Double Dipping – Week 26

We are in the last mile of our baseball marathon. Time to put that last bit of effort in to secure your championship or win some money. With only a week left, many teams are mailing it in and couldn’t care less if they win or lose (Orioles, Mets, Nationals) and should be avoided if possible. Others have their playoff tickets punched and they can coast during the last week (Red Sox, Dodgers, Yankees, Cardinals). These teams will jumble their rotation to make sure their best guys are lined up to start the postseason. Their ace might only go five innings and their closer might not come in for a save situation to make sure they are fresh for the playoff opener. Some teams are playing for pride and play like there is nothing to lose and are a very dangerous opponent (Royals, Pirates, Padres). And other teams are fighting for their playoff lives and will give you every ounce of fight they’ve got this last week (Braves, Rockies, Tigers, Twins).

These pitchers are in line to get two starts this week, but you will want to double check all your resources to see if they are likely to pitch or sit:

American League

BAL	Mark Hendrickson, Jeremy Guthrie
BOS	Josh Beckett, Taylor Buchholz
CWS	John Danks
CLE	Aaron Laffey, Justin Masterson
DET	Rick Porcello, Justin Verlander
KC	Luke Hochevar
LAA	Ervin Santana, Scott Kazmir
MIN	Nick Blackburn, Scott Baker
NYY	Chad Gaudin
OAK	Trevor Cahill
SEA	Felix Hernandez
TB	Jeff Niemann, Wade Davis
TEX	Tommy Hunter, Scott Feldman
TOR	Scott Richmond

National League

ARI	Doug Davis
ATL	Jair Jurrjens, Tim Hudson
CHC	Ryan Dempster
CIN	Homer Bailey
COL	Jason Marquis
FLA	Anibal Sanchez
HOU	Wilton Lopez, Yorman Bazardo
LAD	Hiroki Kuroda
MIL	Chris Narveson
NYM	Nelson Figueroa
PHI	Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ
PIT	Zach Duke, Kevin Hart
SD	none
SF	Jonathan Sanchez
STL	Joel Pineiro
WAS	Ross Detwiler, J.D. Martin

Rick’s Picks (5 best bets for double-start pitchers this week):
1. Justin Verlander
2. Jair Jurrjens
3. Felix Hernandez
4. Tim Hudson
5. Scott Baker