Fantasy Baseball: Pitching Preview Week 2

So week 1 is nearly in the books and it is time to start looking forward to what week 2 may have in store for us with the week 2 Pitching Preview. This week there are 34 two start pitchers with only six teams playing 7 games and five teams paying just 5 games. In addition, this week there are far less aces with two start weeks so there are more pitchers on one start weeks who are virtually guaranteed to be in your line up. So without further ado let’s preview those pitchers!

 

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
BOS	Lackey	Doubront	Peavy	Buccholz	Lester	Lackey	Doubront
NYY	Kuroda	Nova	Tanaka	Pineda	Sabathia	Kuroda	Nova
BAL	Jimenez	Chen	Gonzalez		Norris	Tillman	Jimenez
TB	Moore	Archer	Odorizzi		Price	Cobb	Moore
TOR		Buehrle	Morrow	McGowan	Dickey	Hutchison	Buehrle
DET		Scherzer	Sanchez		Porcello	Verlander	Scherzer
CWS	Paulinho	Quintana	Johnson	Danks	Sale	Paulino	Quintana
KC	Vargas	Ventura	Guthrie		Chen	Shields	Vargas
CLE	Kluber	McAllister	Salazar	Carrasco	Masterson	Kluber	McAllister
MIN	Correia		Hughes	Pelfry	Gibson	Nolasco	Correia
TEX	Scheppers	Perez	Ross		Lewis	Darvish	Scheppers
OAK	Kazmir		Chavez	Straily	Milone	Gray	Kazmir
LAA	Wilson	Santiago	Richards		Skaggs	Weaver	Wilson
HOU	Cosart	Oberholtzer	Harrell	Keuchel	Feldman	Cosart	Oberholtzer
SEA		Paxton	Elias		Hernandez	Ramirez	Paxton
NYM		Colon	Wheeler	Mejia	Gee	Niese	Colon
WSH		Gonzalez	Roark	Zimmermann	Strasburg	Jordan	Gonzalez
ATL		Harang	Santana	Hale	Teheran	Wood	Harang
MIA		Alvarez	Turner	Koehler	Fernandez	Eovaldi	Alvarez
PHI			Hernandez	Lee	Burnett	Kendrick	Undecided
CHC		Jackson	Hammel	Wood	Samardzija	Villanueva	Jackson
MIL	Lohse		Garza	Estrada	Peralta	Gallardo	Lohse
STL	Wacha	Lynn	Miller		Kelly	Wainwright	Wacha
CIN	Cingrani	Bailey	Leake		Cueto	Cingrani	Bailey
PIT	Kendrick	Morton	Rodriguez	Cole	Liriano	Volquez	Morton
LAD		Haren	Ryu		Undecided	Grienke	Haren
ARI		Cahill	Arroyo	Delgado	McCarthy	Miley	Cahill
SF		Hudson	Lincecum	Vogelsong	Bumgarner	Cain	Hudson
COL	Lyles	Morales	Nicasio		De La Rosa	Anderson	Undecided
SD	Ross	Erlin	Stults		Cashner	Kennedy	Ross

 

Two Start Pitchers

Within the tiers below players are not listed in any particular order.

Must Start (Ownership %):

Image courtesy of sportsillustrated

• Scherzer (100): Away at LA and SD means he is pitching in two decent ball parks. Ok I’ll be realistic you probably wouldn’t sit him if he was playing in the worst two ball parks. Definitely the best of the two start pitchers this week.
• Kazmir (33): Two road games is not ideal but one is in Seattle and the other is vs the Twins
• Wilson (100): At Houston means a small park but against a weaker line up and then at home against Mets means he is back in familiar settings against a hit or miss line up
• Gonzalez (100): A decent pitchers park in Miami followed by a visit to Atlanta which could be a bit tougher.
• Wacha (100): A great first game this year and now he gets a game against Cincy but at home which is a big boost and then another home game against a weak Cubs line up.
• Cingrani (100): Ok I won’t lie to you I have a man crush on this guy and he is probably my favourite pitcher for this year. The game against STL will be tough and then he faces a hit or miss Tampa team but I think his talent shines through two potentially tough starts.
• Hudson (33): Two home matches; the first against Arizona who have struggled to score runs at times this year and then Colorado who I feel will struggle away from home all year.

Safe Starts (Ownership %):

• Lackey (100): My issue with Lackey this week is that he is playing a fantastic Texas line up and then he faces the Yankees in a lefty friendly park as a right hand pitcher. However, I still see him putting up decent numbers.
• Kuroda (100): Two relatively tough match ups against Baltimore and Boston but there should still be a decent output from him.
• Nova (98): As above
• Moore (100): A nice match up against Houston nearly put him in must start but Im worried that a start in Camden Yards could be a wrecking ball.
• Vargas (3): A hit and miss Tampa line up followed by what is considered by many to be a weak line up in Minnesota
• Paxton (27): Lit up twitter with his performance in week 1 and with two home match ups putting him here may be seen as conservative.
• Colon (71): Struggled last week and his match up with Atlanta could be tough but then he faces the familiar Angels in a pitcher friendly park.
• Harang (3): Hit or miss Mets line up followed by a tough game against Washington is why he isn’t going any higher this week.
• Bailey (100): Has a similar pair of tough match ups to Cingrani but I think he struggles more because I feel Cingrani is the better pitcher.
• Morton (2): A weak Cubs line up followed by a tough match up in hitter friendly Milwaukee
• Haren (100): The Tigers have a fiery line up but being at home negates that. His second match against Arizona is a problem though because Chase Field is largely hitter friendly.

Tough Choices (Ownership %):

Image courtesy of sportsnet

• Doubront (100): As with Lackey but he isn’t as good
• Jimenez (37): As an owner I am worried about him whenever he plays at home especially against a powerful Toronto line up. His first game is in New York and I’m not confident on that one either.
• Buehrle (43): A nice match up against Houston at home is followed by a tough match up in Camden Yards against Baltimore and he could get smashed in both match ups
• Kluber (5): Would be higher if the game against San Diego was on the West coast in the Padres pitcher friendly park and then he plays a tough White Sox line up.
• McAllister (1): As above
• Correia (1): Two home games with one against the Mariners who have started off mashing the ball worries me.
• Scheppers (1): A terrible first start and playing in Boston won’t help him bounce back. Playing Houston should be better for him but his home park is always a dangerous one to pitch in.
• Cosart (2): At home against the Angels isn’t a great match up and then he follows that up by pitching in Texas against a superb line up.
• Alvarez (1): Two tough match ups and one of them is in hitter friendly Philly
• Jackson (2): Pitt are a tough match up and then STL away is another tough one.
• Lohse (27): A tough start in hitter friendly Philly followed by a Pitt line with a ton of potential
• Cahill (1): San Fran are off to a flyer and then facing the Dodgers in chase field could see him get some punishment
• Ross (1): Two tough games but the one at home gives me hope even if it is against Detroit.

Risky Starts (Ownership %):

• Paulinho (0): A game in Colorado completely ruins this week for me. He could give up 5+ runs easily. Then he faces a decent Cleveland line up but the Colorado start means I want nothing to do with him.
• Quintana (4): As above.
• Oberholtzer (1): Two line ups capable of mashing in Toronto and Texas with both being away from home.

 

One Start Pitchers

Must Starts

Image courtesy of standingosports

 

• Verlander: A game in PETCO is always welcome
• Sale: Cleveland are a decent team but Sale is a must start nearly every week for me
• Shields: Minnesota are nothing special
• Darvish: Nearly had a perfect game when he faced Houston last year
• Felix Hernandez: Home against Oakland sounds good to me
• Strasburg: Struck out 10 in his first start and should bounce back in terms of earned runs
• Fernandez: Tough game in Philly but he is one of my Cy Young picks
• Lee: Cannot be as bad as his first start was in Texas!
• Wainwright: One of the best and in a good match up against the Cubs he should be awesome
• Bumgarner: Home against a Colorado team that I have already said I don’t trust away from home

Intriguing match ups (Ownership %):

• Morrow (2): Away at Houston means he gets a weak line up but in a hitter friendly park
• Porcello (88): A nice match up in San Diego means Porcello is worth a look this week
• Milone (1): Playing in Seattle will get many people on this list this year
• Skaggs (2): A former high end prospect pitching in Seattle? Yes please
• Erasmo Ramirez (8): Pitching at home in Seattle means I’d give him a chance
• Gee (32): Pitching in Angels stadium means potential for a nice day
• Cole (100): Cole is another guy I love this year and playing the Cubs just increases that
• Cueto (100): Tampa Bay can be very hit a miss but pitching in his home run friendly park could spell disaster
• Cashner (100): Love him at home and would be a must start if it wasn’t a team with the destructive power of Detroit
• Kennedy (10): Also love him at home but Detroit makes me a little nervous.

So there we have it for my two start pitchers and my intriguing one start guys for week 2. By no means am I saying drop people who don’t appear on this list for those that do. I decided to list my must start one start pitchers as well so that people can see that there are still one start guys I would rather have than some two start guys. Just because your one start pitcher isn’t on this list doesn’t mean I wouldn’t use him it just means I might consider a couple of options first.