Double Dips: Jake Odorizzi, the other Jake
You need a plan for the upcoming week, so let's take a look at the double-dipping pitchers for the period Monday-Sunday. As always, consider everything on this list tentative: sometimes pitchers get scratched, sometimes plans change, sometimes it rains.
1. Masahiro Tanaka (at CLE, at BAL): Wipeout splitter, good luck.
2. Johnny Cueto (CHC, PIT): A classic exception to rules.
3. Adam Wainwright (PIT, at MIL): Is this his Cy season?
4. Stephen Strasburg (BAL, at PHI): Road issues, but it's just Philly.
5. Julio Teheran (at NYM, at CHC): Evan Salfino believes now.
6. Doug Fister (BAL, at PHI): Why did Tigers give him away?
7. Hisashi Iwakuma (MIN, OAK): Might be a tiny buy-low window.
8. Madison Bumgarner (at OAK, ARI): Home/road splits likely fluke.
9. Cole Hamels (at MIL, WAS): Terrific year on lousy team.
10. Sonny Gray (SF, at SEA): That curve should be illegal.
11. Jered Weaver (TOR, at TEX): Arlington not as fearsome anymore.
12. Hyun-Jin Ryu (at DET, SD): Oddly, the road numbers are the stingy ones.
13. Jesse Chavez (SF, at SEA): Keeps his spot, Milone to Triple-A.
14. Jake Odorizzi (KC, TOR)
Although Odorizzi is long gone in my Yahoo pools, he's still free to grab in 82 percent of the overall landscape. And that's a number that needs to be fixed, pronto.
He's been missing bats all year: 10.3 strikeouts per nine. And with that many whiffs, a 3.6 BB/9 isn't that big a deal. His 4.18 ERA is a stone fluke - all the peripheral-suggested numbers are in the mid-3s. And he hasn't given us a bad start in a month; the last five turns add up to this: 30.2 IP, 2.05 ERA, 1.02 WHIP.
Two home starts are the clincher. No one fears the Royals offense, and the Jays are far less imposing with Edwin Encarnacion out.
15. Jason Vargas (at TB, DET): Most underrated arm in AL.
16. Tyson Ross (at COL, LAD): Taken down a notch with the Coors visit.
17. Ryan Vogelsong (at OAK, ARI)
18. John Danks (at BOS, at CLE): Outstanding in seven of last eight turns.
19. Justin Verlander (LAD, at KC): There's no pattern to the matrix.
20. Charlie Morton (at STL, at CIN)
21. Mike Leake (CHC, PIT)
22. Ian Kennedy (at COL, LAD)
23. James Shields (at TB, DET)
24. Vance Worley (at STL, at CIN): Follow Ray Searage into a burning building.
25. Tyler Skaggs (TOR, at TEX)
26. Carlos Martinez (PIT, at MIL)
27. *Chris Young (MIN, OAK)
28. Wily Peralta (PHI, STL)
29. Mike Minor (at NYM, at CHC): Need a show-of-faith start first.
30. Trevor Bauer (NYY, CWS)
31. Jacob deGrom (ATL, MIA)
32. Brandon Workman (CHW, at HOU)
33. Chris Tillman (at WAS, NYY)
34. Tom Koehler (at ARI, at NYM)
35. Phil Hughes (at SEA, at COL)
36. Daisuke Matsuzaka (ATL, MIA): Ugly K/BB ratio discounts him immediately.
37. *Bud Norris (at WAS, NYY): Likely return but check the dates.
38. Kyle Kendrick (at MIL, WAS)
39. Travis Wood (at CIN, atL)
40. Clay Buchholz (CWS, at HOU)
41. Justin Masterson (NYY, CWS)
42. Marco Estrada (PHI, STL)
43. J.A. Happ (at LAA, at TB)
44. Brad Peacock (at TEX, BOS)
45. Brad Hand (at ARI, NYM)
46. Miles Mikolas (HOU, LAA)
47. Chase Anderson (MIA, at SF)
48. Edwin Jackson (at CIN, atL)
49. Scott Carroll (at BOS, at CLE)
50. Nick Martinez (HOU, LAA)
51. Kevin Correia (at SEA, at COL)
52. Tyler Matzek (SD, MIN)
