Pitch or Ditch for Thursday, September 2
Pitch
or Ditch is a strategy for (ideally) daily mixed leagues in which you
pick up
starters on a day-to-day basis based on how well they are pitching and
their
upcoming matchups, then cut them in favor of new guys the next day. The
concept
is that the shallower the league, the more quality starting pitching is
available on the free agent wire, so rather than drafting expensive
starters,
it’s better to build a strong offense and bullpen and let the free agent
wire
populate your starting staff during the season. As a bonus, a handful of
“PoD”
guys emerge each year as worth keeping all year long, like Jair Jurrjens
last
year or Cliff Lee in ’08.
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PoD chart August 10.pdf UPDATED CHART COMING SOON!
ZACH’S PICKS
Braden @
Sabathia – Braden risky but he’s on a roll…pitch if you’re willing to gamble
Dice-K @
Bergesen – Dice-K a bit shaky of late but K rate consistently strong
Verlander @
Baker – Baker coming off two straight stellar outings and at home
Tomlin @
Fister – Fister excellent at home this year (2.99 ERA)
J. Santana @ T.
Hudson – Nice!
Blanton @
Chacin – Blanton pitching well lately but this could get ugly
CORY’S PICKS
Braden
@ Sabathia – Braden too risky at the Yankees
Dice-K
@ Bergesen – Dice-K a reasonable gamble for chasing K’s and wins
Verlander @ Baker – Baker a
big disappointment this year and not trustworthy
Tomlin
@ Fister – good matchup for Fister at home vs. weak offense
J.
Santana @ T. Hudson
Blanton
@ Chacin – Blanton pitching well, but risky in COL
mlbtstufantasy411
This is a question about next weeks lineup in a H2H, weekly lineup, CBS points league, where we get 7 pts for a win, 3 pts for a QS and lose 5 pts for a loss, plus all the other usual stats we lose or gain points for. I think I have a pretty solid lineup, but right now it seems all my hitters have decided to go into a funk at the same time, so my pitching is critical. I’m fighting for my playoff life here and winning next week is critical. We can start 5 pitchers a week. Right now I have in my starting lineup G.Gonzalez vs Sea, who I feel is a must start. Daniel Hudson vs SF. Tim Hudson @ PIT. J.Johnson @ phil. And Scherzer vs CWS and Bal. My question is whether or not to go with Johnson @ Philadelphia. He hasn’t been pitching as well lately and the Phillies are back to full strength. My other options are Enright vs SF, J.Garcia @ Mil, Lilly @ Hou, Westbrook @ Mil and @ Atl, or B.Anderson vs Sea and Boston. I don’t trust Westbrook or the StL offense right now. Anderson I could see using against Sea but the Bost game scares me. So, do I go with Johnson or one of the alternatives? Sorry for the long question, but this is do or die time. Thanks
dblbogey,
I’ll always choose to live or die with my best, and JJ is clearly your best pitcher. Stick with him. If you decide to bench him during this crucial time and he goes on to throw a shutout, you’d probably spend all winter regretting that move. I might consider starting Anderson over Dan Hudson due to the two-start week but like you said, the BOS matchup is a bit scary and the penalty for losses in your league is quite harsh, which slightly bumps down the value of two-start pitchers.
Zach