R.I.P. Jim Bunning.

R.I.P. Greg Allman. Some of these hurt more than others.

Welcome to Week 9 (5/29 to 6/04). We have a little bit of good news to report for next week after a couple of tough weeks to manage from a pitching standpoint. Last week we talked about the effect of rainouts, injuries, and the new to 2017 10-Day DL. We’re getting some relief in Week 9 from all three hazards. Other than the Pacific NW there is not much precipitation forecast for next week. There is a “chance” of T-Storms in the Upper Midwest on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, but looking that far ahead is like predicting when Madison Bumgarner will be healthy enough to get back on a dirt bike … I mean pitchers mound. There are tornado watches all over the Upper Midwest now, but they are real, not the Yanks or Astros offenses coming to town. But never having lived there myself, I don’t know how often tornado watches affect pitching schedules. Finally, we are starting to get more positive news on the many rehabbing top starting pitchers, many of whom are scheduled to come back in Week 9.

Returning wounded:

Tentatively scheduled to pitch in week 9: Brandon McCarthy, who actually started today vs the Cubs, and will pitch 6/1 @ STL next week; David Price 5/29 @ CHW & 6/3 @ BAL; Corey Kluber 5/31 vs OAK (If he does it makes the Hot Mike Clevenger iffy for a start this week); James Paxton 5/31 vs Colorado; Taijan Walker 6/3 @ MIA; Tyson Ross 6/3 or 6/4 vs Houston (likely pushing back Cashner or Perez and his 2nd start); Tyler Matz 6/4 vs PIT; Nate Karns 5/30 vs DET; and if these guys are actually on your DL, Jeff Locke 5/29 or 5/30 vs AZ; Tommy Milone 5/30 or 6/1 vs MIL; & Phil Hughes 6/1 @ LAA.

Notable injuries include: AJ Griffin (just when you were getting used to him being around again) is out with an intercostal strain and Amir Garret who went on the DL with a hip issue. Jesse Hahn went on the DL for a shoulder issue, and there was talk Kendall Graveman may need a stint as well but for now they are hoping he’ll make his next start. Jharell Cotton was called up to start 5/29 vs CLE and 6/3 vs WAS but that is not a very attractive 2 start week.

Next week Ian Kennedy should come back, but we will still be without the likes of Noah Syndergaard, Madison Bumgarner, Cole Hamels, and King Felix for the foreseeable future.

What to expect in 2017: (If you read this part in last week’s article, skip down to week 9.)

Criteria Used: Platoon splits, LH/RH, Day/Night, Month, Half, stadium splits, team batting against splits, metrics like GB/FB rate, K & BB rates, Babip, wOBA, FIP, Trends, etc. Sources are Fan Graphs, Baseball Reference, Fantrax, ESPN and more.

Pitchers from the under 50% ownership group – I’ll list three or four pitchers, less than 50% owned who I believe are primed for a good start the following week, or better yet two good starts. I will make my decisions based on matchups, splits, recent trends and my own gut, which is not a measurable stat but gets me by pretty well.

Not for the faint of heart, pitchers from the abyss – I’ll list two or so pitchers that are less than 20% owned and look like a good choice based on the above criterion.

DFS Ace to avoid – This is great for both DFS, Roto, and to some extent H2H leagues and points leagues. Just because a pitcher is on your roster does not mean you are required to put him out there in a bad match-up. I’ll bet the guy who won your league last season knew when to sit down his Ace. If you are a DFS fan, I don’t have to tell you what happens when the Ace you spent 20% of your budget on gets bombed in the 2nd inning.

Match-up of the Week: If I see a match up that is too good to pass up, I’ll present the starter and explain why he should be in your lineup.

WEEK NINE – May 29 through JUNE 04, 2017: We are starting to see the call-ups start trickling in. Some are journeymen minor league starters who either have some MLB experience or are generally considered ready though not quite good enough to make a rotation out of Spring. The studs are often still waiting for the Super Two deadline to go by usually in early to mid-June.

Weekly Trivia Question: What current MLB pitcher, who started 14 MLB games in 2016 lived out of his VW Microbus when he first came up to the major leagues?

Spotters from the <50% owned crowd:

JC Ramirez, RHSP, LAA (14.9% owned in ESPN, 61 %, 49% FANTRAX) vs MIN FRI 6/02: What do I have to do NOW? Ramirez’ ownership in Fantrax jumped from 49% to 61% after a two-start week in which he went 2-0 against the Marlins and the Rays both on the road. He pitched 13.2 innings with 2 QS, 13 H, 2 ER, 0 HR, 2 BB, and 8 K’s. His 5-2 record with a 3.38 ERA, 1.158 WHIP and 47/14 k/bb IN 61 IP over 9 starts is absolutely ownable roster material, yet he is STILL only 61 % owned in Fantrax. Did you realize he’s thrown 9 starts already? Right? A minute ago he was chosen to come out of the pen to make a spot start. Well now he has 9 of them, and 5 are quality starts, only giving up more than 2 runs in three of those games. Three of his last four starts have been 7 innings or better, so I’d say he is pretty stretched out. How many of your current starters pitch 7 innings per game? Why do 60% of all Fantrax leagues not have him rostered yet? He still has RP Primary so if your league has roster limits by primary position, a reliever primary who is tossing QS is quite valuable. He still has not reached 100 pitches in a start yet, and that type of efficiency should get him to 8 or 9 innings as the season goes on, he did finally reach 99 last week though. Next week he is home vs MIN. This will mark the 5th week in a row he is on my spotting list, so I’m thinking of just naming the article after him. If you are in one of the 39% of leagues where he is still unowned, what the hell are you waiting for?

***TWO START PITCHER***Jordan Montgomery, LHSP, NYY (12.2% owned ESPN, 56% owned Fantrax) @ BAL MON 5/29 & @ TOR SAT 6/3: Originally Monte was a two-start pitcher last week, but he was bumped back to Monday from his Sunday start because of a rainout. In his one start, against KC at home, Monty was tossing darts going 6.2 IP and only giving up 1 ER on 2 H and no HR. He struck out 6 with no walks on 98 pitches. Overall he is 2-3, 4.30 ERA and 1.239 WHIP dropping his ERA by half a run with that 7 inning shut out. With a middling 43/18 K/BB in 46 IP, walks have been hurting him, but he gave up none last week. Next week he’ll have two-start status again and both will be on the road. He gets the Orioles on Monday and then goes to TOR on Saturday. Those two assignments are not as easy as KC so we’ll see more of what he is made of. I’m running him right out there and am surprised he is only owned by 56% of leagues in Fantrax. Like I said about JC Ramirez, what the hell are you waiting for?

Zack Godley, RHSP, AZ (39.7% owned ESPN, 61% owned Fantrax) @ PIT WED 5/31: Godley had two starts last week, one @ SD and the other @ MIL going 1-0 in 13 IP. On the season so far he has a 1.99 ERA and a 1.042 WHIP in 5 starts, all but one being a QS. He gave up 13 H and only 3 R with a 7/2 K/BB hurling 84 & 89 pitches in each game. The Buccos are near the bottom of the NL with a .237 average and .317 on-base percentage. They walk the least in the NL, although are also one of the least likely teams to strike out. He should be universally owned, not just as a spotter anymore. By not picking these guys up you are all making these articles easier to write. Grab this guy already.

***TWO START PITCHER***Daniel Norris, LHSP, DET (12.2% owned ESPN, 34% owned Fantrax) @ KC MON 5/29 & vs CHW SUN 6/4: Norris has been somewhat disappointing this season alternating good and bad starts throughout his nine 2017 starts. Overall he is 2-3 with a respectable AL 4.38 ERA and 44 K’s in 49.1 IP. He’s also greatly reduced his HR rate to 1.8% or about half his career rate. However, he also has 23 walks in those 49.1 IP which spell trouble no matter how you look at it, leading to a poor 1.622 WHIP and an average of 100 pitches thrown in just over five innings pitched per start. So, Norris needs to find a way to be far more efficient as he was in his last start, tossing a season-high 6.1 IP with two walks and no HR. His .349 Babip against and 3.80 FIP show there may be a bit more improvement coming as well. To his credit he has gotten the walks down to exactly two in each of his last four starts. This week he gets the worst offense in the AL, catching the Punch and Judy Royals in KC on Monday and the White Sox at home on Sunday. His road ERA since last season is only 3.15 and the Royals are hitting .215 vs lefties as well as placing last in the AL in most batting categories. The Chisox have just started to heat up now that Jose Abreu has started hitting to go along with the hot starting Avisail Garcia, though their average on the road in 2017 is only .246. The Royals and Sox are 14th and 15th in the AL in free passes, which may be what the doctor ordered. Hopefully, if he keeps pitching like this he’ll be able to afford a house to live in. Trivia Question Answer: That’s right when he pitched for the Jays he lived out of his VW Microbus. He is a lefty after all. When I research pitchers for my article I go pretty deep, leaving no stone unturned looking for an edge. I’ve spent my share of time in a VW Micro myself, but that was another era. I am a lefty as well, so there you have it.

Not for the faint of heart. Pitchers from the abyss:

***TWO START PITCHER***Erasmo Ramirez RHSP, TBR (12.2% owned ESPN, 40% owned Fantrax) @ TEX MON 5/29 & @ SEA SUN 6/4: Another reliever who once again has been pressed into the rotation by an injury to Blake Snell, as he has the past couple of seasons for short but highly productive stretches. He is still reliever primary, so like JC Ramirez can be very valuable in leagues that have roster limits for starting pitchers. Ramirez allowed two runs on four hits in six innings against the Angels on Wednesday, moving to 3-0 on the season. He has now allowed five runs over three spot starts totaling 16 2/3 IP, and has a 3.00 ERA this season and that is pretty solid for a streaming starter. His 25 strikeouts in 36 innings are not great, but his 0.89 WHIP and good track record the past few seasons make him a decent start at Texas on May 29, and again at SEA June 4th.

Eddie Butler, RHSP, CHC ( 36% owned Fantrax) @ SD TUE 5/30: Lately I’ve picked on the Royals in the AL and the Padres in the NL. It is always a good place to start when lining up pitchers for the following week in any format. Eddie Butler has been a scary spot start for a few years now, especially when he was at home as a Colorado Rockie. His HR balls were responsible for quite a few avalanches in the Rockies over the years. This 26-year-old seems to like it better Ivy covered than snow covered as he has not given up a HR yet in three starts, two of them at Wrigley. In those three starts, one of them rain-shortened, Butler is 2-0 and has tossed 14 innings, giving up 9 hits and only three earned runs leading to a 1.93 ERA and 1.357 WHIP. He does have 9 K’s but those are offset by 10 walks, which he will have to correct if he wants to be in my articles after today, or stay in the majors at all for that matter. The Padres will likely do their part as they are only hitting .206 in their last 14 games when they’ve scored 32 runs or average runs per game of 2.6. They are hitting .224 vs righties and have a .209 BA at home in SD. He and his wife look relieved to be out of Colorado where his ERA’s over his first three MLB seasons were 6.75, 5.90, & 7.17.

Matt Cain, RHSP, SFG (16.1% owned ESPN, 38% owned Fantrax) vs WAS WED 5/31: Even though Matt Cain is too volatile to roster, he has given us a split worth exploiting. Cain is pitching as well as any pitcher in baseball at home in SF but has been brutal on the road. In 7 of his 10 starts, he has given up 2 runs or less, the other three starts were tornados but all were on the road. These are the Washington Nationals so it is no pushover, but he seems to be Golden in the Bay.

DFS PLAYERS: You may want to rethink starting:

David Price, LHSP BOS @ CHW MON 5/29 & @ BAL SAT 6/3: You’ve carried him on your DL all season in regular fantasy and you are finally chomping at the bit to get him in your lineup starting tomorrow. But DFS is not regular fantasy, you have money and pride on the line. Let someone else think they are smart putting Price in before anyone else knows he was

active. They’ll be the one buying the first round or the first pitcher of suds. Price is a slow starter anyway, and this season he’ll be plenty rusty to start.

James Paxton, LHSP, SEA vs COL WED 5/31: See above explanation for David Price. Paxton will be rusty as well and will be facing the Rockies who are pretty dangerous on the road of late.

DFS PLAYERS: Match-ups of the week: I have three for you this week, and two are on Wednesday:

Max Scherzer, RHSP WAS @ SF WED 5/31: SF is a graveyard for baseballs lately. Don’t be thrown off by the look on his face. He knows what he is doing.

Jake Arrieta, RHSP CHC @ SD WED 5/31: As is San Diego.

Justin Verlander, RHSP, DET @ KC TUE 5/30: Great match-up, plus the only way I could think of the get a picture of Kate Upton into my article.

My crusade for 2017/2018: Pitchers and other players seem to be getting injured so fast that most leagues don’t have enough DL spots to accommodate them all. Roster limits force tough decisions which are a good thing for competitive league balance and showcasing owner skills, but this season’s overcrowded DL Lists have proven to test traditional capacity at times. I think it is a combination of pitchers being more injury prone, but also the abundant use of the new in 2016 7 day concussion DL, and the new in 2017 10 day DL rule that has MLB teams easing their own roster limitations at the expense of our fantasy limitations and resources. In light of the 7 day & 10 day DL rules, I recommend any owners who have 2 to 4 DL spots to petition the League Manager to increase the number of DL spots to whatever is appropriate for that format. Most good LM’s won’t change rules or settings once the season starts, and rightly so, but at least it will be in place for 2018. Don’t feel victimized by the new rule. Adjust to it.

Thanks for reading and good luck in week nine, especially with your pitching. If you have a question about these or any other SP match-ups next week don’t hesitate to leave a message in the comments, write me, or check out my “Pick Your Spots” thread every Sunday on the /r/fantasybaseball Sub-Reddit where I’ll talk starting pitching all day.

joseph.iannone021@gmail.com @JoeIannone2 Twitter

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Click the RED link below to listen)

Major League Fantasy Baseball Radio Show: Join Corey D Roberts, and Kyle Amore live on Sunday June 4th, 2017 from 7-9pm EST for episode #89 of Major League Fantasy Baseball Radio. We are a live broadcast that will take callers at 323-870-4395. Press 1 to speak with the host. We will the latest information in the world of fantasy baseball.

Our guests this week are Craig Mish, Craig Mish is the host of a fantasy baseball show on Sirius Satelitte Radio along with Jim Bowden from 9-11am EST Monday through Friday. Craig is also the host for a show on Sirius every Sunday morning with FSWA Hall of Famer Lenny Melnick from 7-10am EST.

You can find our shows on I-Tunes. Just search for Major League Fantasy Sports in the podcasts section. For Android users go to “Podcast Republic,” then download that app, and search for “Major League Fantasy Sports Show”

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