Yovani Gallardo was rocked for the 2nd straight outing. After giving up 11 ER in just 2.2 IP against the Rockies last week, Gallardo followed with a 7 ER outing against the Cardinals last night. That's 18 ER in 8.1 IP in two outings. Those numbers kill ERA and WHIP numbers for fantasy owners. The Brewers' rookie looks like a completely different pitcher today than when he was first moved to the rotation. Gallardo is going to go through some growing pains in 2007, but is a great keeper option for 2008. If you stick with Gallardo for the rest of the fantasy season, you can expect his K totals to remain high, but it could be hit or miss for quality starts.
John Maine's 13-7 record with a 3.59 ERA and 1.20 WHIP looks very impressive on paper. And granted, Maine has been a huge part of the Mets' pursuit of the postseason this year. But recent struggles should cause some concern among fantasy owners for stretch run. Maine only has 1 quality start in his last 7 outings and pitch count trouble has led to early departures with him unable to finish the 6th inning. Despite some mediocre outings, Maine's strikeout total has not faltered. He has 126 K's in 145.1 IP this season for a K/9 of 7.8 and has averaged almost a K per inning over his last 8 starts.
Wandy Rodriguez gets the start on Thursday against the Dodgers. He's coming off back-to-back quality starts where he gave up 1 ER in each game and struck out 9 in the game against the Cubs. While Rodriguez is slowly becoming a solid fantasy option in leagues, his home/away split may be enough reason to keep him on your bench for today's start. At home, Rodriguez is about as good as it gets: 1.65 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, .200 BAA, and a 6-2 record. On the road, Rodriguez is about as bad as it gets: 8.16 ERA, 1.73 WHIP, .316 BAA, 1-8 record. While I think Wandy has plenty of fantasy value for the stretch run, you can't ignore such a prominent split in performance. He'll face off against Derek Lowe on Thursday.
Chris Young's return to the mound last week showed some rust in his game with his first 3+ ER performance since April. He rebounded last night and looked more like the Chris Young we've learned to love this fantasy season. He pitched 6.0 IP of 3-hit, shutout ball while striking out 6 and walking 2. He didn't factor into the decision, but it was nice to see him shake-out the cobwebs from his time off at the end of July / beginning of August. Young's name doesn't get dropped as much as it should when talking about Cy Young candidates, but a 1.93 ERA sub-1.00 WHIP has certainly opened the eyes of fantasy owners. Expect his value to sky rocket in 2008.
Ryan Spilborghs will likely see the largest increase in playing time and AB as Willy Taveras goes on the DL. Spilborghs has been on fire when he gets time at the plate. He's hitting .331 in 157 AB with a .963 OPS, 10 HR, 43 RBI, and 4 SB. He definitely deserves a claim in NL-only leagues, but could be a nice OF flier in mixed leagues as well. Cory Sullivan may also get some of the AB left behind by Taveras, but Spilborghs should get a majority of them.
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