Archive for Barry Zito

Divisional races are heating up, both in the fantasy world and MLB standings. It’s time to bear down and make that final push toward the playoffs. With that in mind, let’s check out some fantasy links…

Brandon Funston of Yahoo! Sports puts a fantasy spin on John Smoltz’s impressive return to the National League. “St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan has been known to work magic with reclamation projects and I think Smoltz still has plenty to offer,” Funston writes. “His upcoming schedule sets up nicely, with Washington and Pittsburgh next on his starting agenda.”

Brian L. Schubert of Fantasy Baseball Cafe joins the ogling of Rangers reliever Neftali Feliz. Setup men don’t often carry much fantasy value, but a 21-year-old who posts a 0.63 ERA, 0.35 WHIP and 19/1 K/BB ratio in his first 14-plus major league innings clearly deserves attention from all realms of the sport.

Rotoworld’s Matthew Pouliot checks out some potential September call-ups both in the American League and Nationals League. Keep an eye out for Milwaukee’s Mat Gamel, Atlanta’s Jason Heyward and San Diego’s Aaron Poreda. It’s sometimes surprising how much of an impact these guys can have.

In desperate need of steals? Aren’t we all? Charlie Saponara of FantasyBaseball365.com runs down some potential September call-ups who boast fantasy-worthy wheels. The Rockies’ Eric Young Jr., Oakland’s Eric Patterson and Cleveland’s Michael Brantley top the list.

Ray Flowers of BaseballGuys.com takes a deeper look at “The Resurgence of Barry Zito.” As Flowers notes, over the last 30 days, Zito “has a 2.51 ERA, the 10th best mark in baseball and better than guys like Jon Lester (2.70), Johan Santana (3.19) and CC Sabathia (3.35).” FanGraphs’ own Erik Manning delivered a post on Zito late last week.

R.J. White of AOL Fanhouse takes note of Ryan Zimmerman’s recent hot streak. The Washington third baseman has posted a .359 average, .512 on-base percentage and .781 slugging percentage in the month August, with seven homers, 15 RBI and 15 runs scored. White suggests Zimmerman could be a top-25 player heading into next season.

Have a fantasy-relevant link you think others should see? Or simply have a question or comment? Shoot me an e-mail or hit me up on Twitter.

Everyone is happy when one of their pitchers is scheduled for two starts in a week. But that is not always a good thing. Here are five pitchers you may be on the fence about (or should be on the fence) putting into your lineup for Week 11.

Kevin Correia – Coming off back-to-back wins, Correia gets two home starts in Petco this week. And he also squares off against Seattle and Oakland, two below-average run scoring teams, with Seattle being last in the AL with a 3.77 runs per game average. Correia is owned in only seven percent of CBS Sports leagues and could be a nice pickup for his two starts this week.

Gil Meche – Slowed part of the season by a sore back, Meche has turned in three straight solid outings, in which he has 20 strikeouts in 20 IP with a 1.35 ERA in that span. However, he is just 1-0 in those three games, indicative of the poor run support he has received in 2009. The Royals have scored two runs or fewer in six of his 13 starts this year. Make Meche active for his two home starts this week.

Wandy Rodriguez – After starting the season 5-2 with a 1.83 ERA, Rodriguez has allowed 19 runs in his last 20.2 IP. His ERA now stands at 2.82 and only six unearned runs in that stretch kept it from being even worse. His road ERA is 3.74, over 1.5 runs higher than his home mark, and he has starts this week at Texas and at Minnesota. Pull him from your lineup this week.

Tim Wakefield – He has a great record this year despite some uneven pitching. But he is coming off back-to-back Quality Starts and he has two home starts in Interleague matchups scheduled this week. Since 2006, Wakefield is 6-2 in Interleague play. Make sure he is active this week.

Barry Zito – After some tough luck earlier in the season, Zito has picked up two consecutive wins despite not pitching all that well. He has two home starts this week and Zito gets the nod to start due to his big home/road split in 2009. This year he has a 2.70 ERA with a 2.44 K/BB ratio at home compared to a 5.26 ERA and a 1.25 K/BB ratio in road games.

Other scheduled two-start pitchers in Week 11 are listed below. Please remember that these are projected pitchers and changes can and will happen between now and next week.

Verlander, F. Hernandez, Hamels, Wainwright, Zambrano, Jurrjens, Harang, Lackey, Kershaw, Liriano, Danks, Volstad, Pavano, Pelfrey, Braden, Wang, D. Davis, Bush, Niemann, Guthrie, De La Rosa, Martis, Morton, Mathis.

Check back Sunday night for an update of two-start pitchers.

Now, I would like to take a step back and provide some accountability for previous picks. There needs to be a two-week time lag because last week’s pitchers have yet to complete their second start. So here are my selections for Week 9 and how they did.

Arroyo – Advised to start. 7 K, 4.38 ERA, 1.30 WHIP (2 starts)
Blanton – Advised to start. W, 10 K, 2.77 ERA, 1.00 WHIP (2)
Burnett – Advised to sit. W, 8 K, 3.86 ERA, 1.29 WHIP (1)
Duke – Advised to sit. W, 0 K, 1.29 ERA, 1.29 WHIP (1)
Washburn – Advised to start. 9 K, 1.38 ERA, 1.15 WHIP (2)