Fantasy baseball notes for June 13

Starting pitcher rankings for June 13

						2011 Statistics			Past 21 Days
Rk	Team	Name	T	Opp	QR	W-L	ERA	WHIP	W-L	ERA	WHIP
1		Dan Haren	R	@SEA	10	5-4	2.41	0.96	1-2	4.95	1.40
2		Ricky Nolasco	R	ARI	6	4-1	3.86	1.30	1-1	5.06	1.61
3		Randy Wolf	L	@CHC	5	4-4	3.49	1.27	1-0	2.42	0.96
4		Wandy Rodriguez	L	ATL	6	3-3	3.41	1.33	1-0	3.00	1.50
5		Jason Vargas	L	LAA	7	4-3	3.94	1.25	1-1	5.25	1.38
6		Hiroki Kuroda	R	CIN	6	5-7	3.35	1.33	0-4	4.84	1.75
7		Derek Lowe	R	@HOU	7	3-4	3.73	1.29	0-1	4.50	1.55
8		Aaron Cook	R	SD	5	0-0	4.76	1.76	0-0	4.76	1.76
9		Paul Maholm	L	NYM	6	2-7	3.39	1.18	1-1	2.77	0.96
10		A.J. Burnett	R	CLE	5	6-4	4.37	1.26	1-1	5.60	1.47
11		Bronson Arroyo	R	@LAD	5	4-6	5.28	1.48	1-2	9.00	2.00
12		Zach Duke	L	@FLA	2	1-1	2.37	1.21	1-1	2.37	1.21
13		Alex Cobb	R	@DET	9	1-0	4.24	1.35	1-0	2.84	1.18
14		Ryan Dempster	R	MIL	5	5-5	5.96	1.48	3-1	3.75	1.25
15		Phil Coke	L	TB	8	1-6	4.11	1.35	0-1	5.40	1.92
16		Mike Pelfrey	R	@PIT	6	3-4	5.35	1.45	0-1	5.84	1.26
17		Carlos Carrasco	R	@NYY	1	5-3	4.52	1.31	3-1	3.76	1.06
18		Anthony Bass	R	@COL	2	--	--	--	--	--	--

Some of the data used to generate this chart is derived from Baseball Musings' day-by-day database.

Rk.: The author's ranking of that pitcher for that day only. T: Pitcher throws left-handed or right-handed. Opp: The pitcher's opponent for the day. QR: "Quality Rating," or the starting pitcher's matchup rating -- separate from the author's ranking -- which accounts for past history (three years' worth as well as past 21 days), opponent and ballpark. OPS is the primary statistic used in the calculation. Ratings range from 1-10, with 10 representing the best possible matchup, statistically speaking, and 1 representing the worst. So, for example, a 10 is a must-start rating, while a 1 should be avoided (if possible); a 1-2 is poor, 3-4 is fair, 5-6 is average, 7-8 is very good and 9-10 is excellent. W-L: Pitcher's win-loss record. ERA: Pitcher's earned run average. WHIP: Pitcher's average number of walks plus hits surrendered per inning.

Gramling's Rankings Notes

• Monday features an extremely weak crop of pitchers, so make sure you have as many batters as possible that are not part of the dozen teams with off-days. Other than Dan Haren at Seattle, there is no pitcher that is a no-brainer start in all fantasy leagues.

• Ricky Nolasco has at least five strikeouts in eight straight starts, and is facing an Arizona club he has beaten five times in six career starts. His lifetime numbers versus the D-backs are rather impressive: 3.38 ERA, .212 opponent's BA, 0.98 WHIP, 44 K's, 9 BBs in 42 2/3 innings.

• Randy Wolf shut down a bad Mets lineup last time out (6 2/3 IP, 1 ER), and Monday he faces an even worse Cubs lineup. The North Siders have a pathetic stat line of .227 BA/.276 OBP/.325 SLG and a total of 26 runs in their first 10 June games.

• Wandy Rodriguez (elbow) will come off the DL Monday to face the Braves, a team he has had success against, especially Alex Gonzalez (2-for-23), Dan Uggla (3-for-18) and Brian McCann (0-for-8). In his past seven starts versus Atlanta, Rodriguez is only 1-1 but has a 2.03 ERA and 43 K's in 44 1/3 IP.

• Although Jason Vargas has been anything but consistent this season, he has been consistently good in his past six starts against division foe Los Angeles. In those starts, he has lasted between 6 and 7 2/3 IP, allowing 3 ER or fewer in all six outings versus the Angels (2-2, 1.71 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 34 K's, 8 BB in 42 IP).

• Hiroki Kuroda has pitched much worse at home (3.99 ERA) than on the road (2.80 ERA) this year, but he has handled the Reds in his four career starts, holding them to a .228 average, while going 3-1 with a 2.55 ERA against them.

• Whenever a pitcher has "@ HOU" next to his name, that's reason enough to start him. The Astros haven't scored more than four runs in a game for eight straight contests and have a pitiful 18 homers in 33 games in their homer-friendly ballpark. Derek Lowe has pitched well enough lately versus Houston (3-0, 3.33 ERA in past four starts) to warrant a start in most fantasy leagues.

• Aaron Cook wasn't sharp in his season debut at Petco Park last Wednesday (5 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K), but you'd expect him to be a bit rusty after not pitching since Sept. 8, 2010. Considering his past success versus San Diego (14-4, 2.92 ERA, 1.21 WHIP), and the anemic lineup he'll face (.231 BA/.301 OBP/.334 SLG this year), I'd recommend starting Cook again.

• Paul Maholm was lit up June 2 on the road versus the Mets (5 2/3 IP, 8 H, 6 ER), but he bounced back last Wednesday with six shutout innings of one-hit ball versus Arizona. Maholm hasn't gotten much run support at PNC Park this year (he has a 1-4 record there), but he has a 2.45 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and .210 opponents' batting average in seven home starts this year.

• Bronson Arroyo limited the Dodgers to one run in six innings on June 3, giving him three straight wins over LA, posting a 1.80 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in those outings. He's worth a play in NL-only leagues.

• Alex Cobb has put together two straight quality starts, but despite his high rating in our system, I just don't like his matchup at Detroit. The Tigers have been mashing their past 12 games, hitting .313, slugging .516 and scoring 5.92 runs per game. My advice is to sit Cobb on Monday.