Week Ahead: Change Afloat
MLB's deadline day always features a lot of moving and shaking, but this year we saw much more activity than normal, with several teams aggressively pursuing high-end arms to reinforce their rotations for the postseason run.
We'll see a few of those relocated starters pitching twice for their new teams in The Week Ahead.
The biggest move on Thursday was a three-way deal that sent David Price to Detroit. The stud lefty is in line for two starts with the Tigers, though his AL East match-ups (in New York and Toronto) will feel very familiar.
Meanwhile, John Lackey will draw a pair of starts with his new club, but he too will be facing off against familiar opponents as the Cardinals go up against Boston and Baltimore.
Jon Lester, acquired by the Athletics in their ongoing quest to take over the planet, won't get two starts next week, but he is scheduled to go Thursday with an extremely favorable match-up at home against the Twins. Making two starts for the A's will be Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, who were both added earlier in July as part of the aforementioned world domination plan.
Hammel has been dropped in a lot of leagues lately due to his struggles since being traded, but I think he's headed for a good week with home starts against Tampa and Minnesota.
Editor's Note: Rotoworld's partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $35,000 Fantasy Baseball league for Friday night's MLB games. It's $25 to join and first prize is $5,000. Starts at 7:05pm ET on Friday. Here's the FanDuel link.
* Danny Duffy keeps putting up stellar results for the Royals, but remains available in more than 50 percent of Yahoo! and ESPN leagues. He has allowed two or fewer runs in nine of his 11 starts since the beginning of June. He'll go twice next week.
* Charlie Morton has been knocked around in his last few starts on the road, but returns to Pittsburgh for favorable match-ups against the Marlins and Padres. He's got a 2.18 ERA at home this year.
* I haven't quite seen enough of Brett Anderson to affix the "Strong Play" label, but boy has he looked good in his last three turns. He's there for the taking in dang near every league, so I would recommend picking him up and letting him ride against the Cubs and D-Backs.
Going Twice…
American League
Strong Plays
Mark Buehrle: BAL (Norris), DET (Price)
Alex Cobb: @OAK (Samardzija), @CHC (Wood)
Felix Hernandez: ATL (Wood), CWS (Danks)
Jason Hammel: TB (Smyly), MIN (Hughes)
Jeff Samardzija: TB (Cobb), MIN (Gibson)
Hiroki Kuroda: DET (Price), CLE (McAllister)
Garrett Richards: @LAD (Greinke), SF (Lincecum)
Danny Duffy: @ARI (Miley), SF (Lincecum)
Dallas Keuchel: @PHI (Kendrick), TEX (Martinez)
Max Scherzer: @NYY (McCarthy), @TOR (Stroman)
David Price: @NYY (Kuroda), @TOR (Buehrle)
Corey Kluber: CIN (Simon), @NYY (McCarthy)
Decent Plays
Brandon McCarthy: DET (Scherzer), CLE (Kluber)
Phil Hughes: SD (Hahn), @OAK (Hammel)
John Danks: TEX (Lewis), @SEA (Hernandez)
Rubby De La Rosa: @STL (Lackey), @LAA
Kevin Gausman: @WAS (Roark), STL (Lynn)
Bud Norris: @TOR (Buehrle), STL (Lackey)
At Your Own Risk
Nick Martinez: @CWS (Noesi), @HOU (Keuchel)
Hector Noesi: TEX (Martinez), @SEA (Iwakuma)
Zach McAllister: CIN (Cueto), @NYY (Kuroda)
National League
Strong Plays
Tanner Roark: BAL (Gausman), @ATL (Santana)
Gio Gonzalez: NYM (Wheeler), @ATL (Harang)
Tim Hudson: @NYM (Gee), @KC (Shields)
Zack Wheeler: @WAS (Gonzalez), @PHI (Kendrick)
Matt Garza: SF (Lincecum), LAD (Kershaw)
Clayton Kershaw: LAA, @MIL (Garza)
Zack Greinke: LAA (Richards), @MIL (Lohse)
Johnny Cueto: @CLE (McAllister), MIA (Hand)
Alfredo Simon: @CLE (Kluber), MIA (Alvarez)
John Lackey: BOS (De La Rosa), @BAL (Norris)
Charlie Morton: MIA (Hand), SD (Ross)
Decent Plays
Tim Lincecum: @MIL (Garza), @KC (Duffy)
Kyle Kendrick: HOU (Keuchel), NYM (Wheeler)
Dillon Gee: SF (Hudson), @PHI (Hamels)
Brett Anderson: CHC (Wood), @ARI (Miley)
Wade Miley: KC (Duffy), COL (Anderson)
At Your Own Risk
Brad Hand: @PIT (Morton), @CIN (Cueto)
Travis Wood: @COL (Anderson), TB (Cobb)
Streamer City
The following pitchers are generally available in over 50 percent of fantasy leagues and have favorable match-ups this week:
American League
Thursday, 8/7: Hector Santiago vs. LAD
Santiago has been quietly excellent over the past two months. Since the beginning of June, he has a 2.95 ERA and is holding the opposition to a .204/.258/.279 hitting line.
Thursday, 8/7: Roenis Elias vs. CWS
In his last two starts, Elias has allowed only two runs total while notching 14 strikeouts.
Friday, 8/8: Trevor Bauer @ NYY
Matching up against the Yankees in New York is no easy task, but Bauer has been quality in four of his last five starts and offers nice strikeout potential.
National League
Wednesday, 8/6: Josh Collmenter vs. KC
Collmenter at home this season: 6-2, 2.95 ERA.
Wednesday, 8/6: Tyler Matzek vs. CHC
Matzek fired seven shutout innings in his last start, and should be able to shut down a Cubs offense that is averaging 3.86 runs per game.
Friday, 8/8: Jimmy Nelson vs. LAD
The young righty has been very good in his limited action for the Brewers, averaging about a strikeout per inning.
Total Games
American League
6: BOS, HOU, KC, MIN, SEA, TB, TEX, TOR
7: BAL, CLE, CWS, DET, LAA, NYY, OAK
National League
5: ATL, SD
6: ARI, CHC, COL, MIA, MIL, PHI, PIT, STL
7: CIN, LAD, NYM, SF, WAS
Lefty/Righty Breakdowns
American League
BAL: 5 vs. RHP, 2 vs. LHP
BOS: 5 vs. RHP, 1 vs. LHP
CLE: 7 vs. RHP, 0 vs. LHP
CWS: 6 vs. RHP, 1 vs. LHP
DET: 5 vs. RHP, 2 vs. LHP
HOU: 5 vs. RHP, 1 vs. LHP
KC: 3 vs. RHP, 3 vs. LHP
LAA: 5 vs. RHP, 2 vs. LHP
MIN: 5 vs. RHP, 1 vs. LHP
NYY: 6 vs. RHP, 1 vs. LHP
OAK: 5 vs. RHP, 2 vs. LHP
SEA: 4 vs. RHP, 2 vs. LHP
TB: 4 vs. RHP, 2 vs. LHP
TEX: 2 vs. RHP, 4 vs. LHP
TOR: 5 vs. RHP, 1 vs. LHP
National League
ARI: 2 vs. RHP, 4 vs. LHP
ATL: 4 vs. RHP, 1 vs. LHP
CHC: 3 vs. RHP, 3 vs. LHP
CIN: 6 vs. RHP, 1 vs. LHP
COL: 4 vs. RHP, 2 vs. LHP
LAD: 5 vs. RHP, 2 vs. LHP
MIA: 5 vs. RHP, 1 vs. LHP
MIL: 5 vs. RHP, 1 vs. LHP
NYM: 5 vs. RHP, 2 vs. LHP
PHI: 5 vs. RHP, 1 vs. LHP
PIT: 4 vs. RHP, 2 vs. LHP
SD: 4 vs. RHP, 1 vs. LHP
SF: 5 vs. RHP, 2 vs. LHP
STL: 6 vs. RHP, 0 vs. LHP
WAS: 5 vs. RHP, 2 vs. LHP
The Infirmary
You can get a full listing of injured players at Rotoworld's Injury Page but here's the latest on a few prominent players who have been out of action:
Felix Doubront: Out until mid-August (calf)
George Springer: Out until mid-August (quad)
Eric Hosmer: Out until early September (hand)
Tyler Skaggs: Out indefinitely (elbow)
Daisuke Matsuzaka: Out until mid-August (elbow)
Craig Gentry: Out until mid-August (hand)
Cliff Lee: Out indefinitely (elbow)
Carlos Quentin: Out until mid-August (knee)
