Ask the King: Fantasy Baseball King's mail bag

[fantasybaseballking]

Zhangman---

Start Drabek vs. the Angels?

Thanks

I am, myself. Angels offense isn't as good as some may believe it to be, and Drabek seems like the kind of rookie who will go on a nice roll before hitters begin to figure him out.

Good luck!

[dracovonborax]

Beckett vs. the Yanks tonight. he didn't look great in his 1st start, do you roll the dice here?

[Zhangman1]

Looking to move either Brandon League or Sean Burnett. League has Aardsma coming up and Storen has been looking good in DC. Which do you think has LESS job security?

Thanks in advance

[fantasybaseballking]

Beckett vs. the Yanks tonight. he didn't look great in his 1st start, do you roll the dice here?

Hmm, I don't usually get "who to start questions," so thanks for mixing it up

If this were my team, I'd wait until Beckett got things rolling. For a few reasons:

1. He's recovering from injury and an off-year.
2. His career (132.1 IP) ERA against the Yankees is 6.26.
3. His night-time ERA vs daytime is 4.03 vs. 3.78
4. His spring wasn't too pretty, either.

My suggestion:

Wait until Beckett gets on a roll, and don't start him until he does. When he's thriving, he's amongst the best. But when a power pitcher, especially one recovering from injury, is down, he's a blink of the eye away from being Oliver Perez. (Sorry Ollie!)

Good luck!

[Lips]

My league is a standard 12 team 5x5 league. pitching stats are wins, saves, era, whip, k's.

My pitching staff:
Heath Bell
Jon Broxton
Huston Street
Justin Verlander
Josh Johnson
Tim Hudson
Trevor Cahill
CJ Wilson
and Mike Pelfrey

Pelfrey has killed me so far. I also have on my bench

John Lannan
Barry Zito
Jordan Walden
Jose Contreras
Brandon Webb
Johan Santana

The question: Who do I start this week: Pelfrey or Walden?

Pelfrey starts twice this week: Could get two wins, could blow up on me.

Walden plays cleveland and White sox.

I am leading in saves so far, and am looking to build a lead in saves that can't be caught before having a mid-season trade of a closer or two for a great player.

Also, I am thinking about picking up Ogando from the waiver wire, if I do, who should I drop?

[fantasybaseballking]

Zhangmang-

Beckett vs. the Yanks tonight. he didn't look great in his 1st start, do you roll the dice here?



Hmm, I don't usually get "who to start questions," so thanks for mixing it up

If this were my team, I'd wait until Beckett got things rolling. For a few reasons:

1. He's recovering from injury and an off-year.
2. His career (132.1 IP) ERA against the Yankees is 6.26.
3. His night-time ERA vs daytime is 4.03 vs. 3.78
4. His spring wasn't too pretty, either.

My suggestion:

Wait until Beckett gets on a roll, and don't start him until he does. When he's thriving, he's amongst the best. But when a power pitcher, especially one recovering from injury, is down, he's a blink of the eye away from being Oliver Perez. (Sorry Ollie!)

Good luck!

Sorry dude, it didn't work out as I assumed it would. This goes to show- predictions/projections are more art than science.

Anyway, hope your team is going well, and feel free to send any other questions my way. Too bad this one was a dud

Good luck the rest of the way.

[fantasybaseballking]

My league is a standard 12 team 5x5 league. pitching stats are wins, saves, era, whip, k's.

My pitching staff:
Heath Bell
Jon Broxton
Huston Street
Justin Verlander
Josh Johnson
Tim Hudson
Trevor Cahill
CJ Wilson
and Mike Pelfrey

Pelfrey has killed me so far. I also have on my bench

John Lannan
Barry Zito
Jordan Walden
Jose Contreras
Brandon Webb
Johan Santana

The question: Who do I start this week: Pelfrey or Walden?

Pelfrey starts twice this week: Could get two wins, could blow up on me.

Walden plays cleveland and White sox.

I am leading in saves so far, and am looking to build a lead in saves that can't be caught before having a mid-season trade of a closer or two for a great player.

Also, I am thinking about picking up Ogando from the waiver wire, if I do, who should I drop?

As a Mets fan, I've grown used to Pelfrey's emotional roller coaster seasons. He can just as easily be an ace for 10+ starts as post an ERA north of 6.00 (or 15.00, in this case) for just as long. I want to say let Pelfrey take the two starts, but am afraid he is emotionally not ready yet. The trademarks of a Pelfrey disaster have been easy to spot:

- Removing cap and rubbing head
- Licking hands
- Walking off mound

These may sound silly, but he just doesn't do them when he's on. Finally, his cutter-- which helped him start off so great last season-- has simply not been employed. Finally, even if he's on, Pelfrey isn't a strikeout pitcher.

My suggestion: Start Walden (Cleveland will be easy, White Sox are more difficult but I believe in Walden) and keep Pelfrey benched until he throws 2 good starts in a row.

As for Ogando, that's a great pickup idea. If you feel you can wait until Webb and Santana are healthy, drop Lannan.

Good luck!

[fantasybaseballking]

Looking to move either Brandon League or Sean Burnett. League has Aardsma coming up and Storen has been looking good in DC. Which do you think has LESS job security?

Thanks in advance

Oooh,tough one

I doubt there's any chance League keeps his job once Aardsma is back, and while he's a great fill-in closer and wonderful set-up guy, it'll be Aardsma's job save an injury.

Burnett, while succeeding, is NOT the long-term plan in Washington, however. Storen is the closer of the future, and the future could be imminent. Sadly, there's no way to know. As such, I have to suggest holding Burnett.

Worst case scenario is that Burnett returns to being a shut down setup guy, just like League will soon again be.

Good luck!

[fantasybaseballking]

Bump

Answering a lot of questions over at http://www.fantasybaseballcafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=421667

Would love to do the same here!

[pizzaboy76]

Who do I start at 2B this week, Callaspo or KJ?

Callaspo has been hitting very well, but I'm wondering how many games he'll play this week with Aybar back starting Monday.

KJ is in a 0-15 slump and was benched yesterday to help him figure things out.