Fantasy notes for Sep. 8 and 9

Starting pitcher rankings for September 8

						2012 Statistics			Past 21 Days
Rk	Team	Name	T	Opp	QR	W-L	ERA	WHIP	W-L	ERA	WHIP
1		Kris Medlen	R	@NYM	9	7-1	1.56	0.96	3-0	0.00	0.75
2		Justin Verlander	R	@LAA	10	13-7	2.73	1.03	1-0	4.40	1.29
3		Matt Cain	R	LAD	10	13-5	2.98	1.03	2-0	2.96	1.02
4		David Price	L	TEX	7	17-5	2.54	1.12	1-1	3.86	1.23
5		Cole Hamels	L	COL	8	14-6	3.04	1.13	1-0	4.12	1.32
6		Wade Miley	L	@SD	9	14-9	2.90	1.12	2-1	2.28	1.12
7		Chris Sale	L	KC	8	15-6	2.93	1.08	1-3	4.81	1.48
8		CC Sabathia	L	@BAL	7	13-4	3.42	1.20	1-1	2.53	1.13
9		Hisashi Iwakuma	R	OAK	8	6-3	3.14	1.25	3-0	0.35	0.92
10		Yu Darvish	R	@TB	6	14-9	4.29	1.37	2-1	2.57	0.76
11		Chris Capuano	L	@SF	6	11-10	3.63	1.19	0-2	6.94	1.11
12		C.J. Wilson	L	DET	7	11-9	3.85	1.33	2-0	7.84	1.65
13		Jeff Samardzija	R	@PIT	7	8-13	3.91	1.26	0-3	3.12	1.12
14		Ross Detwiler	L	MIA	7	9-6	3.15	1.16	3-1	3.00	1.13
15		Brett Anderson	L	@SEA	10	3-0	0.90	0.70	3-0	0.90	0.70
16		Bronson Arroyo	R	HOU	6	11-7	3.76	1.19	3-0	2.73	0.95
17		Mark Buehrle	L	@WAS	6	12-12	3.73	1.20	2-1	3.66	1.12
18		James McDonald	R	CHC	6	12-7	3.90	1.21	2-2	4.79	1.21
19		Mike Fiers	R	@STL	6	8-7	3.11	1.16	2-2	4.84	1.39
20		Jake Westbrook	R	MIL	4	13-10	3.93	1.37	1-2	5.87	1.87
21		Edinson Volquez	R	ARI	5	9-10	4.27	1.43	2-1	3.93	1.42
22		Zach McAllister	R	@MIN	6	5-6	4.26	1.36	0-2	7.17	1.88
23		Bruce Chen	L	@CHW	4	10-11	5.28	1.33	2-1	3.81	1.04
24		Daisuke Matsuzaka	R	TOR	6	1-4	6.15	1.46	1-1	5.06	1.69
25		Jeremy Hefner	R	ATL	4	2-5	4.52	1.31	0-1	3.79	1.11
26		Cole De Vries	R	CLE	2	4-5	4.41	1.25	2-1	2.08	1.10
27		Bud Norris	R	@CIN	3	5-11	4.80	1.41	0-1	1.93	1.07
28		Ricky Romero	L	@BOS	4	8-13	5.85	1.59	0-3	9.45	2.33
29		Joe Saunders	L	NYY	2	7-11	4.26	1.37	1-2	8.80	1.89
30		Tyler Chatwood	R	@PHI	1	4-4	5.53	1.72	1-2	7.80	2.13

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.

Mass' Rankings Notes: Saturday

Since joining the Atlanta Braves rotation on July 31, Kris Medlen has gone 6-0 with an 0.54 ERA and a .206 batting average against. He's also thrown 50 strikeouts versus only five walks over that time. There's not a hotter pitcher in the game right now.

David Price has had some struggles against the Texas Rangers, with a 1-4 record and 5.98 ERA lifetime against them. It's hard to go against the American League's win leader in this one, though.

CC Sabathia is 16-3 with a 2.97 ERA against the Baltimore Orioles, but with the New York Yankees in the midst of a near freefall in the standings, we're not quite sure how much that matters right now. After all, Sabathia has yet to beat the O's in 2012.

Chris Capuano is 1-6 with a 5.58 ERA against the San Francisco Giants, including an 8-4 loss to the divisional rivals on August 22. C.J. Wilson has gone 2-0 in his last four, thanks to his offense which overcame the 7.84 ERA the pitcher has managed in those outings. It's impossible to put either man in the Saturday top 10.

Jeff Samardzija may be soon shut down for the season as he has already thrown almost twice as many innings in 2012 as he did in 2011. That won't affect his performance in this contest with the Pirates, who have never beaten him. He's 2-0 with an 0.82 ERA against the Bucs.

Brett Anderson has faced 70 batters so far in 2012 and only 14 have reached base safely, resulting in a 0.90 ERA and three victories in three starts since returning from Tommy John surgery. Eventually, he may well get beaten up a bit, but it's not likely against a Seattle Mariners team hitting .220 over the last two weeks.

Bronson Arroyo has gone 4-0 in his last five starts with a 2.62 ERA and stellar .202 batting average against. He's now getting a second chance to stymie the Houston Astros, who he led to one run and three hits last Sunday. Don't expect him to fail.

Cole De Vries is only 1-3 with a 6.68 ERA at home this season, a far cry from his 2.92 ERA on the road. That makes him a risky selection for streamers despite his having won two straight decisions.

Starting pitcher rankings for September 9

						2012 Statistics			Past 21 Days
Rk	Team	Name	T	Opp	QR	W-L	ERA	WHIP	W-L	ERA	WHIP
1		Clayton Kershaw	L	@SF	10	12-8	2.79	1.02	1-2	2.17	1.07
2		Johnny Cueto	R	HOU	9	17-7	2.58	1.12	2-1	3.33	0.89
3		Jason Vargas	L	OAK	7	14-9	3.80	1.17	1-1	6.04	1.52
4		Ian Kennedy	R	@SD	7	12-11	4.39	1.33	2-1	4.63	1.29
5		Tommy Milone	L	@SEA	9	11-10	3.94	1.23	2-1	4.09	1.32
6		Matt Harrison	L	@TB	7	15-9	3.37	1.27	2-2	4.15	1.08
7		Zack Greinke	R	DET	6	13-5	3.72	1.24	3-1	3.25	1.12
8		Justin Masterson	R	@MIN	7	11-12	4.84	1.44	2-2	7.25	1.52
9		Clay Buchholz	R	TOR	6	11-5	4.47	1.31	0-2	6.52	1.50
10		Anibal Sanchez	R	@LAA	6	7-11	4.08	1.35	1-1	0.92	1.17
11		Tommy Hanson	R	@NYM	6	12-8	4.40	1.48	0-3	5.06	1.69
12		James Shields	R	TEX	4	13-8	3.88	1.25	3-1	3.14	0.91
13		Shaun Marcum	R	@STL	6	5-4	3.53	1.23	0-1	4.30	1.57
14		Zach Britton	L	NYY	3	5-1	4.15	1.44	4-0	0.94	0.98
15		Edwin Jackson	R	MIA	5	9-9	3.63	1.17	2-2	3.04	0.98
16		Ricky Nolasco	R	@WAS	5	11-12	4.64	1.39	2-0	2.57	1.05
17		Tyler Cloyd	R	COL	3	1-1	2.77	1.00	1-1	2.77	1.00
18		Barry Zito	L	LAD	5	10-8	4.51	1.40	1-0	6.05	1.55
19		Chris Rusin	L	@PIT	10	0-2	9.00	2.00	0-2	9.00	2.00
20		Casey Kelly	R	ARI	10	1-0	3.86	1.29	1-0	3.86	1.29
21		Hector Santiago	L	KC	5	3-1	3.71	1.33	1-0	3.86	1.29
22		Chris Young	R	ATL	6	4-7	4.48	1.36	1-1	4.41	1.16
23		Jeff Locke	L	CHC	6	0-1	4.82	0.96	0-1	9.00	1.60
24		Joe Kelly	R	MIL	4	5-6	3.54	1.44	2-1	3.98	1.48
25		J.A. Happ	L	@BOS	1	10-11	4.73	1.40	2-1	3.09	1.16
26		Freddy Garcia	R	@BAL	3	7-6	5.09	1.38	0-1	7.53	1.74
27		Jeremy Guthrie	R	@CHW	3	7-12	5.34	1.49	2-0	3.28	1.18
28		Drew Pomeranz	L	@PHI	4	1-8	4.93	1.46	0-1	4.50	1.38
29		Esmerling Vasquez	R	CLE	5	0-1	7.94	1.76	0-1	7.94	1.76
30		Edgar Gonzalez	R	@CIN	1	1-0	1.69	1.13	1-0	1.69	1.13

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.

Mass' Rankings Notes: Sunday

Believe it or not, Johnny Cueto has not mastered the art of beating Houston over the years. He is just 2-5 against the Astros lifetime, with a 3.59 ERA. That's one reason why we've put Clayton Kershaw and his 1.39 ERA versus San Francisco ahead of Cincinnati's ace for Sunday.

Ian Kennedy is 6-1 lifetime when facing the San Diego Padres, who even with a recent hot streak are hitting just .240 for the season at home. We'll give him the slight edge over pitchers like Matt Harrison and his 5.55 career ERA when facing the Tampa Bay Rays.

Rounding out the top 10: Clay Buchholz is 8-3 with 2.55 ERA against the Toronto Blue Jays and has gone 6-2 at Fenway Park in 2012. Anibal Sanchez has finally seemed to settle into life in the American League, having a 0.92 ERA over his last three starts. He should keep things close in his matchup against Zack Greinke and the Los Angeles Angels

Zach Britton is 1-2 with a 6.95 ERA lifetime against the New York Yankees, but is 4-0 in his last four starts with a .204 BAA. Still, his only loss in 2012 was a 12-3 blowout at the hands of the pinstripes. This might be one to sit him out.

Ricky Nolasco is 1-5 with a 3.88 ERA when facing the Washington Nationals. He goes up against Edwin Jackson, 1-5 with a 6.00 ERA against the Miami Marlins. Still, while that closes the gap a bit, we're going to stick with the pitcher going at home and the lineup hitting .316 over the last 14 days.

Tyler Cloyd now is 2-for-2 in terms of quality starts and his first major league win was at the expense of the Cincinnati Reds; not too shabby. He's going up against Colorado in start No. 3, and they're the third-highest scoring team in the National League, but not on the road where they've scored just 36 percent of their runs this season.

Edgar Gonzalez has done well to make it all the way back to the major leagues after being released by two teams and ending up in Mexico. However, he's pitching in only his third big league contest since the end of the 2009 season with the league's worst-hitting lineup behind him. Why court disaster?