Fantasy daily notes for Sept. 5
Click through for information on specific matchups, injuries and weather for the day's games.
Starting pitcher rankings for September 5
| Name | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Gio Gonzalez | L | CHC | 7 | 17-7 | 3.10 | 1.15 | 2-1 | 1.74 | 1.16 |
| 2 |  | R.A. Dickey | R | @STL | 6 | 17-4 | 2.63 | 1.01 | 2-1 | 2.17 | 1.07 |
| 3 |  | Roy Halladay | R | @CIN | 7 | 8-7 | 4.02 | 1.13 | 2-1 | 4.91 | 1.44 |
| 4 |  | Madison Bumgarner | L | ARI | 9 | 14-9 | 3.07 | 1.04 | 2-2 | 2.96 | 1.06 |
| 5 |  | Jake Peavy | R | MIN | 7 | 9-10 | 3.28 | 1.12 | 0-2 | 5.40 | 1.64 |
| 6 |  | Adam Wainwright | R | NYM | 8 | 13-11 | 3.90 | 1.23 | 3-1 | 3.86 | 1.29 |
| 7 |  | Hiroki Kuroda | R | @TB | 6 | 12-10 | 3.04 | 1.10 | 2-2 | 2.16 | 0.66 |
| 8 |  | Ryan Dempster | R | @KC | 4 | 9-6 | 2.87 | 1.13 | 3-0 | 1.35 | 1.05 |
| 9 |  | Miguel Gonzalez | R | @TOR | 5 | 6-3 | 3.31 | 1.24 | 2-1 | 3.00 | 1.28 |
| 10 |  | Dan Haren | R | @OAK | 7 | 9-10 | 4.58 | 1.36 | 1-1 | 3.86 | 1.22 |
| 11 |  | Mike Minor | L | COL | 4 | 7-10 | 4.79 | 1.25 | 1-1 | 3.86 | 0.91 |
| 12 |  | Clayton Richard | L | @LAD | 10 | 12-12 | 3.74 | 1.19 | 3-1 | 3.45 | 1.15 |
| 13 |  | Brandon Morrow | R | BAL | 7 | 8-5 | 2.93 | 1.06 | 1-1 | 2.38 | 1.41 |
| 14 |  | Aaron Harang | R | SD | 5 | 9-8 | 3.76 | 1.39 | 1-1 | 3.71 | 1.35 |
| 15 |  | Matt Moore | L | NYY | 3 | 10-8 | 3.58 | 1.33 | 1-1 | 2.81 | 1.21 |
| 16 |  | Brandon McCarthy | R | LAA | 6 | 8-5 | 3.10 | 1.24 | 2-2 | 4.63 | 1.37 |
| 17 |  | Doug Fister | R | CLE | 5 | 7-8 | 3.67 | 1.25 | 1-1 | 4.86 | 1.56 |
| 18 |  | Kevin Correia | R | HOU | 6 | 9-8 | 4.40 | 1.34 | 0-2 | 3.86 | 1.50 |
| 19 |  | Mike Leake | R | PHI | 2 | 7-8 | 4.45 | 1.33 | 3-1 | 4.15 | 1.31 |
| 20 |  | Trevor Cahill | R | @SF | 7 | 9-11 | 4.02 | 1.35 | 0-1 | 5.23 | 1.50 |
| 21 |  | Nate Eovaldi | R | MIL | 1 | 4-10 | 4.48 | 1.59 | 1-2 | 5.40 | 1.44 |
| 22 |  | Ubaldo Jimenez | R | @DET | 4 | 9-14 | 5.61 | 1.64 | 0-3 | 7.97 | 1.82 |
| 23 |  | Aaron Cook | R | @SEA | 2 | 3-8 | 5.35 | 1.36 | 0-3 | 7.11 | 1.74 |
| 24 |  | Wily Peralta | R | @MIA | 1 | 0-0 | 9.00 | 3.00 | 0-0 | 9.00 | 3.00 |
| 25 |  | Kevin Millwood | R | BOS | 1 | 4-12 | 4.38 | 1.43 | 0-2 | 4.38 | 1.54 |
| 26 |  | Everett Teaford | L | TEX | 5 | 1-3 | 4.30 | 1.36 | 0-0 | 2.79 | 1.14 |
| 27 |  | Fernando Abad | L | @PIT | 5 | 0-2 | 4.83 | 1.64 | 0-2 | 7.56 | 2.28 |
| 28 |  | Chris Volstad | R | @WAS | 2 | 2-9 | 6.06 | 1.47 | 2-1 | 3.86 | 1.29 |
| 29 |  | Alex White | R | @ATL | 1 | 2-7 | 5.58 | 1.62 | 0-1 | 4.60 | 1.53 |
| 30 |  | P.J. Walters | R | @CHW | 1 | 2-2 | 5.40 | 1.53 | -- | -- | -- |
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.
Wednesday's docket is chock full of aces, with 10 pitchers owned in more than 90 percent of ESPN.com fantasy leagues (Roy Halladay, R.A. Dickey, Adam Wainwright, Jake Peavy, Dan Haren, Gio Gonzalez, Hiroki Huroda, Matt Moore, Ryan Dempster and Madison Bumgarner). However, there are still four lesser-owned arms that are throwing well enough to earn spots in the top half of Wednesday's rankings:
Miguel Gonzalez (3 percent ESPN.com fantasy ownership) is a big reason the Baltimore Orioles sit just one game back of the New York Yankees in the AL East, as he is 4-1 with a 2.50 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in his past six starts. What's even more impressive are the teams he's faced during this stretch -- at Yankees twice, at Texas Rangers, at Tampa Bay Rays and home versus the Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals. Gonzalez threw seven shutout innings at Yankee Stadium his last time out, allowing just four hits and one walk while striking out nine batters. On Wednesday, he gets to face a much less potent lineup of the Toronto Blue Jays that has lost 19 of 26 games, posting 3.1 runs per game and a .208 BA/.270 OBP/.327 SLG during this slide. Gonzalez is a great play in any fantasy format on Wednesday.
Mike Minor (46 percent ESPN.com fantasy ownership) continues to shine in the second half of the season, carting a 2.87 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 5.0 K-to-BB ratio in 10 starts since July 1. Poor run support has led to a 3-4 record over this stretch, but the Atlanta Braves should provide plenty of offense against the Colorado Rockies' Alex White on Wednesday. White hasn't completed six innings in a start since June 8 (a span of 10 starts), going 0-3 with a 5.49 ERA and 1.86 WHIP due to a sloppy 27 walks in these 39 1/3 innings. And the Rockies lineup has been pretty tame on the road since the All-Star break, averaging 3.4 runs per game with a .274 on-base percentage and 4.3 times more strikeouts (159) than walks (37). Pick up Minor now for the stretch run.
Clayton Richard (17 percent ESPN.com fantasy ownership) earns the highest rating on the board Wednesday at 9.97 out of 10. While he's certainly not my top choice among the star-studded arms on the slate, he should be part of many more rosters in the ESPN universe than he currently is. Richard just completed a fantastic month of August, going 5-1 with a 2.42 ERA, and 1.12 WHIP, which included facing the Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies all on the road. On Wednesday he takes to the road again, facing the Los Angeles Dodgers for the fifth time this season. In the four previous starts, he has a 2.63 ERA and impressive 0.77 WHIP, holding L.A. to a .173 batting average. Considering how poorly the Dodgers have hit during their past six home games (2.7 runs per game, .639 OPS), all signs point to another strong outing for Richard on Wednesday.
Richard's mound opponent, Aaron Harang (18 percent ESPN.com fantasy ownership), is also worth playing in deeper leagues on Wednesday, as he faces his former team, the San Diego Padres. In four starts versus the Padres this season, Harang is 1-1 with a 3.65 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and a dominant 29 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings. Although Richard is the better all-around play in this matchup, Harang is more likely to get the win considering the Dodgers are 9-4 against San Diego this season, including 5-2 at Los Angeles.
Hitter matchup ratings for September 5
| Overall | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 1 | 10 | 1 | 5 | | 10 | 10 | 10 | 6 | |
| | 10 | 10 | 10 | 3 | | 5 | 10 | 4 | 7 | |
| | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5 | | 2 | 10 | 1 | 1 | |
| | 9 | 4 | 8 | 6 | | 7 | 10 | 5 | 6 | |
| | 3 | 10 | 2 | 7 | | 5 | 10 | 4 | 6 | |
| | 10 | 8 | 10 | 8 | | 9 | 10 | 8 | 3 | |
| | 4 | 10 | 3 | 2 | | 8 | 10 | 6 | 5 | |
| | 6 | 10 | 5 | 3 | | 4 | 10 | 3 | 5 | |
| | 7 | 10 | 5 | 5 | | 8 | 10 | 7 | 5 | |
| | 6 | 10 | 5 | 6 | | 5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
| | 6 | 1 | 6 | 8 | | 10 | 6 | 10 | 6 | |
| | 6 | 10 | 5 | 7 | | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
| | 5 | 7 | 4 | 5 | | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| | 1 | 10 | 1 | 9 | | 6 | 8 | 5 | 2 | |
| | 10 | 8 | 10 | 5 | | 10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | |
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.
• Jayson Werth has struggled in his career against Cubs starter Chris Volstad, going 3-for-33 (.091) with 12 strikeouts.
• Will Venable (SD) is 1-for-11 (.091 BA) with 3 strikeouts in his career against Dodgers starter Aaron Harang.
• Padres starter Clayton Richard is 6-2 with a 2.60 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in his career against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Richard is 2-1 with a 2.63 ERA in 4 starts against the Dodgers this season.
• Jake Peavy is holding right-handed batters to a .157 batting average with a .268 slugging percentage at home this season.
• Indians catcher Carlos Santana is just 3-for-21 (.143) with an OPS of .399 and 5 strikeouts in his career against Detroit starter Doug Fister. If you factor in his career average of .182 at Comerica Park, Santana seems likely to struggle on Wednesday night.
• David Murphy has been getting extra playing time against lefties because he is batting .400 in 60 at-bats entering Tuesday. Wednesday's starting pitcher for the Kansas City Royals is the lefty Everett Teaford. Definitely a sleeper pick-up.
• Matt Wieters is 2-for-16 with 5 strikeouts in career against Brandon Morrow, with worst batting average (.125) and among the worst slugging percentages (.313) against any active AL pitcher he's faced 15-plus times.
• Aaron Cook has been struggling badly the last month. In his 4 previous starts, Cook is 0-3 with a 7.11 ERA and only 5 strikeouts. However, in his only other start this season against the Mariners (which also happened to be at Safeco Field), Cook threw a 2-hit shutout for the win. Despite his struggles, Cook might not be a bad start Wednesday in Seattle.
Joey Votto, 1B, Reds: Could return this week, left knee surgery. He has been out of the lineup for six weeks after left knee surgery, but he may return in the next couple of days.
Jered Weaver, SP, Angels: Day-to-day, sore right shoulder. He was hit by a comebacker in Sunday's game and may not be able to make his next scheduled start on Friday.
Robinson Cano, 2B, Yankees: Day-to-day, left hip tightness. He injured himself on Monday, but the ailment shouldn't keep him off the field for more than a day or two.
Chris Young, OF, Diamondbacks: Day-to-day, right quad injury. He left Monday's contest early after injuring himself and will probably be held out of the lineup for a couple more games.
Carlos Quentin, OF, Padres: Day-to-day, right knee irritation. He did not play on Monday, and his return to the field is uncertain.
Michael Morse, OF, Nationals: Day-to-day, sore right thumb. He left Monday's game early because of his ailment, but Morse doesn't expect to miss any more time due to the soreness.
Willie Bloomquist, SS, Diamondbacks: Day-to-day, back injury. He was activated from the DL over the weekend, but now he needs to return to Arizona to receive an injection in his back. The D-backs are hoping he returns to action on Friday, but it's unclear if he will be ready by then.
Carlos Beltran, OF, Cardinals: Day-to-day, bruised knee. He injured himself during Sunday's game and did not play on Monday. It's unclear when he will return to action.
Rafael Furcal, SS, Cardinals: Out indefinitely, right elbow. It has been determined that he does not have a torn UCL and could possibly return to action sometime this season. Daniel Descalso will start at shortstop for the rest of the season.
Brian McCann, C, Braves: Day-to-day, sore right shoulder. After getting a day off on Monday, he hopes to return to the lineup Tuesday.
Michael Saunders, OF, Mariners: Day-to-day, tweaked groin. He hasn't played since Friday but is targeting the middle of this week for his return to the field.
Chris Tillman, SP, Orioles: Day-to-day, sore elbow. He left Sunday's start early and will undergo an MRI early this week to determine the severity of his injury.
Sean Burnett, RP, Nationals: Day-to-day, sore elbow. He likely will not pitch for a few days.
Kenley Jansen, RP, Dodgers: Day-to-day, heart condition. He hasn't pitched since Aug. 27 due to an irregular heartbeat. Jansen will be re-evaluated early this week to determine when he can return to the mound. Brandon League, who picked up the save on Saturday, will be called upon to close the majority of games for Los Angeles.
Jeff Karstens, SP, Pirates: Day-to-day, hip flexor. He left Friday's start with his injury and expects to miss at least one turn in the rotation. It's not clear who his replacement will be.
Neil Walker, 2B, Pirates: Day-to-day, tightness in back. He hasn't played since Aug. 26, and it is unclear when he will return. Josh Harrison has been starting in Walker's absence.
Lance Berkman, 1B, Cardinals: Limited to pinch-hitting, sore knees. He is not able to play the field with his knee injuries and will be strictly a pinch hitter for the time being. Allen Craig will continue to man first base for St. Louis.
Brandon Inge, 3B, Athletics: Out for season, shoulder injury. He reinjured his shoulder while throwing to first base on Saturday and will need to undergo season-ending surgery later this week. Josh Donaldson will continue to start at third base for Oakland.
