Fantasy notes for Sept. 6

Starting pitcher rankings for September 6

						2012 Statistics			Past 21 Days
Rk	Team	Name	T	Opp	QR	W-L	ERA	WHIP	W-L	ERA	WHIP
1		Tim Hudson	R	COL	8	13-5	3.76	1.24	1-1	5.00	1.61
2		Josh Johnson	R	MIL	8	7-11	3.86	1.29	0-2	5.00	1.50
3		Jordan Zimmermann	R	CHC	7	9-8	3.01	1.16	0-1	9.88	1.98
4		Jason Hammel	R	NYY	4	8-6	3.54	1.24	--	--	--
5		David Phelps	R	@BAL	6	3-4	3.13	1.18	0-1	5.09	1.25
6		Marco Estrada	R	@MIA	5	2-5	3.85	1.18	2-0	1.96	1.22
7		Jhoulys Chacin	R	@ATL	7	2-4	4.85	1.50	2-1	1.50	1.00
8		Luke Hochevar	R	TEX	2	7-13	5.34	1.37	0-3	5.47	1.22
9		Justin Germano	R	@WAS	5	2-5	5.52	1.38	1-3	8.14	1.57
10		Scott Feldman	R	@KC	3	6-11	5.01	1.37	0-4	6.35	1.63

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

A very light schedule, probably best to be avoided in terms of streaming, is on tap for Thursday. Tim Hudson leads the list, even though his BAA at home is .273, as opposed to .214 on the road. Yes, that's the kind of day it is.

Jordan Zimmermann is 0-3 with 4.68 ERA lifetime against the Chicago Cubs and is coming off a horrific 10-9 loss to St. Louis. Since the start of August, he has completed six innings just once in six starts.

Jason Hammel will be activated from the disabled list and start for the first time since undergoing knee surgery in July. He had lost his final four starts before the injury, with a 7.78 ERA.

Beware history repeating: Both Jhoulys Chacin (8.38 ERA versus Atlanta) and Marco Estrada (8.10 versus Miami) have poor track records against their scheduled Thursday opponents.

Luke Hochevar was going to be moved up to Wednesday after going just 63 pitches in 1 2/3 innings in his last start, but the Kansas City Royals thought better of the idea and have opted to give him his full rest. Either way, a matchup with hot-hitting Texas (.300 BA in the past 14 days) is one to be avoided.