It's true. With Adam Aizer, Jamey Eisenberg and Dave Richard tantalizing the Fantasy Football crowd with some strategy talk today at noon ET, Fantasy Baseball Today has the day off, which means owners in daily salary cap leagues (you know who you are) are without their daily fix.
Or are they?
See, before anyone thought to put video on the Internet, people shared ideas via the written word. Believe it or not, we can still make use of it today.
And so we will ... beginning now.
Starts
Danny Duffy, SP, Royals at Diamondbacks (Wade Miley)
-Not only does Duffy have a 1.83 ERA in his last 11 starts, but he's facing Paul Goldschmidt-less, Martin Prado-less, Gerardo Parra-less Diamondbacks lineup. Yummy.
Zack Wheeler, SP, Mets at Nationals (Gio Gonzalez)
-The head-to-head matchup with Gonzalez isn't enough to scare me away from a pitcher who throws 98 mph and has a 1.63 ERA in his last six starts. The fact the Nationals are averaging just 3.7 runs in their last 10 games doesn't hurt either.
Chris Carter, 1B/OF, Astros at Phillies (Kyle Kendrick)
-Carter has nine home runs in his last 23 games. Kyle Kendrick has allowed six in his last five. Sounds like a match made in heaven, right? At Citizens Bank Park, sparks (or at least baseballs) will fly.
Josh Harrison, 2B/3B/OF, Pirates vs. Marlins (Brad Hand)
-Not that it matters, really, since he's been playing every day for three months anyway, but Harrison officially has a starting job for the Pirates. He's also batting .444 (16 for 36) with five home runs in his last eight games. I like his chances to keep it going better than the suspiciously effective Hand's.
Josh Rutledge, 2B/SS, Rockies vs. Cubs (Travis Wood)
-As productive as Rutledge has been since stepping in for the injured Troy Tulowitzki, you probably don't need additional justification to start him, but here it is: He's batting .368 against lefties. Travis Wood not only throws left-handed but is coming off a month in which he compiled a 6.89 ERA.
Sits
Brett Anderson, SP, Rockies vs. Cubs (Travis Wood)
-Anderson's last three starts may have been just good enough to lure in Fantasy owners, but considering he surrendered four walks in one of them and 11 hits in another, I'm still skeptical he's equipped to survive Coors Field, even with the Cubs coming to town.
Tim Lincecum, SP, Giants at Brewers (Jimmy Nelson)
-Nothing good about Lincecum's last couple starts. Blame the July 22 relief appearance for throwing him off if you must, but I just think we've been suckered again.
Lucas Duda, 1B/OF, Mets at Nationals (Gio Gonzalez)
-As hot as Duda has been -- and over the last nine weeks, he's been a top-six first baseman in Fantasy -- he rarely starts vs. left-handers, sitting against the last two. Gonzalez is one who often pitches deep into games, so don't count on a mid-game substitution.
Kole Calhoun, OF, Angels at Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw)
-This one is pretty straightforward. After playing out of his mind in June and most of July, Calhoun is batting just .222 (12 for 54) in his last 13 games, and he's going against Kershaw. Yup.
Jason Kipnis, 2B, Indians vs. Reds (Johnny Cueto)
-In standard Fantasy leagues, you'd probably stick with Kipnis just for upside's sake, but when you have your choice of any and every second baseman, as is the case in a salary cap league, he's clearly not the way to go right now, especially with Cueto on tap. Kipnis is batting just .167 (10 for 60) in his last 15 games and has hit just three home runs in two months since returning from an oblique injury.
