does not have a QS since May 8^th, and owns a 4.42 road ERA.  It would not be that surprising to see Nova have a bad start, this could also be the start that turns him around.

 

12. JON LESTER ($13,336) VS. TB

Lester has been horrible at home this season with an ERA of 5.82.  In 20 starts against the Rays he owns a 3.91 ERA.  It is fair to say that these hitters know Lester too well.  Five different Rays have hit HR’s off of Jon, including Carlos Pena who has 5!  Lester is going to be a prime Buy-Low candidate after this one.  The Rays have had trouble hitting lefties, but my gut does not say that will hold true in this one.

 

RISKY STARTERS:

 

13. IAN KENNEDY ($10,528) VS. MIL

Kennedy is really struggling this season, so much that an article was featured on him by the newest staff member BrooklynBums.  Article can be read by clicking here.  The Brewers do have some momentum, enough to the point where I would avoid saying Kennedy is a lock.  The 4.47 ERA does scare me enough along with the hot; Aramis Ramirez, Jonathan Lucroy, and Ryan Braun.

 

14. KYLE LOHSE ($9,862) VS. PHI

If anyone besides Hammel needs a good start on Friday, it is Mr. Lohse.  After being one of the top pitchers in the NL in April.  He has slowly started to fade in May as his ERA is 4.62 this month.  1.38 in April.  Lohse owns a 3.43 ERA against Philly, and with Shane Victorino ready to join the hot Carlos Ruiz.  There could be some damage done.

 

15. BRUCE CHEN ($10,334) @ BAL

Chen owns a 3.74 ERA against Baltimore, and is coming off of back-to-back QS’s, one of them being @ Texas.  I can see Chen being a nice sleeper pick in this one.  The Orioles bats have cooled down a bit, and his road 3.98 ERA is better than his home ERA.  Still I can see Adam Jones adding to his career .455 average against Chen in this one.

 

16. JOSH JOHNSON ($14,231) VS. SF

Josh is really starting to settle down after a rough start to the season.  He comes into this game with confidence, but confidence is also on the Giants side.  After rocking Anibal Sanchez, it is hard to image Josh as a safe start in this one.  He owns a 3.18 ERA in 5 starts against SF, but no active Giant has done any damage off of him.  I would start him, but I would also be aware this could get bad.

 

17. JASON HAMMEL ($9,555) VS. KC

Hammel is starting to let the wheels fall off.  After his first 6 starts he did not allow more than 2 ER, he allowed a combined 8 ER’s in his last 8.1 INN.  He now faces KC who does have some good history against him, 6.75 ERA.  This is a vital start for Hammel to regain form, and if he can avoid Eric Hosmer, or Alex Gordon from going off.  He should be fine.

 

18. DREW SMYLY ($10,703) @ MIN

Drew is fading quickly as he has allowed 4 ER in each of his last two starts.  None of them lasting more than 5 INN.  Minnesota comes into this game very hot, but a lefty pitcher should be able to calm down the bats of Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer.  However that only means Josh Willingham’s could get going.  Smyly is in for a tough one.

 

19. TIM LINCECUM ($12,523) @ MIA

Lincecum has yet to have a QS on the road all season long.  He is also coming off of back-to-back-to-back 4 ER run games in each start.  His last QS was April 28^th vs. SD.  Lincecum is simply not the pitcher you hoped he would be this season.  The Marlins offense comes into this game with a lot of momentum.  Hanley Ramirez, and Giancarlo Stanton are very hot, which should result in at least a HR from one of them.

 

20. JEANMAR GOMEZ ($8,647) @ CWS

 

Jeanmar gave up 8 ER in 6.2 INN against the White Sox in Chicago on May 9^th.  Before that start against them he had only allowed 3 ER in 14 INN against the Sox.  Since Gomez is coming into this game without allowing an ER in his last 13.1 INN, and currently owns a 1.26 Road ERA.  I would say, he is going to have a better game than most people think.

 

21. BLAKE BEAVEN ($,7632) VS. LAA

Blake has been somewhat okay at home this season with a 3.94 ERA.  In his career he owns a 2.53 ERA against the Angels, but he has never faced a hot Albert Pujols before.  Sounds like a sexual favor you wish you never paid for.  Anyways, Beaven should be fine as long as he intentionally walks Albert every at bat.  I would let Kendrys Morales try to beat me.

 

22. DEREK HOLLAND ($12,589) VS. TOR

Holland has a horrible ERA 5.60 ERA at home, to go along with his horrible 5.55 ERA against the Jays in 4 starts.  On top of that his last start he allowed 5 ER to the Astros of all teams.  This start is not looking promising at all.  Especially with all the powerful right handed Blue Jay hitters.

 

23. DILLON GEE ($8,861) VS. SD

The Padres offense has some momentum after shelling Jeremy Hefner.  Gee has not had a QS since May 4^th, and he currently owns a 7.33 Home ERA.  Gee in his only start against the Padres last season allowed 1 ER in 6 INN, but this time the circumstances are very different.  I do not expect a strong start at all, Cameron Maybin is really heating up.

 

24. ROSS DETWILER ($7,126) @ ATL

Ross is heading in the wrong way quickly.  He has allowed 10 ER in the last 10 INN, and now faces an Atlanta team that is ready for a monster game.  Ross is better on the road with a 3.18 ERA, and he owns a 3.26 ERA against ATL.  I expect him to have some trouble in this one, and Dan Uggla should be the one to receive the bonus because of it.

 

BAD STARTERS:

25. JOSE QUINTANA (NL) VS. CLE

Jose pitched 5.2 scoreless innings of relief against the Indians on May 7^th.  Now he makes his first ever start, and it will be the first big league appearance since that game.  Quintana knows a thing or two about pitching to these guys, and although I would not start him with confidence.  I do know I can do much worse.

 

26. TYSON ROSS ($6,036) VS. NYY

Ross is making his 3^rd home start of the season, and it is coming against a Yankee team that has finally woke up.  After A-Rod hit 2 HRs, and Granderson knocked one out himself, it seems like no pitcher is safe against them.  Ross does own a 2.92 home ERA, and a 2.45 ERA against the Yankees.  But he has never started against them.  I would not say this is a safe start at all for Tyson as there are too many weapons on the Yankees.  Robinson Cano is due to breakout.

 

27. CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH ($11,286) @ CIN

Just when you thought Christian was going to be good, he got bombed by the Mariners.  Now he faces a Reds team that has not got all of their hitting together at the same time.  Stubbs is hot, and Brandon Phillips still has that 2 HR game against Beachy somewhere back there.  Joey Votto has been very inconsistent, and miserable to own.  Luckily I do not own him.  I expect Friedrich to give up some ER’s, but he could do better than expectations have him.

 

28. ALEX COBB ($9,764) @ BOS

The Red Sox offense does very well when they are at home.  Cobb was impressive  against the Braves, but the Braves offense has not been elite in some time.  The key for Cobb will to limit the big hitters of Gonzalez, Ortiz, and Youkilis from doing too much damage.  I would not start him.

 

29. LUCAS HARRELL ($8,961)@ LAD

Harrell has been horrible on the road this season, 5.60 ERA.  He actually is starting to pitch better as he does have 3 QS’s in a row, all against quality teams.  The Dodgers offense is fairly hot at the moment, and I expect them to do some damage off of Lucas.  But not as much as you would hope for as his momentum is up.  Look no further than Andre Ethier and A.J. Ellis.

 

30. ANTHONY SWARZAK ($4,794) VS. DET

Anthony is going to get bombed.  There is no way of avoiding it in this start.  He owns a career 7.62 ERA against the Tigers in 2 starts.  He has allowed 3 HRs to Tigers hitters; Miguel Cabrera, Jhonny Peralta, and Alex Avila.  Now he faces the Tigers with Prince Fielder, and Delmon Young, who will be hungry against his former team.  This is going to get ugly quick.