At Home Plate - The Fantasy Ticker (June 18 through June 24)

At Home Plate

The Fantasy Ticker (June 18 through June 24)

Written by Daniel Paulling (Contact & Archive) on June 17, 2007

Got a fantasy baseball question? Email Bryan's Fantasy Mailbag at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and he'll answer your questions every Tuesday.

Two Start Pitchers You Gotta Use
Curt Schilling, BOS - @ ATL, @ SD
Jose Contreras, CHW – vs. FLA, vs. CHC
Cliff Lee, CLE – vs. PHI, @ WAS
Mike Maroth, DET - @ WAS, @ ATL
John Lackey, LAA – vs. HOU, vs. PIT
Joe Blanton, OAK – vs. CIN, @ NYN
John Maine, NYM – vs. MIN, vs. OAK
Cole Hamels, PHI - @ CLE, @ STL
Ben Sheets, MIL – vs. SF, vs. KC
Brad Penny, LAD - @ TOR, @ TB
Jake Peavy, SD – vs. BAL, vs. BOS

Still Worthwhile, but Not Necessary
Steve Trachsel, BAL - @ SD, @ ARI
Mike Mussina, NYY - @ COL, @ SF
Dustin McGowan, TOR – vs. LAD, vs. COL
Carlos Silva, MIN - @ NYM, @ FLA
Miguel Batista, SEA – vs. PIT, vs. CIN
Robinson Tejeda, TEX – vs. CHC, vs. HOU
Chuck James, ATL – vs. BOS, vs. DET
Josh Johnson, FLA - @ CHW, vs. MIN
Adam Wainwright, STL – vs. KC, vs. PHI
Livan Hernandez, ARI – vs. TB, vs. BAL
Noah Lowry, SF - @ MIL, vs. NYY
Yovani Gallardo, MIL – vs. SF, vs. KC
Ian Snell, PIT - @ SEA, @ LAA

Only If You Want
Edwin Jackson, TB - @ ARI, vs. LAD
Odalis Perez, KC - @ STL, @ MIL
Matt Chico, WAS – vs. DET, vs. CLE
Jason Simontacchi, WAS – vs. DET, vs. CLE
Sean Marshall, CHC - @ TEX, @ CHW
Kyle Lohse, CIN - @ OAK, @ SEA
Chris Sampson, HOU - @ LAA, @ TEX

Seven Games This Week: Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox
Six Games This Week: Everyone else

At Hitter’s Parks This Week
Fenway Park - NONE
Great American Ballpark - NONE
Coors Field – NYY (June 19-21)
Kaufmann Stadium - NONE
Yankee Stadium - NONE

At Pitcher’s Parks This Week
PNC Park - NONE
Rogers Centre – LAD (June 19-21), COL (June 22-24)
Turner Field – BOS (June 18-20), DET (June 22-24)
McAfee Coliseum – CIN (June 18-20)
PETCO Park – BAL (June 19-21), BOS (June 22-24)

Ratchet ’em Up
OF Bobby Abreu, NYY – There were “experts” ready to write of Bobby Abreu’s 2007 season, but when you take pitches like he does and get on base that often, you’re going to be a decent hitter. The New York Yankees are heating up and heading to Coors Field this coming week. It’s Abreu time, but it might be too late to buy super low on him.

SS Jose Reyes, NYM – He may have lost all of his “buy-slightly-lower-than-normal” price after Friday’s dominance of the Yankees, but Jose Reyes is slowly heating back up. He’s been a streaky player throughout his career, and now he’s getting hot again.

SS Orlando Cabrera, LAA – The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are starting to heat up offensively, and that depends largely on the bat of Orlando Cabrera, who’s scoring a ton of runs. He won’t hit for much power, but then again, if you’re looking for that from your shortstop, you’re desperate.

OF Hideki Matsui, NYY – Another lefty-hitting New York Yankees outfielder?! This one, Hideki Matsui, has been battling some ineffectiveness this season, but he’s slowly beginning to wake up at the plate. Once again, a trip to Coors Field cures what ails you.

3B Garrett Atkins, COL – He was an amazing hitter last season, if you played the home vs. road spilt correctly. It took Atkins a little bit of time to get going this season, but he’s finally doing so. Look for him to perform well at home this week, as well as against the Toronto Blue Jays on the road. He’s too good of a hitter to continue struggling.

RP Santiago Casilla, OAK – This relief pitcher threw five innings, struck out four, won once, and saved a game. Talk about contributions across the board. If he continues pitching this well, he may be taking over for Alan Embree as Oakland’s closer.

SP Jeremy Guthrie, BAL – The cost of Jaret Wright? $3 million and Chris Britton. The cost of Jeremy Guthrie? $20,000 and no other players. There are gems on the waiver wire, you just gotta know where to find them. The Baltimore Orioles gambled on this former Stanford product and are doing very well for themselves. Now, if they had a bullpen, Guthrie would be getting some Ws along with those amazing stats.

SP Hong-Chih Kuo, LAD – This multiple Tommy John surgery survivor is rounding out into form, putting together a very good start his last outing: seven innings, one earned run, and a win. He throw 95 from the left side, which makes him absolutely deadly. Take a gamble on him; he’s worth it.

Ratchet ’em Down
OF Carlos Beltran, NYM – It looks like that bruised knee is bothering him more than he was previously letting on. Over the past week, Beltran has a .200 batting average, no homers, and no RBIs. This may be a precursor to a disabled list stay.

SS JJ Hardy, MIL – We knew it had to end sometime, and this is likely it. He hit no homers last week and only contributed a measly run scored. It’s not like that .227 batting average is helping your squad either.

OF Johnny Damon, BOS – He’s got a strained abdominal muscle, now. Perhaps that’s been the reason Damon’s been slumping recently. We can only hope that he turns things around, because it’s been a very disappointing year for his fantasy owners.

C Brian McCann, ATL – I don’t understand why the Atlanta Braves keep running Brian McCann out there. His left wrist and left ankle are bothering him too much to be the player he was last year. It makes more sense to place him on the disabled list and let Jarrod Saltalamacchia get time behind the plate.

SP Felix Hernandez, SEA – King Felix hasn’t been looking too regal lately. In his last two starts, he got knocked around to the tune of a 5.25 ERA in 12 innings, combined with a 1.75 WHIP. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but it better not require major elbow surgery.

SP Josh Beckett, BOS – If you take a look at Beckett’s dominance early in the year, it can be attributed to one thing: getting lucky on not allowing home runs. Well, he allowed a home in his last start, and that one was a grand slam. He’ll start getting taken deep, especially with Fenway Park leading the major leagues in Park Factor.

SP Jason Schmidt, LAD – Where, oh, where, did his fastball go?

RP Brad Lidge, HOU – He has had some good outings late, but blowing his first save probably does not bode well with manager Phil Garner. Especially when you give up a home run to blow it.

Got a fantasy baseball question? Email Bryan's Fantasy Mailbag at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and he'll answer your questions every Tuesday.

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