Fantasy MLB Spot Starting: 05.17.11

Welcome to another week of Spot Starting!  Every week of picks should start off this easy as you’ll see below.

For games on Tuesday May 17th these selected pitchers might be had in your league (less than 50% owned in Yahoo! or ESPN) with percent owned Yahoo/ESPN, (team), and opponent:

Jordan Zimmermann 49% / 51% (WAS) vs. PIT

Tim Stauffer 39% / 7% (SD) @ ARI

John Lackey 30% / 16% (BOS) vs. BAL

Randy Wolf 28% / 26% (MIL) @ LAD

Matt Harrison 26% / 13% (TEX) @ CWS

Rick Porcello 10% / 11% (DET) vs. TOR

Charlie Morton 8% / 8% (PIT) @ WAS

Fantasy MLB Spot Starting: 05.15.11

Welcome to the last Spot Starting for the week, as always we’re trying to find that one last good start to win your head to head match up or pad your stats for the week.  The aces are out for Sunday across the league but as always we’re hunting for those guys flying under the radar but as you’ll see the picks are very tough.  Also read my Casual Sabermetrician article on SPs to buy low or sell high on based on the first quarter of the season.

For games on Sunday May 15th these selected pitchers might be had in your league (less than 50% owned in Yahoo! or ESPN) with percent owned Yahoo/ESPN, (team), and opponent:

Kevin Correia 37% / 37% (PIT) @ MIL

Javier Vazquez 27% / 3% (FLA) @ WAS

Travis Wood 19% / 40% (CIN) vs. StL

Brian Duensing 18% / 7% (MIN) vs. TOR

Mark Buehrle 14% / 10% (CWS) @ OAK

Freddy Garcia 12% / 10% (NYY) vs. BOS

Jake Arrieta 11% / 14% (BAL) @ TB

Jason Marquis 10% / 7% (WAS) vs. FLA

Fantasy MLB Spot Starting: 05.14.11

Welcome to the Friday the 13th edition of Spot Starting.  Tons of depth to be had for Saturday’s games.

For games on Saturday May 14th these selected pitchers might be had in your league (less than 50% owned in Yahoo! or ESPN) with percent owned Yahoo/ESPN, (team), and opponent:

Kyle McClellan 44% / 38% (StL) @ CIN

Anibal Sanchez 42% / 65% (FLA) @ WAS

Wade Davis 26% / 63% (TB) vs. BAL

Derek Holland 23% / 6% (TEX) vs. LAA

Chris Narveson 16% / 10% (MIL) vs. PIT

R.A. Dickey 14% / 4% (NYM) @ HOU

Erik Bedard 12% / 8% (SEA) @ CLE

Tyson Ross 3% / 2% (OAK) vs. CWS

Fantasy MLB Spot Starting: 05.10.11

Welcome to another week of Spot Starting.  Let me tell you, from experience – the difference between winning and losing your head to head match could be a Sunday Spot Start off the waiver wire.  Yesterday, if I had followed my own advice and picked up Fausto Carmona or better yet, Anibal Sanchez I would have avoided a painful loss.  I was protecting my  WHIP and hoping it would hold up instead of padding my Ks and going for another W.  It backfired and my opponent Chris beat me.  Sometimes you gotta gamble.  By the way, please read Chris’ weekly Minor League Recap, it’s always epic.

For games on Tuesday May 10th these selected pitchers might be had in your league (less than 50% owned in Yahoo! or ESPN) with percent owned Yahoo/ESPN, (team), and opponent:

Kyle Drabek 38% / 23% (TOR) vs. BOS

Kevin Correia 34% / 36% (PIT) vs LAD

Clayton Richard 24% / 3% (SD) @ MIL

Homer Bailey 13% / 5% (CIN) @ HOU

Freddy Garcia 11% / 9% (NYY) vs. KC

Mike Pelfrey 6% / 1% (NYM) @ COL

Jake Arrieta 5% / 5% (BAL) vs. SEA

Rick Porcello 5% / 3% (DET)@ MIN

Fantasy MLB Spot Starting: 04.29.11

In writing this article, I find most enjoyment in my Deep League Special pick.  It’s what we fantasy baseball geeks really love, digging deep for the sleeper, the high upside.  Last night, my sleeper pick, Bartolo Colon was the toast of baseball as he dazzled the White Sox over 8 very strong innings picking up his second straight win.  Tons of guys on the waiver wire to be had for Friday’s starts, grab one to help you win your match up or pad your stats.

For games on Friday April 29th these selected pitchers might be had in your league (less than 50% owned in Yahoo! or ESPN) with percent owned Yahoo/ESPN, (team), and opponent:

Javier Vazquez 34% / 4% (FLA) @ CIN

Scott Baker 33% / 25% (MIN) @ KC (Start was pushed back from Thursday)

Clayton Richard 28% / 4% (SD) @ LAD

Travis Wood 27% / 51% (CIN) vs. FLA

Kevin Correia 23% / 24% (PIT) @ COL

Daisuke Matsuzaka 22% / 16% (BOS) vs. SEA

Bruce Chen 15% / 17% (KC) vs. MIN

Freddy Garcia 11% / 12% (NYY) vs. TOR

Mike Pelfrey 7% / 1% (NYM) @ PHL

Joe Blanton 4% / 2% (PHL) vs. NYM

Jason Marquis 3% / 3% (WAS) vs. SF

Jake Arrieta 2% / 1% (BAL) @ CWS

Armando Galarrago 2% / 2% (ARI) vs. CHC

My Pick: Daisuke Matsuzaka vs. Mariners

Yesterday’s Pick (pushed up to today): Scott Baker @ Royals

Deep League Special: Freddy Garcia vs. Jays

Fantasy MLB Spot Starting: 04.28.11

Well, after 5 straight quality start picks we were due for a clunker and boy did we get one from Brandon McCarthy last night.  Let’s hope Anibal Sanchez stops the bleeding tonight and that we pick a gem for tomorrow and we have some of our favorite options going.

For games on Thursday April 28th these selected pitchers might be had in your league (less than 50% owned in Yahoo! or ESPN) with percent owned Yahoo/ESPN, (team), and opponent:

Kyle McClellan 43% / 42% (StL) @ HOU

Scott Baker 28% / 10% (MIN) vs. TB

Fausto Carmona 18% / 8% (CLE) vs. KC

Livan Hernandez 7% / 6% (WAS) vs. NYM

Jeff Niemann 5% / 1% (TB) @ MIN

Brad Penny 3% / 1% (DET) vs. SEA

Chris Capuano 2% / 0.1% (NYM) @ WAS

My Pick: Scott Baker vs. Rays

Alternate: Kyle McClellan vs. Astros

Deep League Special: Chris Capuano vs. Nationals

Fantasy MLB Spot Starting: 04.27.11

The pickings were slim yesterday and yet another great start was made by a pitcher on absolutely no one’s radar as Phil Humber pitched a gem against the Yankees taking a no hitter into the 7th inning.  Humber is owned in 1% of Yahoo! leagues and a slim 0.1% of ESPN (basically his dad owns him).  You just never know when a great start will come out of nowhere, but we can look at the match ups and stats and continue to do our best.

For games on Wednesday April 27th these selected pitchers might be had in your league (less than 50% owned in Yahoo! or ESPN) with percent owned Yahoo/ESPN, (team), and opponent:

Derek Holland 34% / 23% (TEX) vs. TOR

Anibal Sanchez 33% / 40% (FLA) vs. LAD

Jeremy Guthrie 33% / 17% (BAL) vs. BOS

Josh Tomlin 26% / 27% (CLE) vs. KC

R.A. Dickey 20% / 5% (NYM) vs. WAS

Mark Buehrle 15% / 10% (CWS) @ NYY

Bartolo Colon 8% / 3% (NYY) vs. CWS

Sam LeCure 4% / 3% (CIN) @ MIL

My Pick: Anibal Sanchez vs. Dodgers

Alternate: Josh Tomlin vs. Royals

Deep League Special: Bartolo Colon vs. White Sox

Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season

Welcome back to Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season! In the “Today’s Games” section, you will see my picks to win for the day. I will post either the “Money Line” or the “Run Line”. The money line is always a “straight up” bet which means your team will never need to win or lose by a specific amount of runs. The money line odds represent what amount has to be wagered or what can be won. For example, if there is a minus sign (-) next to an amount, you have to wager that amount to win 100. If there is a plus sign (+) next to an amount, you will receive that amount for every 100 wagered. When you see a “Run Line”, that means a spread is involved. In Baseball, the spread is always 1.5 runs but you can find alternate run lines on some websites. When I post a run line of -1.5, that means our team must win by two runs. When you see a run line of +1.5, that means our team can lose by one run and still win the wager. Listen to our show from April 5th, 2011 for more explanation and tips.

Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season

Welcome back to Killin’ the Odds & the Regular Season! In the “Today’s Games” section, you will see my picks to win for the day. I will post either the “Money Line” or the “Run Line”. The money line is always a “straight up” bet which means your team will never need to win or lose by a specific amount of runs. The money line odds represent what amount has to be wagered or what can be won. For example, if there is a minus sign (-) next to an amount, you have to wager that amount to win 100. If there is a plus sign (+) next to an amount, you will receive that amount for every 100 wagered. When you see a “Run Line”, that means a spread is involved. In Baseball, the spread is always 1.5 runs but you can find alternate run lines on some websites. When I post a run line of -1.5, that means our team must win by two runs. When you see a run line of +1.5, that means our team can lose by one run and still win the wager. Listen to our show from April 5th, 2011 for more explanation and tips.

Fantasy MLB Spot Starting: 04.16.11

Welcome to our 2nd addition of  Spot Starting, if you missed it yesterday read here for the explanation of how this works.  Let’s get right into it shall we…

For games on Saturday April 16th these selected pitchers might be had in your league (less than 50% owned in Yahoo) with percent owned, team, and opponent: