2014 Fantasy Baseball: Week 2 Pitching Preview
Two-start pitchers
Must-starts
C.J. Wilson | Mon at HOU | Sun vs. NYM |
Gio Gonzalez | Tue vs. MIA | Sun at ATL |
Hiroki Kuroda | Mon vs. BAL | Sat vs. BOS |
John Lackey | Mon vs. TEX | Sat at NYY |
Michael Wacha | Mon vs. CIN | Sun vs. CHC |
Scott Kazmir | Mon at MIN | Sun at SEA |
Tim Hudson | Sat vs. ARI | Sun vs. COL |
Tony Cingrani | Mon at STL | Sat vs. TB |
Homer Bailey | Tue at STL | Sun vs. TB |
Second-tier options
Bartolo Colon | Tue at ATL | Sun at LAA |
Corey Kluber | Mon vs. SD | Sat at CWS |
Ivan Nova | Tue vs. BAL | Sun vs. BOS |
James Paxton | Tue vs. LAA | Sun vs. OAK |
Matt Moore | Mon at KC | Sun at CIN |
Ubaldo Jimenez | Mon at NYY | Sun vs. TOR |
Paxton is owned in just 26 percent of ESPN leagues after limiting the Angels to two hits in seven innings with nine strikeouts in his first 2014 start. The lefty threw four different pitches, with a fastball that averaged over 95 mph. He got multiple whiffs on each pitch with his out-pitch curveball racking up seven whiffs. Kluber had a rough start to the season, but he should rebound fine.
Deep-league options
Dan Haren | Tue vs. DET | Sun at ARI |
Felix Doubront | Tue vs. TEX | Sun at NYY |
Charlie Morton | Tue at CHC | Sun at MIL |
Jason Vargas | Mon vs. TB | Sun at MIN |
Kyle Kendrick | Mon vs. MIL | Sat vs. MIA |
Kyle Lohse | Mon at PHI | Sun vs. PIT |
Morton could be a good play this week. Both Chicago and Milwaukee ranked in the bottom-third in ISO and wOBA, and Morton gets ground balls like they’re going out of style. In weekly leagues both Kendrick and Lohse could be good ways to round out your rotation. Vargas’s matchup at Minnesota is definitely pitcher-friendly.
Keep ’em benched
Mark Buehrle | Tue vs. HOU | Sun at BAL |
Brett Oberholtzer | Tue at TOR | Sun at TEX |
Henderson Alvarez | Tue at WSH | Sun at PHI |
Edwin Jackson | Tue vs. PIT | Sun at STL |
Felipe Paulino | Mon at COL | Sat vs. CLE |
Aaron Harang | Tue vs. NYM | Sun vs. WSH |
Trevor Cahill | Tue at SF | Sun vs. LAD |
Jarred Cosart | Mon vs. LAA | Sat at TEX |
Zach McAllister | Tue at SD | Sun at CWS |
Jordan Lyles | Mon vs. CWS | Sun at SF |
Jose Quintana | Tue at COL | Sun vs. CLE |
Kevin Correia | Mon vs. OAK | Sun vs. KC |
A lot of these guys offer very little upside even with a few attractive opponents. If you’re brave enough to go with someone in this category Harang’s start against the Mets, who have the worst strikeout rate of any team, is one place to start. You could also go with McAllister against the Padres, who rank 29th in ISO and last in wOBA.
Week Two Starting Pitcher Rankings
- Yu Darvish – Sun vs. HOU
- Jose Fernandez – Fri at PHI
- Felix Hernandez – Fri vs. OAK
- Adam Wainwright – Sat vs. CHC
- Max Scherzer – Tue at LAD
- David Price – Fri at CIN
- Michael Wacha – Mon vs. CIN, Sun vs. CHC
- Scott Kazmir – Mon at MIN, Sun at SEA
- Tony Cingrani – Mon at STL, Sat vs. TB
- Madison Bumgarner – Fri vs. COL
- Chris Sale – Fri vs. CLE
- Gio Gonzalez – Tue vs. MIA, Sun at ATL
- C.J. Wilson – Mon at HOU, Sun vs. NYM
- Homer Bailey – Tue at STL, Sun vs. TB
- Justin Verlander – Sun at SD
- Stephen Stasburg – Friday at ATL
- Anibal Sanchez – Fri at SD
- James Shields – Sat at MIN
- Cliff Lee – Thu vs. MIL
- Sonny Gray – Sat at SEA
- Tim Hudson – Tue vs. ARI, Sun vs. COL
- John Lackey – Mon vs. TEX, Sat at NYY
- Francisco Liriano – Fri at MIL
- Gerrit Cole – Thu at CHC
- Julio Teheran – Fri vs. WSH
- Jordan Zimmermann – Thu vs. MIA
- Matt Cain – Sat vs. COL
- Hiroki Kuroda – Mon vs. BAL, Sat vs. BOS
- Matt Moore – Mon at KC, Sun at CIN
- Andrew Cashner – Fri vs. DET
- Zack Greinke – Sat at ARI
- Danny Salazar – Wed vs. SD
- Jeff Samardzija – Fri at STL
- Zack Wheeler – Wed at ATL
- Alex Cobb – Sat vs. CIN
- Bartolo Colon – Tue at ATL, Sun at LAA
- Matt Garza – Wed at PHI
- Masahiro Tanaka – Wed vs. BAL
- Chris Archer – Tue at KC
- Johnny Cueto – Fri vs. TB
- Jon Niese – Sat at LAA
- Corey Kluber – Mon vs. SD, Sat at CWS
- Ubaldo Jimenez – Mon at NYY, Sun vs. TOR
- James Paxton – Tue vs. LAA, Sun vs. OAK
- Ivan Nova – Tue vs. BAL, Sun vs. BOS
- Alex Wood – Sat vs. WSH
- Jake Peavy – Wed vs. TEX
- Yovani Gallardo – Sat vs. PIT
- Justin Masterson – Fri at CWS
- Ervin Santana – Wed vs. NYM
- Shelby Miller – Wed vs. CIN
- Lance Lynn – Tue vs. CIN
- Rick Porcello – Sat at SD
- Jesse Chavez – Wed at MIN
- Jered Weaver – Sat vs. NYM
- Tyson Ross – Tue at CLE
- Hyun-jin Ryu – Wed vs. DET
- R.A. Dickey – Fri at BAL
- Hector Santiago – Tue at SEA
- Marco Estrada – Thu at PHI
- Drew Smyly – Wed at LAD
Feel free to skip: A.J. Burnett Fri vs. MIA, CC Sabathia Fri vs. BOS, Tim Lincecum Wed vs. ARI
Week Two Streaming Options
*Players available in at least 50 percent of ESPN leagues braves mets padres cubs twins
David Hale – Thu vs. NYM – Hale got multiple whiffs on three different pitches in his first start of the season, and the Mets have the worst strikeout rate in the league.
Brandon Morrow – Wed vs. HOU – Houston ranks 28th in strikeout rate, and Morrow averaged 94 mph on his fastball in his first start, which is right in line with his career velocity. He also induced a ton of ground balls.
Corey Kluber – Mon vs. SD – The Padres rank dead last in wOBA, and Kluber, who gives up a fair amount of fly balls, shouldn’t be hurt from pitching in Petco.
Tyler Skaggs – Friday vs. NYM – Again we’re picking on the Mets. Skaggs dominated in his first start, going eight scoreless Saturday against Houston while striking out five and walking one. More importantly, Skaggs looked very good, mixing his pitches well and introducing a two-seam fastball that was hard to hit, and when it was hit was hit on the ground.
Michael Pineda – Thu vs. BOS – The matchup might be a little scary, but Pineda looked pretty good Saturday against Toronto in his first MLB start since 2011. His slider velocity and whiff rates on his four-seamer and slider – his two most-used pitches Saturday – resembled his 2011 numbers, albeit in a small sample. Pineda’s owned in just 26 percent of ESPN leagues, but that number should skyrocket soon.
Nathan Eovaldi – Sat at PHI – Eovaldi has pitched extremely well in his first two starts, striking out 14 and walking just one batter in 13 innings. He’s inducing ground balls at a good rate, too. The Phillies rank well in runs scored, but it’s in only five games. They have six batters who have struck out at least once a game.