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Must Pick Up
Marlon Byrd OF, TEX - Byrd has been doing well for the last 3 fantasy weeks …
Bobby Tugs’ Advisable Start
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LA Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw - Call me a fool if you want, but I am calling young Clayton Kershaw a Must Start Two Start Pitcher this week. His first start will be against the Houston Astros and Wandy Rodriguez. Rodriguez has a surprisingly low ERA, but he doesn’t get very deep into games to give himself a chance to collect a lot of wins. In fact he is 1-3 in his last six starts, probably due to him not getting out of the 6th inning in any of those starts. This means that the Dodgers will have some innings against the Astros’ bullpen, which is good for Kershaw. His second start will be against the very talented Matt Cain. Cain is a beast like everyone knows, but since he began pitching in majors, he has the second-least run support over that time span. That gives him a sub .500 career record, making this a descent start because Kershaw will be pitching against the weak Giant offense.
Now Clayton has had his own struggles, but I look for him to get out of his “early-exit” funk this week. He’s had 5 or more strike outs in his last 6 starts, which will help out in the case of a couple no decisions. However, two no decisions are unlikely, as the Dodgers are 5-3 in their last 8 games, including a sweep at Cincinnati.
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Bobby Tugs’ Gamble
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Pittsburgh Pirates’ Zach Duke - This is another Advisable Start, but I’m putting it in my Gamble section because I’m so confident about Kershaw. Duke pitches against two decent lineups this week in Cincinnati and Milwaukee. Cincinnati’s Aaron Harang has had a lot of struggles this year and just isn’t what he used to be (3-10, 4.51 ERA), and Milwaukee’s Jeff Suppan is no ace himself, so this fairs well for Mr. Duke. He doesn’t strike out a lot of batters, but he will almost certainly give you six plus innings and a quality start. This is also a gamble because he’s away in both games, where he is 0-2 with a 4.00+ ERA this season. Regardless, I believe this is a good week to start Zach Duke, and I promise you will be surprised come next Sunday if you start him.