One of the options you can consider if you need a spot starter for fantasy baseball is Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Marco Estrada whoe here pitches in the 1st inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Wednesday all the MLB series switch locations as regional rivals continue their four-game series. As your fantasy team turnes the corner and heads for the weekend, you can give it a boost with a nice starting pitching pickup. Here are five good options who are scheduled to start Wednesday and are available in more than half of ESPN leagues:
Possible Pickups
Marco Estrada-Milwaukee Brewers: (25.6%) Estrada and the Brewers travel to Target Field and face the Twins on Wednesday. Estrada has been inconsistent in his 10 starts but was excellent in his last one allowing just one run in seven innings while matching his season-high with eight strike outs. He put up a very similar line two starts ago in Pittsburgh but struggled at St. Louis in the start in between. This will be only Estrada’s third start against a non-divisional opponent after facing the Cubs twice, the Cardinals three times, and the Pirates three times. Minnesota has been struggling offensively and will oppose Estrada with Samuel Deduno who was knocked around by the Tigers in his first start of the season resulting in his 0-1 record with a 10.13 ERA.
May 24, 2013; Boston, MA USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher John Lackey (41) pitches during the second inning against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
John Lackey-Boston Red Sox: (21.9%) Lackey hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last two starts although he’s allowed a pair of unearned runs. In five of his seven starts he’s allowed two earned runs or less and faces the Phillies Wednesday matched up against Kyle Kendrick.
Justin Grimm-Texas Rangers: (6.5%) The Rangers get a day off Tuesday after a double-header and send Grimm to the mound as they try to get back on track against the D-Backs. Grimm will be looking for his third straight quality start and his third straight win. He is 4-3 on the year with a 4.05 ERA, but has been better at home where he starts Wednesday going 2-1 with a 2.79 ERA in this three starts at Rangers Ballpark.I think he’ll have another solid start against Brandon McCarthy who has been good lately, but may be do for some regression.
May 18, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies pitcher Tyler Chatwood (32) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Tyler Chatwood-Colorado Rockies: (2.1%) Chatwood and the Rockies host the struggling Astros at Coors Field on Wednesday night. It will be Chatwood’s fifth start of the season and so far he’s been excellent winning three in a row and allowing one or zero runs in each. In those three starts he has gone 17 2/3 innings with 16 hims and 13 strikeouts while walking five. He’s lowered his ERA all the way to 1.90 and makes a good grab as he faces the strikeout-prone Astros.
John Danks-Chicago White Sox (3.9%) Danks faces the Cubs in his second outing back from the DL. He gave up three runs on four hits while walking none and striking out five in his first outing. He has been inconsistent during his rehab, but should be able to settle back in for Chicago and solidify their rotation. He’s a better long-term add than plug-and-play, but he has a decent matchup against the Cubs for that too.
Past Performance
The last week my picks have done really well although they struggled a little yesterday.