Daily Notes for Tuesday: Beckett is a big-game pitcher, but …
A couple of Sunday rainouts have pushed a number of starters back a game, so instead of facing off against Jon Lester, Joba Chamberlain's counterpart Tuesday will instead be a struggling Josh Beckett in the final game of a two-game series. In the AL West, Erik Bedard takes on the Rangers at home as he continues to make his case as one of fantasy baseball's best bargains after a disappointing 2008.
In the National League, two of the league's top pitchers in Edinson Volquez and Chris Volstad engage in what looks like a promising pitcher's duel, while the much-maligned Jeff Weaver makes his first start of the season against the division-rival Diamondbacks and sophomore pitcher Max Scherzer, who returns to Dodger Stadium, the site of his first and only double-digit-strikeout performance.
Starting pitcher rankings for Tuesday, May 5
| Name | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Tim Lincecum | R | 2-1 | 3.16 | 1.28 | 12.35 | .669 | @ | .744 | 78.6% |
| 2 |  | Matt Garza | R | 2-2 | 3.82 | 1.06 | 9.27 | .580 |  | .750 | 84.2% |
| 3 |  | Roy Oswalt | R | 0-2 | 3.82 | 1.36 | 5.45 | .817 | @ | .771 | 75.9% |
| 4 |  | Edinson Volquez | R | 3-2 | 4.45 | 1.41 | 8.89 | .653 | @ | .714 | 75.8% |
| 5 |  | Erik Bedard | L | 2-1 | 2.61 | 1.06 | 9.29 | .611 |  | .839 | 76.7% |
| 6 | | Chris Volstad | R | 2-0 | 2.67 | 0.99 | 8.01 | .595 | | .696 | 78.0% |
| 7 |  | Adam Wainwright | R | 3-0 | 2.76 | 1.57 | 7.67 | .669 |  | .810 | 83.1% |
| 8 |  | Joba Chamberlain | R | 1-0 | 3.13 | 1.52 | 6.65 | .804 |  | .825 | 80.0% |
| 9 |  | Aaron Cook | R | 1-1 | 7.11 | 1.82 | 4.62 | .988 | @ | .726 | 79.8% |
| 10 | | Sean Marshall | L | 0-1 | 3.32 | 1.32 | 7.11 | .743 | | .681 | 76.8% |
| 11 |  | Ian Snell | R | 1-3 | 3.72 | 1.62 | 6.21 | .910 |  | .761 | 75.8% |
| 12 | | Josh Beckett | R | 2-2 | 7.22 | 1.81 | 9.73 | .836 | @ | .825 | 82.9% |
| 13 |  | Max Scherzer | R | 0-2 | 3.48 | 1.31 | 8.71 | .666 | @ | .803 | 81.0% |
| 14 | | Jeff Suppan | R | 1-2 | 5.88 | 1.46 | 5.19 | .877 | @ | .724 | 78.1% |
| 15 | | Koji Uehara | R | 2-2 | 4.50 | 1.13 | 5.70 | .736 | @ | .793 | 76.6% |
| 16 |  | Nick Blackburn | R | 2-1 | 4.02 | 1.37 | 3.45 | .670 | @ | .765 | 81.7% |
| 17 |  | Gavin Floyd | R | 2-2 | 5.52 | 1.77 | 7.98 | .801 | @ | .765 | 80.5% |
| 18 |  | Shane Loux | R | 1-2 | 5.24 | 1.75 | 3.22 | .810 | @ | .648 | 82.3% |
| 19 | | Brett Myers | R | 1-2 | 4.83 | 1.55 | 7.39 | .915 | @ | .810 | 82.1% |
| 20 | | Vicente Padilla | R | 1-2 | 7.43 | 1.80 | 6.41 | .896 | @ | .703 | 83.8% |
| 21 | | Josh Geer | R | 0-0 | 5.29 | 1.18 | 4.76 | .842 |  | .776 | 76.9% |
| 22 | | Rick Porcello | R | 1-3 | 6.23 | 1.38 | 4.98 | .817 | | .731 | 81.8% |
| 23 | | Dallas Braden | L | 3-2 | 2.10 | 1.37 | 5.40 | .657 | | .775 | 84.0% |
| 24 | | Kyle Davies | R | 2-1 | 4.85 | 1.38 | 6.98 | .736 | | .738 | 79.4% |
| 25 |  | Brett Cecil | L | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |  | .789 | 76.4% |
| 26 | | Scott Olsen | L | 1-3 | 6.08 | 1.73 | 6.75 | .936 | | .708 | 81.7% |
| 27 |  | Livan Hernandez | R | 1-1 | 6.75 | 1.45 | 5.06 | .841 | @ | .752 | 82.0% |
| 28 | | Kenshin Kawakami | R | 1-3 | 7.06 | 1.62 | 7.48 | .961 | | .791 | 83.8% |
| 29 | | Jeff Weaver | R | 0-0 | 0.00 | 1.25 | 9.00 | .646 | | .693 | 77.0% |
| 30 | | Anthony Reyes | R | 1-0 | 7.58 | 1.68 | 4.26 | .899 | @ | .839 | 84.5% |
Rk.: The author's ranking of that pitcher for that day only. T: pitcher throws left-handed or right-handed. Record: pitcher's win-loss record. ERA: pitcher's earned run average. WHIP: pitcher's average number of walks plus hits surrendered per inning. K/9: pitcher's average number of strikeouts per nine innings. OPSA: pitcher's on-base plus slugging percentage surrendered to opponents. OPS: pitcher's opponent's composite team on-base plus slugging percentage. CT%: pitcher's opponent's success rate putting the ball in play (versus striking out).
Selected notes: Only the Diamondbacks have a worse on-base percentage in the majors than the Giants' .310 mark, and only the Athletics a worse slugging percentage than their .371 average, and for once the Cubs' lineup should be fully healthy. That gives Sean Marshall strong spot-start potential. … In six career starts against the Orioles, Matt Garza is 5-0 with a 2.80 ERA, and many of those starts came in 2006 and '07, when he was still coming into his own. The Orioles' three best hitters haven't hit well against him (see below), and he sports a sterling 2.89 ERA in 15 career starts at Tropicana Field. Thus, he's only a slight step behind Tim Lincecum for top pitching honors of the day. … Ian Kinsler (.357) is the only current Rangers regular who has hit better than .250 against Erik Bedard, and in nine career starts, he has struck out 57 batters in 53 2/3 innings and allowed only five home runs. He's also buffered by pitching at home (he has a 5.91 ERA and 1.55 WHIP in four starts in Arlington), so you can safely ignore the Rangers' league-leading OPS -- when don't they have a good offense? -- and look for Bedard to continue to roll. … It's shocking to me that a pitcher with no track record of big-league success and an ERA north of 7.00 is still owned in more than 10 percent of leagues. If anything, Kenshin Kawakami should be worse off; three of his runs were marked unearned, and including them would put his ERA at 8.49. Plus, he has been knocked around by the Marlins and Reds, offenses currently ranked 24th and 27th, respectively, in OPS, so feel free to discard him for someone higher on our starting pitcher list. … No matter how much it seems Josh Beckett steps it up for big games -- which every game against the Yankees seems to be -- the Yanks are by no means a slump-buster, as his 5.33 ERA in 12 starts against can attest to. … It has been proven time and again that pitchers' performances tend to decline in their starts after a 120-plus-pitch outing, and Ian Snell tossed a whopping 130 pitches in his previous start. Historically, he has done well against the Brewers, but it's difficult enough to limit a good offensive team in consecutive starts without a large pitch count working against you. … It's probably safe to say Edinson Volquez is back; he walked just one batter and struck out six in eight innings versus the Astros last Wednesday, he had twice as many outs on the ground (12) than in the air (six), and he did it all in just 106 pitches. His ability to keep the ball in the park (his career home run rate is 0.95 per nine innings) will serve him well against the Marlins, who have finished 3rd and 5th, respectively, in home runs hit the past two seasons. … Aaron Cook has a lifetime 1.69 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in seven starts at Petco Park, which makes a lot of sense considering it's usually hard enough to get any lift on the sinkerballer's pitches, and his weakness against left-handed hitters is covered by the expansive right field of the stadium. The Padres have had the lowest OPS at home three years running, and Cook is coming off his best start of the season against this very same Padres lineup.
Hitters' count:
• Adam Dunn, OF, Nationals: Roy Oswalt might have struck him out 19 times in 64 at-bats, but Dunn hasn't had problems getting his licks in, with 11 of his 16 hits going for extra bases, including four home runs. Overall, he's slugging .563 against the Astros' ace.
• Jeff Francoeur, OF, Braves: He has faced Livan Hernandez only 10 times, but Frenchy has four hits off him, including two doubles and a home run. You can really tell he's comfortable against Hernandez because he even has two walks, impressive considering he normally draws a walk once every 19 at-bats.
• Robinson Cano, 2B, Yankees: Cano has destroyed Josh Beckett, roping 12 hits in 33 at-bats (.364 average) against him, with exactly half of those hits going for extra bases, including two homers.
• Nate McLouth, OF, Pirates: He just rakes against Jeff Suppan, going 6-for-14 (.429) with three doubles and two home runs.
• Adam LaRoche, 1B, Pirates: LaRoche isn't far behind, as he's sporting a .381 lifetime average in 21 at-bats versus Suppan, including two home runs.
• David DeJesus, OF, Royals: Although he has struck out five times, DeJesus also is 5-for-16 against Gavin Floyd with a double and a home run. That equates to a .563 slugging percentage from the normally punchless center fielder.
• Paul Konerko, 1B, White Sox: He's 6-for-13 (.462) against Kyle Davies with a home run and a double, and chances are he'll have a couple of teammates to drive in, since the team is hitting .286 and slugging .549 against Davies in 91 total at-bats.
• Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, Padres: A lifetime .385 hitter against Aaron Cook, Gonzalez also has two home runs in 26 at-bats versus the struggling right-hander.
• Chad Tracy, 1B, Diamondbacks: Tracy will sure be glad to see Jeff Weaver again, as he's 9-for-20 (.450) against him, including three doubles and a home run.
Pitchers' count:
• Nick Johnson, 1B, Nationals: Johnson has been able to work three walks against Roy Oswalt in 12 plate appearances, but he otherwise has been limited to just one single.
• Aramis Ramirez, 3B, Cubs: In 13 career at-bats versus Tim Lincecum, Ramirez has been held to just a single, striking out four times.
• Brian Roberts, 2B, Nick Markakis, OF and Melvin Mora, 3B, Orioles: This trio is a combined 7-for-49 (.142) versus Matt Garza, with Roberts being the only batter who could muster anything better than a single of him (he went yard). All three batters are well below the Mendoza Line against the right-hander.
• Michael Young, 3B/SS, Rangers: Young does have a double and a home run against Erik Bedard, but overall is batting .130 in 23 at-bats against the lefty, with seven strikeouts and zero walks.
• Hank Blalock, 3B, Rangers: Blalock has hit only .230 against southpaws, more than 60 points worse than his average against right-handers. Thus, as you might expect against a lefty of Erik Bedard's caliber, Blalock is just 1-for-10 with four strikeouts.
• Hideki Matsui, OF, Yankees: Matsui has as many strikeouts (three) as singles in 17 at-bats versus Josh Beckett; overall, he's hitting .176 and slugging .294 against the big righty.
• J.D. Drew, OF, Red Sox: Joba Chamberlain has struck out Drew 40 percent of the time he has faced him, and the most Drew has been able to accomplish is a walk, as he's hitless in 10 at-bats.
Deep inside the matchups
Get inside scouting knowledge from ESPN Insider, including more on Ian Snell's repeat matchup versus the Brewers and Kyle Davies versus the White Sox.
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• Skip Schumaker, 2B, Cardinals: Schumaker has only 11 home runs in 874 career at-bats, but two have come against Brett Myers in just 10 at-bats.
• Rod Barajas, C, Blue Jays: Barajas has six multi-hit games in his past eight games, raising his batting average from .213 to .342 in the process. He faces an unimpressive Anthony Reyes, who has allowed four home runs in 19 innings and sports an unimpressive 9-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
• Tony Clark, 1B, Diamondbacks: He's hitting only .185 this season, but at least he has made his hits count: two doubles and a home run are among his five hits. In 11 career at-bats versus Jeff Weaver, he has had seven hits, with a double and two home runs being the big ones.
• Daniel Murphy, OF, Mets: He currently has a modest five-game hitting streak, but the real feat is that he's yet to go more than a game without a hit, and he's coming off consecutive games in which he has homered.
• Chris Getz, 2B, White Sox: He's 3-for-8 with a double and a triple since returning from a finger injury, and said injury is suppressing his value in deeper leagues. He has three steals already, and on a team that likes to run, he's a threat to take off versus the Royals, who caught just 25 percent of runners last season and have allowed 18 out of 21 to be successful this season.
• Mike Jacobs, 1B, Royals: Jacobs is normally not much of an option, but he's slugging .551 with four home runs against right-handers this season, and Gavin Floyd is susceptible to left-handed power, allowing 1.85 home runs per nine innings against.
Injury list: Out
• Eric Chavez, 3B, Athletics (15-day DL, elbow)
• Travis Hafner, DH, Indians (15-day DL, shoulder)
• Josh Hamilton, OF, Rangers (15-day DL, ribcage)
• Brandon Morrow, RP, Mariners (15-day DL, shoulder)
Injury list: Day-to-day
• Bobby Abreu, OF, Angels (back; probable)
• Ryan Braun, OF, Brewers (back)
• Jermaine Dye, OF, White Sox (hand): About his injury, Dye said, "I can't grip a bat and I don't think I'm playing tomorrow, no matter what." It sounds like he could miss a couple of games this week.
• Josh Fields, 3B, White Sox (hand)
• Khalil Greene, SS, Cardinals (forearm)
• Gabe Gross, OF, Rays (personal; probable)
• Derek Jeter, SS, Yankees (head; probable)
• Aramis Ramirez, 3B, Cubs (calf; expected to return for Monday's game)
• Manny Ramirez, OF, Dodgers (hamstring; available to pinch-hit)
• Nick Swisher, 1B/OF, Yankees (elbow): Manager Joe Girardi said that Swisher could have been used as a pinch hitter if necessary Sunday, so consider him probable.
• Randy Winn, OF, Giants (side): Winn entered as a pinch hitter and stayed in left field Sunday, so you'll probably see him return to action Monday.
• Brad Ziegler, RP, Athletics (illness; probable)
• Three games are weatherproof: Indians-Blue Jays, Orioles-Rays and Rangers-Mariners.
• There are a couple of minor threats of rain for Tuesday -- St. Louis has a 20-30 percent of intermittent showers, and there's a 20 percent chance of rain in New York and Atlanta -- but Kansas City is the only area at serious risk. Thunderstorms are expected to occur in the early evening and persist throughout the night, which will make it tough to get in a full game.
Adam Madison is a fantasy baseball analyst for ESPN.com.
