Thursday Fantasy Baseball News and Notes

Busy day in the majors yesterday leads to a fair amount of notes to go over today. This will be a great few days in sports. Between the way the Stanley Cup finals ended last night to the start of the NBA finals tonight, and quality baseball all weekend, be sure to have your trigger finger ready to flip around to all these games. On to the notes.

• Carlos Pena was placed on the DL with a broken index finger. He was hit on the hand by Justin Masterson two nights ago, and he now needs the time to heal. Expect Eric Hinske to see some time at first base for Tampa. Hinske has hit well all season, and this will get him some more regular looks. He's not a bad fill in if you're in a deep, mixed league.
• Josh Beckett continued his dominance over Tampa. He improved to 2-1 on the season against them, lowered his WHIP under 1.00, and put his ERA at 2.57. Factor in a .228 BAA, and you can see why Tampa struggled to get a hit off the Red Sox ace. Beckett did not give up a home run, which should be viewed as a good sign given his problems his last few outings.
• I don't understand why Justin Duschcherer is available in even ten percent of leagues. He pitched another fantastic game yesterday, allowing just three hits and two runs to the Tigers while working into the seventh inning. In nine starts this season, he has yet to allow more than three earned runs. Sure, there is concern over long-term durability because of his injury history, but you can say that about a lot of pitchers. If he's available in your league, pick him up.
• Cliff Lee has struggled in three of his last four outings. Last night, he gave up nine runs to the Rangers. The Rangers have been hitting well, and this likely represents regression to the mean for Lee, but he is far from dominating in the manner he was earlier this season. He seems to be struggling with the command on his fastball, and he hasn't been as sharp in hitting his spots. Not a good recipe for any pitcher, let alone a lefty that doesn't throw very hard. And he continues to struggle against Michael Young and Ian Kinsler.
• You know the season is upside down when the recommendation comes to play as many as four Pirates regularly, but that's what we're seeing. Better yet, they're coming through. Xavier Nady is ranked in the top-50 in Yahoo! standard scoring. You're also seeing solid production from Nate McLouth and Freddy Sanchez, in addition to the resurrection of Jason Bay. Now, Ryan Doumit is due back soon. They may not win much because of their pitching, but offensively, they are worth owning for the sake of fantasy.
• Ted Lilly confuses more fantasy owners than I care to count. He's either lights out or way off. Last night, he pitched very well against a poor San Diego lineup. But in his prior start, he was dominated at home against a decimated Colorado lineup. I don't advocate owning him in more shallow leagues, and he's nothing more than a spot start in most 12-team leagues or larger. Greg Maddux is worth a start every time he takes the ball at Petco. Sure, he didn't get the win. But it only took 69 pitches for him to get through seven innings, allowing just one run on three hits. In six games at home, he has but one win despite a BAA of .201 and an ERA of 1.73.
• Clayton Kershaw looked pretty good last night. He struggled with control, but still managed to hold the Rockies to two runs over five innings. The Rockies hit lefties very well, so this is a good outing for most pitchers. Unfortunately, we have to put the Dodgers offense on a milk carton.
• Jered Weaver continues to prove to me that he's a spot-start candidate and not much more. He walked away with a win last night, but gave up ten hits over six innings and walked three more. It only added up to four runs, but this is four runs against a Seattle team with the worst offense in baseball. Raul Ibanez came through as expected with a couple hits and continues to hit Weaver very well.
• Other notes: J.D. Drew is seven for his last 13, and is being put into the third spot in the order while Ortiz is out. He goes on these tears, and it's a good time to get him into your lineup. Russell Branyan is stuck facing only righties with the Brewers, but he's hitting them well lately. He's six for his last 17 with four home runs. Makes a good fill-in bat. Brett Myers looked very good at home, as per usual. He struggles on the road, but makes a good start in Citizen's Park.

 

Notes for Thursday:

• I'm pretty high on Garrett Olson, but I'd keep him on the bench today. He hasn't done well on the road, posting a 6.28 ERA and a BAA of .328. Add to that his struggles with lefties and having to face Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, and it could be a long day.
• Jay Bruce concerns me today. None of the Reds hit Cole Hamels well at all, and Bruce hasn't faced a lefty like Hamels before. If you have better options, go with them.
• Chien-Ming Wang has been good all year, but has struggled with some of Toronto's stars. Bad news for Toronto, those guys aren't playing. If you're looking for some hitting today, look to Lyle Overbay (.455) and Matt Stairs (.400), who both hit well against Wang.
• Derek Jeter has been swinging the bat well the last three games, and he seems to enjoy facing Dustin McGowan, posting a .389 average in 19 at-bats. The rest of the Yankees struggle, so McGowan still makes a good play. Not that you bench him, but Alex Rodriguez is one for 14 against McGowan and Bobby Abreu only three for 14.
• Scott Baker returns to Minnesota's rotation today. Follow the rule and give him one start to get his feet under him. Even if this is against Baltimore.
• James Shields is one of the more reliable pitchers out there, but he struggles on the road. Away from the Trop, his ERA is 6.04 and batters hit .325 against him. Add to that, Shields has an ERA of nearly five against Boston this season and 4.18 since the beginning of 2007.
• Keep Juan Pierre and Andre Ethier in the lineup today against Ryan Dempster. They both check in at over .500. Dempster still makes a good start. After looking at the numbers again, I think I'd take Chad Billingsley over Dempster if I had the choice in it and needed the start. Billingsley has been very good at home, holding hitters to .245 in six games.
• Spot starts today? Billingsley, Homer Bailey, Todd Wellemeyer, and Paul Maholm in that order.

 

Notes for Friday:

• We went through this earlier this week. Paul Byrd on the road is a bad idea. His ERA is now 7.71 and batters hit .320 against him. Find another option.
• Justin Verlander has had three good outings in his last four, but the Indians all seem to hit pretty well against him, sporting a .287 team average. Victor Martinez is .308/4/9 against him and Ryan Garko, who has been swinging the bat well lately, has also taken Verlander deep twice in 15 at-bats.
• Hiroki Kuroda pitches well at home, and he draws a Cubs team he pitched well against last time. Good spot start. I'm back on the bandwagon.
• Randy Wolf is pretty good at home, where opponents only hit .218 against him. He holds all Mets not named Carlos Beltran in check.
• Nick Markakis has hit .385 with four home runs against Shaun Marcum, but he's the only Oriole with any success. Marcum still makes a good start.
• Everyone on Atlanta enjoys facing Jamie Moyer, keep him on the bench.
• Early spot start calls: Kuroda, Darrell Rasner, Jason Bergmann, and Andrew Miller

 

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