Fantasy notes for August 25-26

Starting pitcher rankings for August 25

						2012 Statistics			Past 21 Days
Rk	Team	Name	T	Opp	QR	W-L	ERA	WHIP	W-L	ERA	WHIP
1		Clayton Kershaw	L	MIA	10	11-7	2.87	1.00	3-1	2.45	0.72
2		R.A. Dickey	R	HOU	9	15-4	2.82	1.03	1-2	2.79	1.00
3		Madison Bumgarner	L	ATL	9	14-7	2.83	0.99	3-1	1.55	0.69
4		Gio Gonzalez	L	@PHI	8	16-6	3.23	1.16	3-1	3.07	1.26
5		Josh Johnson	R	@LAD	10	7-10	3.73	1.28	1-3	2.43	1.01
6		Roy Halladay	R	WAS	10	7-7	3.95	1.08	3-1	2.79	0.83
7		Hiroki Kuroda	R	@CLE	7	12-8	2.96	1.12	2-1	1.52	0.88
8		Ian Kennedy	R	SD	7	11-10	4.24	1.34	2-2	4.50	1.73
9		Clayton Richard	L	@ARI	5	10-12	3.73	1.18	3-1	1.78	1.02
10		Jaime Garcia	L	@CIN	6	3-4	4.00	1.37	0-0	0.00	0.63
11		Jeremy Hellickson	R	OAK	8	8-8	3.28	1.29	2-2	3.52	1.48
12		Ryan Dempster	R	MIN	6	7-6	2.99	1.11	2-1	3.92	1.16
13		Jose Quintana	L	SEA	8	5-2	2.76	1.17	1-1	2.61	1.45
14		Shaun Marcum	R	@PIT	8	5-3	3.39	1.17	--	--	--
15		Brandon Morrow	R	@BAL	6	7-4	3.01	1.00	--	--	--
16		Justin Masterson	R	NYY	4	9-11	4.73	1.44	2-2	6.35	1.76
17		Brandon McCarthy	R	@TB	7	6-5	3.16	1.27	0-2	6.19	1.56
18		Dan Haren	R	@DET	4	8-10	4.90	1.39	0-2	7.62	1.62
19		Mike Minor	L	@SF	4	6-10	4.74	1.27	0-3	3.15	1.15
20		Mike Leake	R	STL	3	5-8	4.59	1.32	1-1	5.33	1.18
21		Blake Beavan	R	@CHW	3	8-7	5.00	1.25	1-1	4.67	1.38
22		Josh Beckett	R	KC	4	5-11	5.23	1.33	0-2	9.92	1.71
23		Steve Johnson	R	TOR	9	1-0	2.70	1.10	1-0	3.00	1.11
24		Jeff Karstens	R	MIL	4	4-3	3.79	1.13	0-1	4.05	0.95
25		Brian Duensing	L	@TEX	2	3-8	4.46	1.38	1-2	4.32	1.52
26		Drew Smyly	L	LAA	3	4-3	4.42	1.27	--	--	--
27		Jeremy Guthrie	R	@BOS	2	5-12	5.41	1.49	2-1	0.94	0.77
28		Brett Oberholtzer	L	@NYM	2	--	--	--	--	--	--
29		Alex White	R	@CHC	1	2-6	5.55	1.62	0-0	3.38	1.63
30		Brooks Raley	L	COL	1	1-2	7.63	1.57	1-2	7.63	1.57

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.

Rankings notes: Saturday

Roy Halladay is 11-2 with a 2.55 ERA lifetime against the Washington Nationals, while his opponent, Gio Gonzalez is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA against the Philadelphia Phillies. Still, the most interesting matchup on Saturday's schedule might be San Diego at Arizona. The two pitchers in that contest, Clayton Richard and Ian Kennedy, are a combined 10-0 against each other's team. Something's got to give.

Jaime Garcia struck out 10 batters and went eight shutout innings in his first start in more than two months on Aug. 19. It's just one game, but we've seen more than enough to elevate him back into our top 10. Brandon McCarthy (0-2, 6.19 since returning from his injury), on the other hand, has some work to do before getting back in our good graces.

Returns to action: Shaun Marcum begins his 2013 audition, taking the mound for the first time since June 14. Don't be surprised to see him max out at around 90 pitches or so. Brandon Morrow has been out just as long as Marcum but reached 81 pitches in his last rehab outing, giving him free rein to unleash the hounds against the Baltimore Orioles.

Speaking of the O's, Wei-Yin Chen's innings total has gotten a bit high, so the team will push his next start back to Monday. Steve Johnson is the likeliest candidate to get the spot start, though since he pitched in relief Wednesday, he might not be able to last too long.

If Josh Beckett is to ever get back on track, this would be the day, as he is 7-1 with a 2.58 ERA lifetime against the Kansas City Royals. That said, it's hard to look past that 0-4 mark and 7.59 ERA since July 20 and have any faith in him.

With Doug Fister unable to pitch against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday because of a strained groin, the Detroit Tigers will turn to Drew Smyly, who will get the call from Triple-A Toledo and rejoin the team for the first time since early July.

Houston has yet to name a starting pitcher to replace Armando Galarraga in the rotation after the "almost perfect" one was sent packing earlier this week. If the team wanted to, they could promote Brett Oberholtzer, who last pitched on Monday for Triple-A Oklahoma City. Whatever the Astros decide, it's best to stay far away from this staff.

Starting pitcher rankings for August 26

						2012 Statistics			Past 21 Days
Rk	Team	Name	T	Opp	QR	W-L	ERA	WHIP	W-L	ERA	WHIP
1		Adam Wainwright	R	@CIN	9	12-10	3.65	1.19	4-0	1.16	0.81
2		Jordan Zimmermann	R	@PHI	7	9-7	2.54	1.12	1-1	4.15	1.43
3		Tim Hudson	R	@SF	9	12-4	3.69	1.22	2-0	3.75	1.21
4		Cliff Lee	L	WAS	8	2-7	3.78	1.17	0-1	3.99	1.13
5		Mark Buehrle	L	@LAD	5	11-11	3.69	1.20	2-1	4.15	1.12
6		Tim Lincecum	R	ATL	8	7-13	5.30	1.48	2-2	3.57	1.46
7		Lucas Harrell	R	@NYM	6	10-9	4.04	1.36	2-2	4.13	1.46
8		Gavin Floyd	R	SEA	7	9-9	4.56	1.42	1-0	6.10	1.84
9		Max Scherzer	R	LAA	4	13-6	4.27	1.37	3-0	2.52	1.36
10		Aaron Harang	R	MIA	4	9-7	3.65	1.39	2-1	2.89	1.45
11		Ricky Romero	L	@BAL	5	8-11	5.63	1.57	0-3	5.33	1.54
12		Erik Bedard	L	MIL	5	7-13	4.76	1.46	2-1	4.32	1.38
13		Joe Saunders	L	SD	5	6-10	4.22	1.36	1-3	7.04	1.52
14		Homer Bailey	R	STL	3	10-8	4.11	1.39	1-2	5.64	1.75
15		Mark Rogers	R	@PIT	8	1-1	5.02	1.29	1-1	5.48	1.30
16		Jhoulys Chacin	R	@CHC	6	1-3	6.16	1.63	1-0	1.50	0.67
17		Edinson Volquez	R	@ARI	3	8-9	4.18	1.43	1-2	9.98	2.22
18		Scott Feldman	R	MIN	5	6-9	4.77	1.35	1-3	4.81	1.36
19		Chris Tillman	R	TOR	2	6-2	3.71	1.25	2-1	4.81	1.19
20		Ubaldo Jimenez	R	NYY	4	9-12	5.59	1.62	1-2	8.57	1.76
21		Freddy Garcia	R	@CLE	4	7-5	4.96	1.37	3-0	4.50	1.32
22		Kevin Millwood	R	@CHW	3	4-10	4.29	1.40	0-2	6.26	1.57
23		Ervin Santana	R	@DET	4	7-10	5.46	1.33	2-0	3.16	0.94
24		Jeremy Hefner	R	HOU	3	2-5	5.11	1.39	1-1	4.08	1.19
25		Felix Doubront	L	KC	1	10-6	4.70	1.47	0-1	8.68	2.25
26		Cole De Vries	R	@TEX	1	2-5	4.89	1.31	0-3	7.50	1.78
27		Will Smith	L	@BOS	1	4-5	5.40	1.45	2-2	4.63	1.54
28		Chris Volstad	R	COL	2	0-9	6.88	1.53	0-2	4.88	1.29

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.

Rankings notes: Sunday

An unusual Sunday day off for the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays, who are heading out of town before the flurry of activity that the Republican National Convention will bring to Tampa gets into full swing.

In August alone, Cliff Lee has more than done the job, with 32 strikeouts and one lone walk on his resume. Despite that, due to lackluster run support, he continues to find victories elusive even though he has left 11 games this season either tied or ahead.

Tim Lincecum is beginning to rediscover that missing mojo. A 2-2 August with a 3.57 ERA isn't stellar, especially since he's yet to fan more than five batters in a game this month. However, considering the slump he had slipped into, it's promising, to be sure.

We know. Ricky Romero is 0-10 with a 7.69 ERA in his last 11 starts. That said, the Toronto Blue Jays have said they will continue to let him work it out on the mound. With the Baltimore Orioles likely to be short-staffed in the bullpen this weekend -- they're not using either Wei-Yin Chen and Miguel Gonzalez -- if there was ever a situation tiled in Romero's favor, this is it.

Jhoulys Chacin earned his first win of the season in his first start since May 1, beating the New York Mets on Aug. 21. His control looked good, and he used his "Rockies pitch count" efficiently, becoming the first pitcher on the team to pitch six-plus innings in almost a month. Colorado starters have little room for error, though, so we hesitate to recommend him too highly despite a good matchup.

Felix Doubront has been on the shelf since August thanks to a knee contusion, but the left-hander is primed to make his return Sunday versus the Kansas City Royals, relieving Aaron Cook (1-5, 6.12 ERA in his last six starts) of his starting duties. It's hard to imagine Doubront going deeper than six innings, though, so no need to rush to the waiver wire just yet.

Just say no: Kevin Millwood is 1-7 with a 3.82 ERA against the Chicago White Sox, including 0-2 with an 8.68 ERA this season. Chris Volstad is now only four starts away from matching Jo-Jo Reyes and Matt Keough in the futility department in terms of consecutive starts without a victory.