Fantasy notes for Sept. 27
Click through for information on specific matchups and injuries for the day's games.
Starting pitcher rankings for September 27
| Name | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | R.A. Dickey | R | PIT | 9 | 19-6 | 2.66 | 1.04 | 2-2 | 2.83 | 1.22 |
| 2 |  | Gio Gonzalez | L | @PHI | 9 | 20-8 | 2.84 | 1.12 | 3-1 | 1.08 | 0.92 |
| 3 |  | Dan Haren | R | SEA | 8 | 12-11 | 4.35 | 1.30 | 3-1 | 3.00 | 0.96 |
| 4 |  | Matt Harrison | L | OAK | 7 | 17-10 | 3.17 | 1.26 | 2-1 | 1.61 | 1.16 |
| 5 |  | Doug Fister | R | KC | 7 | 10-9 | 3.43 | 1.20 | 3-1 | 2.33 | 0.96 |
| 6 |  | Mat Latos | R | MIL | 7 | 13-4 | 3.60 | 1.19 | 1-0 | 2.91 | 1.15 |
| 7 |  | Jake Peavy | R | TB | 7 | 11-12 | 3.40 | 1.13 | 2-2 | 4.37 | 1.28 |
| 8 |  | Chris Capuano | L | @SD | 6 | 11-11 | 3.74 | 1.20 | 0-1 | 4.96 | 1.35 |
| 9 |  | James Shields | R | @CHW | 6 | 15-9 | 3.65 | 1.20 | 2-1 | 1.61 | 0.72 |
| 10 |  | Tommy Hanson | R | MIA | 6 | 12-9 | 4.46 | 1.44 | 0-1 | 5.06 | 1.13 |
| 11 |  | Kevin Correia | R | @NYM | 4 | 11-10 | 4.11 | 1.29 | 2-2 | 2.52 | 1.04 |
| 12 |  | Barry Zito | L | ARI | 4 | 13-8 | 4.18 | 1.39 | 3-0 | 1.45 | 1.34 |
| 13 |  | Brandon Morrow | R | NYY | 5 | 8-7 | 3.28 | 1.15 | 0-2 | 4.79 | 1.55 |
| 14 |  | Patrick Corbin | L | @SF | 3 | 6-7 | 4.36 | 1.32 | 1-1 | 5.51 | 1.59 |
| 15 |  | Tyler Cloyd | R | WAS | 5 | 2-1 | 3.86 | 1.14 | 1-0 | 4.80 | 1.27 |
| 16 |  | Wily Peralta | R | @CIN | 8 | 2-1 | 3.04 | 1.35 | 2-1 | 2.78 | 1.28 |
| 17 |  | Hisashi Iwakuma | R | @LAA | 4 | 7-5 | 3.41 | 1.29 | 1-2 | 5.06 | 1.50 |
| 18 |  | Ivan Nova | R | @TOR | 3 | 12-7 | 4.94 | 1.46 | 1-0 | 5.40 | 1.56 |
| 19 |  | Jacob Turner | R | @ATL | 4 | 2-4 | 5.23 | 1.26 | 1-1 | 2.50 | 1.00 |
| 20 |  | Casey Kelly | R | LAD | 1 | 2-2 | 5.55 | 1.68 | 1-2 | 7.11 | 2.05 |
| 21 |  | Jhoulys Chacin | R | CHC | 5 | 2-5 | 4.73 | 1.63 | 0-1 | 4.41 | 1.96 |
| 22 |  | Luis Mendoza | R | @DET | 1 | 8-9 | 4.44 | 1.43 | 1-0 | 4.15 | 1.44 |
| 23 |  | Travis Blackley | L | @TEX | 5 | 5-3 | 3.75 | 1.18 | 0-0 | 3.18 | 2.12 |
| 24 |  | Chris Volstad | R | @COL | 1 | 3-10 | 6.22 | 1.63 | 1-1 | 6.86 | 2.29 |
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
Thursday's MLB slate is chock full of successful starters, as 13 of the 24 men taking the mound have already won at least 10 games this season. It's doubtful that any of the top-10 pitchers on the daily rankings chart are available in your fantasy league. However I found four super-minority-owned pitchers (still available in excess of 80 percent of the ESPN universe) that should help win-starved owners making that final push on Thursday:
Kevin Correia (5 percent ESPN.com fantasy ownership) may not outduel knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, but he should be able to shut down a dreadful New York Mets lineup like he's done so many times in the past. In 47 1/3 career innings against the Metropolitans, Correia has a 3.23 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 6.1 K/9. New York has slugged a paltry .365 in these 12 outings (six starts, six relief appearances). The Mets have a putrid 8-25 home record since the All-Star break, scoring 2.6 runs per game with a slash of .223/.292/.342. Correia has been strong since rejoining the rotation in September, posting a 2.52 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in four starts, while striking out an unexpected 15 batters in his past two starts.
Barry Zito (19 percent ESPN.com fantasy ownership) is doing his best Kris Medlen impression, as the San Francisco Giants have won nine straight games started by the left-hander. Zito is 5-0 with a 3.96 ERA in this span, having not allowed more than four runs in any of the nine starts. In September, Zito is 3-0 with a 2.66 ERA and 20 K's in 23 2/3 innings. On Thursday, he'll face an Arizona Diamondbacks team than hasn't beaten him in four starts this year, as the lefty is 3-0 with a 3.65 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 6.9 K/9.
Zito's mound opponent, Patrick Corbin (5 percent ESPN.com fantasy ownership) will be facing the San Francisco Giants for the fourth time this season, and the first three meetings have been strong for the 23-year-old lefty. Corbin is 2-0 with a 3.15 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 15 K's and just one walk in these 20 innings. The Giants have scored a mere 3.7 runs per game at home this season, the fourth-fewest such total in the majors. Another positive for Corbin is that his Arizona teammates are finally starting to hit, scoring 7.3 runs per game with an .835 OPS during a 7-2 surge. The red-hot Zito is the better option here, especially since his Giants are a majors-best 36-17 (.679) record versus left-handed starters in 2012, but if you have the roster room to pick them both up to cover yourself, go for it.
Tyler Cloyd (2 percent ESPN.com fantasy ownership) has shown great improvement in each of his five career starts, tallying 26 K's in 28 innings while issuing just five free passes. Although his Thursday opponent, the Washington Nationals, are playoff bound, the Nats have been terrible on the road in the past month. Starting with getting swept in a three-game set in Philadelphia from Aug. 24-26, Washington is 4-8 in its past 12 road games, scoring just 34 runs (2.8 per game) with 111 strikeouts (9.3 per game) and 23 walks, leading to a painful .278 on-base percentage. Cloyd may not beat Gio Gonzalez, but the matchup should be low-scoring enough for Cloyd to help your fantasy squad.
Hitter matchup ratings for September 27
| Overall | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 6 | 1 | 7 | 4 | | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| | 8 | 2 | 10 | 10 |  | No game scheduled | ||||
 | No game scheduled | | 7 | 5 | 8 | 8 | ||||
 | No game scheduled | | 5 | 2 | 7 | 5 | ||||
| | 7 | 8 | 4 | 2 | | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | |
| | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | |
| | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | |
 | No game scheduled |  | No game scheduled | |||||||
| | 10 | 10 | 8 | 9 | | 6 | 1 | 7 | 4 | |
| | 9 | 9 | 7 | 3 | | 10 | 5 | 10 | 2 | |
 | No game scheduled | | 5 | 3 | 5 | 6 | ||||
| | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | | 4 | 4 | 3 | 7 | |
| | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | |
| | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | | 9 | 8 | 8 | 4 | |
| | 5 | 6 | 2 | 8 | | 6 | 10 | 2 | 2 | |
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.
• Rickie Weeks is 5-for-13 (.385) with 2 HR, 3 RBIs and a 1.308 OPS in his career against Mat Latos.
• David Wright has feasted off of Pirates righty Kevin Correia, posting a career average of .786 (11-for-14) with five extra-base hits and 3 RBIs.
• Tommy Hanson is 0-4 with a 5.06 ERA over his past seven starts.
• Edwin Jackson has a 5.32 ERA in four September starts, his highest ERA in any month this season.
• Curtis Granderson has just two hits in 16 career at-bats (.125) against Brandon Morrow with 10 strikeouts.
• Entering Tuesday, Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano has hit .355 with five home runs, 12 RBIs, and a 1.106 OPS in 17 career games at Coors Field.
• Padres second baseman Logan Forsythe is the second-best hitter in baseball against LHP in the second half. Since the All-Star break, Forsythe is hitting .438 (32-for-73), with a .512 OBP and .616 SLG against lefties. He faces Dodgers LHP Chris Capuano on Thursday.
• Post All-Star Game, Doug Fister is 8-3 with 2.53 ERA, top three in both categories in the American League among qualified pitchers.
Alex Rodriguez, 3B, Yankees: He fouled a ball off his left foot Tuesday and was not in Wednesday's starting lineup. He should be back on the field in a day or two.
Yu Darvish, SP, Rangers: He missed Tuesday's start due to a stiff neck, but the move was more precautionary as opposed to anything serious. Darvish should be ready for a start sometime this weekend.
Giancarlo Stanton, OF, Marlins: Day to day, sore oblique.
Carlos Gonzalez, OF, Rockies: He has inflammation behind his knee and likely will be shut down for the season.
Josh Willingham, OF, Twins: He injured his left shoulder after he slammed into the outfield fence Monday and hasn't played since. He's targeting a Friday return to action.
Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, Red Sox: Day to day, strained lat. He hasn't played since Sept. 20.
Carlos Quentin, OF, Padres: Day to day, sore left knee. He hasn't played since Sept. 19, and likely will be used as strictly a pinch hitter for the remainder of the season.
David Freese, 3B, Cardinals: He left Monday's game after rolling his ankle, but the team sees him as day to day, and he should return to action sometime this week.
Jose Molina, C, Rays: He strained his right quad running to first base Tuesday, and could be out for a few games.
Dexter Fowler, OF, Rockies: He has not started since Saturday due to tendinitis in his left wrist. He's considered day to day.
Chris Johnson, 3B, Diamondbacks: He was hit by a pitch on his left wrist Sunday, but suffered only a contusion and no broken bones. Expect him back on the field in a couple of days.
Michael Bourn, OF, Braves: Day to day, jammed thumb. He injured himself Sept. 22 and likely will be out until the weekend.
Gerardo Parra, OF, Diamondbacks: He injured his right hand sliding home on Friday and hasn't played since. It's unclear when he will be back on the field.
Michael Brantley, OF, Indians: He hurt his groin running the bases Sunday and may not return until this weekend.
Justin Ruggiano, OF, Marlins: He injured himself diving for a ball Sept. 21 and has not yet returned to the lineup. As Ruggiano waits for his sprained right shoulder to heal, Bryan Petersen is seeing more action.
Coco Crisp: OF, Athletics. He has not batted since Sept. 18 due to a pinkeye-like eye condition. Speculation is that he'll return in the next couple of days.
Ryan Ludwick, OF, Reds: Day-to-day, tight left groin. He has not played since Sept. 19, but should return to action some time this weekend.
Frank Francisco, RP, Mets: Day to day, tendinitis in right elbow. He has not pitched since Sept. 16, and it appears as if he will not pitch again this season.
Brett Anderson, SP, Athletics: Out for rest of regular season, tightness in side. Travis Blackley is taking his spot in the rotation.
