First and foremost I'd like to wish a Happy Father's Day to all of the ECB male readers who have been lucky and fortunate to have successfully birthed a child. I believe that somewhere out there there may be some little Hort's runnin' around, but as they say, ignorance is bliss. Congratulations on doing your Daddy thing, providing, nurturing, and teaching your sons and daughters how to throw left-handed so that they may one day be your meal ticket. We salute you on this day.
Getting down to business, I was taking a look at my picks over the last ten days, and as I noted a few days ago, I've actually got a decent little groove going. Clayton Richard didn't help yesterday only going 3 innings, but I've still managed to put together a sub-1.00 WHIP for the week, which I'm pretty proud of, despite only notching a single Win and a 4.58 ERA. Check out the bottom of this piece for the full Week 11 breakdown. As for tomorrow, I was very tempted to take Jonathan Sánchez facing Oakland, continuing with my trend of starting teams against opponents in the NL or AL West, and Jon fits the bill of being a LHP that Oakland has almost no chance of hitting. However, Sanchez's 0 - 6 Record on the Road this year coupled with the accompanied 6.39 ERA and 1.81 WHIP, as pointed out to me by someone else, caused me to shy away. Sánchez could go out there and fan 10 A's with ease tomorrow, but I'm just not willing to start my week with an unnecessary risk like that, which is why I'm going the safe road with...
Matt Palmer (R), LAA (40% Owned) vs Aaron Cook (R), COL
Going with Palmer for the second consecutive week here, as most owners still aren't privy enough to how good he's pitched this season, sporting a 4.13 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and perfect 6 - 0 Record. He hit us up with a Quality Start on the Road in San Francisco a week ago, and, as promised, I've got him going against another NL West opponent this week in the Rockies, except this time he gets them in Anaheim, or Los Angeles, or wherever the hell the Angels play. Colorado's Team OPS drops from 7th Overall at .779 to 12th Overall at .756 vs RHP, and even further down to 13th Overall at .737 when they leave Coors Field. They've been one of the hottest teams this June, hauling the MLB's 3rd best team OPS at .842, including the #1 overall OPS the past week, .919, but try as they might, they're still the Rockies. Palmer's rattled off three Quality Starts in a row, and I fully expect another tomorrow at Home, where he's posted a 3.41 ERA and 1.22 WHIP, tomorrow. Vegas hasn't put out a line on the game yet, as they're usually delayed on Sundays, but as soon as they do check out the Comments below for an update from yours truly.
As for those of you in weekly leagues looking for a Two * Spot candidate, the guy you want is Trevor Cahill (R), OAK, who has the pleasure of matching up this week against the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies, both at Home, both in accordance with my 'start vs AL or NL West Teams' strategy. He could very well throw two No Hitters, I kid you not. Palmer himself, from above, is another reasonable candidate, going to Arizona for his second start of the week.
Time to recap your knee cap...
| Week 11 | |||||||||
| DATE | SPOT * ON STARTER | OPP | IP | ER | H | BB | K | W/L | QS |
| 6/16 | Kevin Correia | SEA | 8.0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | L | Y |
| 6/16 | Dallas Braden | at LAD | 6.0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | ND | Y |
| 6/17 | Matt Palmer | at SF | 6.1 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 5 | ND | Y |
| 6/17 | Garrett Olson | at SD | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | W | Y |
| 6/19 | Scott Feldman | at SF | 6.0 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 5 | L | N |
| 6/20 | Clayton Richard | at CIN | 3.0 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 4 | ND | N |
| TOTAL | - | - | 35.1 | 18 | 28 | 7 | 25 | 1 - 2 | |
| ERA : | 4.58 | ||||||||
| WHIP : | 0.99 | ||||||||
| K/9 : | 6.37 | ||||||||
| K/BB : | 3.57 | ||||||||
| W/L : | 1 - 2 | ||||||||
| QS% : | 66.7% | ||||||||
Th-th-th-that's all folks! Until tomorrow...
...takes Nick Blackburn.