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2011 Fantasy Baseball Week 12, Sit Em/Start Em: Willingham To Feast On Mets’ Hurlers

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Sluggers to Start 

 Josh Willingham | Oakland Athletics | 34.6%

Interleague play is back again this week and finding matchups with history just gets that more difficult. Josh Willingham has had his ups and downs this season but when you’re the only offensive threat in the lineup the blame doesn’t fallen directly on Willingham. This week Willingham get a shot at NL East, the only other division he’s played for in his career.

First Willingham gets the joy of hitting in the massive piece of land they call Citi Field. In 12 starts at Bernie Madoff’s old stomping grounds Willingham is hitting a decent .256 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI. Those numbers are rather consistent with Willingham’s career numbers but the .368 average with 4 home runs and 10 RBI in 57 at bats against current Mets pitchers is why Willingham gets the nod this week. Additionally, if your league goes a little further in stats Willingham has a .463 OBP and 1.147 OPS against current Mets starters.

Willingham’s second matchup of the week is against the Philadelphia Phillies. Word is the Phils are looking for a veteran right-handed outfielder so this matchup may be an audition for Willingham to become the front runner for the position.  Against current Phillies pitchers Willingham is hitting a solid .307 with 4 home runs and 16 RBI. What’s even better for Willingham owners is that in 31 starts at Citizens Bank Ballpark Willingham has hit 10 home runs while driving in 22. If this is in fact an audition, and Willingham does well, the Phillies may decide to trade for Willingham which would only increase his value.

Gordon Beckham | Chicago White Sox | 69.9 %

So far this season it is fair to say that Beckham’s 2011 has been a bust. Expected by many to revert to the hitting ways from his rookie campaign, Beckham has seemed to catch the slump going around the White Sox clubhouse. Encouraging news for Beckham owners is that he seems to be turning the corner and has favorable matchups this week.

In his last 21 games, Beckham is hitting .309 with 3 home runs 8 RBI and a steal. This week he will try and continue the pace against the cross town Cubs. Beckham owns Cubs pitchers hitting .435 against current Cubs hurlers and is getting on base at a .519 clip.

His second matchup is against the Washington Nationals. Beckham does not have many at bats against Nat’s pitchers but is hitting a respectable .286 against the club. The fact that the series against the Nationals is at home for Beckham will keep the lineup in tact not having to use NL rules.

Sluggers to Sit

Jhonny Peralta | Detroit Tigers | 100%

Peralta has been great this year. His numbers are even better when you consider his shortstop eligibility and his draft position. But this week it seems like it’ll be a better idea to keep him on the bench.

Peralta is first scheduled to take on the Dodgers in LA. In his career against Dodger pitchers Peralta is hitting only .188. Another difficulty Peralta may face is that the Tigers may try Alex Avila at third base and move V-Mart behind the plate during interleague play which may limit Peralta’s at bats.

In his second series against the NL Peralta gets the D-Backs. Peralta has never played at Chase field and has a career .273 against the D-Backs. Most of that damage came off of Joe Saunders who if everything stays intact, the Tigers will miss. If you take out Peralta’s numbers against Saunders, he is hitting .148 without an extra base hit or RBI against current D-Backs pitchers.

Jeff Francoeur | Kansas City Royals | 93.3%

Jeff Francoeur has a bit of resurgence this season. He seems to be cooling off however, and in his last 11 games Francoeur hitting under the Mendoza line at .182.

In his first series of the week Francoeur is scheduled to face the D-Backs. Against current D-Backs pitchers Francoeur is hitting under .250. I have been one of Francoeur’s biggest doubters and it seems as though he is coming back to life.

In his second series of the week Francoeur is going to face the Cubs. Against current Cubs pitchers Francoeur is hitting .239 with 2 Home runs and 12 RBI. All the power (2 HR 9 RBI) Francoeur has against the Cubs is off Carlos Zambrano. As it goes now, they will face each other in the series but that one matchup isn’t enough to start Francoeur. 


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Two-Start Pitchers To Start

Chris Narveson |Milwaukee Brewers| (6.5%) – Narveson’s matchups this week favor the better of his split stats.  Both starts will be at home in Milwaukee.  At home, Narveson’s ERA is 1.07 lower than his away split.  Further helping his two-start week is the poor left-handed pitcher hitting teams he will be facing.  Tampa Bay is ranked 26th (.238 average) against left-handed pitchers and Minnesota is ranked 23rd overall (.241 average).  Also, in the month of June, batters have only hit .229 against him.  Narveson should be a good pick up, especially if strikeouts is an area your team is falling behind on.

Gavin Floyd |Chicago White Sox| (54.7%) – First up for Floyd this week is the Cubs.  In a limited 35 career at-bats against Floyd, Cubs hitters are hitting a weak .143 and striking out once every five at-bats.  The sluggers of their lineup (Pena and Soriano) are hitting a combined .167 batting average through 18 at-bats, striking out 6 times.  In two career starts against the Cubs, Floyd has a 1.20 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP.  Floyd’s second start of the week is against the Nationals who are ranked 26th overall against right-handed pitching (.241 average).  In a combined 34 career at-bats against Floyd, Nationals hitters are hitting a combined .235 with only one extra-base hit.  June just so happens to be Floyd’s best month to pitch in historically.  Throughout his career, Floyd has a June ERA of 3.22, 1.25 points lower than his career average.

Two-Start Pitchers To Sit

Charlie Morton |Pittsburgh Pirates| (25.8%) – Morton’s eye-opening season has been grounded over his last two starts (9 innings 9 earned runs).  He should continue to fall back down to earth this week against Baltimore and Boston.  Current Baltimore hitters are hitting a combined .417 through 24 career at-bats against Morton.  These at-bats come from Baltimore’s most dangerous hitters too (Lee, Guerrero, Hardy, Reynolds).  Morton will face an even more dangerous foe when he starts against Boston.  Boston’s lineup is ranked 2nd overall against right-handed pitchers (.273 average).  Morton is weak against left-handed hitters.  This year left-handed hitters are hitting .370 against Morton and he has a 2.20 WHIP against them as well.  This spells trouble when Boston’s lineup has left-handed hitters like Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz, Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury.  It’s also worth noting that Morton’s ERA should undergo a correction soon.  It’s hard to have a 1.45 WHIP, 13 baserunners per 9 innings, and allow only 3 to score.

Carl Pavano |Minnesota Twins| (8.9%) – Pavano has been great over the last month posting a sub-3 ERA.  However, don’t be one of the desperate owners willing to ride Pavano’s streak.  Both of Pavano’s starts come on the road this week where his splits are horrendous.  Pavano’s away Era is 5.58, compared to his home ERA of 2.64.  His first opponent of the week is the Giants.  In 64 career at-bats, Giants hitters are hitting .313 against Pavano with 9 extra-base hits.  In 7 career starts against the Giants, Pavano has an ERA of 4.89 and a WHIP of 1.63.  His second start of the week comes against the Brewers.  In 90 career at-bats against Pavano, Brewers hitters are hitting .311 with a .344 OBP.  In 18 innings at Miller Park, Pavano has an ERA of 5.00.

(April 14, 2011 – Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images North America)

Written by JJ Omar & James Bryce exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com

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Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Sports Advice, Fantasy Baseball News, Fantasy Baseball Tips, Sit Em/Start Em, James Bryce, JJ Omar, Two-Start Pitchers, Gavin Floyd, Chris Narveson, Josh Willingham, Carl Pavano, Jhonny Peralta, Gordon Beckham, Charlie Morton


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