Welcome to Week 1. As I prepare this article, the Braves will be facing the Nationals in their new home stadium. Opening Day is here, so it's time to look at the Schedule and this weeks 2 Start Pitchers for both contests. One recent change will impact the CDM game. You can now start a Swing pitcher each week, but for Week One, I would have seven starting pitchers active, and three relievers.
Sports Buff Contest
I would recommend these two start pitchers in the Sports Buff contest.
1. Johan Santana($55) - FLA Away, ATL Away
2. Jake Peavy($54) - HOU Home, LAD Home
3. Brett Myers($40) - WAS Home, CIN Away
4. Jered Weaver($39) - MIN Away, TEX Home
5. Justin Verlander($48) - KC Home, CHW Home
6. Chris Young($40) - HOU Home, LAD Home
7. Erik Bedard($52) - TEX Home, BAL Home
8. Brandon Webb($51) - CIN Away, COL Away
9. Ian Snell($40) - ATL Away, FLA Away
10.Adam Wainwright($40) - COL Home, WAS Home
I personally like Myers, Weaver and Young.
One Note in this contest, Kerry Wood is now closing and is $36 for some cheap Saves.
CDM Diamond Challenge
I would recommend these two start pitchers in the CDM Challenge.(Dollar amounts in Millions)
1. Johan Santana($1800) - FLA Away, ATL Away
2. Jake Peavy($1480) - HOU Home, LAD Home
3. Justin Verlander($1050) - KC Home, CHW Home
4. Erik Bedard($1070) - TEX Home, BAL Home
5. Brandon Webb($1300) - CIN Away, COL Away
6. Ian Snell($800) - ATL Away, FLA Away
7. Adam Wainwright($870) - COL Home, WAS Home
8. Ben Sheets($930) - CHI Away, SF Home
9. Jered Weaver($990) - MIN Away, TEX Home
This contest once again has a good core of pitchers in the $800-$950 Salary Range. You have in this group Ian Snell, John Maine, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Adam Wainwright, Chad Billingsley, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Ben Sheets and Francisco Liriano. They are worthy of playing whenever they have 2 starts a week, allowing you to load up on offense.
George Sherrill is good value for a closer in this contest, costing you only $640.
Team Schedules
Seven Games - Atlanta, Houston, Washington, San Diego, Los Angeles Angels and Minnesota.
Five Games - Boston and Oakland(Due to the crazy two game set in Tokyo).
Everybody else plays six games.
Arizona starts with three games at Home, then go to Coors for three games. Players like Chris Young, Eric Byrnes, Stephen Drew and Conor Jackson are all good plays.
Vladimir Guerrero, Lance Berkman, Miguel Tejeda, Carlos Lee, Tori Hunter, Howie Kendrick, Chipper Jones and Mark Teixeira are also players to consider.
Injuries
1.Scott Kazmir(SP TB) - Kazmir will most of April with a tender elbow.
2.Curtis Granderson(OF DET) - A broken finger has him out till Mid-April.
3.John Lackey(SP LAA) - Sore elbow has LAckey out till Mid-May.
4.Jeremy Hermida(OF FLA) - He is down already with a strained hamstring.
Players on the Rise
1.Eugenio Velez(2B SF) - Will see a lot of playing time with Omar Vizquel and Kevin Frandsen hurt. He can run and is a real sleeper for steals.
2.Kerry Wood(RP CHI) - Closer for now in Chicago, ride him till he goes down.
Players on the Decline
1.B.J.Ryan(RP TOR) - Already has elbow issues.
2.Jim Edmonds(OF SD) - Still banged up after off-season surgery.
Got a fantasy question you would like answered in my column? Send it to me via
e-mail at mikek@creativesports.com. Until next week, I wish you the best of
luck.