The San Diego Padres are finally playing like we expected them to play this season. Going into Monday, The Friars have dropped ten straight games are holding a very slim one game lead. This might be the end of their magical run, but Cinderella has four more weeks to dance if they can regain their winning ways.

Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds are pulling away in their respective division races. Watch these clubs to rest starters from time to time to keep them fresh for October.

Teams out of the playoff hunt are busy calling up prospects to give them a little Major League exposure, meaning veterans will sit to give the youngsters a chance to play. You’ll want to watch your players closely to avoid too many missed starts.

This week, all teams are scheduled to play at least six games while Chicago (AL), Detroit, Texas, Toronto, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Colorado, Florida, Houston, Los Angeles (NL), Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, and St. Louis are all on the docket for seven. The Phillies and Marlins play a doubleheader on Monday.

Now, the projected 2-start pitchers for this week. For those of you in leagues who require you to set your lineup at the beginning of the week, these are guys you should strongly consider—

American League
BAL Brian Matusz
BOS Jon Lester
CWS Edwin Jackson, Freddy Garcia
CLE Carlos Carrasco
DET Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander
KC Sean O’Sullivan
LAA Dan Haren
MIN Kevin Slowey
NYY A.J. Burnett
OAK Brett Anderson
SEA Jason Vargas
TB Jeff Niemann
TEX Tommy Hunter, Rich Harden
TOR Ricky Romero, Shaun Marcum
  
National League
ARI Ian Kennedy
ATL Tommy Hanson, Tim Hudson
CHC Casey Coleman
CIN Aaron Harang, Johnny Cueto
COL Ubaldo Jimenez, Jhoulys Chacin
FLA Adalberto Mendez, Anibal Sanchez
HOU Wandy Rodriguez, Nelson Figueroa
LAD Vicente Padilla, Clayton Kershaw
MIL Yovani Gallardo
NYM Mike Pelfrey
PHI Vance Worley, Roy Oswalt
PIT Brian Burres
SD Mat Latos, Kevin Correia
SF Madison Bumgarner, Tim Lincecum
STL Jake Westbrook, Kyle Lohse
WAS Jordan Zimmermann

 

Rick’s Picks
Five best bets for double-start pitchers this week

1. Mat Latos is the San Diego ace, whether the team likes it or not. He’s very young and very talented and gets two home games against division foes Los Angeles and San Francisco. Two wins for the youngster could thrust the Friars back into the playoff chase.

2. Tim Hudson gets a weak Pirates squad in Pittsburgh and then a suddenly slumping St. Louis team at home. Even though there is room for trouble in each game, Hudson has been too dominant this season and this should be a good week for him.

3. Dan Haren will host the Indians and Athletics this week. With the Angels all but out of the playoff hunt, they are playing for pride. That shouldn’t stop Haren from having a big week.

4. Kevin Slowey has had an up and down season, but still has a lot of talent. With the Twins trying to pull away in the division, Slowey gets the Royals at home and the Indians in Cleveland. Looks like a great opportunity to right himself before the playoff start.

5. Vance Worley is up and is trying to make an impression. A home start against Florida and a road start in New York should give him a great opportunity to do that. With the Phillies offense heating up, this kid should get all the run support he needs to shut down two teams playing out the string

Rick Milleman is the head fantasy baseball contributor at DraftBuddy.com. Check his annual player projections included in the Cheatsheet Compiler & Draft Buddy to help draft your championship team.

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