Week 5 Two-Start Pitchers Update

Here is the latest update to Week 5 two-start pitchers. Again this list is subject to change going forward.

Pitchers not listed on last update: Weaver, Hamels, de la Rosa, Buchholz, E. Jackson, Dempster.

Pitchers no longer scheduled for two starts: Beckett, Oswalt, Tomlin, Rogers, Chatwood.

Of the new pitchers, let’s look at Jorge de la Rosa. After a strong finish to the 2009 season, where he was 15-3 over his final 22 games with a 3.93 ERA, many were predicting that de la Rosa was ready to become one of the top pitchers in the game. But a slow start in 2010, followed by a hand injury turned his 2010 campaign into a lost season.

Many fantasy players slept on de la Rosa, who had an ADP in the 160s prior to this season. For those fantasy players that kept the faith, de la Rosa has rewarded them with a fine start to the 2011 season, with a 4-0 record and a 2.61 ERA in April.

One of the big steps forward for de la Rosa this season is with his walk rate. With a career mark near 4.5 BB/9, de la Rosa has a sparkling 2.90 rate so far this season. And his improved command has not come with any dropoff in strikeouts, as his 8.42 essentially matches what he did in 2010 and is above his 8.00 lifetime mark.

In his last outing, de la Rosa had his best game of the year, as he allowed just 1 ER in 7 IP, with 0 BB and 9 Ks. He’s been lucky with his HR rate, but his 2.90 K/9 shows how well he has pitched.

He has two road starts this week, including one in Chase Field against the Diamondbacks, where he is 0-3 lifetime, but it is hard to imagine sitting him with how well he has been pitching so far in 2011.

Last week’s Sunday look was Jesse Litsch. The take away was to keep him on the bench this week because of his matchups but to monitor his peripherals to see if he was getting grounders and strikeouts. Here was his combined line for his starts against the Rangers and Yankees:

12 IP, 8 ER, 4 BB, 6 Ks, 20 GB, 16 FB