Start Kershaw tonight vs the Phillies?

[gowhitesox]

Leaning toward benching him right now because the Phillies bat scare me..... they can explode anytime on this kid and I don't want to risk it...

This week in h2h , im winning ERA and WHIP so far... but my opponent has 3.2 ERA and i have a 2.0... my whip is .850 and his is 1.6..

BUT...im down in K's 17-26... and tied in wins 1-1....

what should i do?

[Big League Chew]

I think that it depends on who do you have pitching the rest of the week. Are they K guys or are they low ERA guys or both. This should effect your decision more than the matchup. My prediction is that Kershaw gives up at least 3 ER. He'll probably get a QS and not a W, but he'll definitely give you between 6-9 K's. If he pitches 7 or more then 10Ks. I tend to like starting my guys always, but I agree that PHI is scary. So what you should do is this: look at your pitchers for the rest of the week and your opponent's. Make sure that you could possibly beat him in K's, then see if ERA for you would be good for the rest of the week. If you can possibly beat him with K's with Kershaw's start and keep the ERA then go for it. I just don't want you to start him for K's, but not be able to win because your opponent has K machines. I hope that this helps.

[iltat]

His home stats are ridiculous so far, but they've come against WAS, SDG, SFO, and LAA. I'm sitting him tonight, but I have an overabundance of 2-starts this week, so I can afford to dismiss probably 2 of my weaker matchups.

In your situation, I'd be more hard-pressed. Depends on how many SPs you're looking at for the rest of the week vs. how many your opponent's looking at. If you've got the edge on him in the amount of solid matchups for the rest of this week, then I'd sit him. If you're lagging behind considerably in that realm, then I'd also sit him. Only way I'd start him is if you think he can get the win, you think the W totals between you and your opponent will be close, and you think you'll be able to recover from the WHIP/ERA shot (look at his other SPs this week, any of them WHIP/ERA bombs waiting to happen?).

[gowhitesox]

lackey and buerhle going today for me. got kershaw benched ATM.
got verlander and dempster agaisnt LAA an reds respectively tomorrow
johan was going sunday but his start got moved to tues i believe.

my opponent has oswalt ,scott richmond ,lester and maybe lincecum against pit, KC, texas, and marlins respectively

any more insight given the additional info guys?

[iltat]

Well, due to solid outings by my opponent's SPs today, I'll be running Kershaw out there after all.

In your case, it's a tough decision, to me. It's close enough that I'd use him.

[gowhitesox]

yea im one up on my opponent in K's now... but did not get a win from buerhle or lackey... just rose my ERA to 2.7 and WHIP to 1.00

Its still risky to start kershaw... but i might take the risk