2014 Fantasy Baseball: Week 1 Pitching Preview
This year’s pitching preview will give you more information to dominate your opponents. I’ll give you a general overview of whom to start and sit in mixed leagues, which will include a list of two-start pitchers; rankings of one-start pitchers; streamable starters owned in under 50 percent of ESPN leagues; as well as starters you should either pick up and hold on to or drop.
The pitching preview will be published over the weekend with updates throughout the weekend and as many Mondays as possible to be as current as can be before rosters lock on Mondays for those of you in weekly leagues. As always, feel free to comment here or contact me on Twitter @44AMiller.
Two-start pitchers
The pitchers’ starts highlighted in red are borderline options I recommend sitting, while the pitchers’ starts in green are borderline or low-owned pitchers I’d recommend starting, at least in leagues where you can set your lineups daily.
| Pitcher | Opponent 1 | Opponent 2 |
| A.J. Burnett | Tue at TEX | Sun at CHC |
| Adam Wainwright | Mon at CIN | Sun at PIT |
| Alex Cobb | Tue vs. TOR | Sun vs. TEX |
| Alex Wood | Tue at MIL | Sun at WSH |
| Andrew Cashner | Sun vs. LAD | Sat at MIA |
| Brandon McCarthy | Mon vs. SF | Sat at COL |
| Brett Anderson | Tue at MIA | Sun vs. ARI |
| CC Sabathia | Tue at HOU | Sun at TOR |
| Chris Sale | Mon vs. MIN | Sun at KC |
| Chris Tillman | Mon vs. BOS | Sat at DET |
| Cliff Lee | Mon at TEX | Sat at CHC |
| David Price | Mon vs. TOR | Sat vs. TEX |
| Dillon Gee | Mon vs. WSH | Sat vs. CIN |
| Drew Hutchison | Tue at TB | Sun vs. NYY |
| Erasmo Ramirez | Tue at LAA | Sun at OAK |
| Felix Hernandez | Mon at LAA | Sat at OAK |
| Francisco Liriano | Mon vs. CHC | Sat vs. STL |
| Hyun-jin Ryu | Sun at SD | Sat vs. SF |
| Ian Kennedy | Mon vs. LAD | Sun at MIA |
| James Shields | Mon at DET | Sun vs. CWS |
| Jeff Samardzija | Mon at PIT | Sat at PHI |
| Jered Weaver | Mon vs. SEA | Sun at HOU |
| Johnny Cueto | Mon vs. STL | Sat at NYM |
| Jon Lester | Mon at BAL | Sun vs. MIL |
| Jorge De La Rosa | Mon at MIA | Sat vs. ARI |
| Jose Fernandez | Mon vs. COL | Sat vs. SD |
| Julio Teheran | Mon at MIL | Sat at WSH |
| Justin Masterson | Mon at OAK | Sun vs. MIN |
| Justin Verlander | Mon vs. KC | Sun vs. BAL |
| Madison Bumgarner | Mon at ARI | Sat at LAD |
| Matt Cain | Tue at ARI | Sun at LAD |
| Nathan Eovaldi | Tue vs. COL | Sun vs. SD |
| R.A. Dickey | Mon at TB | Sat vs. NYY |
| Ricky Nolasco | Mon at CWS | Sun at CLE |
| Scott Feldman | Tue vs. NYY | Sun vs. LAA |
| Scott Kazmir | Tue vs. CLE | Sun vs. SEA |
| Sonny Gray | Mon vs. CLE | Sat vs. SEA |
| Stephen Strasburg | Mon at NYM | Sat vs. ATL |
| Tanner Scheppers | Mon vs. PHI | Sun at TB |
| Trevor Cahill | Wed vs. SF | Sun at COL |
| Yovani Gallardo | Mon vs. ATL | Sun at BOS |
A lot of these pitchers are your aces and No. 2’s so I won’t comment on them since you’re going to be starting them pretty much no matter what.
- I wasn’t touching Jered Weaver this draft season – his K%, FIP, xFIP and velocity have all taken turns for the worse in the past few years – but no one has an easier start to the season than he does: home against Seattle and at Houston.
- If you can I’d sit A.J. Burnett against Texas. He walked 4.2 per nine innings this spring and hit seven batters in just over 19 innings.
- Alex Wood should be owned and started in all leagues. His numbers in last year’s debut were right in line with his minor league numbers, and neither of his matchups this week are too scary.
- Brett Anderson at Miami is a very intriguing start. His groundball percentage is amazing, and he should be able to at least give you a quality start.
- Keep an eye on Drew Hutchison. I’m not going to recommend you start him as his matchups aren’t very good, but he did have a good spring (19 K, 4 BB, 15 IP) and his minor league numbers are very good.
- Ian Kennedy has two plus matchups, and while I could understand you not using him against the Dodgers you should use him against Miami
- Nate Eovaldi has two good matchups at home – Colorado and San Diego. I’d stream him in both starts.
- I’d sit Scheppers, Cahill and Gallardo until we saw what Scheppers is like as a starter and until the other two prove that we can rely on them again.
- Chris Tillman had a strong 2013, but starts out 2014 with two tough opponents. I’d start Wood, Eovaldi and Kennedy over him.
One-start rankings
The pitchers ranked below are single-start pitchers who I’d feel comfortable with starting in almost any league, starting at 10-teamers to 16-team leagues and beyond. You’re obviously starting a lot of these names, but the ranks closer to the bottom will help you decide on whom to start in weekly leagues or in leagues with start limits.
Clayton Kershaw – Fri vs. SF – Scheduled to start Friday, but it remains to be seen if he will due to his back injury.Kershaw was placed on the DL Saturday night and will be able to come off the DL April 6 or 7 at the earliest.- Max Scherzer – Wed vs. KC
- Zack Greinke – Tue at SD
- Jordan Zimmermann – Thu at NYM
- Anibal Sanchez – Thu vs. KC
- Masahiro Tanaka – Fri at TOR
- Homer Bailey – Thu vs. STL
- Gerrit Cole – Fri vs. STL
- Gio Gonzalez – Wed at NYM
- Shelby Miller – Fri at PIT
- Michael Wacha – Wed at CIN
- Ivan Nova – Thu at HOU
- Danny Salazar – Fri vs. MIN
- Hiroki Kuroda – Wed at HOU
- Dan Haren – Wed at SD
- C.J. Wilson – Tue vs. SEA
- Clay Buchholz – Sat vs. MIL
- Chris Archer – Thu vs. TOR
- Zack Wheeler – Thu vs. WSH
- Jake Peavy – Fri vs. MIL
- Matt Garza – Wed vs. ATL
- Drew Smyly – Sat vs. BAL
- Tyson Ross – Wed vs. LAD
- Tyler Skaggs – Sat at HOU
- Travis Wood – Fri vs. PHI
- Dan Straily – Thu vs. SEA
- John Lackey – Wed at BAL
- Rick Porcello – Fri vs. BAL
- Kyle Lohse – Tue vs. ATL
- Tony Cingrani – Wed vs. STL
- Hector Santiago – Wed vs. SEA
- Tim Hudson – Wed at ARI
- Martin Perez – Tue vs. PHI
- Corey Kluber – Tue at OAK
- Michael Pineda – Sat at TOR
- Marco Estrada – Fri at BOS
- Starters to pass on:
Matt Moore Wed vs. TOR, Bartolo Colon Wed vs. WSH, Tim Lincecum Thu at ARI.
Streaming Starters
- Hector Santiago – Wed vs. SEA – He has a career 8.73 K/9 in the Majors and he should be able to do well against Seattle’s lefty-heavy lineup.
- Tyler Skaggs – Sat vs. HOU – Skaggs improved his mechanics this spring and was throwing harder as a result. A season opener against Houston is the best you could ask for.
- Martin Perez – Tue vs. PHI – The Phillies were seventh-worst in wOBA last year against lefties, and their lineup still has five lefties plus a pitcher.
- Tyson Ross – Wed vs. LAD – Struck out over 23 percent of hitters last year and improved his ground ball rate to 52 percent for his career. That’ll play in Petco.
- Corey Kluber – Tue at OAK – Underowned at just 11 percent of ESPN leagues, Kluber had an 8.3 K/9 last year with a 3.85 ERA and 3.30 FIP. He’s not sexy but he’s pretty effective.
The Author
