Just like last year we are hosting a party at Tonic East in NYC on the eve of Tout Wars. And the first 50 beers are on us (one per person please we don't want too many drunks). We hope you can join us if you are in the NYC area on 3/26 at 6 pm, at 29th street and Third Avenue. Just the ability to meet Lenny Melnick should be enough reason to come i...
Baseball Blasts are from Articles I have searched for that can can give you little more insight into Teams, Players, and MLB in general..LBB can be a very useful tool. Allow me to do the digging for you, as I have searched every newspaper housing a ...
Most of the rumors of the week swirl around Joe Nathan, some speculation regarding unsigned, veteran slugger-types with no discernable defensive position (Jermaine Dye, we love ya buddy!). So we’ll have an abbreviated rumor section and move on to some spring training players.
Every Friday we will take a look at three players in the AL who are being over-valued in drafts based upon their ADP and three players who can be found much later in the draft that may produce similar numbers for your fantasy team.
Baseball Blasts are from Articles I have searched for that can can give you little more insight into Teams, Players, and MLB in general..LBB can be a very useful tool. Allow me to do the digging for you, as I have searched every newspaper housing a ML...
As of this week, Chris Mulligan's Pitch or Ditch column, Kevin Orris' Rumor Central and the Behind The Plate Blog are moving to the Premium Site, for which we are still taking registrations. So go to the Premium Site if you are looking for this great advice. You can get the rest of the year for a cool $5!!! Thats seems like a small price to pay to bring your team down the homestretch. Plus you get Lenny's Daily Podcast and our 1-800 number, all for less than fifty cents a week!
With no two-start pitchers this week, it makes the one-start matchups even more important. This is especially so in head-to-head and points leagues. So, we will look at both favorable and unfavorable matchups and look at some of the injured starters as well. As always, I will share with you some of the one-start free agents that I like this week. Short weeks pretty much suck for head-to-head and points leagues so let’s see if we can find you some winners.
Favorable Matchups
7/16
Chris Volstad (FLA) vs. Jamie Moyer (PHI)- Volstad is 2-1 with a 2.60 ERA in five starts against the Phillies.
Cliff Lee (CLE) vs. Garrett Olson (SEA)- Lee is 7-1 against the Mariners with a 3.65 ERA in 11 games against them.
Wandy Rodriguez (HOU) @ Randy Wolf (LAD)- Rodriguez is 2-2 with a 3.23 ERA in six career starts against the Dodgers and is 2-0 with a 2.05 ERA over his last three starts.
Aaron Cook (COL) @ Chad Gaudin (SD)- Cook is 12-4 in his career against the Padres with 2.71 ERA over 22 games.
Dallas Braden (OAK) vs. Joe Saunders (LAA)- Braden has a 3.21 ERA in three starts against the Angels.
7/17
Jair Jurrjens (ATL) vs. Mike Pelfrey (NYM)- Jurrjens is 2-1 with a 3.51 ERA in four career starts against the Mets.
Chris Carpenter (STL) vs. Jon Garland (ARI)- Carpenter is 3-0 against the D-Backs with a 2.23 ERA in seven games.
James Shields (TB) @ Zack Greinke (KC)- Shields is 5-0 with a 2.50 ERA in his five career starts against the Royals.
Jered Weaver (LAA) @ Trevor Cahill (OAK)- Weaver is 2-2 with a 2.56 ERA in six career games against the A’s.
7/18
John Lackey (LAA) @ Vin Mazzaro (OAK)- Lackey is 14-4 with a 2.80 ERA in 26 games against the A’s.
Joe Blanton (PHI) @ Ricky Nolasco (FLA)- Blanton is 3-0 3.18 ERA in his three career starts against the Marlins.
7/19
Jon Lester (BOS) @ Roy Halladay (TOR)- Lester is 3-2 with a 3.25 ERA in seven career games against the Blue Jays.
Hiroki Kuroda (LAD) vs. Russ Ortiz (HOU)- Kuroda is 1-0 with a 0.66 ERA in two starts against the Astros.
Francisco Liriano (MIN) @ Tommy Hunter (TEX)- Liriano is 1-0 with a 0.82 in three games against the Rangers.
Unfavorable Matchups
7/16
Derek Lowe (ATL) vs. Oliver Perez (NYM)- Lowe is 2-2 against the Mets with a 6.75 ERA in nine career games.
7/17
A.J. Burnett (TOR) vs. Luke French (DET)- Burnett has a 8.03 ERA in five starts against the Tigers.
Mike Pelfrey (NYM) @ Jair Jurrjens (ATL)- Pelfrey is 2-3 with a 5.08 ERA in eight starts against the Braves.
Jon Garland (ARI) @ Chris Carpenter (STL)- Garland is 0-2 with a 10.38 ERA in his two starts against the Cardinals.
7/18
Scott Kazmir (TB) @ Luke Hochevar (KC)- Kazmir is 1-2 with a 5.56 ERA in six career starts against the Royals.
Scott Baker (MIN) @ Scott Feldman (TEX)- Baker is 0-2 with a 7. 47 ERA in three career starts against the Rangers.
Jason Hammel (COL) @ Kevin Correia (SD)- Hammel has a 8.10 ERA in three career starts against the Padres.
7/19
Matt Cain (SF) @ Zach Duke (PIT)- Cain is 0-2 with a 5.63 in four career starts against the Pirates.
J.A. Happ (PHI) @ Andrew Miller (FLA)- Happ has a 9.82 ERA in three career starts against the Marlins.
Edwin Jackson (DET) @ Joba Chamberlain (NYY)- Jackson is 2-4 with a 5.11 ERA in 14 games against the Yankees.
Brian Bannister (KC) vs. Matt Garza (TB)- Bannister is 1-3 against the Rays with a 6.95 ERA in four career starts against them.
Mully’s Recommendations: One-Start Free Agents
Chad Gaudin (SD)- Gaudin has a good matchup this week as he takes on the Rockies on Thur. 7/16. Gaudin is 1-0 with a 1.96 ERA in four games against the Rockies with 20 K in 18 IP. Gaudin has put up great K/9 numbers this year and if it wasn’t for his ERA, he could be a solid option. He finally has a favorable matchup this week and should provide some nice K numbers as well.
Paul Maholm (PIT)- Since Maholm’s game has gone south in the last month or so, he has been dropped in many leagues. Maholm finds himself with a favorable matchup on Fri. 7/17 when he goes up against the Giants. Maholm is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in four starts against the Giants with 20 K in 27 IP. His opposition that day is Tim Lincecum but in his one start against the Pirates, Lincecum allowed 6 ER in 6 IP.
Glen Perkins (MIN)- Perkins takes on the Rangers on Thur. 7/17 and it looks to be a good matchup for him. Perkins is 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA in five career games against the Rangers and is 2-1 with a 3.44 ERA in his last three starts this season. We know he is no strikeout pitcher but if you’re chasing wins and trying to lower your ERA, Perkins should be a solid start this week.
This week looks to be a great week for two start pitchers with some of the top starters out there going twice and many pitchers having favorable matchups. Some old names are popping up as quality starts this week and some young guns are starting to improve their games. It's the last week before the All-Star break and we will see what starters have earned their spot on their league's team.
Inter-league games are over and hopefully a semblance of normalcy will follow. Only two more weeks until the All-Star break and a month until the trade deadline. Which of these starters will cement themselves an All-Star appearance and which will become trade-bait?
We continue on with more interleague matchups and not a whole lot of great options as far as two-start pitchers go. However, there are some interesting matchups this week. We will see how rookie phenom Tommy Hanson fares against the big boys in the Yankess and Red Sox.
Interleague play continues to roll on. There will be a lot of teams seeing pitchers for the first time and anything can happen. But should we throw the numbers out the window? One stat you should not ignore: the four teams with the most wins in interleague play are the Twins, Red Sox, Yankees, and White Sox.
I'm filling in for Chris this week as he tries to take the gremlins out of his computer. Here's a look at what you can expect from this week's matchups
