by Marshall Bauer

The Pitching Planner is a weekly column that will be run on Sundays here at Rotoprofessor. The column is a great tool, especially for those of you in head to head leagues with starts limits or those with weekly roster settings. The column will have two main features: Two Start Options and One Start Sleepers.

One Start Sleepers are guys who are available in the majority of leagues and have a good matchup, have been on a roll, etc.

Two Start Options will be ranked given an amount of stars: 4 and 5 stars options are guys that I feel are must starts no matter the league size or format, 3 stars are guys that I feel are must starts unless you are in extremely shallow leagues, 2 stars are guys who I would lean against starting unless you are in a deep league or have no other options, and finally, 1 star guys should not be started under almost any scenario.

Players are listed in alphabetical order based on last name, for easier searching.

Five-Stars:
Jaime Garcia – St. Louis Cardinals – vs PHI(Tue), @ KC(Sun)
Tommy Hanson – Atlanta Braves – vs HOU(Mon), @ LAA(Sat)
Felix Hernandez – Seattle Mariners – vs MIN(Mon), @ SD(Sat)
Josh Johnson – Florida Marlins – @ NYM(Mon), vs TB(Sat)

Four-Stars:
Matt Cain – San Francisco Giants – @ COL(Tue), vs OAK(Sun)
Daniel Hudson – Arizona Diamondbacks – vs SD(Tue), vs MIN(Sun)
David Price – Tampa Bay Rays – vs NYY(Mon), @ FLA(Sat)

Three-Stars:
Brett Anderson – Oakland Athletics – vs LAA(Mon), @ SF(Sat)
Homer Bailey – Cincinnati Reds – vs CHC(Mon), @ CLE(Sat)
Scott Baker – Minnesota Twins – @ SEA(Tue), @ ARI(Sun)
Zach Britton – Baltimore Orioles – @ BOS(Tue), vs WAS(Sun)
AJ Burnett – New York Yankees – @ TB(Mon), vs NYM(Sat)
Matt Garza – Chicago Cubs – @ CIN(Mon), @ BOS(Sat)
Gio Gonzalez – Oakland Athletics – vs LAA(Tue), @ SF(Sun)
Ubaldo Jimenez – Colorado Rockies – vs SF(Tue), @ MIL(Sun)
Hiroki Kuroda – Los Angeles Dodgers – vs MIL(Mon), @ CHI(Sat)
Cliff Lee – Philadelphia Phillies – @ STL(Mon), vs TEX(Sat)
Colby Lewis – Texas Rangers – @ CHW(Mon), @ PHI(Sat)
Derek Lowe – Atlanta Braves – vs HOU(Tue), @ LAA(Sun)
Shaun Marcum – Milwaukee Brewers – @ LAD(Mon), vs COL(Sat)
Justin Masterson – Cleveland Indians – @ KC(Tue), vs CIN(Sun)
Ricky Nolasco – Florida Marlins – @ NYM(Tue), vs TB(Sun)|
Roy Oswalt – Philadelphia Phillies – @ STL(Tue), vs TEX(Sun)
Joel Piniero – Los Angeles Angels – @ OAK(Mon), vs ATL(Sat)
Rick Porcello – Detroit Tigers – vs TOR(Mon), @ PIT(Sat)
Wandy Rodriguez – Houston Astros – @ ATL(Tue), @ TOR(Sun)
Jonathan Sanchez – San Francisco Giants – @ COL(Mon), vs OAK(Sat)
James Shields – Tampa Bay Rays – vs NYY(Tue), @ FLA(Sun)
Tim Stauffer – San Diego Padres – @ ARI(Tue), vs SEA(Sun)
Jason Vargas – Seattle Mariners – vs MIN(Tue), @ SD(Sun)
Jordan Zimmermann – Washington Nationals – vs PIT(Tue), @ BAL(Sun)

Two-Stars:
Tyler Chatwood – Los Angeles Angels – @ OAK(Tue), vs ATL(Sun)
Phil Coke – Detroit Tigers – vs TOR(Tue), @ PIT(Sun)
Kyle Drabek – Toronto Blue Jays – @ DET(Mon), vs HOU(Sat)
Armando Galarraga – Arizona Diamondbacks – vs SD(Mon), vs MIN(Sat)
Jon Garland – Los Angeles Dodgers – vs MIL(Tue), @ CHW(Sun)
Edwin Jackson – Chicago White Sox – vs TEX(Mon), vs LAD(Sun)
John Lannan – Washington Nationals – vs PIT(Mon), @ BAL(Sat)
Francisco Liriano – Minnesota Twins – @ SEA(Mon), @ ARI(Sat)
Jesse Litsch – Toronto Blue Jays – @ DET(Tue), vs HOU(Sun)
Paul Maholm – Pittsburgh Pirates – @ WAS(Mon), vs DET(Sat)
Daisuke Matsuzaka – Boston Red Sox – vs BAL(Mon), vs CHC(Sat)
Clayton Mortensen – Colorado Rockies – vs SF(Mon), @ MIL(Sat)
Charlie Morton – Pittsburgh Pirates – @ WAS(Tue), vs DET(Sun)
Brett Myers – Houston Astros – @ ATL(Mon), @ TOR(Sat)
Jonathan Niese – New York Mets – vs FLA(Tue), @ NYY(Sun)
Ivan Nova – New York Yankees – @ TB(Tue), vs NYM(Sun)
Sean O’Sullivan – Kansas City Royals – vs CLE(Mon), vs STL(Sun)
Mike Pelfrey – New York Mets – vs FLA(Mon), @ NYY(Sat)
Clayton Richard – San Diego Padres – @ ARI(Mon), vs SEA(Sat)
Edinson Volquez – Cincinnati Reds – vs CHC(Tue), @ CLE(Sun)
Jake Westbrook – St. Louis Cardinals – vs PHI(Mon), @ KC(Sat)
Randy Wolf – Milwaukee Brewers – @ LAD(Tue), vs COL(Sun)

One-Star:
Carlos Carrasco – Cleveland Indians – @ KC(Mon), vs CIN(Sat)
Casey Coleman – Chicago Cubs – @ CIN(Tue), @ BOS(Sun)
Matt Harrison – Texas Rangers – @ CHW(Tue), @ PHI(Sun)
John Lackey – Boston Red Sox – vs BAL(Tue), vs CHC(Sun)
Vin Mazzaro – Kansas City Royals – vs CLE(Mon), vs STL(Sat)
Chris Tillman – Baltimore Orioles – @ BOS(Mon), vs WAS(Sat)

One Start Sleepers:
Josh Collmenter – Arizona Diamondbacks – vs ATL(Thu)
Phil Humber – Chicago White Sox – vs CLE(Thu)
Tyson Ross – Oakland Athletics – vs MIN(Thu)

Notes:

-       This is the first week in the season where every team has a full slate of games, and also marks the beginning of interleague play(for every team except Colorado and Milwaukee)

-       There are quite a few of the three stars guys have one poor matchup that kept them from making it to four stars.

-       Ubaldo Jimenez is probably the hot topic guy on this list. H has two very solid matchups, but has been off to an awful start this season. If he can figure things out this week he’ll be well deserving of the three stars, but if he keeps performing as he has been, then he might not even deserve two stars.

-       The Chicago White Sox are going to continue to use a 6 man rotation keeping Phil Humber in the rotation after brining Jake Peavy off the DL, which makes them the only team with one two start pitcher (Edwin Jackson)

-       If Francisco Liriano is going to turn his season around, this week is probably the best time for it to happen as he’s got a pair of very good matchups with Arizona and Seattle. I played it cautiously with him giving him the two stars, due to his prior performance, but the matchups and his talent level are that of four or even five stars.