Here we go again. Heading into week 4, we are starting to get a better idea as to which teams possess the good offenses (St. Louis, Atlanta, Los Angeles) and which teams do not (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and, surprisingly, the Phillies), so those of you keen on playing the matchups, take note.
Here are the two start pitchers and favorable matchups for Week 4:
Two Start Pitchers
No-Brainers
Matt Cain: 4/24 @ CIN; 4/29 vs SD – Cincinnati is struggling and SD isn’t much better
Cliff Lee: 4/23 @ ARI; 4/29 vs CHC – Lee is one of the best pitchers in the NL
Not too shabby
Mark Buehrle: 4/24 @NYM; 4/29 vs ARI – Buehrle has pitched well, just needs run support
Madison Bumgarner: 4/23 @ NYM; 4/28 vs SD – gets to face two of the weaker offenses
Chris Capuano: 4/23 vs ATL; 4/29 vs WAS – pitched well against Atlanta last year
Jaime Garcia: 4/23 @ CHC; 4/29 vs MIL – good pitcher backed by the best offense in the NL
Matt Garza: 4/23 vs STL; 4/29 @ PHI – a bit iffy as Cubs “ace” must face STL offense and Cliff Lee
Zack Greinke: 4/23 vs HOU; 4/29 @ STL – one out of two ain’t bad
Lucas Harrell: 4/23 @ MIL; 4/29 @ CIN – Two quality starts out of three for the youngster
Daniel Hudson: 4/23 vs PHI; 4/29 @ MIA – Hudson good. Phillies bad.
Jair Jurrjens: 4/23 @ LAD; 4/29 vs PIT – facing Pittsburgh may cure his ills, but beware of the Dodgers
Mat Latos: 4/24 vs SF; 4/29 vs HOU – a couple of weak offenses for the struggling righty
Jamie Moyer: 4/23 @ PIT; 4/29 vs NYM – Pittsburgh is averaging only 2.2 runs per game
Johan Santana: 4/23 vs SF; 4/28 @ COL – the Rockies offense is clicking, the Giants not so much
Jordan Zimmermann: 4/24 @ SD; 4/29 @ LAD – the Nats other ace just needs run support
Risky at best
R.A. Dickey: 4/24 vs MIA; 4/29 @ COL – has not pitched well and faces 2 of the better offenses
Clayton Richard: 4/24 vs WAS; 4/29 @ SF – has given up 18 runs (12 earned) in 18.1 IP.
Other Favorable Matchups
Roy Halladay: 4/27 vs CHC
Halladay should fare well against the AAA Cubs
Tim Lincecum: 4/27 vs SD
The Freak is 9-4 with a career 1.96 ERA against SD
Josh Johnson: 4/28 vs ARI
Johnson is 3-1 with a 1.00 ERA in his career against the Diamondbacks
Tomorrow I’ll take a look at the AL matchups.