The Week Ahead: Week Ahead: Break Out
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After taking a week off for the All-Star break, we’re back with your latest preview of the upcoming week’s two-start pitchers, streamers, team-by-team game totals and more.
Why take heed of the advice doled out in this column? Well, not to toot my own horn, but here’s how the last three pitchers spotlighted in The Week Ahead — all widely available in fantasy leagues — ended up faring in their two starts the following week:
Chris Heston (featured 7/3): 2 GS, 14 IP, 10 H, 1 ER, 9/4 K/BB
Mike Montgomery (featured 6/27): 2 GS, 14.2 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 9/5 K/BB
Mike Fiers (featured 6/20): 2 GS, 13 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 11/5 K/BB
The point here is not that I’m a genius, as I most certainly am not. The point is that paying close attention to match-ups and plugging in the right two-start pitchers can be an extremely effective way to gain an edge, and here we make it easy to find the most attractive options.
So we hope you’ll keep checking in every Friday throughout the stretch run as your team gears up for the playoff push.
Who do we like in the first week coming out of the break? Read on to find out.
Editor’s Note: Play one-day fantasy baseball for cash! FanDuel is hosting a $100,000 league for Friday’s MLB games. It’s just $5 to join and first place wins $5,000. Starts Friday at 7:05pm ET. Enter now!
* If Danny Salazar is available in your league — and that’s sort of unlikely since he’s 85 percent owned in both Yahoo and ESPN — make sure to grab him for his plum match-ups against the Brewers and White Sox.
* It’s been a fairly rocky year for Yordano Ventura, who looked far from dominant in his return from the disabled list earlier this month, but we like his chances to get on track with a pair of home tilts scheduled against the Pirates and slumping Astros.
* Kendall Graveman‘s last outing broke a chain of seven straight quality starts, but he still wasn’t terrible, allowing four runs over 5 2/3 innings. He has a 2.17 ERA since rejoining the A’s rotation in late May, and is available in 80 percent of Yahoo leagues. He does open the coming week with a tough match-up against the Blue Jays, though.
* Kyle Gibson is owned in only 32 percent of Yahoo leagues and 38 percent of ESPN leagues. He has been nails all season for the Twins, especially in recent weeks, where he’s seen a major uptick in strikeouts.
* Both Diamondbacks starters on the two-start list this week are worth plugging in, as Rubby De La Rosa and Jeremy Hellickson look ahead to home outings against Miami and Milwaukee.
* Don’t be misled by R.A. Dickey‘s hefty 4.87 ERA on the season. He has pitched much better of late, with a 3.73 ERA since the start of June and quality starts in five of his last six turns. He’s on the road against a couple mediocre offenses in Oakland and Seattle.
* Brian Johnson, the rookie left-hander called up to replace injured Clay Buchholz, will make his first two big-league starts next week. Obviously there’s plenty of risk in relying on a total unknown, but Johnson is considered quite polished and had excellent numbers in Triple-A, so he’s a decent gamble.
* Gio Gonzalez had a bit of an inconsistent first half, but got on a roll heading into the break, allowing just two runs over 19 innings in his last three starts. He opens his second half with a cozy match-up at home against the Mets.
* Just one final note: I had to do a little more guesswork than usual in assembling this week’s list because, as of Friday morning, many teams have not formally announced their rotation plans beyond the weekend. I’m fairly confident in most of the names below but if something appears amiss, please don’t hesitate to contact me at the email address in the footer, and I’ll get it fixed. Thanks gang!
Going Twice…
American League
Strong Plays
Danny Salazar: @MIL, CWS
Kyle Gibson: @LAA, NYY
Wei-Yin Chen: @NYY, @TB
Kendall Graveman: TOR, @SF
R.A. Dickey: @OAK, @SEA
Decent Plays
Yordano Ventura: PIT, HOU
Nathan Eovaldi: BAL, @MIN
Wandy Rodriguez: @COL, @LAA
Carlos Rodon: STL, @CLE
Andrew Heaney: BOS, TEX
At Your Own Risk
Matt Moore: @PHI, BAL
J.A. Happ: @DET, TOR
Taijuan Walker: @DET, TOR
Brian Johnson: @LAA, DET
Steven Wright: @HOU, DET
Alfredo Simon: SEA, @BOS
Shane Greene: SEA, @BOS
National League
Strong Plays
Matt Harvey: @WAS, LAD
Jacob deGrom: @WAS, LAD
Gerrit Cole: @KC, WAS
Carlos Martinez: @CWS, ATL
Gio Gonzalez: NYM, @PIT
Decent Plays
Matt Wisler: LAD, @STL
Michael Lorenzen: CHC, @COL
Rubby De La Rosa: MIA, MIL
Jeremy Hellickson: MIA, MIL
Ian Kennedy: SF, MIA
Tim Hudson: @SD, OAK
Jeff Locke: @KC, WAS
At Your Own Risk
Clayton Richard: @CIN, PHI
Odrisamer Despaigne: SF, MIA
Chris Rusin: TEX, CIN
Matt Garza: CLE, @ARI
Brandon Beachy: ATL, @NYM
Mat Latos: @ARI, @SD
David Phelps: @ARI, @SD
David Buchanan: TB, @CHC
Streamer City
The following pitchers are generally available in over 50 percent of fantasy leagues and have favorable match-ups this week:
American League
Wednesday, July 22: Cody Anderson @ MIL
The Cleveland rookie has been sublime thus far, with a 0.89 ERA through four starts, and while his minuscule K-rate makes us a little skeptical of that sustaining for too long, he’s a safe play against the light-hitting Brew Crew.
Friday, July 25: Scott Feldman @ KC
Finally back after a lengthy DL stint, Feldman could take the first-place Royals by surprise in Kansas City.
Friday, July 25: Colby Lewis @ LAA
Since the start of June, Lewis has allowed three or fewer earned runs in all but one of his eight starts. Granted, that one came against the Angels, who clobbered him for 10 runs, but given his overall success, we like his chances of getting things straightened out in this rematch.
National League
Tuesday, July 21: Aaron Nola vs. TB
This will be the big-league debut for Philly’s 2014 first-round pick. He has a 2.39 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A so he’s geared for a strong start against one of the AL’s weakest offenses.
Wednesday, July 22: Robbie Ray vs. MIA
Ray has put up a 2.16 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in eight starts for the D-Backs, and is owned in only 10 percent of Yahoo leagues. The Marlins rank 13th in the NL in runs scored.
Wednesday, July 22: Mike Leake vs. CHC
Leake has been quality in four of his last five starts and notched a season-high 10 strikeouts against Miami his last time out.
Friday, July 25: Patrick Corbin vs. MIL
In two starts since rejoining the D-Backs after losing a year to Tommy John surgery, Corbin has looked fairly sharp, with eight strikeouts and one walk over 10 innings. He needs to avoid the long ball.
Total Games
American League
6: BAL, CLE, CWS, HOU, MIN, NYY, OAK, TB, TEX, TOR
7: BOS, DET, KC, LAA, SEA
National League
6: ATL, CHC, CIN, COL, MIL, PHI, SF, STL
7: ARI, LAD, MIA, NYM, PIT, SD, WAS
The Infirmary
You can get a full listing of injured players at Rotoworld’s Injury Page but here’s the latest on a few prominent players who have been out of action:
Clay Buchholz: Out indefinitely (elbow)
Miguel Montero: Out until late August (thumb)
Alex Gordon: Out until September (groin)
Dee Gordon: Out until late July (thumb)
Matt Garza: Returning this week (shoulder)
Tim Hudson: Returning this week (shoulder)
Asdrubal Cabrera: Out indefinitely (hamstring)
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