2011 Fantasy Baseball, Week 16 Sit Em/Start Em & Two-Start Pitchers: Vance Worley Gets The Nod
Cody Ross | OF | San Francisco Giants
One of the heroes of the 2010 postseason for the Giants, Ross isn’t exactly having the season expected from him when the Giants resigned him in the offseason. This week Ross gets away from monstrous AT&T Park and gets to hit at two friendly hitters parks.
It is not often that I would recommend anyone going against the Phillies rotation but Ross is the exceptions. In his career against Phillies pitchers Ross is hitting .280 with 7 home runs and 17 RBI in 100 at-bats. Group that with his 7 career home runs as well as a .851 OPS at Citizens Bank Ballpark in 109 at-bats and I’d say that’s enough to give him the start.
His next opponent is the Cincinnati Reds. Against Reds pitchers, Ross is hitting a respectable .264 with a .890 OPS. His numbers at The Great American Ballpark are not good (.162 2 HR 4 RBI in 37 ABs) but I am banking on his road splits to help him improve on those numbers.
Todd Helton | 1B | Colorado Rockies
A week away from Coors Field generally does not seem like a time to start a Rockies hitter but Helton may be an exception. Having a really good year Helton looks to keep that going against NL West foes. Although he does not have the massive power he once had Helton is proving that he can still be a productive fantasy player.
In his first matchup of the season Helton will face the Dodgers. This season at Dodger Stadium Helton is hitting a healthy .333 with a home run and RBI in 12 at-bats. Against Dodger starters Helton is hitting .326 with 5 home runs and 14 RBI in 86 at-bats.
His second opponent of the week Helton will get the Padres. The Padres possess one of the best pitching staffs in baseball and play in what is considered the best pitcher park in the league but Helton isn’t buying into that. In 12 at-bats at Petco this season Helton is hitting a robust .583 with a homer. In his career against Padre pitchers Helton has a .313 average and an OPS of .927.
Sluggers to SitCarlos Santana | C | Cleveland Indians
Carlos Santana is one of the rising prospects in the bigs for the Indians. He is having a bit of a sophomore slump this season some of that could be attributed to bad luck as evident by his .244 BABIP. This week Santana faces two teams he has struggled against.
First Santana gets the Angels. The Angels possess one of the best rotations in the Majors. In his career Santana had been really bad against the Halos. Against Angels pitches Santana is hitting .133 with only one RBI. Scheduled to face the duo of Weaver and Haren hopefully you have a backup catcher.
Next Santana and the Indians will face the Royals. The Royals have been a thorn in Santana’s side. Against Royal pitchers Santana is hitting a dreadful .188 with a homer and 3 RBI. One good thing about Santana is that he has a good eye and if your league is an OBP league he still have some value this week.
Adam Jones | OF | Baltimore Orioles
This week Jones is facing divisional opponents in the toughest division in all of baseball. This week he is to face the Blue Jays and the Yankees. Jones will be on the road for the week which isn’t good considering he is only hitting .268 with 3 home runs and 17 RBI on the road while hitting .302 with 13 home runs and 39 RBI at home.
Jones has had some trouble in his career against the Jays hurlers. His career numbers against the Blue Jay pitchers is .229 with 2 home runs and 11 RBI in 96 at-bats. This season at the Rogers Centre in Toronto Jones is 0-12.
The second series against the Yankees he seems to have better numbers. Against Yankee pitchers Jones is hitting .286 with 6 home runs and 25 RBI in 119 at-bats. These numbers seem good but this is where the stats can be deceiving. Jones is hitting only .125 this year at Yankee Stadium and does not have an extra base hit or an RBI.
A solid player all season, Jones is a player worth sitting this week.
Rubby De La Losa |Los Angeles Dodgers| (2.0%) – De La Rosa has been similar to Nicasio in showing promise as a fantasy option in deeper leagues. His two starts this week come against the Rockies and Diamondbacks both at home. De La Rosa’s splits indicate that home is where he is weakest, however, the Rockies and Diamondbacks hitters splits on the road indicate that De La Rosa can turn it around. The Rockies are ranked 27th in baseball when hitting away from Coors Field, batting .232. The Diamondbacks are nearly just as bad, hitting .245, ranked 20th in baseball. He has limited career experience against the teams. In seven innings against the Rockies, batters are hitting .180 and De La Rosa was able to come away with the win.
Vance Worley |Philadelphia Phillies| (72.8%) – Worley has been a pleasant surprise for the Phillies and fantasy owners everywhere. His sub-3 ERA and the great Phillies offense behind him have proved to be a great combination. His starts this week come against San Francisco and Pittsburgh, both at home. Against righties, San Francisco is hitting .241, ranked 27th in baseball. Pittsburgh is hitting .246 against righties, ranked 24th in baseball. Worley has been getting better as the season progresses as well. In July, he’s 3-0 and has a 0.89 ERA while batters are only hitting .149 against him. While pitching at home his ERA is 1.50, a full run lower than at home. Batters are only hitting .171 at home against him in contrast with his .248 BAA in away games.
Two-Start Pitchers to Sit
Juan Nicasio |Colorado Rockies| (1.4%) – Juan Nicasio has given some owners the hope of finding a diamond in the rough. Over the last 30 days he’s had nearly a sub-3 ERA. However, after investigating his splits, this is definitely a week you should not start him.
Nicasio has ironically been dominant at home this year. In six games started he has a 4-0 win/loss record and a 1.58 ERA. Away games are a different story for him though. In four games started he has a 9.00 ERA and a 0-2 record. That spells trouble for this week’s two starts which come away (at Los Angeles and San Diego).
Aaron Harang |San Diego Padres| (27.2%) – Harang has been a strong fantasy option for deeper leagues this year. This week might be a time to look for other options though. Harang faces the Phillies away first. Current Phillies hitters are batting .311 with a .367 OBP against him through 135 career at-bats. Against the Phillies for his career, Harang has a 5.02 ERA and 1.51 WHIP in 10 career starts.
His second opponent of the week is against Colorado at home. Colorado hitters are hitting .343 with a .434 OBP in 70 career at-bats against Harang. The entire team is slugging 1.105 against him. In 45.2 innings against Colorado, Harang has a 4.73 ERA and 1.42 WHIP. Harang has already been racked once this year by Colorado, giving up seven runs in 4 innings.
Written by James Bryce & JJ Omar 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, JJ Omar, Two-Start Pitchers, Vance Worley, Rubby de la Rosa, Aaron Harang, Juan Nicasio, Adam Jones, Carlos Santana, Cody Ross, Todd Helton
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