Replacing Masahiro Tanaka

With only two weeks left in the MLB regular season, we also welcome the penultimate week before the fantasy championship as well. These are often the weeks where heroes and zeroes manifest themselves, so owners are at the edge of their seats in anticipation.

News struck last night that may huge fantasy playoff implications, as we learned that Masahiro Tanaka will miss his next scheduled start this week against the Jays because of a slight hamstring strain.

Tanaka has been able to perform well this season even though he has been sidelined by minor ailments. He doesn’t have the continual ace like output that he showed early on his career, but for a guy with a slight tear in his elbow, he has been rock solid for fantasy owners all year.

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The Jays are always a tough draw, but his last start against them was brilliant as he blanked their offense across seven innings while striking out seven. As the Yankees have been trying to methodically chip away at the Jays lead, Tanaka has looked more and more ace-like throughout his starts this month.

Tanaka’s season line, 12 W/3.38 ERA/0.99 WHIP/136 K, profiles more as a SP3, so unfortunately there aren’t those type of performers left on the waiver wire. But, that does not mean they aren’t some potential great value replacements either.

Josh Tomlin– I have touched on Tomlin before here, but he has just continued to pitch well and has really been impressive. Over his last two starts he has amassed 14.2 IP, 2 ER,and 14 K’s. One of those starts also happened to be a complete game, four hitter against Kansas City as well.

His next opponent, you guessed it, happens to be those same Royals and Tomlin could serve up another quality start if he can build on that previous start. Out of all the options listed he is the one I would most recommend as he probably has the most upside and has been on a roll this entire month.

CC Sabathia– No this isn’t a misprint, as CC has been able to provide the Yanks some much needed quality innings over the course of his last two starts. Sabathia has had a rough year, no doubt, and he has rightfully been well off the fantasy radar. But his last two starts showed flashes of the Milwaukee Sabathia that single handedly carried them to the playoffs in 2008.

CC is a true gamer and will give everything he has on the mound as he has been written off as washed up all season. Over his two outings he has, 12.2 IP/1 ER/13 K’s, stat lines that we all remember seeing from vintage CC. His next matchup is against the White Sox in Chicago, so it serves as a decent matchup this week and it hard to ignore how well he has looked lately.

Rich Hill– Once again I swear I am not crazy, but yes this is the same crafty left hander that has pitched for four teams over the last three seasons. No one saw this coming, but he has been one of the best pitchers in baseball over the last two weeks.

He is coming off back to back 10 K’s performances of both the Rays and Blue Jays, and his stuff has been the sharpest it has ever looked. Against Tampa he was nearly unhittable as he only surrendered one hit over seven innings, but then he validated himself once again by going into Toronto and only giving up three earned runs over seven innings.

His next start is against the Orioles in Boston, and Hill certainly has momentum on his side. His marquee curveball has looked outstanding, so owners have to be impressed that he is even in the waiver wire conversation at this point. It is certainly a high risk move, but if you can somehow capitalize on his current hot stretch, you would truly look like a genius.

Tim Hudson– Fitting into the veteran theme thus far, Hudson has been pitching like his younger self over his last three starts as he enters into the last two weeks of his career. He has not given up more than one run over his last three starts and has also notched two wins in the process.

From a matchup standpoint Hudson gets the lite hitting A’s in Oakland for his next start, serving as one of, if not the best matchups out of all these options. I personally think he will go all out against the A’s, as his career will basically come full circle as he looks to end it on a high note at the very place he dominated at in the early 2000’s.

His K upside is capped due to his contact oriented approach at this stage of his career, but he should be able to notch another quality start and supply solid ERA and WHIP production. None of these options are sexy, but they all serve as capable replacements in this all important week.

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