MLB Fantasy: Two-Start Pitchers for Week Nine are Lincecum, Verlander

This late in the season, it is rare to see bona fide stars sucking, but that’s what you get from Nate McLouth , Aramis Ramirez , Chone Figgins ,or Jake Peavy . All of these guys were drafted with expectations of big fantasy numbers, but all have floundered this season. These are the types of guys who are too good to suck for an entire season, so stick with them or trade for them and expect things to get a lot better very quickly. They all have way too much talent to continue down their current paths.

Now, the projected two-start pitchers for this week. For those of you in leagues that require you to set your lineup at the beginning of the week, these are guys you should strongly consider:

American League BAL Brian Matusz BOS John Lackey CWS Mark Buehrle CLE Mitch Talbot , Jake Westbrook DET Justin Verlander , Jeremy Bonderman KC Luke Hochevar , Brian Bannister LAA Ervin Santana , Joel Pineiro MIN Francisco Liriano , Nick Blackburn NYY Andy Pettitte , Javier Vazquez OAK Trevor Cahill , Gio Gonzalez SEA Doug Fister , Jason Vargas TB Matt Garza TEX Rich Harden TOR Brandon Morrow

National League ARI Rodrigo Lopez ATL Tommy Hanson , Tim Hudson CHC Randy Wells CIN Bronson Arroyo COL Ubaldo Jimenez FLA Nate Robertson , Ricky Nolasco HOU Roy Oswalt , Brett Myers LAD Chad Billingsley , John Ely MIL Chris Narveson , David Bush NYM Hisanori Takahashi PHI Joe Blanton PIT Ross Ohlendorf SD Kevin Correia SF Tim Lincecum STL Jaime Garcia WAS Luis Atilano , Craig Stammen

Rick’s Picks

Five best bets for double-start pitchers this week:

1. Tim Lincecum is the best pitcher in baseball not named Roy Halladay . He gets the Rockies at home and the Pirates in Pittsburgh. Gotta get me a double scoop of this guy this week and hope he’s not hopped up on dope during the season.

2. Chad Billingsley gets two home games (vs ARZ, vs ATL) and has won four in a row, striking out at least five in each of those contests. Jump in and hang on for the week.

3. Justin Verlander will get two weak opponents (vs CLE, at KC) just as he’s turning around his slow start. Verlander will be big this week, so be a part of the action.

4. Roy Oswalt is trying to build his resume. By pitching his best for the next month, he is more likely to find a few suitors who are willing to meet Houston’s high price for his talents. Two home games against Washington and the Chicago Cubs will be great opportunities for you to enjoy those resume building stats.

5. Hisanori Takahashi isn’t likely to continue this torrid pace, but ride him while he’s hot. A road game in San Diego and a home game versus Florida will provide ample opportunities to keep it up.

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Rick Milleman is the head fantasy baseball contributor at DraftBuddy.com . Check his annual player projections included in the Cheatsheet Compiler & Draft Buddy to help draft your championship team.