Two Startapalooza, Week 22: I Can Be Your Masa-hero, Baby
Well, let's try this again, shall we? At this time last week we expected Stephen Strasburg to debut Tuesday and get two starts, but instead he got pushed back to Wednesday and blew up for five runs in four innings. What a treat! Like a bombsicle on the Fourth of July, I tell ya. So THIS week, supposedly, he lines up twice against the Phillies and Brewers. I've got him in Tier 3 as a non-must-start. If you have him you're probably starting him, but he's liable to give you a queasy feeling like when you hit the Taco Bell drive through at 3AM. Overall, the options are pretty sparse this week, which is rough news for those of you needing help in your H2H leagues. Some off days and back ends of the rotations turning twice make for a pretty thin group. Guys like Cole Hamels and Jon Gray make up the bulk of Tier 2, and Tier 3 is short and iffy. Tier 4 is where it's at this week, with a thick, meaty array of guys that'll make you shrug and go "Meh, it can't be any worse than yesterday when Janet from accounting rejected my offer to take her to Red Lobster". Guys like Lance Lynn and Sam Gaviglio inhabit that Tier with great matchups, but, you know, they're Lance Lynn and Sam Gaviglio. You can't expect too much. Tier 5 is about as short as it has been all season, and with some rotations in flux, it's hard to nail down any more options right now. However, if you play in a reverse league or are for some reason actively trying to lose your matchup, James Shields against the Yankees and BoSox is just about as big a gas can as you can muster to throw on your team.