Sitting Beckett and Hanson

Similar to yesterday’s post in which I advocated picking up Lance Lynn and streaming him in daily leagues, I am going to touch on two pitchers that are owned in a majority of leagues that I am shying away from this weekend. There are of course leagues in which you simply have to start these guys, since you may find difficulty finding replacements or need every attempt at strikeouts and wins to keep you alive for another week, but if you have the ability to avoid starting these pitchers, I would advise to do so this weekend.

Both Josh Beckett and Tommy Hanson are coming off two relatively solid starts. Though neither has been spectacular in their past two, they have been much more effective than they have been for a majority of the season. But, with your fantasy season on the line, whether to ride a two or three start high rather than looking at he big picture is a tough decision to make.

Beckett will be starting against Cardinals tonight, one of the top offenses in the league and will be opposing the pitcher I recommended streaming, Lance Lynn. With the power of the Cardinal lineup and Beckett’s early inning struggles, I could easily foresee a sub-five inning performance with an equal amount of runs allowed. Beckett still has the talent to dominate any lineup on a given night, but the big key here is avoiding the risk if you do not absolutely need the potential reward. If you are looking for six innings and two or three runs allowed, and do not necessarily need a win nor high strikeout totals, sit him with confidence.

Hanson’s story is rather similar. He has been pretty bad for a majority of the year and faces a tougher Nationals lineup than the Mets or Rockies (in Atlanta) lineups that he has faced recently. This does not mean a ton, but his most recent outing against Washington was a four inning and eight run disaster. Much like Beckett, Hanson certainly has the potential to throw seven innings with a ton of strikeouts, but he is an equally risky play.

If you have rostered these two pitchers throughout their ups and downs, it is difficult to sit them at this point in the year when it looks as though they are finally starting to right the ship. With the fantasy playoffs on the line and a disaster start potentially ending your season, make the difficult decision and sit them down if you can afford to do so in your league.