-- Ben Sheets was scheduled to a two-start pitcher, but he walked off early Wednesday night. What to do?
-- There currently are a lot of aces on the two-start pitchers report. It is pretty timely in the crucial final week for Fantasy owners, right?
-- Freddy An. Garcia made a pretty nice return Wednesday and might be a two-start pitcher himself. He has to be a guy to trust, no?
-- Well, it finally happened -- probably too little, too late -- but David Price is here and might actually start now. Maybe even two starts.

Must-start, two-start pitcher
Ricky Nolasco FLA
(09/22) @ CIN Aaron Harang
(09/27) @ NYM Jonathon Niese
93 percent owned 72 percent starting

Two-start pitcher to sit
Tim Wakefield BOS
(09/23) vs. CLE Cliff Lee 
(09/28) vs. NYY Mike Mussina
52 percent owned 27 percent starting

Two-start sleepers
Edwin Jackson TB
(09/23) @ BAL Radhames Liz
(09/28) @ DET Freddy Garcia
48 percent owned 25 percent starting

Jonathon Niese NYM
(09/22) vs. CHC Jason Marquis
(09/27) vs. FLA Ricky Nolasco
7 percent owned 3 percent starting

Emack.

Another installment of the John Dewan Stat of the Week, reprinted with permission:

What's better than ERA to measure a pitcher’s effectiveness?

June 5, 2008

For hitters, for years and years, it was batting average that was thought to be the best single statistic to look at to evaluate a hitter. In the last couple of decades, the weaknesses of batting average have been exposed and the value of getting on base and hitting for power have become better recognized. The stat that is becoming the new standard for hitters is OPS—On-base percentage Plus Slugging percentage.

For pitchers, the standard is ERA. Compared to batting average, it provides a much better representation of effectiveness. It measures the most important quality of a pitcher's job, preventing runs. However, it too has its flaws. The biggest flaw is that a pitcher's ERA can be greatly affected by the pitchers that immediately follow him in a game, both positively and negatively.

Enter Opponent OPS. This is a stat that you hardly ever see. It makes just as much sense to look at Opponent OPS for pitchers as it does to look at a hitter's own OPS. We just recently added this as a leaderboard titled "Opponent OPS" to Bill James Online and I wanted to share it with you.

ERA is going to continue to be the standard, and I will personally look at ERA for every pitcher, but I think Opponent OPS may be a better indicator of a pitcher's overall effectiveness. In fact, in a way, we've been suggesting this for quite a while as we've published component ERA in the Bill James Handbook. Component ERA is, in essence, a restated Opponent OPS since it is based on nearly the exact same components that go into OPS, namely hits, home runs, walks allowed, and hit batsmen. Opponent OPS adds in doubles and triples allowed as part of the equation.

Here are the Opponent OPS leaders thus far this year:

Opponent OPS—2008
Player  OPS ERA 
Ryan Dempster, Cubs  .561 2.75
Edinson Volquez, Reds  .563  1.32
Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks  .567  2.69
Shaun Marcum, Blue Jays  .568  2.63
Jose A. Contreras, White Sox  .570  2.89
Ervin Santana, Angels  .592  3.02
Cliff Lee, Indians  .603  2.45
Roy Halladay, Blue Jays  .609 2.94
Joe Saunders, Angels  .614  2.63
Tim Lincecum, Giants  .624  2.23

The number one guy so far this year is a surprise, the Cubs' Ryan Dempster. Dempster struggled as a starter and did well as a reliever earlier in his career. Now he is turning it around and doing great as a starter after having some relief problems late last year.
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Copyright © 2008 by John Dewan.
Permission to reprint or broadcast this information is granted only if used in conjunction with the following citation: "Used with permission from John Dewan's Stat of the Week™, www.statoftheweek.com."

You cannot expect Dempster, Volquez and Contreras to maintain their wicked pace. But the inclusion of Santana and Saunders is interesting. Those guys have become big-time winners for a solid pitching-and-defense contender in Anaheim. Scott White has a distaste for Saunders, but the rookie is a bit mistaken on what is a pretty solid young lefty.

Emack.

Here are my items for discussion on the Pitching Planner video for Week 6 ...

-- John Smoltz on DL, moving to bullpen
-- Others affected: ouch for Rafael Soriano, hello Jo-Jo Reyes, Chuck James and perhaps Mike Hampton
-- Phil Hughes to the DL ... who replaces him? NOT JOBA! (Kei Igawa, Darrell Rasner?)
-- Two words, Max Scherzer
-- Cliff Lee and Joe Saunders are smoking hot
-- Scott Kazmir back this weekend (Hammel to bullpen?)
-- John Lackey coming back a little slower
-- Mark Mulder disappointing on rehab

Two-starter to go with
Max Scherzer ARI
(05/05) vs. PHI Jamie Moyer 
(05/10) @ CHC Jason Marquis 
65 percent owned 30 percent starting

Two-starter to sit
Oliver Perez NYM
(05/05) @ LA Chad Billingsley 
(05/11) vs. CIN Aaron Harang 
94 percent owned 76 percent starting

Two-start sleepers
Tim Wakefield BOS
(05/06) @ DET Nate Robertson 
(05/11) @ MIN Nick Blackburn 
43 percent owned 27 percent starting

Jeff Suppan MIL 
(05/06) @ FLA Scott Olsen 
(05/11) vs. STL Braden Looper 
29 percent owned 16 percent started

Ubaldo Jimenez COL
(05/05) vs. STL Joel Pineiro
(05/10) @ SD Greg Maddux 
39 percent owned 15 percent starting

Yeah, I know Suppan just got beat up.... but, I think he rebounds.

Emack