The Hook

Two Start Pitchers - April 23 - April 29

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 - OAKLAND, Cleveland
Tim Wakefield - TORONTO, New York Yankees
Julian Tavarez - TORONTO, New York Yankees
Mark Buehrle - Kansas City, LOS ANGELES ANGELS
Javier Vazquez - Kansas City, LOS ANGELES ANGELS
Jeremy Sowers - Minnesota, BALTIMORE
Fausto Carmona - Minnesota, BALTIMORE
Mike Maroth - Los Angeles Angels, MINNESOTA
Jeremy Bonderman - Los Angeles Angels, MINNESOTA
Gil Meche - CHICAGO WHITE SOX, Seattle
Brandon Duckworth - CHICAGO WHITE SOX, Seattle
Jered Weaver - DETROIT, Chicago White Sox
John Lackey - DETROIT, Chicago White Sox
Carlos Silva - CLEVELAND, Detroit
Johan Santana - CLEVELAND, Detroit
Kei Igawa - Tampa Bay, BOSTON
Chien-Ming Wang - Tampa Bay, BOSTON
Dan Haren - Baltimore, TAMPA BAY
Rich Harden - Baltimore, TAMPA BAY
Brandon Morrow - Texas, KANSAS CITY
Jarrod Washburn - Texas, KANSAS CITY
Casey Fossum - NEW YORK YANKEES, Oakland
Scott Kazmir - NEW YORK YANKEES, Oakland
Kevin Millwood - SEATTLE, Toronto
Vicente Padilla - SEATTLE, Toronto
Tomo Ohka - Boston, TEXAS
Roy Halladay - Boston, TEXAS

Start of the Week

While I see a ton of firepower out there, I see almost nothing that gets me excited based on last year's performance by any of the big guns. For this reason, I'm going to pass on as many as seven aces and go with a bit of a grab bag (hey... can't hurt any more than the previous three selections have) and take a shot on Javier Vazquez. Javy did face the Royals four times last season, and was terrific in going 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA. He'll also face the free swinging Angels in his second outing, who are a little dinged up and haven't shown an affinity for scoring runs in recent years. Let's just hope he makes it out of an inning!

Last Week's Selection: Felix Hernandez - 0-1, 0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 K.... Hernandez left after just 1/3 of an inning in his only start with a flexor strain in his elbow. In further news, while I've joked in the past about this (the AL Start of the Week) being cursed, it's officially true this season. So far, we've picked Sabathia (snowed out in his second start), Westbrook (snowed out in his first start), and King Felix. You may do better to avoid this week's selection...

On the Year: 1-2, 12.1 IP, 15 H, 7 BB, 9 R, 8 ER, 6 K (5.85 ERA, 1.79 WHIP).... showing just what small sample sizes can do!

National League

Randy Johnson - SAN DIEGO, SAN FRANCISCO
Kyle Davies - Florida, Colorado
Carlos Zambrano - MILWAUKEE, St. Louis
Aaron Harang - St. Louis, Pittsburgh
Aaron Cook - New York Mets, ATLANTA
Dontrelle Willis - ATLANTA, Philadelphia
Chris Sampson - Philadelphia, MILWAUKEE
Woody Williams - Pittsburgh, MILWAUKEE
Derek Lowe - SAN FRANCISCO, San Diego
Claudio Vargas - Chicago Cubs, Houston
John Maine - COLORADO, Washington
Adam Eaton - HOUSTON, FLORIDA
Jamie Moyer - WASHINGTON, FLORIDA
Paul Maholm - HOUSTON, CINCINNATI
Jake Peavy - Arizona, LOS ANGELES
Matt Morris - Los Angeles, Arizona
Kip Wells - CINCINNATI, CHICAGO CUBS
Jason Bergmann - Philadelphia, NEW YORK METS

Start of the Week

Much like in the AL, while we have a ton of firepower (four legit aces), not a single one was dominant against both of their opponents in the upcoming week. We're going to take a gamble on Jake Peavy to come back strong after a poor start against the Diamondbacks last week (and last year) and expect him to dominate the Dodgers in his second start, just as he did in 2006. Peavy was 2-0 in three starts against the Dodgers last season, keeping a 2.84 ERA and 1.16 WHIP. Even against the Diamondbacks, he at least found ways to strike out plenty of hitters.

Last Week's Selection: Tom Gorzelanny - 2-0, 14.1 IP, 9 H, 5 BB, 4 R, 4 ER, 8 K

On the Year: 3-1, 45.0 IP, 22 H, 15 BB, 7 R, 7 ER, 26 K (1.40 ERA, 0.82 WHIP)

This week's Matchup of the Week (Tom Glavine vs. John Smoltz) will be published Monday morning. The poll for next week's Matchup of the Week will open Saturday afternoon and close next Tuesday at 11:59 PM CDT.

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