Opening Day obviously means lots of aces pitching. Depending on your drafting style, league setup, keeper status, etc., you probably have anywhere from one to five of this type of pitcher on your fantasy team. If you have Johan Santana, you're smiling at your late (?) first-round grab, believing him on track to get back to his Cy Young status with the Mets this year. If you have CC Sabathia, well, you're probably thinking about all the innings he pitched last year, how early you drafted him despite your best intentions, and how unbelievably chunky he looked as the Orioles smacked him around yesterday. So, yeah, you don't need me to tell you that Santana is alright. Instead, we're going to cover, knee-jerk style, the various poor performances from starting pitchers yesterday. And yes, this could be called Slump or Suck, but I don't pass on any chance to lob out an Ace Ventura reference. Ever.
More Coverage: Snyder Tackles the Shelton Syndrome
CC Sabathia, Yankees -- (4.1IP, 8HA, 6ER, 5BBI, 0K) The 0/5 K:BB ratio is obviously terrifying. And he did look horrible. And I didn't like him before the season, simply because I thought he pitched too many innings last year and he cost too much to get in drafts this year. But just because I didn't like his value then doesn't mean he can't be a nice buy low now. He's going to strike out more people per game than "zero" and he's probably going to struggle in April (again) but if you can acquire him, please do. If you own him, relax.
Brandon Webb, D-Backs -- (4IP, 6HA, 6ER, 2BBI, 2K) It's panic time on Webb -- he's missing his second start, the D'backs pulled an extension because of injury worry and he visited Dr. James Andrews. But, as Snyder said earlier, there's nothing you can do. It's bad for your health to worry. And you can't push the panic button on a potentially injured ace and get full value back.
Jake Peavy, Padres -- (7IP, 7HA, 3ER, 2BBI, 8K) Peavy's outing might not even really qualify as a "poor performance" I suppose. But I don't ever think it's too early to see how he looks with San Diego, since he's going to look a lot better once he gets traded (the morale boost outweighs any park factor, in my opinion). The K's make me feel good about his status/chances.
Cliff Lee, Indians -- (5 IP, 10HA, 7ER, 1BBI, 5K) Lee was due to come to Earth a bit after last season, no? And while I think there's very little chance he replicates his 2008 year, I do think he's a nice buy low at this stage of the game. The Rangers are possibly the most dangerous offensive team in the league and are going to shell anyone and everyone; if you're owning, stay put for now and if you smell fear from Lee's owner, take a stab.
Francisco Liriano, Twins -- (7IP, 4HA, 4ER, 0BBI, 3K) The low K numbers are troubling but the lack of any walks is nice; it speaks that Liriano is still working his way back from injury. He's young, uber-talented and has more upside than anyone in the big leagues not named Josh Hamilton. I think he'll be fine and make a run at the AL Cy this year, which means you should hold or make a play now while he's potentially undervalued.
Justin Verlander, Tigers -- (3.2IP, 8HA, 8ER, 2BBI, 4K) Um, "ausipcious" would probably be a little too nice, wouldn't it? Verlander hasn't been the same since his rookie season (maybe since his no-hitter) and, frankly, I'm terrified of him at this point. Plus, the Tigers stink. I don't think you cut bait yet, but if he can string together some nice starts, you should definitely consider moving him.
