Pitch or Ditch for Saturday-Monday, May 26-28
ZACH’S PICKS
SATURDAY
Scherzer @ Pavano – Even though it was vs. PIT, Scherzer’s last start very encouraging.
Alvarez @ Lewis – Alvarez usually a solid option but he’s scuffling of late and this is a brutal matchup.
Paulino @ W. Chen – Classic blue-plate special.
Sabathia @ Colon – Even though he’s at home and the Yankee lineup is struggling, Bartolo’s been too inconsistent lately to trust.
Lowe @ Peavy – Lowe’s gone at least six innings while allowing no more than 2 ER in six straight starts.
Williams @ King Felix
Price @ Beckett
Richard @ J. Santana – I know he’s on the road, but coming off stellar outing @STL I’ll give Richard a shot here.
Strasburg @ Minor – Minor cannot be trusted right now, regardless of the opponent.
Bumgarner @ Buehrle
Maholm @ Correia
Guthrie @ Leake – Leake is looking better and Rockies can’t hit on the road.
Kendrick @ J. Garcia
Norris @ Billingsley – Billingsley’s in my doghouse until further notice.
Greinke @ Miley
SUNDAY
Hochevar @ Hunter
Hellickson @ Buchholz – Clay cannot be trusted.
Jimenez @ Floyd – Not giving up on Floyd yet. Ubaldo’s high risk, medium reward.
Porcello @ Walters
Drabek @ Darvish
Kuroda @ Milone – If you can’t trust Kuroda here, why exactly do you still own him?
Wilson @ Noesi
Moyer @ Latos – Latos enjoying the month of May (2-0, 2.35 ERA)
Volquez @ Dickey
Cain @ Nolasco
Garza @ Bedard
Halladay @ Wainwright
Happ @ Capuano – Capuano’s a grad.
Wolf @ D. Hudson – I’m fine with using Hudson in his first start back.
Gonzalez @ Beachy
MONDAY
Fister @ Doubront – Doubront’s a little risky but I’ll chance it.
Godfrey @ Diamond – Nice matchup for Diamond.
Sale @ Moore – Stay the course with Moore.
Adcock @ Tomlin – Tomlin’s worth monitoring going forward though.
Matusz @ Hutchison
Millwood @ Harrison – Harrison 3 ER or less in three of his last four starts, and it’s the Mariners we’re talking about!
Hughes @ Weaver – Hughes got beat up by the Halos earlier this year. I just don’t see the upside here.
Hamels @ Niese
Lynn @ Hanson
Zimmermann @ Zambrano – Expect Big Z to bounce back from season-worst outing.
Arroyo @ McDonald – I have faith in Bronson in this favorable matchup.
Suppan @ Wood
Wandy @ Nicasio (Gm 1 of doubleheader) – Nicasio’s been too hit or miss this year.
Lyles @ White (Gm 2 of doubleheader)
Cahill @ Zito – No upside in pitching Zito.
Marcum @ Harang – Harang has been stellar at home (3.54 ERA, 1.08 WHIP).
mlbtstufantasy411
Marcum or either fister,lynn, erv. santana?
Matthew,
Long term I might go with Marcum, but for the time being Lynn would be my choice. Outstanding season so far and dominant K rate.
Zach
Don’t get me wrong, Greinke is a beast, but his 6.38 era & 1.75 era lifetime #s at Chase field is enough to scare me away this time. Throw in 5th alowed in 18 innings pitched& I’ll take my chances sitting him out this one. do you disagree?
I meant throw in 5 HR allowed in 18 innings pitched, sorry. Spell check got me
R.O.S. Wandy, Morrow, Beachy, Josh Johnson, Jaime Garcia or D. Hudson. How do you rank them.
Kyle,
Beachy, Hudson, Wandy, Morrow, Garcia, Johnson (though a lot of this has to do with my constant concerns about his health.)
Two Trade questions: Would you trade Steven Strasburg, David Ortiz, and Mike Trout for Curtis Granderson, Adam Wainwright, and Ben Zobrist. And Would you rather have Miguel Cabrera or Carlos Gonzalez?
That first trade offer was countered with Curtis Granderson, Ben Zobrist, and Jason Heyward for Shin-Soo Choo, David Ortiz, and Mike Trout what do you think?
Mike,
I’d go with the Granderson side but it’s extremely close. I also expect Zobrist to pick things up (his AVG is ridiculously low right now), so it’s not a bad time to acquire him at a discount.
Zach
Depends on your category/position needs, but in the end I’d opt for Cabrera’s extreme consistency over Gonzalez’s across the board production.
Zach
Hey, keep up the good work guys. 2 questions.
1. In a very deep dynasty league who would you rather have in 4 years from now, J.Montero or D.Jennings?
2. Sell high on Joyce or ride him out? He seems legit, but he also started of great last year and cooled off.
Thanks!
Jon,
1. Jennings. Montero’s position scarcity advantage is outweighed by Jennings’ elite across the board contributions and the fact that he’s an annual threat for 40+ steals.
2. Not a big believer in Joyce. Depends on the return but I wouldn’t be opposed to dealing him.
Zach
well I keep seeing not to drop Lincecum often, any change on thought about this or is he someone to hang onto all season…..maybe bench for a few weeks?
Alan,
He’s a bench but don’t drop guy. We’re at the point where I wouldn’t blame you for benching him.
Zach
who is more valuable to hold onto helton, jack hannhan, lahair, ruben tejada, or bobby abreu? I am gonna have tejada come off the dl maybe some time soon and i still don’t know who to drop… i like him because he was doing better for me earlier in the season then walker was.
Eric,
I’ll say LaHair. He’s been struggling lately but I still think he has the most upside of that bunch. And as great as Abreu has been, his playing time will definitely be cut now that Kemp is back in the Dodgers’ outfield picture. As for Tejada, unless you’re desperate for a MI, I see little reason to keep him around. He’s just not much of an offensive force and was playing above his head in the AVG department.
Zach
I just traded J.P. Arencibia and Bryce Harper for Matt Weiters and Eric Hosmer. Good buy low deal?
Mike,
Far from a no-brainer but yeah, I’m fine with it. One would have to think that the worst part of Hosmer’s season is behind him and that Harper will slow down at some point! Arencibia to Wieters is no doubt an upgrade despite them streaking in the opposite direction right now.
Zach
ROS Frank Francisco or Brett Myers? A trade that I send Myers.
Thanks
Stephen,
I’d rather have Myers. I just don’t trust Francisco going forward and the Mets have more closer replacement candidates than the Astros do. Besides, there’s really no reason to think that Myers will lose the job.
Zach
Zach,
I noticed that Hiroki Kuroda is available as well as Nova and Hughes. I was thinking of dropping Santana, or Gallarado to pick up Kiroda. I was thinking that the Santana and Mets success can’t last. Also last year Kuroda had such a great second half, and had him on my team. Gallarados team has struggled to give him runs, as well as Lee’s Should I pick him up one of the Yankee pitchers before they turn things around? The following are my list of current Pitchers:
Johan Santana
Clayton Kershaw
Cliff Lee
Zack Greinke
Yovani Gallardo
John Axford
Joel Hanrahan
Herman,
Stick with what you’ve got. No way would I drop Johan or Gallardo. And don’t chase wins! I have a lot more confidence in Johan continuing to produce and Gallardo turning things around than I do in Kuroda/Hughes/Nova turning things around.
Zach
Hey Big Z, made a trade in my keeper league before the season started trading Zimmerman for Morse (my CI slot). You could say it’s worked out equally badly for both teams so far!
Would you be against offering him a trade reverse of that deal, or would you say that’s bad sportsmanship. If you don’t have a problem with it, do you think I’d need to make the offer now to get it done or would it still be fair once Morse comes back? Zimmerman doesn’t look right to me.
Thanks.
BB,
I don’t see any ethical problems with offering a trade reversal. ROS I’d rather have Zimmerman…more of a track record and plays at a harder to fill position than Morse.
Zach
Hi Zach, Lesters been bad recently, really not delivered as the ace I was expecting this year. Would you even pitch him his next start vs the Tigers in a 10 team league? His stuff looks ok but his location seems way off right now, and so maybe he’s worth benching until he figures things out. Im currently in first and have a solid rotation and am slightly over my innings pace so far, so think I could let him ride the pine this one. Or do you never bench your aces?
Dan,
Yeah, I have no idea what’s going on with Lester. His K rate is also way down. Benching him isn’t a bad idea but personally I try to avoid the urge to bench my top pitchers. I’d be afraid to miss out on a gem. That’s just how I think about it but if you do bench him I wouldn’t blame you. I’d give him a little more time though.
Zach
Hi there!! I have one trade question. Would you trade Jose Bautista and Angel Pagan for Lester and Matt Moore??? Im playing on a 10-team fantasy points league.
jaygee,
Absolutely not!!! I understand that you’re trying to get Lester and Moore while they’re stock is down, but the problem is that you’re paying way too high a price to buy low. Makes no sense.
Zach