Baseball By Paul

The week started off pretty horribly so even though the last five starts have been gems, they have just been chiseling away at a bloated ERA caused by the first three guys trotted out there.  I’ve got four weekend picks to cover and perhaps they can keep the momentum going giving the group a good composite week.

SATURDAY:

Jordan Zimmermann (WAS v. SD) – After an up and down April, Zimmermann has thrown 25 innings with a 3.28 ERA and 1.08 WHIP while striking out 26 in four May starts, the last three of which have been on the road.  Now he gets a home bid against the putrid San Diego Padres offense making him a must-start.  He is still on a lot of league wires for some reason, but he is someone I really like for the remaining four months of the season so I’d consider hanging onto him in leagues where available.

Carlos Villanueva (TOR v. CHW) – He has been dealing this year for the Jays, mostly out of the pen, but got a start on Monday and looked very sharp against the Yankees.  He is a strikeout guy (26 in 29 IP, 5 in 5 on Monday) which can build a pitch count.  That combined with the fact that they are just starting to stretch him out could limit him to around six innings, but I think he will fare well.

Randy Wolf (MIL v. SF) – He was on fire earlier this year (2.39 ERA in 6 Apr. starts), but then cooled off with two poor starts at the beginning of May including one against the Padres.  He’s throwing well again of late and he completes his tour of the NL West (last three starts v. SD, COL & @LAD) with a shot against a weak Giants offense that recently lost their best player, catcher Buster Posey.

SUNDAY:

Bartolo Colon (NYY @ SEA) – He was knocked around earlier this week on my watch as was his opponent in this game, Jason Vargas.  They are a big part of why the composite numbers look so bad, but I’m willing to stand by Colon after a bad start.  It’s only second down start of the season and he still struck out eight so he can be trusted against the anemic M’s in Safeco.

Results and Week 9 picks on Sunday.

Posted on Friday: 05.27.2011 at 9:00 pm in Analysis, Baseball, Fantasy Baseball, Player Focus, Predictions, Spot Starters, Starting Pitchers, Statistical Analysis, Strategy, Trolling the Wire   |  RSS feed |   Reply   |   Trackback URL