Fantasy MLB Spot Starting: 05.06.11

Welcome to Spot Starting.  As the bigger names continue to pitch gems let’s keep digging for those waiver wire pick ups of names that have fallen off your radar.  Some of the go to names we’ve had the past couple weeks are now above 50% so we have to keep digging deeper, some like Scott Baker continue to be there for us.

For games on Friday May 6th 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:

Matt Harrison 39% / 29% (TEX) vs. NYY

Tim Stauffer 37% / 5% (SD) vs. ARI

Scott Baker 31% / 17% (MIN) @ BOS

Daisuke Matsuzaka 21% / 17% (BOS) vs. MIN

Jonathon Niese 9% / 1% (NYM) vs. LAD

Phil Humber 6% / 4% (CWS) @ SEA

My Pick: Tim Stauffer vs. D Backs

Alternate: Scott Baker vs. Red Sox

Deep League Special: Phil Humber

I’ve picked Baker in his past 3 starts and he has not disappointed giving us a line of 1-0 20.1 IP, 16 H, 3 ER, 17 K, 3 BB 1.33 ERA, 0.93 WHIP.  He’s the clear choice then, right?  Not so fast. 

Stauffer is on a mini tear lately and has great lifetime numbers against the D Backs, albeit only 1 start, but adding in the relief appearances he has 20 IP against them with 17Ks and a 1.80 ERA.  His peripherals are right in line if not even more encouraging (.311 BABIP, 2.66 FIP, 3.10 xFIP).  He is an extreme GB pitcher right now and it’s helping him pitch quality games.  The D Backs rely on home runs to win games and it’s not likely they’ll get them off Stauffer.

Fantasy MLB Spot Starting: 05.01.11

Not a great showing for Spot Starting last night, but as I’ve said before, sometimes the stats and research let you down and that’s why the game is played on the field and not on paper.  Can’t promise we can salvage the week or win your head to head match up with one of these picks though as the pickings are quite slim.  Some of our recent picks like Carl Pavano and Chris Narveson are not recommended this go ’round.  Chris Young is coming off the DL with a dead arm and has a very poor match up today against Halladay and the Phillies who’s bats have awoken.  But as you’ll read all is not lost as there are two good plays to be had.

See you again on Monday when Spot Starting returns with picks for Tuesday.

For games on Sunday May 1st 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:

Carl Pavano 42% / 16% (MIN) @ KC

Chris Narveson 28% / 20% (MIL) @ HOU

Chris Young 23% / 11% (NYM) vs. PHL

Bud Norris 20% / 5% (HOU) vs. MIL

Jon Garland 10% / 7% (LAD) vs. SD

After this, it gets down right ugly, trust me folks.  Doesn’t mean someone can’t pull a good start out of their you know what, but we don’t have a crystal ball, just good hard stats.

My Pick: Bud Norris vs. Brewers

Alternate: Jon Garland vs. Padres

Deep League Special: Garland

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

04.18.11 Fantasy Baseball Hot & Cold List

Every Monday we will be bringing you the Top 3 hot and cold baseball players from around the major leagues. The twist, I’ll also be providing a buy or sell recommendation on the cold players to help you decide if this is a guy to target in a trade offer or someone you should cut if they’re clogging a bench spot, while on the other side giving you the sign on whether to sell high or buy the continued dominance.

For the last week, here are your Hot & Cold recommendations:

HOT

Lance Berkman

Last 7 games: .357 Avg, 9 R, 6 HR, 12 RBI, 0 SB

Call: Sell

In the “I told you so” section falls Lance Berkman. Yes he went 0 fer in his last game, but this guy has been hot. Only a matter of time until a stint on the bench with the rigors of playing OF and his numbers have nowhere to go but down from here, sell high.

Fantasy MLB Spot Starting: 04.18.11

Welcome to the 4th edition of  Spot Starting, if you missed our first few posts, read here for the explanation of how this works.

You may wonder why you’d be looking for a spot start on a Monday.  Well, you might be in a week where most of your Starters are only pitching 1 game.  It always behooves us to at least take a look at what is available, because as you can see below the results are there to be had.

For games on Monday April 18th these selected pitchers might be had in your league (less than 50% owned in Yahoo) with percent owned, team, and opponent:

Travis Wood 46% (CIN) vs. Pit

Tim Stauffer 38% (SD) @ ChC

Kevin Correia 14% (PIT) @ CIN

Esmil Rogers 9% (COL) vs. SF

Daisuke Matsuzaka 7% (BOS) vs. TOR

Jason Vargas 5% (SEA) vs. DET

Joe Blanton 4% (PHI) vs. MIL

My Pick: Travis Wood vs. Pirates

Alternate: Daisuke Matsuzaka vs. Blue Jays