2011 Fantasy Baseball Week 7: Sit Em, Start Em – Rays’ Matt Joyce Is Dishing Out Sunshine
Start ‘Em
Matt Joyce, Tampa Bay Rays (90.2%) – The Tampa Bay outfielder is finally making his presence known around the league with his current hot streak. Look for him to continue this week under historically ideal conditions for Joyce. With a minimum of 75 plate appearances this year, Joyce is the second-best hitter when facing right-handed pitching. In 94 at-bats he’s hitting .394, a 433 OBP, 11 doubles and 4 home runs as well.
This week he’ll be facing 5 right-handed starters. Joyce will play two games at home where he hits 83 points higher and has an OPS higher by 156 points. Then he should get a little boost with two games at the 6th homer-friendliest ballpark around, Rogers Centre. Also, over the last 15 games, Joyce is hitting .457 with a 1.295 OPS, astronomical figures for an outfielder not owned in 100% of leagues.
Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles (100%) – Jones faces a favorable week ahead with his strong home splits and great career batter vs. pitcher stats. He begins the week against Boston where his split stats don’t vary much from his career average. The next five games (coming at home) are what will make his week. Jones has hit all of his home runs at home in Camden Yards this year, is hitting 52 points higher and has a home OPS that’s 413 points higher!
Jones has historically done well against the two Yankees pitchers that he will face. Against both Colon and Sabathia, Jones is hitting .359 in 39 at-bats. The remaining three games of the week will be played against the Nationals. Against the capital city’s team, Jones has hit .400, posted an OBP of .440, an OPS of 1.097, and slugged 4 home runs in 70 at-bats.
Sit ‘Em
Chris Coghlan, Florida Marlins (98.4%) – Chris Coghlan has been struggling against left-handed pitching this year. In 41 at-bats he’s hitting .122 with a .163 OBP. This week he’ll be facing 3 left-handed starters. In 47 at-bats against the Mets, Coghlan is hitting .255, 40 points lower than his career average. Sit Coghlan this week in favor of any reserve outfielders that you might have, especially when he’s facing left-handed pitching.
Aubrey Huff, San Francisco Giants (69.5%) – Huff has yet to find the magic he had at the plate with last year’s world championship team. This upcoming week suggests that this trend will continue. Huff will face 4 right-handed starting pitchers this week of which he is only hitting .174 against this year. That’s bad enough for 4th-worst amongst batters with at least 100 plate appearances.
His first two games come at Coors Field which might offer a glimpse at some production. However, he faces Ubaldo Jimenez for his first game and he is hitting only .176 against him lifetime.
The next two games come at Dodger Stadium against Kershaw and Billingsley. In LA, Huff is hitting .239 in 13 career games, and against Kershaw and Billingsley combined, Huff is hitting .216.
The last stop of the week comes in Oakland where Huff is hitting .238 with a .298 OBP in 33 career games. Against the three starting pitchers for Oakland, Huff is batting .231.
THRASHERS
Start ‘Em
AJ Burnett, New York Yankees (96.2%) – Burnett has had a renaissance of sorts this season. Next week he is scheduled to face two teams he’s had some success against, The Rays and The Mets. In Tampa, Burnett has stellar numbers. In his career A.J. has a 2.09 ERA a 0.92 WHIP and a 6.3 K/9 at the Trop. against the Mets, Burnett has a 3.36 ERA a 1.09 WHIP and a 9.2 K/9 ratio. Even better news for Burnett is that he has good numbers against Jose Reyes and David Wright. Reyes is 0-17 lifetime against Burnett and Wright has hit just .167 with only one extra base hit. I can’t believe I am going to say this but start Burnett with confidence.
Joel Pineiro, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (24.6%) – This week Joel Pineiro faces two teams that are struggling to hit the baseball. His first opponent is the Oakland A’s. As a team, the A’s are hitting a dismal .233 so far this season. Combine that with the start coming in Oakland (the best pitching park in the AL) and the hot start Pineiro is having (1.33 ERA in three starts) and Pineiro is almost a lock to start. In his second scheduled start, Pineiro is to start against the Braves. In interleague play Pineiro has a 3.34 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. The Braves as a team are only hitting .240 and Pineiro is a groundball pitcher. To me this is a winning combination.
Sit ‘Em
Brett Myers, Houston Astros (48.2%) – Being a former Phillies hurler, Myers has a lot of stats against the Braves. Unfortunately, those stats are not very good. In his career Myers owns a 4-10 record a 4.49 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP against the Braves. Another discouraging stat against Myers is that his ERA at Turner Field is 5.07. Myers second scheduled start is against the Blue Jays. Myers has faced only a few Blue Jays in his career, but I personally do not trust him especially at the Rogers Center where home runs come aplenty.
Homer Bailey, Cincinnati Reds (36.9%) – Since his return from the DL, Bailey has been amazing for the Reds. This week, however, he is facing teams in which his ERA is hovering over seven. His first scheduled start is against the Cubs. In his career, Bailey has a 7.65 ERA and a 2.10 WHIP. The only positive is that Bailey has a very good 8.6 K/9 against the Cubs. Bailey’s second start of the week is against fellow Ohioans. Against the Tribe Bailey has only been able to accumulate 16.2 innings pitched in four starts. Bailey’s other stats are similarly bad. His ERA is at 7.56 his WHIP is 1.98. Bailey’s K/9 against the Indians is only 4.9, the second lowest ratio against an opponent.
* Ownership percentages taken from ESPN.com
(February 25, 2010 – Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images North America)
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, James Bryce, JJ Omar, Matt Joyce, Adam Jones, Homer Bailey, Brett Myers, AJ Burnett
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