MLB Fantasy Baseball: Friday News and Notes

First, my apologies for the lateness of this post. Sometimes the day job just gets in the way of things! 

Of course, the mouth was opened, so the foot had to go in. 24 hours after talking about no injuries of which to speak, one of the best stories of the season has hit the DL. Then, we get umpires threatening that games are going to get even longer with replay. Considering that they huddle together maybe once every other or every third game to go over a controversial call, that seems unlikely. Sometimes, like yesterday, no news is good news. 

Except when it comes to the notes. Let's get to it.

• As hinted at, Justin Duchscherer has hit the DL with a hip injury. Duchscherer suffered the injury during his last outing, and it will likely sideline him for the remainder of the fantasy regular season. Look for Kirk Saarloos to take his spot in the rotation in the short-term. He should have virtually no fantasy relevance. It will border on impossible to replace the stats "The Duke" has put up to this point, but look to lesser-owned Minnesota pitchers to fill in the gaps. My man-crush, Dana Eveland, will also be back in the rotation for Oakland.
• Bartolo Colon pitched four no-hit innings for AAA Pawtucket last night. He topped out at 90 mph on the radar gun and looked confident in his pitch placement. With Wakefield not quite ready to come back, Clay Buchholz in the minors, and Beckett being bumped to Tuesday, Colon could be a welcome reprieve for the rotation that needs some help.
• Some impressive pitching from the usual suspects last night. Cliff Lee got win number 18, Brandon Webb got win number 19, and Roy Halladay simply dominated the Yankees in his outing. None of this should be a surprise, beyond the win total of Cliff Lee. These three have a tendency to shutdown even the hottest of hitters. It's not often you bench players, especially studs, on the basis of who is pitching, but against elite pitchers like this, it will help your team average if you do.
• Sidney Ponson has been incredibly lucky this season. Many owners have given him a pass strictly because of his win totals. Look beyond the wins, and you see a pitcher that is allowing batters to hit over .300 in nearly every scenario. He's been fortunate enough to force some key double plays. His luck has run out lately, though. His seven earned runs allowed was the third time he's done that in his last 10. Ponson is another pitcher that should only help players increase averages.
• As much as we like Derek Lowe as a spot-starter, the idea that he's 90 percent owned is a little odd. Lowe has great home numbers, and should be started on the road against divisional opponenets. Beyond that, though, he's 2-5 away from home with an ERA of 5.88. Batters hit .330 against him outside of Chavez Ravine (greatest name for an area in baseball). From a consistency standpoint, owning Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Kevin Slowey, Dave Bush, or Manny Parra is much more beneficial. Lowe gets the ownership becaue of his name, not his stats. Use him at home, but look to these other pitchers for a full-time pitcher.
• Both Tim Redding and Jamie Moyer looked good on the mound last night. Moyer continues his fine pitching againt the Nationals. He's now 2-0 in four starts with an ERA well under 3.50. Moyer has struggled at home this season, but been a very reliable pitcher all year on the road. What's better, in his last 10 starts, he's allowed three earned runs or less.
• Josh Johnson is still only 50 percent owned, but has been incredibly consistent since his return to the rotation. Johnson pitched six more innings of solid baseball last night against the Giants, but came away with a no-decision. He has a tendency to pitch to contact, as a groundball pitcher. That said, there is no doubt he should be added in all deep formats and most standards as well.
• All the hype for when Jay Bruce came up has decidedly fizzled, but it would be a good time to look to grab him in keeper formats in a trade. First, he's available in 13 percent of leagues right now, meaning some teams won't have to give up anything to get him. Second, he's hitting .260 with 13 home runs, much below what most experts (including the 'Table) anticipated. Nearly everyone was calling around .280 with 20 home runs. The 20 is still possible, the .280 not as likely. The major problem? Bruce is hitting just .206 against left-handed pitching.
• Adam Wainwright will get the start for the Cardinals for the first time since the beginning of June. Wainwright draws the Braves, who have not been playing good ball. We don't advocate starting a guy in his first time out, strictly because of the rust factor. Watch how he pitches and be ready to act if he puts up a decent game.

Notes for today's games:

• Roy Oswalt's last three starts have been very good, but lefties are still hitting .306 against the Astros starter. He gave up four runs in six innings in his only start this season against the Mets, but historically the Mets hit him well. Carlos Beltran (.471), Carlos Delgado (5-11), and Jose Reyes (.292) all have good numbers. David Wright, though, is just 3-17. If you don't need the innings from Oswalt, keep him down. 
• Joe Saunders has been very solid at home this season, posting a 6-2 record with a 3.63 ERA. Saunders has one victory against the Twins this season and has pitched fairly well in August. No Twin has a track record, so start as you normally would. Glen Perkins, though, hasn't pitched well on the road and lefties are hitting .351 against him for the season. Batters as a whole are hitting .306 against him away from the Metrodome.
• The Blue Jays are still a good matchup for Paul Byrd. He's holding the team to a .244 average and has been good against them in each of his last two starts. Marco Scutaro and Lyle Overbay make solid plays, but the remainder of the team hasn't liked what they've seen of Byrd.
• David Ortiz is just 2-12 and Dustin Pedroia 0-11 against Shaun Marcum. Marcum has posted a 2.62 ERA at home and is 5-3 for the season. Given Boston's problems with offense outside of Fenway and a record near .500 against division opponents, Marcum is a good start.
• One of the worst marriages has to be Livan Hernandez and the thin air in Colorado. Hernandez hasn't pitched well since signed and is facing a Reds team that can flat-out hit. No real history of which to speak for the Reds, but batters are hitting .425 against Hernandez this month. Lefties are at .342 and righties at .349. So, ya know, bench him. Don't start Aaron Harang either though, all Rockies regulars should be in the lineup.
• Brian Bannister has been in shambles for the month of August, but partly because he has faced some good offenses. He also pitched well against the Tigers during his last time out. The Tigers stars, though, have great numbers against the Royals starter. Curtis Granderson leads the way at .600 (6-10). Keep all Tigers in the lineup and don't expect much from Bannister tonight.
• Billy Butler is 6-14 against Justin Verlander for the season. Keep him active, but don't bench Verlander as a result. We're still seeing a skewing of numbers based on early-season struggles. No, he hasn't been great on the road, but he's facing a Royals team that is still not complete offensively. What he did against Baltimore last time out is more an indication of what to expect here.
• J.J. Hardy is 9-14 with three home runs against Zach Duke. The Brewers are hitting .355 against him as a team. Duke is 0-4 on the road with a 5.70 ERA and couldn't get out of the third inning in his last start against Milwaukee. Given how well the Brewers play at home, and how well Dave Bush has pitched there, it's not a good matchup for Duke. Get all Brewers in the lineup.
• Spot start calls: Gio Gonzalez, Anibal Sanchez, and Dave Bush. Bush is the best start of the day.

Notes for Saturday:

• Jon Lester has been the most consistent Red Sox pitcher outside of Tim Wakefield. He's also one of the only pitchers on the Boston staff that has a decent record on the road. Lester is 5-3 with a 3.61 ERA. Lefties are hitting just .224 against him for the season. In August, he's been especially tough against some of the better offenses in baseball.
• Scott Kazmir has been much better at home than on the road, and he's travelling to play a team that has been very good at home. The White Sox didn't hit Kazmir well last time out, but that was at the Trop. Paul Konerko has solid numbers (.464), but Jim Thome is 0-10 against Kazmir.
• We've given Javier Vazquez a hard time based on how he's pitched. He has, though, been very effective against Tampa. In two outings, he's posted a 2.71 ERA and a BAA of .216. Keep him active against the Rays.
• Jeremy Guthrie has been good against the AL East all season long, and there shouldn't be any concerns starting him against the Yankees on Saturday. He's going against a guy that hasn't thrown a pitch in the majors in what feels like a decade. Carl Pavano should not be started, but every Orioles player should.
• We have learned the hard way that Dana Eveland is not good on the road. Even though Seattle has struggled offensively all season, keep the lefty on the bench. Raul Ibanez and company all make good plays.
• Kyle Lohse has given up three or more runs in each of his last six starts. Lohse has been lit up for all of August and seems to be on a classic rough streak. Keep him sidelined if you have better options, even though his home record has been good.
• Nate McLouth and Adam LaRoche have both put up good stats against Jeff Suppan. Suppan is 3-0 in August, but all starts have been on the road. He's struggled in his last three at home, giving up eight, six, and six runs. He's just 4-4 at home with a 4.19 ERA, making him the least successful Brewers pitcher at home. Using some Pirates in your lineup could be a quick way to score some points.
• Early spot start calls: Go with Jeff Karstens, Jon Garland, Guthrie, and Jorge Campillo

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