Who to Start 4/10/17-4/16/17

In this post I will tell you the starting pitchers to start in week 2 who are under 85% owned in ESPN fantasy leagues. I chose not to add anyone above 85% owned to this list since they will probably be in your fantasy rotation every game they pitch. These will be the guys who should give you solid outings in week 2 to help your fantasy team get one step closer to achieving that championship title.

April, 10, 2017

• Alex Cobb vs. New York Yankees

The young and unproven Yankees have a lot of power potential in their lineup, but with that power potential and young age comes poor plate discipline. Over Cobb's career, batters have only averaged 0.75 HR/9. This means that these young superstars in the making may have trouble hitting for power against the Ray's veteran pitcher. With Cobb's command and the Yankees undisciplined attitude at the plate, Cobb may be able to get some of the Yankee's hitters to chase balls out of the zone, leading to a high strikeout rate.

• Brandon Finnegan vs. San Diego Padres (Pittsburgh Pirates)

After what Finnegan did last time out against the Philadelphia Phillies, how can you not start him again on Monday. Finnegan will again be pitching against a young and rebuilding team in the Padres. Finnegan at the age of 23 has been very dominant over his major league career holding hitters to a .227 AVG while posting a 8.04 K/9. Finnegan's problems in the big leagues are very common for a young pitcher like himself. He is prone to walk batters and give up home runs to the opposition. Finnegan will hopefully fix these problems in 2017, but even if he doesn't the Padres are a young undisciplined group that do not have a good amount of power in their lineup, so Finnegan should have another dominant outing.

April 11, 2025

• Jameson Taillon vs. Cincinnati Reds

Taillon will face the the inexperienced Reds team on Tuesday. Taillon had a great outing last time out going 7 innings and striking out 6. He was yet to give up a run, and we could possibly see another dominant start from Taillon on Tuesday. Taillon has great command as we saw last year when he only walked 1.47 batters per nine innings, which will be key facing players like Votto and Duvall. Taillon will be interesting to watch this year as he gets to pitch a full season for the Pirates, and prove that he is one of the elite pitchers in the game right now.

April 12, 2025

• Steven Wright vs. Baltimore Orioles

Wright struggled a little bit in his first outing this season as he seemed to have some command issues with his knuckle ball, but I would not give up on him yet. His next assignment will be against the home run hitting and strikeout prone lineup of the Baltimore Orioles. Wright will make it hard for the Orioles hitters to hit home runs since knuckle balls have no back spin to them. The biggest concerning factor for me would be his command. The Orioles have a lot of patient hitters in their lineup. This means if Wright continues to struggle with his command for the knuckle ball, we may see another walk rate like last game.

• Blake Snell vs. New York Yankees

This is a perfect match up for the young Ray's starter. Snell has swing and miss stuff, but he also struggles with command sometimes. I would try to avoid starting Snell against a group of patient and veteran hitters, which is exactly the opposite of what he will face on Wednesday. The Yankees are a very young and inpatient group of hitters. Snell can use this to his advantage as he can tally up a good amount of strikeouts, and his walk rate may not be as bad as we would expect as some of these young hitters may chase balls that are out of the strike zone.

• Tyler Skaggs vs. Texas Rangers

Skaggs should have one of the best outings this year facing a Ranger's lineup whose best players struggle against left handed pitching. Players, including hot hitting Nomar Mazara, who only hit .234/.277/.270 against lefties last season. The 25 year old Skaggs is one of the more intriguing players to watch this season as he has been plagued with injuries keeping him from pitching a full season in the major leagues. What we have seen from this young star when healthy is very promising, as we should expect a K/9 above 8, a BB/9 not surpassing the major league average and all while not letting batters hit more than one home run per nine innings.

April 13, 2025

• Josh Tomlin vs. Chicago White Sox

Tomlin's next assignment is against the rebuilding White Sox. With the Sox rebuilding, their lineup is not as frightening as it once was, with the only proven hitters in the lineup being Melky Cabrera, Jose Abreu and Todd Frazier. Tomlin does not feature stuff that will likely result in a lot of strike outs, but what Tomlin does have is great command for his pitches. The thing that is worrisome about Tomlin is his career 1.55 HR/9. With hitters like Abreu and Frazier in the lineup, do not be surprised if Tomlin does end up giving a home run or two. With those two being the only real big home run threats, Tomlin may be able to pitch around them to get through the rest of the lineup.

• Wei-Yen Chen vs. New York Mets

The left handed Chen will be facing a team which does not hit particularly well against lefties. Featuring most their left hitting outfielders, excluding their star hitter in Yoenis Cespedes. Chen has not walked that many batters over his major league career, which will prove to be very valuable against an experienced Met's lineup that is very patient at the plate. However, Chen will need to be careful about his pitch location as the Mets feature a good amount of power within their lineup.

April 14, 2025

• Trevor Bauer vs. Detroit Tigers

With J.D. Martinez on the DL and Miguel Cabrera struggling at the plate, I do not know of a better time for a pitcher to face the Tiger's lineup. The tigers post a very heavy right handed hitting lineup as they only have four players active who can bat from the left side. With only one of those players being a proven everyday major leaguer in Victor Martinez. Bauer has nasty stuff with decent command, which will prove to be a challenge for Tigers if the challenges at the plate continue for Miguel Cabrera.

• Adam Conley vs. New York Mets

Just like Chen who is pitching the day prior to Conley, Conley is a left handed pitcher who will be pitching to a team that does not hit lefties that well. Conley is still young at 26, but has posted solid numbers in his 200.1 innings pitched. Conley is perfect against the hard hitting Mets as he has held hitters to a HR/9 of only 0.90. There is a little worry about his control, but Conley should overcome that with age and experience.

April 15, 2025

• R.A. Dickey vs. San Diego Padres

The 42 year old Dickey with prove Saturday that he is still a threat on the mound. The former Cy Young Award winner will go up against a Padres team that has 3 rule 5 draft picks on it. The Padres only proven major league hitter is Will Myers, so Dickey will have should have no problem pitching around him if needed. Dickey's knuckle ball will prove to be quite effective against a young group of players who haven't seen much of the pitch before.

• Zach Davies vs. Cincinnati Reds

Davies struggled in his first outing this year by going 4.1 innings and giving up 6 earned runs. The fact is though, the Rockies are a very different team offensively than the Reds, who will be the team Davies faces on Saturday. The Reds are in complete rebuild mode as more than half their position players were not even arbitration eligible this off season. The only real big offensive presence in their lineup being Joey Votto. I've heard people compare Davies to Kyle Hendricks for his ability to command and pitch repertoire. Davies' ability to hit his locations and keep the ball on the ground will be essential for him going forward not only against the Reds but for the rest season.

• Matt Moore vs. Colorado Rockies

Moore and his Giants will face one of the best hitting lineups on Sunday. The problem the Rockies will run into Sunday will be the lack of right handed bats in their outfield. It is no secret that Carlos Gonzalez can not hit left handed pitching, but add two more left handed outfielders and it could be a long game for the Rockies. Even the Rockies very hot right handed hitting first baseman, Mark Reynolds, has struggled against lefties in his major league, which is out of the norm for a right handed hitter. This will still be a test of Moore's abilities on the mound. As long as Moore can locate his pitches and keep the ball out of the air, it should be another QS added to resume.

April 16, 2025

• Adam Wainwright vs. New York Yankees

This is where the Yankees lack of experience may hurt them. An experienced pitcher like Wainwright will be able to execute his pitches and keep the ball anyway from the fences, as he goes through the lineup of budding young stars. Over his career Wainwright carries a HR/9 of 0.64 and a BB/9 of 2.29. This will be important as he faces a lineup with a tremendous amount of power, but with that power they posses comes a lot of strikeouts. As long as Wainwright is healthy and able to locate his pitches well, I see him coming out with the W.