This is the second installment of my Help Me Help You blog. Each Friday I will feature one or two fantasy or baseball related questions which I receive via email at sandlotsabermetrics@gmail.com during the week.
This week I will be answering a detailed question regarding what to do with a stellar fantasy pitching staff.
I'm in a 10 team 5x5 Head-to-Head league and Roy Oswalt is available. Is he worth dropping one of these pitchers: Brad Penny, John Ely, or Colby Lewis?
This owner went on to describe his fears that both Ely and Lewis might be overachieving and that Penny does not give him the strikeout numbers he would like. The rest of the owner's pitching staff includes Roy Halladay, Matt Cain, David Price, Jaime Garcia, Tommy Hanson, and Shawn Marcum with relievers Mariano Rivera and Jonathan Broxton.
Personally I love the pitching staff this owner has put together. He has a nice core of Halladay, Cain and Hanson and has capitalized on the early success of Garcia, Ely and Lewis. I think Oswalt would be a great addition to his group of pitchers. He could easily outperform Penny, Ely and Lewis in the second half, especially if he is traded to a contender. Thus, I recommended the owner pick up Oswalt immediately.
Though I don't think Ely and Lewis will maintain their torrid pace throughout the season, they aren't really pitchers I would just drop either. Thus, I suggested the owner attempt to shop both Ely and Lewis in pursuit of a decent bat. His pitching staff can withstand the loss of either of these pitchers and their value may never be higher.
I think that Penny's value can only go up, so I suggested the owner hold on to him but not start Penny until he gets a hot streak going. With the strength of his current starters, this owner may never even need to start Penny this season.
I advised this owner to do what he could to keep all three pitchers, while still adding Roy Oswalt, so that he could attempt to trade either Ely or Lewis for a decent hitter. If he couldn't manage to roster four reserve pitchers, I advised the owner to drop Ely, as I believe he will have the least value of the trio of Penny, Ely and Lewis over the second half of the season.
Feel free to email me at sandlotsabermetrics@gmail.com with fantasy questions to feature in my weekly Help Me Help You blog.
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