Sunday, May 29, 2011

Young guns Sunday

A ton of young starters throw on Sunday looking to prove they belong, or continue to belong, in major league rotations. Here's a look at what to watch for:

1:05 PM EST - DET: Andy Oliver (0-0, NA) vs. Clay Buchholz, BOS
1:10 PM EST - PHI: Vance Worley (2-0, 2.14 ERA) vs. Jonathon Niese, NYM
1:35 PM EST - WSH: Yunesky Maya (0-0, NA) vs. Dustin Moseley, SD
2:05 PM EST - ARZ: Josh Collmenter (3-1, 1.19 ERA) vs. J.A. Happ, HOU
3:05 PM EST - KC: Danny Duffy (0-0, 3.86 ERA) vs. Alexi Ogando, TEX
4:05 PM EST - OAK: Guillermo Moscoso (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Zach Britton, BAL

***Oliver is a solid prospect hoping to earn Phil Coke's rotation spot. A lefty, Oliver was solid across the board in the minor leagues.

***Worley is getting his second shot at starting, this time for the injured Joe Blanton, who is on rest before needing a rehab stint. Worley is hoping to hold onto the job for the interim.

***Maya isn't really a prospect. At 29 years old he's simply holding a place for Tom Gorzelanny until the Nats deem their lefty ready to return from an elbow issue. Maya, a Cuban defector, did nice work in the minors.

***Collmenter has been a star at starter since sliding into the role from a bullpen spot. He isn't getting much love in fantasy circles despite just two earned runs in 16 1/3 innings as a starter. His minor league numbers are strong, however, and he's worth a flier at this point.

***Duffy possesses dominant stuff and didn't walk a lot of hitters in the minors, but that's been his issue at the MLB level. Chalk it up for nerves in each of his first two starts. He could put it together at any moment.

***Moscoso won his first start filling in for injured Tyler Ross. The 27-year-old has toiled in the minors a long time, but he's got the numbers to suggest he can hang around at the MLB level.

No sidetrack on Swarzak

Twins fill-in starter Anthony Swarzak pitches a gem in his first major league start since 2009, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning before Angles center fielder Peter Bourjos breaks it up with a double. Swarzak earned a no-decision as the game was decided in extra innings, 1-0 Twins.

Fantasy Impact: Before this performance, Swarzak wasn't expected to last long in the Twins rotation. With Francisco Liriano expected to return after missing this one start, Swarzak doesn't have much chance of seeing another start. He's posted decent minor league numbers over his eight-year professional career, but his 7.71 ERA in relief this year with the Twins and 6.25 ERA over 12 starts in 2009, leaves much to be desired. It looks like one day of brilliance for the right-hander and little fantasy value moving forward.

Astros call up Lyles

Jordan Lyles, former first-round pick of the Houston Astros will make his MLB debut for the 'Stros on Tuesday against the Cubs. Lyles is just 20 years old and already in his second season at Triple-A.

Fantasy Impact: We've seen uber-young starting pitchers hit the big leagues in recent seasons, so the sticker-shock of Lyles age shouldn't be too scary. He's got to have an impressive makeup to reach the big leagues so quickly. That said, Astros management may be reaching to save their jobs with this one. Lyles is not putting up the kind of numbers to make you believe he'll succeed immediately at baseball's highest level. For starters, he owns a losing record (20-29) across parts of three minor league seasons with six different teams. At Triple-A he's 3-6 and is struggling to punch hitters out (6.3 K per nine). Lyles has given up more than a hit an inning at the minor league level, which doesn't inspire a ton of confidence at the MLB level even if he's limiting the home run ball (0.6 per nine over his MiLB career). We'll reserve further judgment until after we've seen him pitch against the Cubs on Tuesday, but the recommendation is to leave him on the waiver wire until he proves he can put things together against a big league team or two.

Bailey Reds' latest pitching problem

News of Homer Bailey hitting the DL with a sprained shoulder adds to the compounding problems the Reds are having with starting pitching. Chad Reineke appears to be the spot starter for Bailey's supposed short DL stint.

Fantasy Impact: Bailey had been pitching well and deserves a DL spot in fantasy play. Reineke, despite some decent MiLB numbers at Triple-A this year, is not much of spot-start option in fantasy.