Pitch or Ditch for Saturday-Monday, July 28-30
ZACH’S PICKS
SATURDAY
An. Sanchez @ Alvarez – Alvarez too erratic lately to trust.
Lester @ Sabathia – No way am I pitching Lester here.
B. Chen @ Millwood
Colon @ Hunter – Colon has thrived on the road (3.12 ERA) and dominated the O’s at Camden earlier this year.
Masterson @ Deduno
Humber @ Harrison
Moore @ Wilson
Kelly @ Samardzija – Kelly working on six straight quality starts and the Cubs rank dead last in the Majors in runs scored.
Billingsley @ Zito
Wandy @ Galarraga
Blanton @ Minor
Ohlendorf @ Eovaldi – Eovaldi a decent gamble in deeper leagues.
Zimmermann @ Wolf
Cueto @ Friedrich
Young @ Kennedy – Young a little risky though.
SUNDAY
Fister @ Cecil
Blackley @ W. Chen – Blackley is on a roll.
Jimenez @ Liriano – Battle of the two most frustrating pitchers to own in all of fantasy baseball. Pass.
Hellickson @ Richards – I still don’t fully trust Richards.
Smith @ King Felix
Floyd @ Oswalt – Oswalt’s last two starts have been solid.
Doubront @ Kuroda
Richard @ Johnson – I’ll give Richard another chance, despite this being on the road.
Halladay @ Hudson
McDonald @ Harrell – Harrell 3 ER combined over his last three starts (19 IP).
Gonzalez @ Greinke
Wainwright @ Maholm – Still not ready to gamble on Maholm vs. top-tier offense.
Latos @ J. Sanchez
Kershaw @ Vogelsong
Dickey @ Saunders
MONDAY
Weaver @ Feldman
M. Gonzalez @ F. Garcia
Scherzer @ Buchholz – Scherzer has a sub-3 ERA in two career starts at Fenway.
Quintana @ De Vries
Price @ Griffin – Gotta go with Griffin.
Romero @ Iwakuma – Yup, I don’t even trust Ricky Ro at Safeco.
Buehrle @ Hanson
Volquez @ Leake – I said pitch on Volquez in weekly leagues but in daily leagues this is too dangerous of a matchup.
Bedard @ Dempster – Nice matchup for Bedard.
Norris @ Estrada – I’ll pitch both but if you’re in a tight race in ERA and WHIP, feel free to ditch both.
Cahill @ Harang – Harang is hot.
Hefner @ Bumgarner
mlbtstufantasy411
Two questions. Should I sell high on Sheets? and what do you think of trading Liriano for Austin Jackson?
JH,
Love the Liriano for Jackson deal. I’m just not a fan of Liriano and his inconsistency. Not to mention that the trade to the White Sox and a hitter-friendly park hurts him.
As for Sheets, it depends on what level of player you’d be getting, but selling high wouldn’t be a priority for me. The only risk with him is health, not performance.
Zach
I know you say i should do it, but I’m trading shields instead, I have more hope for liriano on a team with some run support going forward. I think it’s time for me to cut shields loose.
Personally, I’d rather have Shields than Liriano but have to admit that it’s not the no-brainer it was a few months ago!
Zach
trade liriano for austin jackson all day
Better pitcher for right now; Ben Sheets or Matt Harvey?
Seth,
Sheets. There’s injury risk but the track record is very good. Let’s see Harvey make a few more starts before we get too excited. He’s obviously worth a pickup but ROS I’ll take Sheets.
Zach
Who should I pick up for the ROS, Matt Harvey, Ben Sheets, or A.J. Griffin?
JJ,
Sheets, for the reasons given above.
Zach
Hi, what are your thoughts on this trade. I got offered Cody Ross, Hunter Pence and Bryce Harper for Beltre and Sale. I need help in the run and rbi dept in my 12tm H2H mixed. Thanks!
Justin,
I like it. I’m still a big Pence fan and feel that now is a good time to acquire him at a bit of a discount. You know what you’re getting from Ross and we’re all aware of Harper’s mega upside. I particularly like this if you have a suitable 3B replacement for Beltre.
Zach
who would you prefer…..Worley who is on my roster or drop for Fister…thinking of dropping worley or parker when Morrow returns….also Lester was dropped in my league
Alan,
I’d definitely pick up Fister for Worley. Still not confident enough in Lester to drop Parker for him.
Zach
Hey Zach,
I was offered Adrián Béltre, Michael Cuddyer and Mat Latos for Will Middlebrooks, Aaron Hill and Bobby Parnell, should I accept this trade? I think it will help my team since we dont know how Longo is coming back from the DL. Also think Latos will be a good addition to my SPs.
C Brian McCann
1B Mark Teixeira
2B Brandon Phillips
3B Will Middlebrooks
SS Kyle Seager
IF Robinson Canó
OF Hunter Pence
OF Andre Ethier
OF Adam Dunn
Util Aaron Hill
BN Nelson Cruz
BN Ryan Howard
Troy Tulowitzki
DL Evan Longoria
SP Ian Kennedy
SP James McDonald
SP Adam Wainwright
SP Ryan Dempster
RP Scott Downs
RP Tyler Clippard
P Ernesto Frieri
P Addison Reed
P Bobby Parnell
P Homer Bailey
BN Josh Johnson
BN Jordan Zimmermann
BN Chris Sale
THANKS!!
I was offered Moustakas and Halladay for Kershaw in my 12 team H2H keeper league. Both players are not very good this year. I rejected it immediately, not only due to their current status, but I am also in last place, 53 games out of 1st place, and it does nothing for me as far as improving my chances of winning, in my opinion. Is this way of thinking a possible cause of my fantasy woes?
Malik,
No, it’s good thinking. Taking into account that this is a keeper league, Kershaw is far and away the best player in the trade.
Zach
Thanks for you help Zack! I have Middlebrooks and Chipper Jones as my back up 3B. Would Jayson Worth be a decent waiver wire pick up hearing he’s due to come off the DL this wk? Lastly do you think Storen will regain his closer job by the end of the season? Thanks again!
Justin,
Yeah, Werth is definitely worth (no pun intended) a pickup as he’s probably a better choice than most other guys on your waiver wire. As for Storen, your guess is as good as mine as we’ve been hearing contradictory messages from the Nats. If you’re a Storen owner, just hold onto him and hopefully the picture becomes clearer in the coming weeks.
Zach
Hey Zach,
I would give up Sale/Cespedes for Longoria/Dempster in a proposed trade. Which side wins in a 10t, H2H, mixed? Currently, I have Kemp, Granderson, Rios, Kubel, Cespedes, and Craig in the OF. I have Pablo Sandoval at 1B. I have Aviles at 3B. Craig fills in at 1B. Longo would solidify 3B, put Sandoval at 1B, and let Craig float.
As for pitching, I have Sale, Josh Johnson, Doug Fister, AJ Burnett, Niese, Marcum (DL), and Morrow (DL). Would picking up Dempster eliminate worrying about how many innings Sale will be allowed to pitch this year?
I’m just not sure about this deal. Thoughts?
Thanks.
Rich D.
Rich,
You are taking on a health risk in Longoria, but I think in your case this trade makes sense as you’re deeper at OF than you are at 3B, particularly now that Panda is out. I know you’ve been using him at 1B but at least you had the option of moving him to 3B.
Zach
Hey Z,
Hi, what are your thoughts on this trade. I got offered Adrian Beltre, Michael Cuddyer and Matt Latos for Will Middlebrooks, Aaron Hill and Bobby Parnell. I have Longoria On the DL (should be back soon) and Cano and Phillips at 2B. As of noy Cano is my starting 2B, Phillips is my IF and Hill is my Util.
Kelstin,
I really like this for you. Hill to Cuddyer is at worst a small step down but Middlebrooks to Beltre is a step up and Parnell to Latos is a huge step up, particularly if you’re already in decent shape in saves. Once Francisco comes back, Parnell probably won’t even be closing anyway.
Zach