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Two Start Pitchers :: Week 9 by Scott Mickels Published: June 3, 2012, 7:12 pm
Week 9 is upon us! We've got another week of interleague play in store and I've got two Injury Watch's to discuss. For the first we head to St. Louis where the Cardinals' Jamie Garcia is dealing with soreness in his elbow. He had an MRI last Tuesday which came back negative, but the Cardinals still opted to skip his start on Friday as a precaution. He's now slated to start Tuesday at Houston. Daily owners don't really have anything to worry about as you can simply swap Garcia out of your lineup if need be, but this is a very tricky situation for weekly fantasy owners. There's a good possibility Garcia could miss his second start or even have his outings cut short due to the soreness in elbow. If you have a more reliable, healthier option, I'd go with it over Garcia. Considering the injury risk, Garcia should only be used in deep leagues or in a situation where you simply don't have a better option.
Next, we make our way to the city of Brotherly Love where the Phillies' Vance Worley has been recovering from bone chips in his elbow. He was able to avoid Tommy John surgery, but was still shut down for the last two weeks. According to the Phillies though, the “Vanimal” has been progressing very well. He's thrown at least 3 pain-free bullpen sessions and as a result is expected to come off the DL on Monday. The Phillies said they will see how he feels on Sunday before officially moving forward, but all signs point to Worley making his return this week. He's tentatively scheduled to start Monday against the Dodgers. Like Garcia, this is tricky for weekly fantasy owners. On one hand, Worley could return and be just fine as he was before the injury. On the other hand, he could very possibly re-aggravate his elbow and miss more time. At any rate, I'm going to stay positive and give Worley the benefit of the doubt based on his, and the Phillies, comments concerning his recovery. He's probably best left for NL-only and deep mixed leagues for this week. However, if he's able to get through this week without any setbacks, feel confident using him moving forward in standard leagues.
Now, on to what we all came here for, the Two-Start Pitchers! Of course, if you have any pitching questions, or now any fantasy football questions, don't hesitate to email me with them at scottmickels@fantasyplaymakers.com. NOTE: These starts are not set in stone. They can change for any variety of reasons: managerial moves, injuries, rain-outs, etc. Please keep in mind they are probable.
AMERICAN LEAGUENO-BRAINERSNone
ADVISABLE OPTIONSJon Lester, BOS: vs. BAL, vs. WAS Ricky Romero, TOR: @ CHW, @ ATL James Shields, TB: @ NYY, @ MIA
OTHERS TO KEEP IN MINDDerek Holland, TEX: @ OAK, @ SF Philip Humber, CHW: vs. TOR, vs. HOU Jarrod Parker, OAK: vs. TEX, @ ARI Andy Pettitte, NYY: vs. TB, vs. NYM Ervin Santana, ANA: vs. SEA, @ COL Drew Smyly, DET: vs. CLE, @ CIN Jason Vargas, SEA: @ ANA, vs. LA
TRY TO AVOIDTravis Blackley *, OAK: vs. TEX, @ ARI Cole DeVries, MIN: @ KC, vs. CHC Scott Feldman, TEX: @ OAK, @ SF Ubaldo Jimenez *, CLE: @ DET, @ STL Will Smith, KC: vs. MIN, @ PIT INJURY WATCHNone NATIONAL LEAGUENO-BRAINERSClayton Kershaw, LA: @ PHI, @ SEA Cliff Lee, PHI: vs. LA, @ BAL
ADVISABLE OPTIONSYovani Gallardo, vs. CHC, vs. SD Jeff Samardzija, CHC: @ SF, @ MIN Anibal Sanchez, MIA: vs. ATL, vs. TB Ryan Vogelsong, SF: vs. CHC, vs. TEX
OTHERS TO KEEP IN MINDHomer Bailey, CIN: vs. PIT, vs. DET Chad Billingsley, LA: @ PHI, @ SEA Ryan Dempster, CHC: @ MIL, @ MIN Christian Friedrich, COL: @ ARI, vs. ANA Dillon Gee, NYM: @ WAS, @ NYY Edwin Jackson, WAS: vs. NYM, @ BOS Tim Lincecum, SF: @ SD, vs. TEX Kyle Lohse, STL: @ NYM, vs. CLE Joe Saunders, ARI: vs. COL, vs. OAKTRY TO AVOIDRandall Delgado, ATL: @ MIA, vs. TOR Lucas Harrell, HOU: vs. STL, @ CHW Jeremy Hefner, NYM: vs. STL, @ NYYINJURY WATCHJamie Garcia, STL: @ HOU, vs. CLE Vance Worley *, PHI: vs. LA, @ BAL
* = this pitcher's two-start status is questionable. Want to see which pitcher is more valuable? Try Fantasy Playmaker's IntelliStats!
Scott Mickels, FPM Staff Writer/Editor, Member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, All-Around Nice Guy Support FPM! You can send your questions and comments to Scott at scottmickels@fantasyplaymakers.com |
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