CORY’S PICKS  

Brett Cecil

Weiland @ Guthrie

Moscoso @ Porcello – Moscoso a pitch for deep/unmixed leagues

Pineda @ Cecil – great matchup for resurgent Cecil

Colon @ Hellickson – being cautious with Colon

Peavy @ Duffy – Peavy not inspiring confidence lately

Masterson @ Liriano

Ogando @ Chatwood

Leake @ Morton – Morton has turned back into a pumpkin

Stauffer @ An. Sanchez

Lohse @ Gee – could go either way on both, do you feel lucky?

Lee @ Garza

Zimmermann @ Happ

Beachy @ Jimenez – check Ubaldo’s last 9 GS vs. his first 9

Gallardo @ Enright

R. De La Rosa @ Bumgarner

ZACH’S PICKS

SATURDAY

Sabathia @ Romero

Weaver @ Cahill  (Gm 1 of doubleheader)

Big Erv @ Harden  (Gm 2 of doubleheader) – I’ll say pitch on Harden. Angels not a scary offense.

Lackey @ Shields – Still don’t trust Lackey.

Jackson @ Scherzer – This could be 2-1 or 10-9 but I’ll risk it.

Carrasco @ Simon – Carrasco testing my patience but I’m not giving up on him just yet.

Francis @ Pavano – Francis a decent AL-only option. Pavano 3 ER or less in six of his last seven starts.

Wilson @ King Felix

Vazquez @ Zambrano – Vazquez too HR prone to trust at Wrigley. I’ll sit Big Z in first start off DL.

Hamels @ Niese

Maholm @ Norris

Carpenter @ Arroyo

Lannan @ Hanson

Kuroda @ Kennedy

Greinke @ Chacin

Zito @ Luebke – If you’re not going to start Zito here, why own him?

                                                                                                                                                SUNDAY

Peavy @ Penny – Peavy very shaky of late. Bad matchup for Penny.

Hughes @ Villanueva – Hughes needs to shake the rust off.

Gomez @ Atkins

Paulino @ Duensing – I’ll roll the dice on both here.

Pineiro @ Gonzalez – Good matchup for Pineiro.

Harrison @ Beavan

Beckett @ Niemann

Kendrick @ Pelfrey

J. Garcia @ Bailey – Bailey’s career ERA vs. Cards (7 starts) is 6.03! Not good.

Gorzelanny @ Jurrjens – Gorzelanny an OK start in deep/non-mixed leagues.

Correia @ Wandy

Volstad @ Wells

Marcum @ Cook – Marcum a little risky though.

Cain @ Latos

Lilly @ D. Hudson – Dangerous matchup for fly-ball pitcher Lilly.

                                                                                                                                              MONDAY

Carmona @ Baker  (Gm 1 of doubleheader)

Burnett @ Hellickson

Red Sox @ Orioles

Buehrle @ Davies

TBD (Indians) @ Swarzak  (Gm 2 of doubleheader)

Willis @ McDonald – Far from an ideal matchup for the inconsistent McDonald.

Hensley @ Capuano – Capuano 2 ER or less in six of his last seven starts.

Lee @ Lopez

Marquis @ Lyles – Both are solid NL-only starts but too risky in mixed.

Lowe @ Hammel – Hammel much better on the road (3.40 ERA) than at home (4.92 ERA).

Wolf @ Duke – Regarding Wolf, see Lilly, Ted.

Billingsley @ Vogelsong

Doug Fister

CORY’S PICKS

Floyd @ Verlander – Floyd just too blow-up prone for my tastes
Tomlin @ Arrieta – Neither have stats to support the W-L records
F. Garcia @ Morrow – Chase K’s, not wins
Miller @ TBD
Hochevar @ Blackburn
Haren @ McCarthy – McCarthy has been awesome at home
Lewis @ Fister – Fister has been awesome at home
Nolasco @ Dempster – Dempster 3.25 ERA since May 1
Worley @ Dickey – Worley a nice NL/deep gamble
Westbrook @ Cueto
Livan @ T. Hudson
Karstens @ Myers – PoD “easy matchup” special
Narveson @ Nicasio
Kershaw @ Saunders
Lincecum @ Moseley

Hey everyone,

No setting lineups and no checking box scores. I’m sure the past few days have been very strange for all of you. And they have been very strange for me too, but I’ve kind of enjoyed it. I know that many “fantasy experts” say to use this time to evaluate your roster and think about potential trades, but it’s also nice to simply take a breather. On Monday morning, I challenged myself to avoid even looking at any of my teams until tonight, but thanks to the Mets’ decision to trade Francisco Rodriguez to the Brewers, I found myself staring at my computer screen a little after midnight last night trying to decide whether or not Jason Isringhausen was worth a pickup. Ultimately, I decided against it as I had very little roster room and already owned Bobby Parnell, but if you can it’s not a bad idea to grab both of these guys. Isringhausen has the closing experience but Parnell has the upside and the Mets might as well give him a look if they are truly raising the white flag on this season. It also wouldn’t surprise me if Izzy gets dealt. I think it’s safe to drop K-Rod if there’s someone on the wire who can help you now. The Brewers aren’t going to let Rodriguez reach the 55 games finished mark and John Axford has been doing a solid job this year. If you’re desperate for saves, maybe hang onto K-Rod as he might register a handful of them by season’s end. But otherwise, cut bait.

Now back to business. Here are our Pitch or Ditch picks for Thursday.

-Zach

ZACH’S PICKS

Masterson @ Guthrie – Despite favorable matchup, Guthrie awful of late.
Colon @ Reyes – Colon coming off poor outing vs. TB but he’s earned this one.
Chen @ Liriano – Erratic Liriano not an automatic start but I’ll give him a go for this one.
Holland @ Vargas – Coming off CG SHO, Holland an intriguing play, but only in deeper leagues. Good test for Vargas.
An. Sanchez @ Garza
Gallardo @ Jimenez
Bumgarner @ Harang – Great situation to pitch Harang.

CORY’S PICKS

Ted Lilly is 0-4 with an 8.71 ERA over his last four starts.

ZACH’S PICKS

SATURDAY

Price @ Burnett

Duensing @ Buehrle – Duensing coming off CG SHO but I’m not risking it here.

Morrow @ Tomlin – Morrow always risky but this is a good matchup for him.

Simon @ Lackey – When you look up DTM in the dictionary, you’ll see a picture of John Lackey.

Furbush @ Hochevar

McCarthy @ Lewis – I like McCarthy but definitely not here.

Pineda @ Pineiro – I’ll give Pineiro a try here.

Hanson @ Lee

Harang @ R. De La Rosa – DLR-lite a decent option in deeper leagues.

Dempster @ Correia – Don’t particularly trust Correia but the results have been there.

Jimenez @ Marquis – I’ll pitch Ubaldo despite inconsistency.

Cueto @ Marcum

Myers @ Nolasco – Shelled last time out, Myers a risky start. I’m passing.

D. Hudson @ Carpenter

Capuano @ Lincecum – Giants can’t hit. It’s that simple.

                                                                                                                                                  SUNDAY

Cecil @ Carrasco – Cecil worth a look in AL-only leagues.

Shields @ Sabathia – Matchup of the weekend!

Atkins @ Aceves

Swarzak @ Peavy – Peavy very erratic lately but I like the matchup.

Verlander @ Francis

Cahill @ Harrison – It’s OK to sit Cahill here if you want to conserve some innings.

King Felix @ Haren – Matchup of the weekend Part II.

Wandy @ Volstad

Chacin @ Zimmermann

Lowe @ Hamels

Ortiz @ Maholm – Take advantage of Maholm before it all falls apart.

Willis @ Wolf – D-Train? No thanks.

Duke @ J. Garcia

Stauffer @ Lilly – Padres’ lineup might be just what Lilly needs to get back on track.

Pelfrey @ Cain – I don’t trust Pelfrey…even for this one.

Javier Vazquez holds a 1.54 ERA over his last four starts.

SIANO’S PICKS

Hellickson @ F. Garcia

Reyes @ Talbot

Britton @ Beckett  *Britton scuffling enough that I stay away.

Gonzalez @ Wilson

Porcello @ Davies

Blackburn @ Floyd

Beavan @ Big Erv  *Go ahead, say it with me.

Beachy @ Halladay  *Beachy hearts Ks.

Lopez @ McDonald

Hammel @ Marquis

Lyles @ Vazquez  *Javy building confidence.

Leake @ Greinke  *Leake a little risky but has shown he can hang with big lineups and be decent.

Kennedy @ Lohse

Latos @ Billingsley

Dickey @ Vogelsong  *You mean All Star Ryan Vogelsong, watch out for those red hot Mets though.

CORY’S PICKS   

Carlos Villanueva has posted a quality start in each of his last four outings.

Niemann @ Colon

Villanueva @ McAllister – Villanueva a good gamble in deep/unmixed leagues

Arrieta @ Miller

Harden @ Holland – not risking Harden in Texas

Scherzer @ Duffy

Pavano @ Humber

Fister @ Weaver

Nicasio @ T. Hudson

Garza @ Livan

Happ @ Hand

Bailey @ Narveson

Saunders @ McClellan

Gee @ Kershaw

Luebke @ Zito

ALL-SURPRISE TEAM   

C – Alex Avila

1B – Lance Berkman

2B – Danny Espinosa

3B – Ryan Roberts

SS – Asdrubal Cabrera

OF – Melky Cabrera

OF – Jeff Francoeur

OF – Brennan Boesch

SP – Phil Humber

SP – Ryan Vogelsong

CL – Fernando Salas

                                                                                                                          ALL-DISAPPOINTMENT TEAM   

C – Geovany Soto

1B – Adam Dunn

2B – Dan Uggla

3B – Pedro Alvarez

SS – Hanley Ramirez

OF – Carl Crawford

OF – Alex Rios

OF – Vernon Wells

SP – Ubaldo Jimenez

SP – Francisco Liriano

CL – Matt Thornton

                                                                                                                                           ALL-FANTASY TEAM   

C – Brian McCann

1B – Adrian Gonzalez

2B – Robinson Cano

3B – Jose Bautista

SS – Jose Reyes

OF – Matt Kemp

OF – Ryan Braun

OF – Jacoby Ellsbury (by a hair over Curtis Granderson)

SP – Justin Verlander

SP – Jered Weaver (by a nose over Roy Halladay and James Shields)

CL – Joel Hanrahan

Wade Davis has given up two earned runs or less in each of his last three starts but allowed at least four earned uns in each of his previous four outings.

CORY’S PICKS

W. Davis @ Liriano – don’t trust Davis

Chen @ Jackson – don’t trust EJax

Penny @ Chatwood – don’t trust either… sense the theme?

Vargas @ Moscoso

Hughes @ Masterson – wait and see on Hughes

Romero @ Wakefield

Guthrie @ Ogando

Collmenter @ Gallardo – the Collmenter era has ended

Wells @ Gorzelanny – gamble on Wells vs. weak-hitting Nationals

Norris @ Morton

Cook @ Jurrjens

Kendrick @ An. Sanchez

Arroyo @ Westbrook

Niese @ Kuroda

Moseley @ Bumgarner

***SIANO SAYS “Pitch on E-Jax. He is bueno at home. I’ll defer to Cory on Wells…seems ambitious . Agree on rest.”