Fantasy Baseball Pitching Help- Starters to Pickup for August 4

Tim Heitman-US PRESSWIRE

As we head into the weekend series, many fantasy baseball owners may find themselves looking for innings, wins, and strikeouts on the waiver wire. Paul Maholm makes his first start for Atlanta and Edinson Volquez is on the mound for the Padres. Both of those pitchers are owned in just under half of leagues but by gametime will probably be across our 50% threshold. If you can get Maholm, he’d be my #1 choice, but there are three options besides those guys who will be available in most leagues up until first pitch

Here’s who I like to grab for Saturday and how our picks have done the past week.

The Picks

Scott Feldman – Tex: (4.0% owned in ESPN leagues) Feldman has made two extremely successful starts and has won his last five decisions to get to 5-6 on the year. He has allowed just one run in his last 15 innings and will face the Royals in KC Saturday at 6:10. He’ll be opposed by Will Smith who enters the game with a 2-3 record and a 5.94 ERA. KC can score runs at home, but the Rangers lineup is one of the best in the league so Feldman should be in line for a win provided he continues pitching well.

July 30, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher A.J. Griffin (64) pitches the ball against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

A.J. Griffin – Oak: (37.1%) The other top options as I see it is A.J. Griffin who faces the Toronto Blue Jays looking to run his record to an impressive 4-0. He and Feldman are even and it’s really up to your personal preference which of the two you grab if both are available. Griffin shut out Toronto last week in Toronto for six innings on three hits while striking out nine and this time will face them at the O.co Coliseum where he’s pitched well against the Yankees and the Red Sox. Griffin is a big part of the pitching revolution happening out West and in each of his seven starts has gone at least six innings and allowed no more than three runs. He’s been incredibly consistent and he and Feldman both make great pickups for Saturday.

Wei-Yin Chen – Bal: (28.7%) Chen faces the Rays in Tampa and hasn’t allowed more than three runs in four starts. He struck out a career-high 12 in 5.2 innings last time out against then-red-hot Oakland and will look to get his 10th win of the year for the O’s as he faces off with Jeremy Hellickson. He’s not as good of a pick as Feldman or Griffin, but he can pick up some K’s and get the W if the Orioles bring their bats to the Trop with them.

The Past

Here’s how our past picks have performed the previous week: