Pickups for Saturday, July 21st

Ok... here are my picks for Saturday.  Why does it seem like streamers have really thinned out all of a sudden?

• Ben Sheets (ATL) - 31% - @WAS - I don't like Washington's offense and I love Sheets' curve-ball.  Let's keep your body together for a few games, big guy.
• Chris Tillman (BAL) - 2% - @CLE - He royally screwed me last time, so I almost didn't pick him.  Your move, universe.
• Alex Cobb (TB) - 4% - SEA - Gets the vs. Seattle draw.  Let's see if he can get the ball into the strike zone for 6 innings. 

Here's how Thursday went:

• Edison Volquez (SD) - 51% - HOU - 9 IP, 0 ER (0.00 ERA), 0.44 WHIP, 5 K's, and a complete game shut-out Win.  Nailed that one.
• Freddy Garcia (NYY) - 5% - @OAK - 5.2 IP, 4 ER (6.36 ERA), 1.93 WHIP, 6 K's and the loss.  Didn't nail that one.
• Mike Leake (CIN) - 16% - ARI - 5.1 IP, 6 ER (10.13 ERA), 2.25 WHIP, 2 K's, and the loss.  Getting worse.
• Luke Hochevar (KC) - 7% - SEA - Didn't pitch, so I guess that stops the bleeding.

"Pickups" for Friday, July 20th

So I didn't rush to put a list up for Friday because I don't see anyone I would stream.  The 3 players I had written down were Marco Estrada, Drew Pomeranz, and Kevin Correia.  Estrada is @CIN who is playing without Votto, but he's hardly their whole offense.  Pomeranz is @SD, but he's been all over the map this season with the walks.  Correia is at home vs MIA, but Miami has been killing me on picks for a week now.  So, I'm going to officially endorse nobody.

Here's how Wednesday's picks fared:

• Derek Holland (TEX) - 54% - @OAK - Didn't start.  Apparently his start was moved to Friday.
• Clayton Richard (SD) - 22% - HOU - 8.1 IP, 4ER (4.32 ERA), 1.08 WHIP, 2 K, Win.  The ERA could have been better, but I think I'd take it.
• Francisco Liriano (MIN) - 45% - BAL - 6 IP, 2 ER (3.00 ERA), 1.17 WHIP, 10 K, and a Loss.  Another great start from Liriano.  I'm going to add him in a few places.
• Bruce Chen (KC) - 5% - SEA - 5.1 IP, 4 ER (6.75 ERA), 1.31 WHIP, 6 K, and no decision.  Dude, where's my ERA?

Pickups for Thursday, July 19th

I'm not over the moon about anyone for Thursday, but here are 4 decent options.

• Edison Volquez (SD) - 51% - HOU - Obligatory vs. Houston pick also happens to be the obligatory in Petco pick.  If he doesn't walk the whole team he should be fine.
• Freddy Garcia (NYY) - 5% - @OAK - Oakland may be winning a ton of games, but they're not scoring a ton of runs.
• Mike Leake (CIN) - 16% - ARI - Arizona has not been good on the road all year.  Leake also hasn't been great at home, so temper expectations.
• Luke Hochevar (KC) - 7% - SEA - Here's my sleeper for the day.  He's put 2 ok starts together and nothing turns an ok streak into a great streak like facing the Mariners.

Here's how Tuesday went:

• Jon Niese (NYM) - 54% - @WAS - 7 IP, 1 ER (1.29 ERA), 0.43 WHIP, 8 K, and a no decision because the Mets bullpen sucks.  No reason he should continue to not be owned.
• Travis Wood (CHC) - 21% - MIA -  4.2 IP, 8 ER (15.45 ERA), 2.38 WHIP, 6 K's, and the Loss.  Maybe I should stop picking against Miami?  Both the Cubs and Marlins are killing me, so maybe I'll just stay away.
• Roy Oswalt (TEX) - 42% - @OAK - 6.1 IP, 1 ER (1.42 ERA), 0.47 WHIP, 6 K, and the Win. Yeah, that guy that dropped Oswalt is kicking himself right now.  Don't get cocky and hang on to him though, he's a disaster at home.

Pickups for Wednesday, July 18th

Pickups for Wednesday's games:

• Derek Holland (TEX) - 54% - @OAK - He's an ace outside of Arlington.  Oakland is outside of Arlington.
• Clayton Richard (SD) - 22% - HOU - Richard is usually good at home and Houston couldn't win in the PCL.  Seems like a no brainer, right?
• Francisco Liriano (MIN) - 45% - BAL - Baltimore isn't as tasty of a match-up as last time, but I feel confident recommending him.  He's also likely to go 5 IP and allow 7 ER, so I guess check how desperate you are.
• Bruce Chen (KC) - 5% - SEA - He's over 2 runs better at home and Seattle is over 2 runs worse on the road.  That adds up to a shut-out, right?  Math.

And now to recap the disaster that was Monday:

• Scott Diamond - 42% - BAL - 6 IP, 5 ER (7.50 ERA), 1.67 WHIP, 3 K's, and a Win.  These are the days where you want to ask yourself why you bother streaming.
• Chris Tillman - 3% - @MIN - I don't even want to talk about it.
• Kip Wells (SD) - 0% - HOU - 4.1 IP, 2 ER (4.16 ERA), 1.85 WHIP, 2 K's, and the Loss because his offense is terrible.  This really wasn't bad until the walks started piling up.  Why didn't I pick J.A. Happ?  Because he's screwed me twice before.  Sometimes streaming is just a bitch.

On Target - July 16th

Here are the teams I'm targeting this week.  This means that I'm aiming to start guys against them whenever I get the chance in the next 7 days.

1. Houston Astros - They are 29th in runs scored so far in July and I don't see them improving anytime soon.  They are @SD and @ARI this week and I'm targeting them every chance I get.
2. Seattle Mariners - The Mariners are T27 in runs scored so far in July and I also don't see them improving much anytime soon.  They are @KC and then @TB, so streaming options may actually be short due to KC's lack of decent pitching and TB's lack of available pitchers.
3. Miami Marlins - I was starting to see an up-swing, but with Stanton on the DL I think that levels out.  They've been a terrible road team so far and this week they're @CHC and @PIT.
4. Baltimore Orioles - The Orioles are a bad road team and this is a great week to take advantage as they go @MIN and @CLE.
5. Colorado Rockies - While they are T27 in runs scored for July, they are a different team at home.  They start at home vs PIT this week, but then go on the road @SD for the weekend and that's when I'll be in on them.

Pickups for Tuesday, July 17th

Here are the pickups I see helping the most on Tuesday.  I did end up picking up Chris Tillman for Monday, so today I'm dropping him for Travis Wood.

• Jon Niese (NYM) - 54% - @WAS - Why aren't my leagues any of the 46% he's available in?
• Travis Wood (CHC) - 21% - MIA - With Stanton down, Miami is once again an offense I'm going to target when they're on the road.
• Roy Oswalt (TEX) - 42% - @OAK - Want to really make the guy that grabbed Oswalt and then dropped him mad?  This should be a little bit of a rebound for Roy.

Here's how I did on Sunday:

• Jarrod Parker (OAK) - 54% - @MIN - 6 IP, 4 ER (6.00 ERA), 1.50 WHIP, 4 K, and the Win.  Nine hits in 6 innings isn't good.  Carlos Villanueva is the guy I should have gone with today.

Pickups for Monday, July 16th

Here are the few bright spots I see for Monday's games.  I don't know what my move is yet as I'm wrestling an offensive DL issue and I'm not facing an opponent that really needs to be streamed against.

• Scott Diamond - 42% - BAL - He's an automatic start at home against all but the best offenses, but availability is starting to become an issue.
• Chris Tillman - 3% - @MIN - Minnesota's offense has gone cold again, so I'm going to try and ride that with Tillman and hopefully get a bucket full of K's in the process.  The downside here is Tillman had a back spasm issue this week, so we'll see where that goes.
• Kip Wells (SD) - 0% - HOU - Welcome to the bottom of the barrel.  Wells has had a few decent starts and Houston is basically a AAA team.  This should be a good start, but don't expect more than 3 K's.

Results from Saturday:

• Joe Saunders (ARI) - 12% - @CHC - 6 IP,  3 ER (4.50 ERA), 1.33 WHIP, 4 K, and a Loss.  Joe looked rusty, but didn't issue any walks.
• Marco Estrada (MIL) - 8% - PIT - 5.2 IP, 3 ER (4.77 ERA), 1.24 WHIP, 11K, and the Loss.  Not a great ERA performance, but 11 K's are hard to shake a stick at.
• Mark Buehrle (MIA) - 59% - WAS - 7 IP, 1 ER (1.29 ERA), 1.14 WHIP, 7 K, and a Win.  7 K is impressive from Buehrle.  Very nice start.
• Aaron Harang (LAD) - 18% - SD - 7 IP, 3 ER (3.86 ERA), 0.71 WHIP, 4 K, and a Win.  Thanks, Padres!

I don't advise it:

• Tommy Milone (OAK) - 39% - @MIN - 6 IP, 2 ER (3.00 ERA), 1.83 WHIP, 4 K, and a Win.  He keeps getting around a TON of hits.