Glen Perkins: A Week Two Sleeper Pitcher?

For those of you with a soft spot in your fantasy soul for pitchers who take the mound twice in one scoring period, I am attempting this season to compose a weekly column devoted to finding the most available yet economic options.

I define an economic and available pitcher as someone who is owned in less than 50% of standard fantasy leagues who will be a beneficial plug and play for your team.

Please note that starting pitchers are at the mercy of managerial decisions, weather, and a myriad of other factors which can affect double dipping status.

In the future I will focus on several players in one article.  But with my work schedule and Easter weekend, for now I will profile only one player.

Glen Perkins—Minnesota Twins

Initially raised in the farm leagues as a reliever, Perkins was promoted to the Twins rotation last May.  He responded by surprising even his organization posting a 12-4 record in 2008.

While the Golden Gopher alum isn't the type of power hurler that will strikeout many batters. He is an efficient pitcher that effectively uses the defense behind him.

This was evident in Perkins' 2009 debut when he merely needed 106 pitches to cruise through eight innings. Although he took the loss, Perkins gave up only one run on five hits, striking out four, and only walking one.

When starting in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Perkins has a career 3.54 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. This is most fortuitous for him as the Twins play host to both the Blue Jays and the Angels next week.

In games versus Toronto the small sample of lifetime stats by Perkins aren't so rosy. He is slated to duel with rookie Ricky Romero, who will be making his first ever start on the road.

On the contrary, Perkins threw eight shutout innings in Los Angeles in his only start against the Angels last year. The Halos plan to give the nod to aggregate 6.41 ERA pitcher Shane Loux.

Furthermore, this week's meeting of Anaheim and Minnesota is an afternoon contest.  Perkins held opponents to a .269 BA during day games in 2008, 30 points lower than his night totals.

Finally, even though the Twin City tosser has an alarming composite 40.9% flyball rate, it must be noted that the Metrodome yielded the fewest long balls of any major league park last year.