Mastersball Fantasy Forum

When Britton went on the 10-Day DL, I picked up Giles to serve as his interim replacement. Giles has rebounded from his rough start and has been providing quality closer material. In my league, I can start 3 SPs, 1 RP, and 2 P (can be RP or SP). I can have two pitchers (SP or RP) on the bench. Looking at my current staff, do you think it would be most beneficial to:

1. Drop Giles and put Britton in the RP spot
2. Drop Britton and keep Giles in the RP spot
3. Keep both Britton and Giles and start one in the P position and one in the RP position (this would require dropping one of my current SPs - see below)

Here is my staff (one of which must be dropped since Britton is off the DL):
Robbie Ray
Jeff Samardzija
John Lackey
Johnny Cueto
Michael Pineda
Matt Shoemaker
Justin Verlander
Aaron Sanchez (10-Day DL)
Zach Britton
Ken Giles

I would absolutely keep BOTH Britton and Giles

Who you drop is an interesting question

Samardzija just had the only good start of the year
Shoemaker has poor overall numbers - not clear what the problem is but he is not pitching well
Lackey is not pitching well at all

Personally I would drop Shoemaker as I think Lackey has a better chance to right the ship

I see Samardzija a little differently. I'll give him 4 decent starts and 2 poor ones in ARI and COL, two hitter's parks.

Thank you, gentlemen.

I too was bullish on Shoemaker prior to the start of the season, but have not seen much in terms of results.

The only reason I was thinking about keeping Samardzija is the fact that Bumgarner is out for a while which 1) moves him into the 3 spot of San Fran's rotation and 2) I think the pressure of losing your ace can help the other staff members pick up the slack (must be tactful). Also, any pitcher making half of their starts at AT&T is not a bad thing.

I hope Lackey's shoulder is okay. I feel as though he was wearing down last year and he hasn't been the deep inning guy he has been historically.

mweb319 wrote:
I hope Lackey's shoulder is okay. I feel as though he was wearing down last year and he hasn't been the deep inning guy he has been historically.

Unless I missed something today, the Cubs said they are going to be cautious with all their starters, at least early. though, Lackey hasn't been as sharp, costing him some innings too.