2011 Fantasy Baseball Week 10: Two-Start Pitchers – Sit Em, Start Em
John Danks, Chicago White Sox, (37.3%) – Weak lineups and a strong home field advantage split for Danks could give him his first and possibly second wins of the season. Both games this week come at home where Danks has a 3.93 ERA as opposed to his road ERA of 6.50.
His first opponent, the Mariners, have historically weak statistics when facing Danks. Current Mariners are only hitting a .202 average against him through a strong sample size of 129 at-bats.
The hope for Oakland hitters is not much brighter. In seven starts against the A’s, Danks is 4-1 with a 2.25 ERA through 48 innings. Current A’s hitters are hitting .248 through 109 career at-bats against Danks.
BONUS: If you’re looking for quick power with Willingham, think again when starting him against Danks. He’s 0-4 with 4k’s against Danks.
Jordan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals (62.9%) – Zimmerman has churned out a few great starts in the last month posting four quality starts with a 3.28 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 9.75K/9IP.
Zimmerman’s first start of the week comes against the Giants in San Francisco. Current San Francisco hitters are batting .179 through 39 career at-bats and have only one extra-base hit against him. Also, San Francisco ranks a low 24th overall in hitting against right-handed pitchers.
Zimmerman’s next stop is against the Padres in San Diego, one of the top pitcher-parks in the league, that houses one of the worst hitting teams. San Diego is dead last in hitting right-handed pitching (.222 BAA). Current Padres hitters are hitting a weak .259 against Zimmerman in 27 career at-bats.
Two-Start Pitchers To Sit
Colby Lewis, Texas Rangers (94%) – Lewis is a tempting start this week after his recent success and facing one weak hitting team this week. However, don’t jump to conclusions too soon.
Lewis’ first start comes at home against the Tigers. At home this year Lewis has an ERA that’s nearly 3.5 points higher than his away ERA (5.52 vs. 2.17). Meanwhile, the heart of the Tiger’s order is hitting .429 against Lewis.
The next start against the Twins, while being on the road at Target Field, would make you think the matchup’s a no-brainer. Think again. In four career starts against the Twins (24.1 innings) Lewis has a 0-3 record and sports an ERA of 7.03. In 52 career at-bats against Lewis, current Twins are hitting .269, with the more than half of their hits being for extra bases.
BONUS: Jim Thome absolutely owns Lewis. In 8 career at-bats Thome has six hits, consisting of two doubles and three home runs.
Matt Harrison, Texas Rangers (21.5%) – Harrison has put together a surprisingly solid year so far. Over the last 30 games he’s compiled a sub-1.50 ERA. This week Harrison’s numbers might come closer to his career 4.94 ERA.
His first opponent of the week is the Detroit Tigers at home in Texas. Current Tigers hitters are crushing Harrison at a .429 average. Ryan Raburn and Miguel Cabrera lead the charge with a combined .529 average with two home runs in 17 career at-bats. itching against the Tigers has seldom been a good thing for Harrison. For his career against them he has a 7.17 ERA and 2.06 WHIP through 21.1 innings.
His second opponent of the week comes away against the Minnesota Twins. In 9.1 career innings against the Twins, Harrison has yielded 14 hits and 10 runs. Current Twins’ hitters have a combined .500 average against Harrison through 16 career at-bats.
All percentages taken from ESPN.com
Written by JJ Omar exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com
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(May 9, 2011 – Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images North America)
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