Kuzul

Coming into this season, critics and fans were well aware of the Tampa Bay Rays ability to score runs. With one of the best young line-ups in baseball, the Rays were predicted to fight for the AL East crown with the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.

Most people picked the Yankees and the Sox to finish ahead of the Rays because of one thing: starting pitching. After a sub-par year from both Matt Garza and James Shields in 2009, the Rays aces have gotten off to great year in 2010.

Lets take a closer look at James Shields, Matt Garza and the rest of the Tampa Bay rotation.

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A day after all 27 batters failed to reach base, the Tampa Bay Rays head to Anaheim for a three-game series against the Angels. Looking to break out of a slump, the Rays would probably prefer a different venue. The team has lost 23 of their last 26 games in Anaheim, including the last five.

While the Rays still boast the best record in baseball at 22-9, their bats have been kept silent of late, hitting just .189 as a team over the last nine games. Tampa Bay is 5-4 in those games, which speaks volumes to how good the starting pitching staff has been.

This year’s Angels may need the extra support of playing at home and the added assistance of the Rally Monkey. The team is off to a 14-19 start, the worst in recent memory for Angels fans.

Matt Garza takes the mound in the first game, having already won five games this season. He’s struggled against the Angels though, with a 6.46 ERA in three career starts. The Angels counter with Joel Pineiro, who’s had similar struggles against the Rays.

Game two is the most intriguing as it features Scott Kazmir, the Rays all-time leader in numerous pitching categories, who was traded to the Angels last season. Kazmir has said it will be weird facing his former team and that he may have a hard time not laughing when some of his buddies, namely B.J. Upton, step up to the plate.

The Rays counter with Jeff Niemann, who’s been one of the AL’s better pitchers this season. On Wednesday the Rays send David Price, who’s off to an even better start, against Angels ace Jered Weaver.

Projected Lineups

Rays

1. Jason Bartlett – SS

2. Carl Crawford – LF

3. Ben Zobrist – RF

4. Evan Longoria – 3B

5. Carlos Pena – 1B

6. B.J. Upton – CF

7. Willy Aybar/Pat Burrell – DH

8. Dioner Navarro/John Jaso – C

9. Reid Brignac/Sean Rodriguez – 2B

Angels

1. Erick Aybar – SS

2. Bobby Abreu – RF

3. Torii Hunter – CF

4. Kendry Morales – 1B

5. Hideki Matsui – DH

6. Juan Rivera – LF

7. Howie Kendrick – 2B

8. Brandon Napoli – C

9. Brandon Wood – 3B

Monday

TB: M. Garza (5-1, 2.09)
LAA: J. Pineiro (2-4, 5.30)

Batter vs. Pitcher: Carl Crawford has seen Pineiro the most, going 5-for-17 with a home run. Carlos Pena is 2-for-11 with six strikeouts. Kendry Morales in 2-for-2 with a homer off Garza. Hideki Matsui is 1-for-9.

Tuesday

TB: J. Niemann (2-0, 2.23)
LAA: S. Kazmir (2-2, 7.11)

Batter vs. Pitcher: A few of the current Rays have seen Kazmir when they were on other teams. Jason Bartlett is 3-for-7. Matsui has seen Niemann the most and is 1-for-7. Mike Napoli is 3-for-5 with a triple.

Wednesday

TB: D. Price (4-1, 1.91)
LAA: J. Weaver (4-1, 2.66)

Batter vs. Pitcher: Bartlett is 2-for-10 with a homer off Weaver. Evan Longoria is 2-for-5 with two doubles and Crawford is 1-for-9. The Angels haven’t seen much of Price. Jeff Mathis is 2-for-4.

Game Notes

-Rays manager Joe Maddon is 1-13 in Anaheim against his former team.

-Former Angel Sean Rodriguez, traded in the Kazmir deal last year, will play against his former team for the first time.

-Tampa Bay was 12-21 against the AL West in 2009, 6-2 this season.

-The Angels went 4-2 against the Rays last season, 3-0 in Anaheim.

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Austin Jackson was the centerpiece of the deal that sent Curtis Granderson’s large contract to the New York Yankees. As of Saturday, he is hitting .369/1/9/5, has reached base in 24 consecutive games, and is the odds on favorite to win the American League Rookie of the Year Award.

He’s hitting at a very high rate, and even though his other numbers aren’t very high, that batting average pace is completely unsustainable. His batting average for batted balls in play (BABIP) is .512. Over time hitters tend to regress to a norm of .300.

If you have him on your squad, sell now because his value will never be higher. If you are thinking of trading for him, consider waiting for his value to dip a little before pulling the trigger.

Now, the projected two-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:

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

1. Matt Garza, TB—Garza faces a mediocre offense on the road (at LAA) and a weak offense at home (vs SEA). You don’t need to know that much about Garza’s opponents this week to start the hottest pitcher in baseball.

2. Barry Zito, SF—Zito has found his glory days of old and is pitching very well these days. He gets two poor offenses at home (vs SD, vs HOU) and should reward you with a strong week.

3. Brad Penny, STL—Penny is not pitching anywhere near his caliber these days, and St. Louis is very glad about that. He gets two weak offenses (vs HOU, at CIN) and should keep right on rolling.

4. Tommy Hanson, ATL—Hanson faces two of the top three hitting clubs in the league (vs MIL, vs ARI), but two home starts should help Hanson tame his opponents.

5. Colby Lewis, TEX—Lewis is in the top 10 in strikeouts and faces two mediocre offenses (vs OAK, at TOR). Look for the K’s to keep coming and maybe a couple of W’s.

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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