Fantasy notes for Aug. 4-5

Starting pitcher rankings for August 4

						2012 Statistics			Past 21 Days
Rk	Team	Name	T	Opp	QR	W-L	ERA	WHIP	W-L	ERA	WHIP
1		Clayton Kershaw	L	CHC	10	8-6	2.95	1.06	2-1	3.14	1.05
2		Hiroki Kuroda	R	SEA	9	10-7	3.28	1.17	2-0	2.45	0.85
3		Felix Hernandez	R	@NYY	8	9-5	2.79	1.15	3-0	1.44	0.83
4		Jordan Zimmermann	R	MIA	8	8-6	2.28	1.06	3-0	0.75	0.79
5		Adam Wainwright	R	MIL	8	8-10	4.24	1.28	1-2	3.04	0.98
6		Madison Bumgarner	L	@COL	6	11-6	3.09	1.05	1-1	2.33	0.85
7		Wei-Yin Chen	L	@TB	8	9-6	3.65	1.22	2-1	2.49	0.99
8		Roy Halladay	R	ARI	8	4-6	4.33	1.16	0-1	5.82	1.24
9		Clay Buchholz	R	MIN	8	9-3	4.75	1.37	1-1	2.45	0.85
10		Doug Fister	R	CLE	8	5-7	3.77	1.26	3-1	1.80	0.87
11		A.J. Griffin	R	TOR	8	3-0	2.51	0.98	3-0	2.88	1.12
12		Paul Maholm	L	HOU	5	9-6	3.74	1.24	3-0	1.21	0.88
13		Edinson Volquez	R	NYM	6	7-7	3.51	1.34	2-0	3.46	1.15
14		Mark Buehrle	L	@WAS	5	9-10	3.60	1.21	1-2	5.48	1.69
15		Lucas Harrell	R	@ATL	6	8-7	4.03	1.34	1-1	1.82	1.30
16		Mark Rogers	R	@STL	7	0-0	3.18	1.24	0-0	3.18	1.24
17		Scott Feldman	R	@KC	3	5-6	4.76	1.34	2-0	0.60	0.93
18		Gavin Floyd	R	LAA	6	8-9	4.28	1.35	1-1	2.13	1.89
19		Jeremy Hellickson	R	BAL	7	6-6	3.23	1.25	2-1	2.59	0.82
20		James McDonald	R	@CIN	4	10-5	3.38	1.18	1-2	8.71	2.27
21		Justin Germano	R	@LAD	8	1-1	1.98	1.32	1-1	3.38	1.38
22		Mike Leake	R	PIT	4	4-7	4.44	1.35	1-1	6.43	1.71
23		Joe Saunders	L	@PHI	4	5-7	3.62	1.33	1-2	4.15	1.15
24		Ubaldo Jimenez	R	@DET	5	8-10	5.08	1.59	0-3	7.97	2.02
25		Ervin Santana	R	@CHW	5	5-10	5.97	1.42	1-1	7.82	1.82
26		Ricky Romero	L	@OAK	6	8-8	5.69	1.57	0-4	8.38	2.17
27		Jeff Francis	L	SF	3	3-3	5.43	1.39	1-1	5.85	1.30
28		Jeremy Hefner	R	@SD	2	1-4	5.52	1.48	0-1	5.27	1.83
29		Cole De Vries	R	@BOS	1	2-2	3.98	1.15	0-1	5.32	1.23
30		Will Smith	L	TEX	2	2-3	5.94	1.38	1-1	3.72	1.19

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.

Saturday rankings notes

Coming off a 12-strikeout performance against the Oakland Athletics, Wei-Yin Chen now gets a game with a Tampa Bay Rays team that has hit just .227 during the past month and is averaging slightly more than eight whiffs per game over the past two weeks.

Roy Halladay has not looked quite right since returning from the disabled list, with a 5.82 ERA in his three post-injury starts thus far. Still, we're going to give him the benefit of the doubt, as the veteran says he has figured out the bad habits in his motion that he got into as a result of his shoulder injury.

Edinson Volquez is 0-3 with a 5.32 ERA lifetime against the New York Mets, so we'll rank him slightly behind Paul Maholm, who gets an "easy" matchup against the weak-hitting Houston Astros, a team he's 12-6 against for his career with a 3.11 ERA.

Streamer of the day: Scott Feldman has been very solid of late, winning his past two starts and allowing just one earned run in 15 innings in the process. After an 0-6 start to the season, he's now 5-6 overall, but his only road victory came in San Diego.

Justin Germano will once again attempt his best Matt Garza impersonation as he makes his second start for the Chicago Cubs since being traded from Boston. He threw only 65 pitches in his first start, so we're not sure how long he'll stick around in this one, even if he does have a strong outing.

Ervin Santana is still set to pitch in Chicago this weekend, but it might be the last start he makes for some time. Mike Scioscia is already hinting that Santana will be moved to the bullpen after this outing since the team is off next Thursday and he can easily be skipped.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me seven straight times, you're Ricky Romero. After an 0-6 July with an 8.04 ERA, how can anyone consider trotting him out for their fantasy team right now?

Starting pitcher rankings for August 5

						2012 Statistics			Past 21 Days
Rk	Team	Name	T	Opp	QR	W-L	ERA	WHIP	W-L	ERA	WHIP
1		David Price	L	BAL	9	14-4	2.64	1.16	3-0	1.91	0.99
2		Stephen Strasburg	R	MIA	9	11-5	3.12	1.15	2-1	4.43	1.39
3		Cliff Lee	L	ARI	8	2-6	3.73	1.18	1-1	2.89	1.14
4		Tommy Milone	L	TOR	6	9-8	3.68	1.20	1-2	4.15	1.27
5		Homer Bailey	R	PIT	6	9-6	3.85	1.32	2-0	2.70	1.43
6		Trevor Cahill	R	@PHI	6	9-9	3.75	1.33	2-2	4.24	1.59
7		Kyle Lohse	R	MIL	4	11-2	2.91	1.12	2-0	3.46	1.31
8		Dan Haren	R	@CHW	6	8-8	4.59	1.37	2-0	2.25	1.00
9		Tim Lincecum	R	@COL	6	5-11	5.62	1.48	2-1	2.70	1.13
10		Kris Medlen	R	HOU	9	2-1	2.43	1.08	1-0	1.08	0.96
11		Max Scherzer	R	CLE	4	10-6	4.62	1.38	2-1	4.26	1.34
12		Aaron Harang	R	CHC	4	7-6	3.76	1.38	1-1	4.81	1.23
13		Franklin Morales	L	MIN	7	2-2	3.32	1.18	1-0	2.53	1.22
14		Ricky Nolasco	R	@WAS	4	8-10	4.90	1.41	0-4	7.48	1.71
15		Freddy Garcia	R	SEA	5	4-5	5.10	1.39	1-3	4.88	1.46
16		Matt Harvey	R	@SD	9	1-1	1.59	1.15	1-1	1.59	1.15
17		Jose Quintana	L	LAA	6	4-1	2.80	1.10	0-0	4.44	1.37
18		Bud Norris	R	@ATL	5	5-8	5.02	1.42	0-2	6.17	1.50
19		Erik Bedard	L	@CIN	5	5-12	4.83	1.48	1-2	5.00	1.39
20		Derek Holland	L	@KC	4	7-6	4.96	1.26	2-2	4.71	1.08
21		Luke Hochevar	R	TEX	1	7-9	5.22	1.42	1-1	5.57	1.57
22		Marco Estrada	R	@STL	3	0-4	4.34	1.13	0-1	4.94	1.35
23		Jason Marquis	R	NYM	2	6-10	5.54	1.54	3-1	4.74	1.30
24		Aaron Laffey	L	@OAK	3	2-2	4.20	1.30	2-1	6.04	1.70
25		Hisashi Iwakuma	R	@NYY	2	2-2	4.10	1.38	1-1	3.00	1.38
26		Christian Friedrich	L	SF	1	5-8	6.17	1.56	1-2	6.75	1.40
27		Chris Volstad	R	@LAD	3	0-7	7.94	1.65	--	--	--
28		Miguel Gonzalez	R	@TB	1	3-2	4.46	1.36	2-2	6.65	1.62
29		Chris Seddon	L	@DET	1	--	--	--	--	--	--
30		Nick Blackburn	R	@BOS	1	4-6	7.43	1.65	0-1	5.21	1.26

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.

Sunday rankings notes

David Price is 6-2 with a 2.45 ERA lifetime against the Baltimore Orioles. He'll take home top honors for Sunday. Homer Bailey is a surprise entry into the top five, with a 6-1 record and 2.62 ERA when facing the Pittsburgh Pirates to go along with his 4-0 July. Yes, we're willing to overlook his shaky last start versus San Diego. Anyone can have an off day.

Dan Haren missed his turn on Wednesday due to a stiff back but has not had any further incident since then. He'll take the mound on Sunday to face a Chicago White Sox team hitting only a collective .240 against him.

Even though Matt Harvey lost on Tuesday, 4-1 in San Francisco, he still struck out six hitters and allowed just two earned runs over six innings. There's no reason to avoid the rookie in a matchup with San Diego, the worst-hitting National League team, especially at Petco Park, a pitcher's best friend.

Josh Beckett may or may not need to go on the disabled list, but Bobby Valentine has made it pretty clear that he's unlikely to make his scheduled start on Sunday. That would mean Franklin Morales gets the ball instead, and he's done fairly well (2-1, 3.42 ERA) when pressed into emergency-start duties in 2012.

Hisashi Iwakuma did strike out 13 Toronto Blue Jays in his last start, as he threw 109 pitches in eight innings, his longest outing since being converted to a starter at the beginning of July. That said, he's allowed a home run in eight straight appearances, so we're expecting this Yankee Stadium date to go horribly, horribly awry.

Once again, the Chicago Cubs turn to Chris Volstad after demoting Casey Coleman to Triple-A. This move was more out of necessity than desire, as the team finds itself short-handed after dealing away Paul Maholm and Ryan Dempster. Really, though, there's nothing to see here.

With Derek Lowe having been sent packing and Josh Tomlin exiled to the bullpen, the Cleveland Indians will need to call up an arm to fill this Sunday start. Roberto "Don't Call Me Fausto" Hernandez is suspended until Aug. 11, so that leaves Chris Seddon as the likeliest candidate.