ESPN

There should be no shortage of strong pitchers available for fantasy owners on Saturday. Johan Santana, Jake Peavy and CC Sabathia all toe the rubber on the NL slate, while A.J. Burnett (the AL's hottest pitcher), Felix Hernandez and 13-game winner Mike Mussina all take the mound in the junior circuit. Beyond the no-doubters, Mark Buehrle, Jered Weaver, Jon Lester, Jeremy Guthrie and Ricky Nolasco all have strong matchups as well.

Time	Visitors		L/R	Record	ERA	WHIP		Home		L/R	Record	ERA	WHIP
1:05 p.m.		Paul Maholm	L	7-6	3.79	1.24	@		Ted Lilly	L	10-6	4.49	1.34
3:55 p.m.		Mark Buehrle	L	8-9	3.69	1.28	@		Kyle Davies	R	4-2	4.34	1.60
3:55 p.m.		Jered Weaver	R	9-8	4.11	1.28	@		Mike Mussina	R	13-7	3.56	1.23
3:55 p.m.		CC Sabathia	L	10-8	3.33	1.17	@		Charlie Morton	R	2-4	7.26	1.66
6:10 p.m.		Kenny Rogers	L	8-7	4.62	1.53	@		Andy Sonnanstine	R	10-6	4.65	1.35
7:05 p.m.		Dana Eveland	L	7-7	3.88	1.46	@		Jon Lester	L	9-3	3.17	1.32
7:05 p.m.		Johan Santana	L	9-7	2.93	1.19	@		Roy Oswalt	R	8-8	4.67	1.39
7:10 p.m.		Paul Byrd	R	5-10	4.93	1.36	@		Kevin Slowey	R	7-7	4.00	1.11
7:10 p.m.		Valerio de los Santos	L	0-0	4.50	2.00	@		Ricky Nolasco	R	10-6	3.94	1.23
7:10 p.m.		Josh Fogg	R	2-3	7.84	1.60	@		Jason Bergmann	R	1-8	4.13	1.29
7:15 p.m.		Joe Blanton	R	5-12	5.13	1.44	@		Braden Looper	R	10-8	4.38	1.40
8:05 p.m.		A.J. Burnett	R	12-9	4.50	1.44	@		Scott Feldman	L	4-3	4.97	1.37
10:05 p.m.		Barry Zito	L	5-13	5.80	1.80	@		Jake Peavy	R	8-6	2.67	1.14
10:10 p.m.		Jeremy Guthrie	R	7-8	3.49	1.22	@		Felix Hernandez	R	7-6	3.02	1.27
10:10 p.m.		Yusmeiro Petit	R	1-1	2.55	0.85	@		Hiroki Kuroda	R	5-8	4.40	1.32

Out
Khalil Greene, SS, Padres (hand)

Day-to-day
Rick Ankiel, OF, Cardinals (abdominal)
Michael Bourn, OF, Astros (ankle)
Milton Bradley, OF, Rangers (quadriceps)
Andre Ethier, OF, Dodgers (flu)
Nomar Garciaparra, SS/3B/1B, Dodgers (knee)
Cristian Guzman, SS, Nationals (thumb)
Jeff Kent, 2B, Dodgers (knee)
Brian McCann, C, Braves (concussion)
Scott Rolen, 3B, Blue Jays (shoulder)
Freddy Sanchez, 2B, Pirates (back)
Skip Schumaker, OF, Cardinals (hamstring)
Michael Young, SS, Rangers (finger)

Hitters: Carlos Lee and Miguel Tejada may have fond memories of Johan Santana from their days in the American League. Lee is hitting .310 in 29 career at-bats with three home runs versus Santana. Tejada is hitting .333 with two home runs in 27 career at-bats. Don't bench these two just because Johan is on the hill. ... Michael Bourn hopes to be back for Friday, so check his status leading into Saturday's games. Fantasy owners likely miss his stolen base totals. ... Unable to play the field, Nomar Garciaparra is only a pinch-hitter for now. He does have a home run against the Diamondbacks' Yusmeiro Petit. ... Keep most of your Giants on the bench. A Jake Peavy start at Petco Park is a lock for a bad hitters' day. Peavy has a 1.45 ERA and a .194 batting average against in 62 innings at home this year. ... Brian McCann could be cleared to pinch hit as early as Saturday. Owners in some leagues may want to activate him, as a pinch-hitting McCann is still better than a lot of other catchers. ... Nick Markakis gives Felix Hernandez fits. He's 9-for-18 (.500) against the Mariners' ace. ... Jered Weaver has some solid numbers against some of the Yankees usual fantasy suspects. Johnny Damon is 0-for-5 and Bobby Abreu is 0-for-4. Alex Rodriguez is 1-for-6 and the only Yankee with a career home run versus Weaver. One the other side of that coin: Jason Giambi is 3-for-4 versus Weaver. ... Kevin Kouzmanoff is 5-for-12 with a home run versus Barry Zito. ... Milton Bradley is expected to be able to pinch hit as of Friday, so he could be back by Saturday. ... Even though Michael Young is occasionally playing while he deals with a fractured finger, you may want to avoid him as he is 0-for-9 since getting hurt (entering Friday).

Pitchers: No one is sitting Jake Peavy, Johan Santana, CC Sabathia or Felix Hernandez in any scenario, so I won't dwell on them long. Just note that there are no serious red flags for any of them, and they even have pretty good matchups. ... Ted Lilly has two rotten starts against Pittsburgh this year, allowing 17 hits in 9 2/3 innings. Lilly has also been much worse at home this season with a 5.34 ERA at Wrigley Field, compared to 3.89 on the road. Leave him on the bench for this one. ... Mark Buehrle is a great start against Kansas City. He has a 1.88 ERA in two starts against the Royals this year and is 17-7 lifetime against the club. What do David DeJesus, John Buck, Esteban German, Billy Butler and Alex Gordon all have in common when it comes to Buehrle? They have each faced him at least 10 times and have a batting average below the Mendoza line. ... Jered Weaver looked pretty sharp in his most recent outing in Fenway Park and now travels to Yankee Stadium, where he is 2-0 in his career with a 3.27 ERA. Weaver should come close to a quality start, but he'll have to duel with Mike Mussina for the win. ... As for Mussina, he had a rough outing against Baltimore, but still escapes July with a 2.61 ERA in 31 innings in which he only walked two batters while striking out 27. Let's just say it was a good month. The Moose should be a good start versus the Angels. He has held Vladimir Guerrero (26 at-bats) and Mark Teixeira (25) below the Mendoza line against him. Torii Hunter, who has faced Mussina 42 times, has just 10 hits in those at-bats (.238). ... The A's offense has gotten to Jon Lester in two of his three starts against them this season, but Lester has been on a roll lately. He's coughed up a couple of bad games over the past two months, but only against offenses that were hot at the time. The A's should be a pushover (.648 OPS in July, second-worst in league). ... Lifted after 74 pitches in his first start coming off the DL, Roy Oswalt surrendered four runs over five innings against the Reds. Until we see some signs of improvement, I wouldn't dare recommend him against one of the league's hottest offenses (the Mets have the second-best July OPS at .855). ... I would warn you off Ricky Nolasco because of the Rockies' league-leading .867 July OPS, but his last start came against the Mets, who, as noted before, were second in that category last month. And what did Nolasco do against the Mets? He struck out eight over seven innings, allowed two runs and walked none. Even if Nolasco does a little bit worse, it should still be useful in all but the shallowest of fantasy leagues. ... It's hard to argue with a 3-1 record with a 1.32 ERA in his Past four starts. Yeah, A.J. Burnett has begun his second-half tear a little late this season, but he is still doing it. Even if the Rangers' July OPS is .150 points higher than his most recent opponent's (Tampa Bay), expect Burnett to dominate again.

Hitters: For a catcher, try Brian Schneider. He's 5-for-9 (.556) versus Oswalt. Or, check if Kelly Shoppach is still around. He has three home runs in the previous week (entering Friday). ... Jack Hannahan could be a good start for a corner-infield spot. He is 5-for-9 versus the Red Sox's Jon Lester and has six two-hit games in his past eight starts. ... Luis Rivas should be a good middle-infield option off the wire as he loves left-handed pitching (.361 BA/1.049 OPS versus lefties this season). He is 4-for-12 with two home runs versus Cubs lefty Ted Lilly. ... As always, the Braves' Matt Diaz is a choice against lefthanders (.333/.787). Against CC Sabathia specifically, he is 5-for-9 (.556). ... Unlike most of his fellow Royals, Mark Teahen doesn't mind facing Mark Buehrle. He is 15-for-36 (.417) with five doubles versus the White Sox ace. ... Geoff Jenkins will start against Braden Looper and should be useful in fantasy as well, thanks to his 8-for-19 (.421) history versus the Cardinals righty. ... Yes, he is only DH-eligible, but Jose Vidro is 6-for-12 with a home run versus Jeremy Guthrie. ... Jason Kubel is 10-for-21 with two home runs against the Indians' Paul Byrd.

Pitchers: Kevin Slowey finished his third straight month by tossing a complete game in his final start of the month. The rest of July, however, was quite forgettable. Slowey beat the Indians on July 5, but allowed five runs on five hits in the process. Cleveland is actually hitting fairly well lately compared to previous months (.818 July OPS), and I'd shy away from what might look like a good spot start. ... Joe Blanton hasn't had a lot of luck in his first two starts for the Phillies, facing a red-hot Mets offense in his debut and then lasting only two innings against the Braves because of rain. With a sunny day expected in St. Louis, we should get a much better gauge of his value. Don't spot-start him here, but watch the results and consider adding him if he performs well. Blanton is still available in 77 percent of ESPN leagues. ... I'd avoid Braden Looper against the Phillies. His downfall in recent starts has been an elevated home run rate, and now he faces big boppers like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Pat Burrell. It just looks like a mismatch that's destined to burn Looper. Oh yeah, Howard took him deep twice on July 10 and now has three home runs in four at-bats versus Looper. ... Even without the wins, Jeremy Guthrie is still helping fantasy owners with respectable ratios and decent strikeout totals. He may not win yet again, thanks to a matchup with Felix Hernandez, but the Mariners are nothing special when it comes to hitting right-handers, so Guthrie should get at least a quality start. ... Hiroki Kuroda has been getting mashed. In his past three starts he's lasted just 11 2/3 innings and surrendered 17 runs. One of those starts came against these same Diamondbacks. Yeah, leave Kuroda on your bench. ... Paul Maholm has seven straight (non-Coors Field) quality starts in a row, but I would temper expectations against the Cubs. In seven starts versus them, the ground-ball specialist has a 6.15 ERA. Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano have all hit better than .350 versus Maholm as well. ... Kenny Rogers is due for a quality start and win against a floundering Rays offense. Tampa Bay has a lowly .682 OPS in July (fourth-worst in majors), and against left-handers for the season, the Rays have just a .714 OPS (seventh-worst in majors). ... Yusmeiro Petit also looks like a great option for those fantasy players who aren't lucky enough to own one of the many top arms to take the mound on Saturday. Petit has had great success out of the bullpen and in two spot starts this season. His ERA as a starter is 1.64 over two starts, and his ERA against the Dodgers this season is 3.60 over five relief innings. ... Barry Zito could also be worth a spot start in deeper leagues. Zito looked good over three outings until he hit a brick wall in his most recent start. Last season, he maintained a 3.60 ERA over 25 innings against the Padres, with a 2.57 ERA in seven innings at Petco Park. San Diego also has a paltry .701 OPS versus southpaws (fourth-worst in majors).

Watch the Angels-Yankees game closely. There is a 50 percent chance of showers and scattered thunderstorms forecast for the Bronx. But with an afternoon start, you can check the weather and make a decision at game time. ... There is a 40 percent chance of showers in Boston (A's-Red Sox) and Washington (Reds-Nationals) and a 30 percent chance in Miami (Rockies-Marlins). ... Weatherproof games include Tigers-Rays, Mets-Astros, Indians-Twins and Orioles-Mariners.

Sean Allen is a fantasy baseball and hockey analyst for ESPN.com. You can e-mail him here.