Fantasy Baseball: Week 3 Pitching Preview

Week 2 in fantasy baseball will have seen roto leagues begin to take shape.  If your team is one that is settling at the bottom, don’t panic, because this is still repairable so early in the season.

The best way to ensure you stay in your fantasy baseball league’s race early on, is to play the pitching matchups — and that is exactly what the Week 3 pitching preview is here to help you do!

This week there are 37 two-start pitchers confirmed, but with a couple of rotation spots still undecided, there are opportunities for a few more.  Week 3 is comprised of an interesting mix of pitchers making two starts, with 11 teams playing seven games and only one team playing five.  There are still a fair number of aces on one-start weeks so the number of must-start two-start pitchers is maybe a little lower than in the last two scoring periods.

 

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

 

Two-Start Pitchers

The players within the following tiers aren’t necessarily listed in any particular order.  I have also dropped the ownership percentages because it is generally different for every website you play on.

Must-Start:

• Masahiro Tanaka: At home against the Cubs and at Tampa are lovely match ups for someone off to a hot start.
• Chris Archer: Two games at home in his pitcher-friendly park.
• Anibal Sanchez: Two games at home vs. decent but not great lineups.
• Jesse Chavez: First game is at pitcher-friendly Anaheim and then he comes home to face the weak Houston lineup in his cavernous home ballpark.
• Jordan Zimmermann: A nice start in Miami is followed by a slightly tougher one in St. Louis, but I think he handles it.
• Stephen Strasburg: He’s an ace you’re starting every week if you can.
• Gerrit Cole: Slightly concerned he could get longballed in Cincy, but then he pitches at home in his second match up.

Safe Starts:

• Jake Odorizzi: I love him playing twice at home, but I am not as confident in him as I am with Archer.
• Yordano Ventura: Could have issues in hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park, but a home game against Minnesota should be better.
• Phil Hughes: Pitching at home against a Toronto lineup that’s misfired early on and then an away game in largely pitcher-friendly Kansas City.
• Lucas Harrell: A little concerned KC could deposit him over the boundaries at home, but he should be money in pitcher-friendly O.co Coliseum.
• Ervin Santana: A great start first time up last week means I have a lot of confidence in him.  I’m a little concerned for his trip to Philly, but less so for his start in New York.
• Matt Garza: Pitching at home could be tough, but his start in Pittsburgh may well save his week.
• Marco Estrada: See Garza, Matt
• Lance Lynn: Could struggle in Milwaukee, but a road game in Washington has it’s appeals.
• Shelby Miller: He’s had a poor start to the season so he’ll hope to get firing in one of these two starts.
• Josh Beckett: A road game at massive AT&T Park followed by a return home vs. the woeful Diamondbacks sets Beckett up for a nice week.
• Tim Lincecum: Two nice parks this week means I am taking a risk on big Tim.
• Robbie Erlin: Always love when a Padres’ starter has two games at home, but there is always a little risk with them
• Eric Stults: See Erlin, Robbie
  

Tough Choices:

• Jake Peavy: He doesn’t have an easy matchup against the White Sox in Cellular Field to start the week and then he gets the potentially explosive Orioles at home.
• Wei-Yin Chen: Nice matchup in Tampa but a tough one in Fenway.
• Brandon Morrow: Two games away from home against teams that have been scoring fairly freely lately.
• Zach McAllister: Two matchups against powerful teams means he could struggle.
• Colby Lewis: His first two starts of 2014 were always going to be tough, but a game at home in hitter-friendly Arlington is looking very ominous.  I’m not sure he is worth starting in shallow leagues.
• Robbie Ross: He has good stuff but his control isn’t always there, and a game at home in Texas worries me.  Deep-league consideration only.
• Hector Santiago: Pitches in a nice home park so his first start vs. Oakland should be decent.  His second start in Detroit is a far bigger concern for me as he could get smashed.
• Roenis Elias: Not keen on him starting in Texas, but he should have a decent start in Miami.
• Blake Beaven: See Elias, Roenis.
  
• Zack Wheeler: The start in hitter friendly Chase Field could be disastrous, but his return home should salvage his week a little.
• Cliff Lee: This may surprise you a bit to see him here, but Philly is always a tough park to pitch in and his second start will be in the ultra-tough Coors Field.  His quality may well overcome this, but I would be really cautious.
• Wandy Rodriguez: Same concerns as with Cole and he’s not as good as him either.
• Bronson Arroyo: His start at home in Chase Field will always be tough, but a weekend start in L.A. should be a little easier.

Risky Starts:

• Erik Johnson: Two really tough matchups this week make him a sit in most leagues.
• David Hale: Really tough start in Philly and then he’ll face a scrappy Mets team in New York.
• Roberto Hernandez: Same matchups as Cliff Lee, but he doesn’t have anywhere near Lee’s talent.
• Juan Nicasio: I like his start in San Diego, but any start in Coors worries me.  He’s a sit for me.

One-Start Pitchers

Must-Starts:

• Justin Verlander: L.A. has been struggling at times and Verlander looked like his old self in Week 2.
• Chris Sale: Won’t be easy in Boston, but he is an ace and you aren’t sitting him.
• James Shields: He struggled last time round against Minnesota but I cannot see it happening twice.
• Yu Darvish: Pitching in Texas is always dangerous, but he is too good to consider sitting.
• Felix Hernandez: Never easy in Texas, but he is a fantastic pitcher.
• Jose Fernandez: A nice home matchup for him.
• Adam Wainwright: It won’t be easy in Washington, but he is a top-5 pitcher who you want to start every week.
• Madison Bumgarner: Pitching in L.A. isn’t as ideal as AT&T Park, but he is a must-start regardless.
• Matt Cain: Awesome pitching matchup in pitcher-friendly PETCO Park.

Intriguing matchups:

• Chris Tillman: A really nice matchup in Tampa that could be one of the best this week.
• Sonny Gray: Love him at home — especially against Houston.
• Scott Kazmir: See Gray, Sonny.
  
• Tyler Skaggs: He has gotten off to a nice start and has a nice matchup in cavernous Oakland.
• Tim Hudson: This is my one-start start of the week with him pitching in San Diego.
• Jorge De La Rosa: Like him whenever he pitches away from home, but when that game happens to be in San Diego it is even better!
• Andrew Cashner: Pitching at home against Colorado is reason for intrigue.
• Ian Kennedy: See Cashner, Andrew