2012 Fantasy Baseball, Week 7 Sit Em, Start Em: Hold On To Your Seat, Plug In Yovani Gallardo For Two
Adam LaRoche |Washington Nationals| (94.6%) – Adam LaRoche has the pleasure of facing three of the weakest pitching staffs in baseball this week all at home. First he faces San Diego. Against the two San Diego starters LaRoche is hitting .500 with half of his hits going for extra bases. After San Diego, LaRoche will take on the Pirates at home. In 85 career at-bats against the Pirates LaRoche is hitting.341 with a .429 OBP. Half of those hits have gone for extra bases as well. LaRoche will cap the week and face the Baltimore Orioles. Against the Orioles during his career LaRoche is hitting .375 through 40 at-bats.
Denard Span |Minnesota Twins| (33.4%) – Denard Span could be a steal from the waiver wire for this week. He has great split numbers against the pitchers he’ll be facing which could lead to more stolen bases for the speedster. He starts off the week at home against the Indians facing Gomez and Lowe. Against the two he’s hitting .333. Span will then move to Detroit and take on Fister and Porcello. Against those two Span is hitting .389 in 36 at-bats. Next, Span will face the Brewers in Milwaukee. He doesn’t have much experience against their staff, but he will be facing nothing but right-handed starters from them. Against righties this year Span is hitting 42 points higher than their southpaw counterparts.
Hitters to Sit
Yunel Escobar |Toronto Blue Jays| (65.3%) – Yunel Escobar starts his week off facing the powerhouse Tampa Bay Rays pitching staff. Against the two starters he’ll face from them Escobar is hitting .172 in 29 at-bats. Escobar will then face the Yankees at home. Over the last three years against the Yankees staff, Escobar has compiled an unimpressive .253 BA and paltry .634 OPS. Escobar will then face the Mets’ pitching staff whom he has yet to get a hit off of.
Jay Bruce |Cincinnati Reds| (100%) – Jay Bruce will face a tough week ahead playing anywhere but home. First up for him is Atlanta. Away games have been brutal for Bruce. In away games Bruce is hitting 130 points lower than at home. In 21 at-bats at Turner Field Bruce is hitting .143. After Atlanta Bruce and the Reds fly to New York to take on the Mets. In 23 at-bats at Citi Field Bruce is hitting only .217 with a .250 OBP. Bruce is only hitting .214 throughout his career against the two Mets starters that he’ll face. Bruce will move across town and take on the Yankees to end his week. Against the three Yankees starters that he’ll be facing, Bruce is only hitting .148 through 14 at-bats. Also, in 23 at-bats against the Yankees, Bruce has 3 hits.
Two-Start Pitchers to Start
Ross Detwiler |Washington Nationals| (54.9%) – It’s a surprise to me that Ross Detwiler is only owned in roughly 50% of the leagues. The man is sporting nearly a 2.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. Detwiler starts his week against the weak San Diego lineup which is cause enough for a start and a celebration. After his start against San Diego he faces the visiting Orioles. Detwiler has improved his GB/FB ratio so well this year that he’s 11th in the league in the category. While pitching at home this year Detwiler has held hitters to a .197 BAA and has kept a 1.04 ERA.
BONUS: Don’t start any lefties against Detwiler. They’re hitting .069, 2 hits in 29 at-bats against him.
Yovani Gallardo |Milwaukee Brewers| (99%) – Yovani Gallardo is one of the most suspenseful pitchers in baseball. He can either be a one-man wrecking crew or a fantasy team saboteur. This week he’ll pitch against two of the league’s worst offenses, the Mets and Twins. The first start takes place at Citi Field. The entire current Mets lineup is hitting a combined .241 against Gallardo. Their superstar, and league-leader in batting average, can only muster a .241 career average against him as well. Gallardo comes back home to make his next start against the Twins. The Twins lineup is hitting a combined .222 with only 3 extra-base hits in 72 at-bats against him. In 4 starts against the Twins Gallardo has a 2.48 ERA and 1.10 WHIP
Two-Start Pitchers to Sit
Jason Vargas |Seattle Mariners| (39.5%) – Now is the perfect time to sell high on Jason Vargas’ season. He faces two teams this week that stand to alter his stats and possibly your fantasy team’s standings. Both starts come on the road this week and Vargas has proven to be a home-sick pitcher throughout his career as well as this year. While pitching away this year, Vargas has a 3.86 ERA, more than 3 times higher than his home ERA split. In 3 career starts against Boston, hitters have a .311 BAA. The worst has yet to come. His next opponent of the week is the Colorado Rockies. In three career starts against Colorado, Vargas has given up 19 earned runs in only 10.1 innings. In those three starts the Rockies are hitting .500 against Vargas.
Ryan Dempster |Chicago Cubs| (100%) – Statistically speaking, Dempster has been putting up a stellar year. However, it looks like the Cubs haven’t noticed since he has yet to be awarded a win even after only surrendering 4 earned runs in over 35 innings. Dempster’s first start of the week takes place at Busch Stadium against the Cardinals. Cardinals batters a hitting a combined .302 with a .395 OBP against Dempster. In 157 innings at Busch Stadium, Dempster has a 4.52 ERA. Dempster and the Cubs end the week against their cross-town rivals the White Sox. In 42 innings against the Sox, Dempster has a 4.89 ERA and .311 BAA. Adam Dunn has a 1.261 OPS against Dempster.
Written by James Bryce exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com
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(May 1, 2012 – Source: Denis Poroy/Getty Images North America)
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