The Hook

Two Start Pitchers - April 9 - April 15

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

Daniel Cabrera - DETROIT, KANSAS CITY
Jaret Wright - DETROIT, KANSAS CITY
Josh Beckett - SEATTLE, LOS ANGELES ANGELS
Jose Contreras - Oakland, Cleveland
Jon Garland - Oakland, Cleveland
Jake Westbrook - SEATTLE, CHICAGO WHITE SOX
Chad Durbin - Baltimore, Toronto
Nate Robertson - Baltimore, Toronto
Odalis Perez - Toronto, Baltimore
Zack Greinke - Toronto, Baltimore
Ervin Santana - Cleveland, Boston
Sidney Ponson - NEW YORK YANKEES, TAMPA BAY
Boof Bonser - NEW YORK YANKEES, TAMPA BAY
Carl Pavano - Minnesota, Oakland
Andy Pettitte - Minnesota, Oakland
Rich Harden - CHICAGO WHITE SOX, NEW YORK YANKEES
Jarrod Washburn - Cleveland, TEXAS
Edwin Jackson - Texas, Minnesota
Jae Seo - Texas, Minnesota
Brandon McCarthy - TAMPA BAY, Seattle
A.J. Burnett - KANSAS CITY, DETROIT
Josh Towers - KANSAS CITY, DETROIT

Start of the Week

There are a number of big name pitchers on the board, but we're going to go completely off of it and take a kid who got rocked in his season debut last week. Why? Jake Westbrook looked awful against a Chicago White Sox team he dominated (3-0, 1.69 ERA, 0.94 WHIP) last season. The weird thing is that two of those three starts came in U.S. Cellular Field. Westbrook was significantly better at home last season, going 7-4 with a 2.88 ERA and 1.28 WHIP at the Jake (8-6, 5.40 ERA, 1.57 WHIP on the road last season). Given that he's making both of his starts at home this week and that he's facing a pair of teams that he had a combined 4-1 record against with a 2.04 ERA and 1.05 WHIP against, it's time to play the matchup game.

Last Week's Selection: C.C. Sabathia - 1-0, 6.0 IP, 8 H, 1 BB, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 K... Next up: vs. Seattle... if the snow permits

On the Year: 1-0, 6.0 IP, 8 H, 1 BB, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 K (4.50 ERA, 1.50 WHIP)

National League

Doug Davis - CINCINNATI, COLORADO
Tim Hudson - WASHINGTON, FLORIDA
Ted Lilly - HOUSTON, CINCINNATI
Jason Marquis - HOUSTON, CINCINNATI
Bronson Arroyo - Arizona, Chicago Cubs
Kyle Lohse - Arizona, Chicago Cubs
Jeff Francis - Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona
Anibal Sanchez - MILWAUKEE, Atlanta
Woody Williams - Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia
Jason Schmidt - COLORADO, SAN DIEGO
Jeff Suppan - Florida, St. Louis
John Maine - PHILADELPHIA, WASHINGTON
Cole Hamels - New York Mets, HOUSTON
Ian Snell - ST. LOUIS, SAN FRANCISCO
Chris Young - SAN FRANCISCO, Los Angeles
Matt Cain - San Diego, Pittsburgh
Braden Looper - Pittsburgh, MILWAUKEE
Matt Chico - Atlanta, New York Mets

Start of the Week

Simply because I can't choose between John Maine (destroyed the Phils last season) and Cole Hamels (killed the Mets in his lone start against them and blew Houston out of the water), who will face each other, I'm going elsewhere. Matt Cain beat up on the Padres last season, going 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA and 0.96 WHIP against them while fanning 29 in 27 innings. He didn't fare nearly as well in his lone start against the Pirates, but will be facing a team that's still a bit on the offensively challenged side of things. Expect a pair of outstanding outings, even if both will come on the road.

Last Week's Selection: Roy Oswalt - 1-0, 16.2 IP, 10 H, 2 BB, 2 R, 2 ER, 7 K

On the Year: 1-0, 16.2 IP, 10 H, 2 BB, 2 R, 2 ER, 7 K (1.08 ERA, 0.78 WHIP)

We'll also be running a poll on which matchup we should cover for our new Matchup of the Week segment each week. The poll for this week can be found here!

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