Fantasy notes for Sept. 15-16

Starting pitcher rankings for September 15

						2012 Statistics			Past 21 Days
Rk	Team	Name	T	Opp	QR	W-L	ERA	WHIP	W-L	ERA	WHIP
1		Johnny Cueto	R	@MIA	8	17-8	2.71	1.15	1-2	5.00	1.28
2		Wade Miley	L	SF	7	15-9	3.07	1.15	1-1	5.21	1.53
3		Zack Greinke	R	@KC	6	14-5	3.68	1.23	4-0	1.88	0.91
4		Jarrod Parker	R	BAL	7	10-8	3.56	1.29	2-1	3.96	1.36
5		Tommy Hanson	R	WAS	7	12-8	4.35	1.46	0-2	3.94	1.38
6		Anibal Sanchez	R	@CLE	6	7-12	4.07	1.34	0-2	1.80	1.15
7		James Shields	R	@NYY	4	14-8	3.71	1.21	2-1	1.50	0.63
8		Mark Buehrle	L	CIN	5	12-12	3.74	1.20	1-1	4.12	1.17
9		Edwin Jackson	R	@ATL	5	9-10	3.85	1.21	2-2	4.81	1.40
10		Clay Buchholz	R	@TOR	6	11-6	4.46	1.30	0-2	4.37	1.15
11		Jason Vargas	L	@TEX	4	14-10	3.85	1.17	1-2	6.35	1.41
12		Carlos Villanueva	R	BOS	4	7-5	3.48	1.21	1-2	4.81	1.19
13		Shaun Marcum	R	NYM	7	5-4	3.71	1.25	0-1	5.03	1.58
14		Jose Quintana	L	@MIN	6	6-4	3.52	1.26	1-2	7.85	1.80
15		Justin Masterson	R	DET	5	11-13	4.96	1.43	2-2	6.56	1.41
16		Zach Britton	L	@OAK	7	5-2	4.72	1.54	3-1	2.88	1.16
17		Jaime Garcia	L	@LAD	6	4-7	4.41	1.47	1-3	5.82	1.80
18		Jeremy Guthrie	R	LAA	3	7-12	5.06	1.45	2-0	3.24	1.28
19		Kyle Kendrick	R	@HOU	5	9-10	3.83	1.28	3-1	2.30	0.91
20		Joe Blanton	R	STL	2	9-13	4.98	1.29	1-1	4.66	1.45
21		Scott Feldman	R	SEA	5	6-11	4.97	1.34	0-2	6.00	1.33
22		Ivan Nova	R	TB	3	11-7	4.92	1.46	--	--	--
23		Drew Pomeranz	L	@SD	6	1-8	4.80	1.45	0-1	4.50	1.25
24		Barry Zito	L	@ARI	4	11-8	4.33	1.39	1-0	4.61	1.54
25		Samuel Deduno	R	CHW	6	6-3	3.55	1.44	2-2	3.96	1.16
26		Jenrry Mejia	R	@MIL	3	0-0	4.50	0.50	0-0	4.50	0.50
27		Jeff Locke	L	@CHC	2	0-1	4.11	1.04	0-1	5.73	1.36
28		Dallas Keuchel	L	PHI	2	1-7	5.35	1.54	0-1	5.00	1.56
29		Casey Kelly	R	COL	1	1-1	7.07	1.64	1-1	7.07	1.64
30		Jason Berken	R	PIT	1	0-0	18.00	7.00	--	--	--

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

Wade Miley has been better at home this season than on the road, with a 2.87 ERA at Chase Field where the San Francisco Giants have hit just .238 as a team this season. Even with a few bumps in the road of late, Miley's second-half ERA is still just .08 higher than he had in the first half. Don't run from him on Saturday.

Mark Buehrle has been pretty good in the past month, with a 3-1 record, 3.48 ERA and .222 batting average against in his past five starts. Lest we forget, the last time he squared off with Johnny Cueto, back in April, though he took the loss, the start was a quality one.

Jose Quintana gets the Saturday start for the Chicago White Sox, even after the Thursday rainout gave the team a little more flexibility with its rotation. The truth is that nobody wanted Francisco Liriano anywhere near the mound for this team, so he'll be skipped completely.

Joe Blanton has not exactly paid huge dividends for the Los Angeles Dodgers since the trade, and the last time he faced the St. Louis Cardinals (while still with Philadelphia) he gave up seven runs in 4 1/3 innings in a 10-9 loss. He's pitched "better" of late, but is a 4.66 ERA in three starts really anything to write home about?

Ivan Nova returns to the mound after a stint on the disabled list due to right shoulder inflammation, replacing the horrific Freddy Garcia in the rotation. Although his return is good news for the New York Yankees, even when Nova was at full strength earlier this season his ERA was still well over 4.00.

Jeremy Guthrie has gone 4-0 with a 1.70 ERA in his past seven starts, clearly enjoying the move from Colorado to Kansas City in a big way. Of course, a matchup with Zack Greinke, himself 4-0 with a 1.88 ERA and a.186 BAA in his past four starts doesn't bode well for a victory, but streamers should definitely take note.

After having been claimed off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles, Jason Berken is stepping into the rotation spot left open by the Chicago Cubs' shutting down of Jeff Samardzija. He's pitched only one big league inning in 2012, and that was back in May, so this isn't exactly Cy Young here. Pass.

Starting pitcher rankings for September 16

						2012 Statistics			Past 21 Days
Rk	Team	Name	T	Opp	QR	W-L	ERA	WHIP	W-L	ERA	WHIP
1		Clayton Kershaw	L	STL	10	12-9	2.70	1.02	1-2	1.61	1.11
2		Gio Gonzalez	L	@ATL	10	19-7	2.93	1.13	3-1	1.29	0.93
3		Adam Wainwright	R	@LAD	8	13-13	4.01	1.26	1-3	6.98	1.91
4		Hiroki Kuroda	R	TB	7	13-10	3.17	1.12	1-2	4.40	1.12
5		Matt Harrison	L	SEA	7	16-9	3.36	1.28	2-2	4.56	1.39
6		Mat Latos	R	@MIA	8	12-4	3.72	1.20	2-1	4.68	1.32
7		Roy Halladay	R	@HOU	9	10-7	4.01	1.16	3-0	4.26	1.50
8		Wandy Rodriguez	L	@CHC	6	10-13	3.72	1.26	2-1	2.05	0.95
9		Ryan Vogelsong	R	@ARI	6	12-8	3.40	1.23	2-1	7.40	1.45
10		Jon Lester	L	@TOR	6	9-11	4.99	1.41	2-1	4.78	1.71
11		Dan Haren	R	@KC	5	10-11	4.45	1.31	2-1	2.16	0.92
12		Andrew Werner	L	COL	10	2-1	2.59	1.03	1-1	2.45	0.93
13		Mike Minor	L	WAS	5	8-10	4.42	1.20	2-0	2.59	0.86
14		Jake Peavy	R	@MIN	8	10-11	3.27	1.12	1-2	4.38	1.38
15		Matt Moore	L	@NYY	4	10-10	3.68	1.35	0-3	4.37	1.46
16		Ricky Nolasco	R	CIN	4	12-12	4.40	1.35	3-0	0.36	0.76
17		Scott Diamond	L	CHW	4	11-7	3.46	1.27	1-2	6.50	1.67
18		Ubaldo Jimenez	R	DET	4	9-16	5.52	1.61	0-4	5.09	1.52
19		Brandon Morrow	R	BOS	4	8-6	3.16	1.12	1-2	3.68	1.55
20		Chris Tillman	R	@OAK	5	7-2	3.39	1.20	1-0	1.80	0.90
21		Chris Young	R	@MIL	5	4-7	4.39	1.37	1-0	4.70	1.43
22		Wily Peralta	R	NYM	6	1-0	3.46	1.54	1-0	3.00	1.42
23		Patrick Corbin	L	SF	4	5-7	4.19	1.28	0-3	6.00	1.52
24		Rick Porcello	R	@CLE	4	9-12	4.59	1.51	0-4	4.09	1.55
25		Blake Beavan	R	@TEX	1	9-9	5.01	1.27	1-2	5.09	1.42
26		Jordan Lyles	R	PHI	3	4-11	5.33	1.46	2-1	3.48	1.16
27		Chris Volstad	R	PIT	4	3-10	5.99	1.55	3-1	3.22	1.61
28		Will Smith	L	LAA	1	5-7	4.94	1.53	1-2	3.50	1.78
29		Dan Straily	R	BAL	4	2-0	3.42	1.18	1-0	4.05	1.20
30		Alex White	R	@SD	1	2-8	5.18	1.61	0-2	3.45	1.60

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

Adam Wainwright may have lost his past three games, but current Los Angeles Dodgers are hitting just .216 against him for their collective career. He's coming off a loss to San Diego when unearned runs did him in. We fully expect him to get back above .500 on the year after this one.

Roy Halladay has a higher-than-typical ERA of 3.48 since Aug. 4, but because his team has been mounting a serious run for the playoffs, that's been good enough for a 6-1 record during that span. His career ERA of 1.16 against the Houston Astros shouldn't suffer much the way that lineup has been hitting this season.

Dan Haren has gone 2-1 with a 2.16 ERA in his past four starts, three of which were on the road, which is not too much of a surprise. In 2012, Haren is just 4-8 at home, but is 6-3 when traveling, as he is Sunday versus the Kansas City Royals.

After four straight quality starts, Andrew Werner is starting to win over a lot of fantasy owners. Of course, three of his four outings were at pitcher-friendly Petco, but what do you know? So is this one against the Colorado Rockies, hitting just .238 away from home.

Matt Moore is 0-3 in his past four starts, with a 4.37 ERA and a .281 batting average against. He did fan nine New York Yankees hitters in his last battle with the Bronx Bombers, but after lasting just four innings in his most recent outing, we're not sure if there's a ton left in his gas tank.

Scott Diamond gets pushed up a day in the rotation after Cole De Vries was diagnosed with a cracked rib that will cause the pitcher to miss the rest of the season. The Chicago White Sox are hitting just .240 on the road this season, so perhaps Diamond might not have it so rough.

Chris Tillman is expected back from an inflamed nerve at some point in the next few days, and while the Baltimore Orioles have put off deciding on Sunday's starter, he's the likely candidate. After all, Jason Hammel has been saddled with a bum knee that may not allow him to pitch for perhaps another week.