July 27, 2012

Weekly Planner

Week 18

by Paul Sporer

Despite actually posting better peripherals than last year, Ian Kennedy’s ERA and WHIP have lagged this year, but he appears to be getting back on track with back-to-back gems and a chance for a third straight and second in a week when he faces the Mets on Saturday. He is still toting a 4.20 ERA, though, so there may still be time to buy at a discount. Anyone paying attention isn’t just going to give him away, but it’s worth a shot. Frankly, I’d buy at market value, so any discount would be icing.

It was supposed to be a star-studded week in the NL with six auto-starters going, but Clayton Kershaw, R.A. Dickey, and Roy Halladay have all been smacked around in their initial start of the week. At least Zack Greinke, Gio Gonzalez, and Josh Johnson have held up their end. Of the three duds, I’m not at all worried about Kershaw, am slightly concerned about Dickey’s horrid July, and am legitimately worried that Halladay simply isn’t 100 percent yet.

Elsewhere, I’d have preferred a stronger outing from Mat Latos (5 IP, 2 ER) against Houston since his second one will come in Coors. The rest of the starts were solid, save for a pair; Clayton Richard and James McDonald failed in their first start of the week, so they have plenty of work to do in their weekend outing.

In the sits, both Joe Saunders and Chris Young were regrettable; both looked great, but they were calculated odds plays. Both allow the ball to be put into play a lot and were facing offenses who could take full advantage of it. We’ll see how they do in their weekend start and will keep an eye on them going forward to see if they merit “start” consideration the next time their two-start week comes around.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Auto-Starts: Stephen Strasburg, Madison Bumgarner, and Cliff Lee

Start
Matt Garza (vs. PIT; @ LAD)
Edwin Jackson (vs. PHI; vs. MIA)
Mike Leake (vs. SD; vs. PIT)
Homer Bailey (vs. SD; vs. PIT)
Tommy Hanson (vs. MIA; vs. HOU)
Edinson Volquez (@ CIN; vs. NYM)
Mark Buehrle (@ ATL; @ WAS)
Aaron Harang (vs. ARI; vs. CHC)
Matt Harvey (@ SF; @ SD)
Marco Estrada (vs. HOU; @ STL)
Erik Bedard (@ CHC; @ CIN)
Trevor Cahill (@ LAD; @ PHI)
Jason Marquis (@ CIN; vs. NYM)
Bud Norris (@ MIL; @ ATL)

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