Two Start Pitchers - April 2 - April 8
April 02, 2007
A new season means a new look at The Hook. Starting today, we'll be bringing you the same great content you've gotten for the past four years. However, rather than giving you the one huge column that you're used to, we're breaking it down to make it easier for you to find what you're looking for! To go along with this change, we'll now be writing The Hook for you three times a week instead of once. Just find what you're looking for in the categorical menu on the right!
Let's Play Two will be something we'll be doing every Saturday throughout the year which will be highlighting all pitchers projected to make two starts in the upcoming fantasy week, running Monday through Sunday each week. This can be a particularly useful tool for those of you either in leagues that use weekly transactions and for those of you in head to head leagues. To play along, we'll select a starter from each league and keep track of our statistics based on our Start of the Week. All home games are in CAPS.
American League
Erik Bedard - Minnesota, New York Yankees
Curt Schilling - Kansas City, Texas
Jose Contreras - CLEVELAND, MINNESOTA
C.C. Sabathia - Chicago White Sox, SEATTLE
Jeremy Bonderman - TORONTO, Kansas City
Gil Meche - BOSTON, DETROIT
John Lackey - TEXAS, OAKLAND
Kelvim Escobar - TEXAS, OAKLAND
Johan Santana - BALTIMORE, Chicago White Sox
Carl Pavano - TAMPA BAY, BALTIMORE
Dan Haren - Seattle, Los Angeles Angels
Joe Blanton - Seattle, Los Angeles Angels
Felix Hernandez - OAKLAND, Cleveland
Scott Kazmir - New York Yankees, TORONTO
Kevin Millwood - Los Angeles Angels, BOSTON
Vicente Padilla - Los Angeles Angels, BOSTON
Roy Halladay - Detroit, Tampa Bay
Start of the Week
There are a handful of good starts this week, but only two stand out. As much as I like how Bonderman performed against the Royals and Jays last season (5-0, 2.88 ERA, 1.24 WHIP in 7 starts), he's losing the battle because his start against the Royals is in hitter-friendly Kaufmann Stadium. Instead, we'll take a pitcher who was even more dominant over this week's opposition last year. C.C. Sabathia was 4-0 against the White Sox in 6 starts last season while keeping a ridiculous 2.23 ERA and 1.07 WHIP against them. His lone start against the Mariners resulted in a victory, as he scattered seven hits in eight innings of shutout ball. Expect Carston Charles to get the Tribe's run at the Central off on the right foot.
National League
Brandon Webb - Colorado, Washington
John Smoltz - Philadelphia, NEW YORK METS
Carlos Zambrano - Cincinnati, Milwaukee
Aaron Harang - CHICAGO CUBS, PITTSBURGH
Aaron Cook - ARIZONA, San Diego
Dontrelle Willis - Washington, PHILADELPHIA
Anibal Sanchez - Washington, PHILADELPHIA
Roy Oswalt - PITTSBURGH, ST. LOUIS
Jason Jennings - PITTSBURGH, ST. LOUIS
Derek Lowe - Milwaukee, San Francisco
Randy Wolf - Milwaukee, San Francisco
Ben Sheets - LOS ANGELES, CHICAGO CUBS
Orlando Hernandez - St. Louis, Atlanta
Brett Myers - ATLANTA, Florida
Zach Duke - Houston, Cincinnati
Jake Peavy - San Francisco, COLORADO
Barry Zito - SAN DIEGO, LOS ANGELES
John Patterson - FLORIDA, ARIZONA
Shawn Hill - FLORIDA, ARIZONA
Start of the Week
Whereas the American League had a handful of guys I considered, only one pitcher in the National League stood out from the rest. Roy Oswalt didn't have much to show in the win-loss column against the Cardinals last season, as he went just 2-1. However, he did keep phenomenal secondary numbers against the Redbirds, allowing just eight runs in 30 innings for a 2.37 ERA while keeping a terrific 1.12 WHIP. Against the Bucs, Oswalt had both the numbers and the wins to show for it, as he won each of his three starts while maintaining a 0.90 ERA and 0.85 WHIP.
Fantasy Baseball 
