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    Fantasy Baseball: Week 10 pitcher Start 'Em & Sit 'Em

    Fantasy baseball expert William Dubiel previews every starting pitching matchups for the upcoming week, with start and sit calls for every game.
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    Unless you've got a roster stacked with high-end pitchers you'll start against any matchup, you'll probably need to keep a close eye on the schedule as you get ready to set your lineup for the upcoming week. You'll need to know which of your starters have bad matchups, which are set for two starts in the upcoming week, and which fringe-y options might just be worth going out to grab on waivers. 

    Which is why you'll definitely want to check out SportsLine's weekly pitching Start 'Em & Sit 'Em chart from William Dubiel. A 15-year Fantasy veteran, Dubiel got his start in Fantasy baseball and has done work for Rotoballer, Metro US and multiple other outlets during his career. He was named the No. 4 MLB Ranker for the 2017 MLB season, so if there's anybody who can give you an edge in your Fantasy baseball league, it's him.

    Now, he's helping you set your pitching lineup each week. William goes through every starting pitcher matchup for the upcoming week, making start and sit picks for each game. Here are some of William's calls for Week 10: 

    • Joey Lucchesi had a really nice rookie season for the Padres in 2018, and he's building on it in 2019. This week he's got a matchup on the road against the Yankees, and as hot as they are that would seem like a pretty firm sit. However, I'm rolling Lucchesi out there this week for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, the Yankees are actually worse at home this year than they are on the road. Through 49 games (27 home and 21 away), the Yankees have just a .742 OPS, compared to .832 on the road. A big chunk of that is likely a result of their dominance over the Orioles this past week. Their lefty/righty splits are also pretty jarring — they've got a weak .691 OPS against lefties like Lucchesi, compared to .805 against righties. Lucchesi is doing a much better job of limiting the long ball this year with less than one homer per nine innings, so I like his chances to keep the Yankees offense in check for this week.
    • Lost amid the traveling home run derby that is the Orioles pitching staff is the fact that Andrew Cashner has tossed quality starts in four of his last five outings. Cashner has been bitten by the home run bug just as much as his teammates have, but he's quietly improved his strikeout and walk ratios at the same time. Strangely, the 32-year-old has added more than half a mile-per-hour to his fastball in 2019, and he's also throwing his change-up and slider much more than in years past. That's all combining to produce his best ground ball rate (51.8%) since 2013. I'm not suggesting Cashner is going to be a staple of your Fantasy rotation any time soon, but this week in a matchup against the lowly Giants offense I think he's a sneaky-good streaming option.
    • Jon Lester was lights out for his first seven starts, but he's been slapped around in his last two. It's tough to believe that Lester's true skill level is that dominant ace we saw in April — his fastball has lost velocity for the third straight season and his 2.68 ERA is backed up by a SIERA around 4.00. The bottom looks like it's falling out already, as he's allowed 34 hits over his last four starts. This week in a road matchup against the juggernaut Astros it's easy to fade Lester, and I'd start exploring trades immediately to see what you can possibly still get for him.
    • Matt Strahm is on some sort of hot streak right now. Since his April 1 start against the Diamondbacks in which he went just two and a third and allowed five earned runs, Strahm has not allowed more than two earned runs in ANY of his eight starts. The big improvement you can point to is his remarkable control — in 2019 Strahm has walked just 3.9% of batters he's faced, easily a career-best mark. He's actually allowing a higher batting average against this year (.247 versus .176) but considering how many fewer runners are on base, he's limiting the damage. This week he draws the Yankees on Monday, which isn't the easiest matchup, but he gets the Marlins later in the week. I don't see any way Strahm comes out of this week disappointing his Fantasy owners.  

    So, how will you know which other pitchers to start and which to avoid? ... Join SportsLine right now to get access to the tools and date that can help you make the right decision!

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    William Dubiel

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