Fantasy baseball daily players need to pay attention to a variety of things. Here is what they have learned about some big-name pitchers these year, who haven’t quite looked great when it comes to fantasy baseball daily leagues:
Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers
Verlander’s 3.54 ERA and 1.38 WHIP are not what fantasy owners bargained for when they made him the first pitcher selected on average in Yahoo! fantasy drafts. Particularly frustrating is when he alternates between pitching like an ace and making you wish you had left him on the bench. In Verlander’s first and third starts in July, he allowed no earned runs in seven innings each time, giving up a total of just four hits. But in his second and fourth starts, he allowed five earned runs each time, giving up a total of 20 hits. In Verlander’s first three starts in August, he allowed three ER in 16 innings in the first and third starts, sandwiched around giving up four ER in seven innings in the second start.
Verlander has had a significant day/night split in 2013. In 15 day starts, he has a 2.45 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. In 11 night starts, he has a 5.08 ERA and 1.54 WHIP. For his career, Verlander has a 2.80 ERA and 1.08 WHIP during the day and a 3.79 ERA and 1.25 WHIP at night.
R.A. Dickey, Toronto Blue Jays
The 2012 National League Cy Young winner has had a rough first year with the Blue Jays. Last season, Dickey had a 2.70 ERA, 1.05 ERA and NL-leading 230 strikeouts (8.9 K/9). This season, Dickey has a 4.49 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 6.8 K/9.
Last season with the Mets, Dickey had the advantage of pitching his home games at Citi Field, where he had a 2.59 ERA and 0.99 WHIP, as opposed to a 2.90 ERA and 1.12 WHIP on the road.
But this season, Dickey has really struggled at Rogers Centre, where he has a 5.79 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. Dickey has done much better on the road, with a 3.23 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. He has allowed 19 HR at home vs. eight on the road. Dickey’s 2013 road batting average against (.238) is actually lower than his road BAA in his Cy Young season (.244).
Jered Weaver, Los Angeles Angels
Weaver, who missed seven weeks with a fractured elbow, has a 3.49 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 17 starts. He has not finished a season with numbers that high since 2009. At home, Weaver has a 2.25 ERA and 1.08 WHIP, but on the road he has a 5.03 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. On August 14, Weaver allowed nine runs against the Yankees in five innings at Yankee Stadium, but even without that start, his road ERA would be 3.74.
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Did you know?
Through 26 starts, Toronto’s R.A. Dickey had a lower road batting average against (.238) than he did in his Cy Young 2012 (.244).
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=dicker.01&year=2013&t=p
