One option for fantasy baseball owners looking for starting pitching help to consider is San Diego Padres starting pitcher Edinson Volquez who here throws during the fifth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Thursday’s Major League Baseball schedule is a bit light with just nine games on tap. The Mets and Cardinals are the only matinee performance with everyone else under the lights as they wrap-up their series or get an early start against their weekend opponent. Even with a limited slate there are options for fantasy baseball owners. Although there’s risk involved with each, here’s three potential options for you to consider if you’re searching the waiver wire for starting pitching help:
Possible Pickups
February 17, 2013; Bradenton, FL, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Francisco Liriano (47) poses for photo day at Pirate City. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Francisco Liriano-Pittsburgh Pirates: (9.3% owned in ESPN leagues) Liriano looked great in his first start back off the DL going 5 1/2 against the Mets and holding them to one run on six hits while striking out nine. Liriano and the Bucs host the Brewers Thursday night as he matches up against Hiram Burgos who was shelled at Cincinnati in his last start.
Edinson Volquez-San Diego Padres: (1.8%) After a rough start, Volquez has pitched much better in his last four starts going 3-0 and allowing seven runs in 25 1/3 innings. He gets the start at home Thursday against the Nationals. While Washington is playing well, their offense hasn’t been hitting on all cylinders lately and Volquez should have a nice start at home. In his last two at Petco he’s allowed one total run in 13 2/3 innings. He’s risky after a horrid start to the season, but could pay off as he returns to form.
Jerome Williams-Los Angeles Angels: (0.8%) Williams has two starts on the season and his last one was the more effective of the two. He wen t 6 2/3 in Chicago allowing seven hits and two runs while walking one and striking out three. He got the win over Jose Quintana who he’ll face again in this start as the White Sox visit Los Angeles. Williams isn’t going to pile up K’s but can get you a W and some innings as he showed his last time out in almost this exact same matchup, just in a different location.
Past Performance
Here’s my stats from the last week:
| Starter | Date | IP | ER | K | H | BB | W | L | ||
| Chris Tillman | 8-May | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Bud Norris | 8-May | 8 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Jake Westbrook | 8-May | 5 1/3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Jason Marquis | 8-May | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Jason Vargas | 9-May | 5 2/3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Jeff Locke | 9-May | 6 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Freddy Garcia | 9-May | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Jose Fernandez | 10-May | 6 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Wandy Rondriguez | 10-May | 6 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Day Straily | 10-May | 5 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Kevin Slowey | 11-May | 4 2/3 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Jhoulys Chacin | 11-May | 5 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Jerome Williams | 11-May | 6 2/3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Brandon Maurer | 11-May | 5 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Wei-Yin Chen | 12-May | 5 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Scott Feldman | 12-May | 6 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Jorge De La Rosa | 12-May | 7 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Hector Santiago | 13-May | 5 2/3 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Travis Wood | 13-May | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Justin Grimm | 13-May | 5 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Chris Tillman | 14-May | 7 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Jeff Locke | 14-May | 6 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Scott Kazmir | 14-May | 5 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Carlos Villanueva | 14-May | 5 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| ERA | WHIP | |||||||||
| Totals: | 142 | 63 | 90 | 156 | 43 | 9 | 9 | 3.99 | 1.40 |