CORY’S PICKS    

Tomlin @ Scherzer

King Felix @ Davis

Miller @ Francis

Hughes @ Slowey – good matchup for surging Hughes

Harrison @ Peavy

Reyes @ Haren

Cecil @ Harden – don’t know what to make of Harden now so I’ll pass

J. Garcia @ Wells

Bailey @ Correia – Bailey owns the Pirates

Oswalt @ Livan

Marcum @ Pelfrey

D. Hudson @ Lowe

Vogelsong @ Wandy

Kuroda @ Hammel

Volstad @ LeBlanc

CORY’S PICKS

Hey everyone,

It’s that time again. Time to post an updated Pitch or Ditch category chart!

PoD chart 8-16-11

A reminder as to how it works:

In an effort to help you make those all important Pitch or Ditch decisions, the 411 tribunal of Mike, Cory and I have divided all the starting pitchers in the Majors into five groups: Aces, Pitch or Ditch Graduates, Pitch or Ditch guys, DTMs and Indifferents.

Here’s a list of the notable changes that we’ve made since the last version of the chart posted in late-July:

                                                                                                                                   PROMOTIONS

Danks PoD to grad

Peavy PoD to grad

Niemann PoD to grad

Furbush indifferent to PoD

                                                                                                                                      DEMOTIONS

Billingsley grad to PoD

Vargas grad to PoD

Harang grad to PoD

J. Sanchez grad to PoD

Lohse grad to PoD

Francis PoD to indifferent

Blackburn PoD to indifferent

 

Let us know what you think.

-Zach

CORY’S PICKS

Price @ Lackey

Simon @ McCarthy – McCarthy a risk after TEX rout and knee injury

Pavano @ Penny – ew

Carmona @ Buehrle

Colon @ Chen

Wilson @ Big Erv

Morrow @ Beavan – willing to gamble on Beavan at home

Coleman @ Norris

Gee @ Latos – Gee has been awful for awhile now

Saunders @ Lee

Cueto @ Detwiler

Lohse @ Maholm

Cain @ Jurrjens – good return start for Jair

Eovaldi @ Greinke

Nolasco @ Cook – Nolasco too volatile to risk in Coors

                                                                                                                                              ***SIANO SAYS “Once again I agree on all. Beavan an interesting play but good situation whereas Nolasco’s start has disaster written all over it. He has Rockies, Reds and Phillies next three starts.”

It’s bad enough when your fantasy team is floundering due to under-performing players. It’s even worse when it’s due to injuries. But worst of all is when it’s due to other factors, more specifically off-field conduct. Whereas you can make a conscious effort to avoid “injury-prone” guys (an approach that doesn’t always work anyway), you have absolutely no control over the bonehead decisions of your players. Yeah, I own both Carlos Zambrano and Logan Morrison in one of my leagues. And to make things even more depressing, it’s an NL-only league.

Here’s Pitch or Ditch for tomorrow.

-Zach

_______________________________________________________________________

CORY’S PICKS

Shields @ Lester  (Gm 1)

Niemann @ Bedard  (Gm 2)

Blackburn @ Verlander

Jimenez @ Floyd – Floyd is inconsistent but CLE isn’t that scary

Nova @ Duffy

Matusz @ Moscoso

Holland @ Chatwood – erratic Holland better on the road

Mills @ Vargas – Vargas is tempting

Collmenter @ Halladay

Leake @ Wang

Carpenter @ Karstens – hard to go against Karstens at this point

J. Sanchez @ Delgado

Dempster @ Myers

Billingsley @ Gallardo – Billingsley is ice-cold and MIL rakes at home

An. Sanchez @ Chacin – coin-toss on Chacin, call it in the air

Niese @ Luebke

***SIANO SAYS “Agreed. Would love to ditch Bedard and pitch J. Sanchez but right now you need to see more or less.”

ZACH’S PICKS

SATURDAY

Weaver @ Romero

Hellickson @ Hughes – Hughes likely pitching for his rotation spot.

Lewis @ Cahill – Cahill so unpredictable…I’ll sit him for this tough matchup.

Scherzer @ Guthrie

Duensing @ Tomlin – Not a Tomlin fan but great matchup.

Hochevar @ Peavy

Beckett @ King Felix – Nice!

Correia @ Estrada – Could get ugly for Correia.

Lannan @ Oswalt

Wells @ Lowe – I keep wanting to pitch Lowe but he can’t seem to put together a string of strong starts.

Stauffer @ Bailey – Padres’ lineup showing some life lately so Bailey’s risky, but if you’re into taking chances he’s not a bad gamble.

Lincecum @ FLA (TBD)

Hammel @ J. Garcia – Hammel has a 9.00 ERA in five starts since the All-Star break.

Pelfrey @ D. Hudson – I just don’t see the upside in pitching Pelfrey here.

Wandy @ Kershaw

                                                                                                                                                SUNDAY

Slowey @ Huff

Shields @ F. Garcia – I keep doubting Garcia and he keeps notching quality starts.

Haren @ Cecil – Cecil’s last four starts: 29 IP  7 ER  22 K

Fister @ Reyes

Francis @ Danks – Danks mediocre over last two starts but he should get back on track here.

Harrison @ Harden – Tough opponent for Harden but at least he’s at home.

Wakefield @ Furbush

LeBlanc @ Willis – Call me crazy…I’m pitching the D-Train!

Vogelsong @ Volstad

Garza @ Beachy

Wang @ Halladay

Morton @ Marcum

Lyles @ Kuroda

Capuano @ Marquis – Capuano too shaky of late to trust in tough matchup.

Rogers @ Jackson – I don’t trust Rogers yet.

                                                                                                                                              MONDAY

Liriano @ Porcello – Porcello coming off disaster outing but I haven’t lost faith.

Burnett @ Paulino – I don’t trust Burnett, and I don’t think I ever will.

Hunter @ Gonzalez – Hunter not a bad gamble in deeper leagues but I’ll be conservative here.

Ogando @ Richards – I’m losing patience with Ogando though.

Alvarez @ Pineda

Bumgarner @ T. Hudson

Westbrook @ McDonald – Risk with McDonald outweighs the reward.

Lopez @ Sosa

Lilly @ Wolf – Lilly looks to be back on track.

Hensley @ Millwood

Dickey @ Harang

CORY’S PICKS

Penny @ Simon – yuck

Pavano @ Masterson

Price @ Sabathia

Big Erv @ Morrow – how great would it be if both of these guys finally have actually “arrived”?

Chen @ Stewart – ChiSox 5th starter gig on the line yet again

Wilson @ McCarthy

Lackey @ Beavan

Livan @ Hamels

Latos @ Arroyo

Cain @ Nolasco

Zambrano @ Minor – high risk/reward on both, but this is the time of year for conservatism

Maholm @ TBD (MIL)

Cook @ Lohse

Gee @ Kennedy

Norris @ Eovaldi

                                                                                                                                                    MIKE’S PICKS

Penny @ Simon

Pavano @ Masterson

Price @ Sabathia *Outstanding

Big Erv @ Morrow * Could be electric

Chen @ Stewart *We don’t know too much about Stewart yet even though he pitched well last start. It’s risky.

Wilson @ McCarthy *McCarthy at home is pretty good

Lackey @ Beavan *yep

Livan @ Hamels

Latos @ Arroyo

Cain @ Nolasco

Zambrano @ Minor *medium risk medium to high reward on both

Maholm @ TBD (MIL)

Cook @ Lohse

Gee @ Kennedy

Norris @ Eovaldi

CORY’S PICKS

CORY’S PICKS

TBD (LAA) @ Nova

Humber @ Hunter – good bounce-back chance for Humber

Porcello @ Jimenez

Gonzalez @ Mills – tough matchup for slumping Gio

Paulino @ W. Davis

Vargas @ Holland

Lester @ Blackburn

Worley @ Billingsley – Billingsley hasn’t been great, but good matchup

Karstens @ J. Sanchez

T. Hudson @ An. Sanchez – Anibal slumping

Millwood @ Leake

Harang @ Dickey

Detwiler @ Lopez

Wolf @ TBD (STL)

Myers @ Collmenter – ugh. Avoiding both.

                                                                                                                                              ***SIANO SAYS:

-Tough to bench Gio but CS is right, definitely don’t cut. Mills a blue plate special but that’s an AL-only play.

-I’m very on the fence with J. Sanchez. He came out of gates fine but then unraveled vs. Phils. Is rust off? If so he can do well vs. Pirates’ awful lineup.

-Dickey a decent play if chasing a win since it’s SD but by no means recommending unless desperate.

CORY’S PICKS

Haren @ Burnett

Floyd @ Reyes – Floyd can handle mid-tier offenses

Fister @ Masterson

Harden @ Cecil – TOR isn’t SEA so I don’t trust Harden that much yet

Francis @ Shields

Pineda @ Ogando

Bedard @ Liriano – Liriano a major disappointment this year

Beachy @ Hensley

Rogers @ Willis

LeBlanc @ Capuano – love Cappy at home vs. a weak offense

Detwiler @ Lopez

Marcum @ Jackson

Lyles @ Marquis – Lyles has deserved better than 1-6, but don’t chase wins!

Lee @ Lilly

McDonald @ Bumgarner