The Week Ahead: Week Ahead: Play Peavy?
It was nearly a decade ago, back in 2007, that Jake Peavy won a Cy Young Award with the Padres. Since then, he has pitched with four different teams, never really approaching the same level of effectiveness.
Still, it was rather stunning to see him stumble to the extent he did over the first six weeks of this season with the Giants. On May 20th, Peavy was knocked out of a start against the Cubs in the second inning, leaving him with a 1-5 record and 8.23 ERA. At that point, we were all wondering just how much longer San Francisco could stick with him.
Stick with him they did, and to his credit, the veteran righty has managed to turn things around in a big way. Since that pounding at the hands of the Cubs, Peavy has posted a 2.41 ERA in seven starts. He experienced a hiccup (hopefully) in Oakland on Wednesday, but looks like a different guy than he did during that dreadful opening stretch.
His overall numbers (4-7, 5.33 ERA) remain poor, and he is owned in only 20 percent of Yahoo leagues, but this may present a good opportunity. Peavy has consistently pitched much better at home since joining the Giants, and is looking ahead to a pair of starts in San Fran against teams (Colorado and Arizona) that are buried beneath them in the NL West. The Rockies lead the NL in OPS but as usual they’ve been far less explosive away from Coors Field.
Peavy is a nice, sneaky mid-tier option for the coming week. We’ll take a look at some others below.
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* Prior to a disabled list stint that kept him out for the entire month of June, Michael Foltynewicz was pitching quite well, with a 3.51 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in six start. He returned to the Braves rotation on Thursday night, pitching only three innings, but he should stretch out more next week. With road match-ups against a pair of weak offenses on tap in Philly and South Chicago, he carries some appeal and is out there in almost every league.
* Lance McCullers will rejoin the Astros rotation on Monday after missing his last turn with a blister issue, putting him in line for two home starts. He has notched six or more strikeouts in each of his last seven outings.
* After allowing only four earned runs over 20 innings in his past three starts, all on the road, Aaron Sanchez is a bona fide Strong Play as he returns home to face the Royals and Tigers.
* Before losing his entire 2015 season to Tommy John surgery, A.J. Griffin allowed a league-leading 36 home runs in 32 starts for the A’s. This year, with Texas, he has surrendered only three long balls in seven starts. He’ll be put to the test with a tough assignment in Boston, but then returns home for a much easier task against the Twins.
* I’m reluctant to recommend James Shields at this point, but he did perform very well in his last outing against Minnesota (6 2/3 IP, 1 ER), and he’s looking ahead to favorable home dates against the Yankees and Braves.
* Zack Greinke is currently slated to start on Monday and Sunday, but he may miss time with an oblique issue. Monitor his status closely. If he’s good to go, you’ve got to like his match-ups.
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Going Twice…
American League
Strong Plays
Aaron Sanchez: KC, DET
Masahiro Tanaka: @CWS, @CLE
Lance McCullers: SEA, OAK
Danny Salazar: DET, NYY
Carlos Carrasco: DET, NYY
Rick Porcello: TEX, TB
Decent Plays
R.A. Dickey: KC, DET
A.J. Griffin: @BOS, MIN
Jake Odorizzi: LAA, @BOS
Matt Moore: LAA, @BOS
Taijuan Walker: @HOU, @KC
Michael Pineda: @CWS, @CLE
Dallas Keuchel: SEA, OAK
Jordan Zimmermann: @CLE, @TOR
At Your Own Risk
Nick Martinez: @BOS, MIN
Wade Miley: @HOU, @KC
Sean Manaea: @MIN, @HOU
Kendall Graveman: @MIN, @HOU
Tommy Milone: OAK, @TEX
Ricky Nolasco: OAK, @TEX
Jered Weaver: @TB, @BAL
Tim Lincecum: @TB, @BAL
Chris Young: @TOR, SEA
Edinson Volquez: @TOR, SEA
Daniel Norris: @CLE, @TOR
Yovani Gallardo: @LAD, LAA
National League
Strong Plays
Max Scherzer: MIL, @NYM
Carlos Martinez: PIT, @MIL
Matt Harvey: MIA, WAS
Kenta Maeda: BAL, SD
Kyle Hendricks: CIN, @PIT
John Lackey: CIN, @PIT
Zack Greinke: SD, @SF
Decent Plays
Mike Leake: PIT, @MIL
Jake Peavy: COL, ARI
Jerad Eickhoff: ATL, @COL
Steven Matz: MIA, WAS
Junior Guerra: @WAS, STL
Tyler Anderson: @SF, PHI
Michael Foltynewicz: @PHI, @CWS
At Your Own Risk
Gio Gonzalez: MIL, @NYM
Christian Friedrich: @ARI, @LAD
Erik Johnson: @ARI, @LAD
Jameson Taillon: @STL, CHC
Jon Niese: @STL, CHC
Zach Eflin: ATL, @COL
Tom Koehler: @NYM, CIN
Eddie Butler: @SF, PHI
Cody Reed: @CHC, @MIA
Joel De La Cruz: @PHI, @CWS
Brock Stewart: BAL, SD
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 6th: Ervin Santana vs. OAK
The veteran righty has been solid his last couple times out and should be able to keep it rolling at home against the A’s.
Thursday, July 7th: Danny Duffy vs. SEA
Duffy has whiffed 79 hitters in 66 innings and is coming off a brilliant home start against the Cardinals.
Friday, July 8th: Daniel Mengden @ HOU
Mengden has notched a strikeout per inning through his first four big-league starts, and will look to add on a few more against the AL’s most K-prone offense.
National League
Wednesday, July 7th: Shelby Miller vs. SD
He got slammed in his last start, but it was in Colorado. We’ll take it as a positive that Miller has a 10-to-2 K/BB ratio since returning from the disabled list.
Wednesday, July 7th: Jorge De La Rosa @ SF
De La Rosa has recorded victories in four consecutive appearances and put up a 1.96 ERA in the month of June.
Friday, July 8th: Matt Wisler @ CWS
The young right-hander has quietly turned in three straight quality starts and tallied a career-high nine strikeouts his last time out.
Total Games
American League
6: BAL, BOS, CWS
7: CLE, DET, HOU, KC, LAA, MIN, NYY, OAK, SEA, TB, TEX, TOR
National League
6: ARI, CIN, MIA, MIL
7: ATL, CHC, COL, LAD, NYM, PHI, PIT, SD, SF, STL, 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:
John Gant: Out until late July (oblique)
Clayton Kershaw: Out indefinitely (back)
Phil Hughes: Out for the season (shoulder)
Jon Jay: Out until August (wrist)
Adrian Sampson: Out for the season (elbow)
Joe Panik: Out indefinitely (concussion)
Colby Lewis: Out until August (back)
Jonathan Papelbon: Returning this week? (intercostal)
