Do you ever have those nights were fatigue just catches up and you just go out like a light well before you planned and there is no amount of Red Bull that will keep you going? That was me last night. I not only fell asleep much earlier than planned, but I slept in my desk chair for most of the night. This wasn’t alcohol induced or anything crazy like that, I just passed out. My body had enough and said, “I’m done for longer than the 4 hours (or less) you have been giving me.”
Thus the Tuesday-Friday spot starter picks I promised did not go up. Here they are now. I’ll include Tuesday’s just for posterity.
TUESDAY:
Clayton Richard (SD v. KC) – Just playing the home split with Richard. He has a 2.25 ERA in Petco with 5.2 K/9 and 1.8 K/BB rates, but outside his ERA balloons to 5.85 with 4.3 and 1.1 rates.
WEDNESDAY:
Tim Stauffer (SD v. KC) – Oh my jeezorz, everyone hates this guy. Every week he throws a gem or two and I think his ownership rate will soar or at least move to a point where I can no longer use him because he won’t be on as many waiver wires, alas every week it does NOT happen and so here he is again. Enjoy.
Carlos Carrasco (CLE @ ARI) – He has allowed a whopping two runs in his last four starts spanning 30 innings (0.61 ERA). He also has a healthy 6.3 K/9 in that time so don’t let his season-long 5.5 mark dissuade you. This is a three-time top 54 prospect according to Baseball America growing up before our eyes. He and Justin Masterson give Cleveland a 1-2 punch that offers them more legitimacy than they had when they were riding the coattails of Josh Tomlin. The Shin-Soo Choo injury is a killer, but pitching can cover a lot of hitting woes.
THURSDAY:
Brett Cecil (TOR v. PIT) – Rolling the dice here. Cecil had a terrible start to the season and actually got demoted to AAA. He was actually doing really well in the hitting-heavy PCL until a recent stretch that included an 8 ER bombing in just 3.3 innings. He managed 7.2 K/9 and 2.6 K/BB rates in 79 innings. Picking on the Pirates a bit, but let’s see what he can do in his return. One caveat: if you’re protecting a strong ERA and WHIP in a head-to-head league, I would probably pass here.
FRIDAY:
Edwin Jackson (CHW @ CHC) – He has pitched to a 3.09 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 3.3 K/BB rates to back it up since May. His June has been pretty strong too as he has gone six-plus in every outing and notched eight strikeouts in each of his last two outings. He needs to pitch around Carlos Pena who is in the midst of one of his huge streaks, but otherwise he should be fine with the Cubs lineup.
Jason Vargas (SEA v. SD) – He has been a bit inconsistent putting virtually even splits home and away, but even though he has struggled a little bit in June he still has two complete shutouts and he has gone seven or more innings in all but one of his five outings for the month. An average pitcher who has shown the ability to go off for a big game is a must-start against the Padres.
Baseball By Paul 
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