by Ryan Kaltenbach
Sunday Pitching Options:
Phil Dumatrait – Faces the D’backs at home. Arizona is hitting .217 on the road, including .240 since May 1st with an OPS hovering around .700. Dumatrait has been effective at home with a 3.10 era. His ratio’s leave something to be desired but, should be considered a solid pitch and ditch option.
Wandy Rodriguez – In what will be his 3rd start since coming off the DL, Wandy comes home for the 1st time since his injury. His winning ways at home have continued this year after last year’s Ervin Santana impression. At home his era is 0.98 with a whip at .94. His K/BB is 4.5/1 and he gets to face Kyle Lohse who I refuse to believe in.
Gavin Floyd – He’s getting lucky. There, I’ve said it. Yes, he’s 6-3 with a 3.15 era including a 2.39 era at home where he’ll be facing the average offense of the Minnesota Twins. If we look closer we see his BABIP is .199 which is simply not sustainable. His K/BB is well below average at 1.33. This guy must be saying his prayers, helping old ladies across the street and recycling more than usual because his 3.15 can only be considered a gift from the baseball gods. Stay away or sell high because this ship be sinking.
Matt Garza – You may have picked Garza up after watching him strikeout a season best 10 in his last start versus the Rangers. “10 strikeouts?? And this guys not picked up?” you might have thought. But beware, before his sizzling 10 K performance his previous high was 4. He’ll be facing the .878 OPS at home hitting Rangers while his road era sits at 5.64. Duck!
Best Last Week Ever . . .
Last week Casey Blake hit .360 with 3 HR’s and 10 RBI’s and he’s eligible at 1b/3b/CI/OF. His peripherals also point towards a BA closer to .280 rather than the .236 currently. He won’t dominate but, can provide value when you have injuries or on Monday/Thursday light schedules.
Last week Ben Francisco hit .355 with a HR and 5 rbi’s. Even better is that his OPS has been over .850 vs. lefties and righties, at home and away, in day games and in night games, and during May and June. Head to Head players should be all over this guy. Consistency like this kills in H2H leagues and this guy’s OPS is about as consistent as the sun setting in the west. He’s also spent most of his time this year hitting either 2nd or 3rd in the Indians lineup sandwich somewhere inbetween Sizemore, V-Mart and Garko.
Last week Chris Ianetta hit .333 with 2hr’s. Ianetta’s a possible post-hype sleeper with lots of 2nd half value. Sooner or later Clint Hurdle’s going to realize his starting catcher (Torrealba) has a .616 OPS and his backup catcher (Iannetta) has a .901 OPS. When Torrealba started to swing and miss his way out of a full time job in May, Iannetta began taking at-bats. As spring turns to summer and Iannetta’s at bats become more regular he’ll have Holliday, Hawpe, Barmes, and Tulowitzki all healthy and hitting in front of him. 2 Catchers leaguers, take note.