Starting Pitchers: July 5th

Some pre-All Star break changes to a few rotation spots…

Felix Doubront | Red Sox | 0% owned

All Star Clay Buchholz hit the disabled list with a hamstring issue, convenient timing for the Red Sox since he’s only likely to miss one start because of off days and the break. Doubront made a solid but unspectacular start against the Dodgers a few weeks ago, allowing three earned runs and eight baserunners in five innings of work. The hard throwing lefty gets the suddenly surging Rays (35 runs scored in their last six games) on Tuesday, and I can’t in good conscience advise starting a rookie on the road against a powerhouse team.

Barry Enright | Diamondbacks | 0%

A personal fave, Enright took the place of Dontrelle Willis in Arizona’s rotation, then went out and threw five innings of one run ball in St. Louis. The righthander’s minor league career featured very little in the way of strikeouts until this season (8.0 K/9), though he’s always been stingy with the free pass (1.9 BB/9). He strikes me as a lesser version of teammate Ian Kennedy, basically a more hittable and more traditional physically (6-foot-3, 220 lbs.). I like him as a matchup starter in an NL-only setup, though there’s no telling how many wins you’ll get with that bullpen behind him. Enright will start at home against the Cubs and Marlins before the break.

Jair Jurrjens | Braves | 61%

Back from a hamstring issue at the expense of Kenshin Kawakami (to the bullpen!), Jurrjens won’t, or at least shouldn’t be the 2.60 ERA guy he was in 2009 this year. The peripherals just didn’t line up. There was some BABIP (.273) and LOB% (79.4%) luck mixed in with the relatively low K/9 (6.36) and solid BB/9 (3.14), and xFIP had him at 4.34. I wouldn’t expect much more than a low-4.00’s ERA the rest of the way, especially after the injury. There’s value in that, but his perceived value seems to exceed his actual value. Jurrjens will pitch in Philadelphia in his last remaining start before the break.

Marc Rzepczynski | Blue Jays | 1%

Shaun Marcum is enjoying a fine first season back from Tommy John surgery (2.0 WAR), but he had to hit the disabled list with some elbow inflammation. Rzepczynski will fill in during his absence, though he could have had himself a rotation spot out of Spring Training if he didn’t break a finger trying to field a comebacker with his left (throwing) hand. Anyway, he was fantastic in 11 starts for Toronto last year (3.70 xFIP, 1.1 WAR) and strong in nine minor league starts this year, and should be good for on okay ERA with a fair amount of strikeouts the rest of the way. Not a fantasy star, but a viable option. Rzepcynski starts at home against the lefty heavy Twins on Wednesday.

Ownership rates are based on Yahoo! leagues.