Fantasy notes for May 10
Click through for information on specific matchups and injuries for the day's games.
Starting pitcher rankings for May 10
| Name | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | CC Sabathia | L | TB | 8 | 4-0 | 4.15 | 1.08 | 3-0 | 3.00 | 0.88 |
| 2 |  | Stephen Strasburg | R | @PIT | 9 | 2-0 | 1.66 | 0.84 | 0-0 | 1.89 | 0.74 |
| 3 |  | David Price | L | @NYY | 6 | 5-1 | 2.35 | 1.12 | 4-0 | 1.55 | 0.93 |
| 4 |  | Henderson Alvarez | R | @MIN | 8 | 2-2 | 2.83 | 1.04 | 2-2 | 2.86 | 1.09 |
| 5 |  | Josh Beckett | R | CLE | 6 | 2-3 | 4.45 | 1.21 | 1-2 | 3.66 | 1.27 |
| 6 |  | Colby Lewis | R | BAL | 5 | 3-1 | 2.97 | 1.14 | 1-1 | 4.12 | 1.22 |
| 7 |  | Bartolo Colon | R | DET | 3 | 3-2 | 2.83 | 1.05 | 1-1 | 2.22 | 1.13 |
| 8 |  | Max Scherzer | R | @OAK | 5 | 1-3 | 6.32 | 1.72 | 1-2 | 4.76 | 1.68 |
| 9 |  | Wei-Yin Chen | L | TEX | 5 | 2-0 | 2.76 | 1.36 | 1-0 | 2.45 | 1.31 |
| 10 | | Derek Holland | L | @BAL | 3 | 2-2 | 4.43 | 1.23 | 1-2 | 4.94 | 1.43 |
| 11 |  | Kevin Correia | R | WAS | 5 | 1-2 | 3.38 | 1.13 | 0-2 | 4.67 | 1.33 |
| 12 |  | Derek Lowe | R | @BOS | 2 | 4-1 | 2.39 | 1.49 | 2-1 | 2.63 | 1.63 |
| 13 | | Tommy Hunter | R | TEX | 2 | 2-1 | 5.00 | 1.42 | 1-1 | 6.26 | 1.57 |
| 14 |  | Jason Marquis | R | TOR | 3 | 2-1 | 5.40 | 1.54 | 2-1 | 5.40 | 1.54 |
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.
CC Sabathia has won each of his past four starts and had a 2.59 ERA against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium last season, including a shutout. We'll give him top honors on this very abridged Thursday schedule.
David Price, with a 4.54 ERA in six games in New York's current digs, comes in only at No. 3 for the day, behind Stephen Strasburg (1-0, 0.90 ERA on the road) facing the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are batting just .211 over the past seven days.
A little more use of the slider is part of the reason Henderson Alvarez has found success in 2012. Teams are hitting just .097 against that pitch. Coming off a shutout versus the Los Angeles Angels, we like his chances against the low-scoring (14th in the AL) Minnesota Twins.
Bartolo Colon gave up three solo home runs in his latest start, but that was all the damage done to the suddenly rejuvenated starter. Max Scherzer is probably going to get you more strikeouts, so if your league counts that as a category, you may want to flip these two in the rankings.
On the other end of the spectrum, Derek Lowe does not strike out anybody on a regular basis, and with his 5.73 ERA on the road this season, we're not so sure we want to use him Thursday.
Hitter matchup ratings for May 10
| Overall | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | No game scheduled |  | No game scheduled | |||||||
 | No game scheduled | | 4 | 5 | 2 | 5 | ||||
| | 8 | 2 | 9 | 6 |  | No game scheduled | ||||
| | 8 | 9 | 6 | 5 | | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
 | No game scheduled | | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | ||||
 | No game scheduled |  | No game scheduled | |||||||
 | No game scheduled | | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||
| | 5 | 4 | 4 | 7 |  | No game scheduled | ||||
 | No game scheduled |  | No game scheduled | |||||||
| | 6 | 10 | 1 | 6 |  | No game scheduled | ||||
 | No game scheduled |  | No game scheduled | |||||||
 | No game scheduled | | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||||
 | No game scheduled | | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | ||||
 | No game scheduled | | 8 | 10 | 5 | 6 | ||||
 | No game scheduled | | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | ||||
Hitter ratings account for the opposing starting pitcher's past history (three years' worth as well as past 21 days) as well as ballpark factors. "LHB" and "RHB" ratings account only for left- and right-handed batters, respectively. 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.
• Johnny Damon is a career .307 hitter at Fenway Park. He has more RBIs (177) than strikeouts (173) at Fenway.
• Adam LaRoche is a career .296 hitter with 34 home runs in 205 games at PNC Park.
• Carlos Pena is 5-for-38 (.132) with 21 strikeouts in his career against CC Sabathia.
• Edwin Encarnacion is 8-for-16 (.500) with two home runs and a double in his career against Jason Marquis.
• Andy Dirks has a multihit game in five of his past six starts (through Tuesday).
• Jason Hammel has the sixth-highest ground ball rate among qualified starters this season (60 percent). He's allowed just two home runs in 38 2/3 innings this season.
Aubrey Huff, 1B, Giants: Being eased back into the lineup slowly by Bruce Bochy. He might be used primarily as a pinch hitter for the time being. Gregor Blanco and Nate Schierholtz should get a little more playing time as a result.
Yoenis Cespedes, OF, Athletics: Missed Tuesday's game and will have X-rays taken on his injured left hand. Michael Taylor and Jonny Gomes would be in line to replace him should he miss any length of time.
Adrian Beltre, 3B, Rangers: Hamstring issues have limited him to DH duties for a few days. Michael Young and Brandon Snyder are filling in at third base in the interim.
Yadier Molina, C, Cardinals: Day-to-day after a pitch hit his left hand while catching. Initial X-rays did not show any significant injury.
Ryan Braun, OF, Brewers: Day-to-day with an aggravated Achilles tendon.
Jeff Keppinger, 2B, Rays: Placed on the restricted list as a result of an undisclosed personal matter. His return date is unknown. Outfielder Brandon Guyer was recalled to take his roster spot in the interim.
Josh Thole, C, Mets: Placed on the seven-day concussion DL. Mike Nickeas takes over lead catcher duties.
Will Middlebrooks, 3B, Red Sox: Day-to-day with left hamstring tightness, a recurrence of an injury that caused him to miss time last week as well.
Alex Avila, C, Tigers: Day-to-day with a sore left patella tendon. If he can't go, Gerald Laird will catch, but this doesn't appear to be something that will cause Avila to miss significant time.
- AJ Mass is a fantasy football, baseball and college basketball analyst for ESPN.com.
- Author; How Fantasy Sports Explains the World.
