Pitching Woes

Well, well, well. What a start it has been to the season in fantasy baseball. For many of you, there was a complete mindset during the draft and you a whole other mindset right now. You were content with your team after the draft, but now 6^th place isn’t your ideal location. You’re sleeper hasn’t panned out well and you have holes in the infield already. So what that you drafted Pujols first, then took Manny and Chris Carpenter with the rap around picks. You’ve came to the right site. Now I can’t solve every problem, but I’ll try and help you get to at least 4^th.

Today, I’m going to target the article on pitching. There has been a lot of inconsistency with starting pitching. Zambrano has had a few rough starts, Webb has not started like last year, and Kazmir finally looked like himself against the Twins. The big disappointment so far this year has been Carpenter, although most of that is because of injury. The word on him is he will not need surgery, but the Cardinal ace will be at least a few weeks with the elbow problem. As of now, I don’t know if I would trade him because the injury may only be a few weeks in a long season and getting equal value is not likely. So my suggestion would be to keep him on your DL spot if your league has one or just keep him on the bench.

Anyway, this article is to try and give you guys some advice and say a couple guys I think you could get off the waiver wire or for a good price that could help you out pitching wise. (Basically buy low guys)

Brandon Webb: Not the typical guy you would think is on a list like this, but this year he is. I think the ranks, especially Yahoo’s, is undervaluing him. On Wednesday, Webb had a great outing (8 in, 7 hits, 1 ER, and 13 strikeouts) Even though he got a no decision he looks like he is coming back. Webb’s era is only 4.00 and he is leading the lead in strikeouts. Not to say Arizona is taking it all, but they are improved and his 14 win total will go up.

Tim Wakefield: Here is a guy that may be available in your league. Not to say to name him your ace, but the veteran right ace has thrown well. He has a couple of wins and an era of 1.35. May not get a ton of strikeouts, but is a pretty good temporary option. Currently he has a whip under 1 so if you need pitching you might want to grab Wakefield for a spot start.

Scott Kazmir: If you are going to take one of these pitchers, I think Kazmir is the best. If healthy, Kazmir could make your staff solid by himself. Kazmir gets a ton of strikeouts and might get to 15 wins this year. His era might scare you off, but he will rebound and his whip can help out also. He is especially good for any of you that are in points leagues.

There are some others I like that may be available on the Waiver Wire along with Wakefield. A couple of them are Claudio Vargas, Kyle Lohse, and Ian Snell, who are all decent pickups that can get a lot of strikeouts.