Hamels, Oswalt, Volquez -- Fantasy Pitchers to Avoid in the Season's Second Half

If I were to say to you that I would give you these three starting pitchers before the draft as an advantage to your fantasy team, your answer would be a boisterous "Hell Yeah!."

World Series Champions Philadelphia Phillies Ace - LHP - Cole Hamels. Hamels had a record of 14-10 with 196 strikeouts in 227 innings pitched. His ERA was 3.09 with a miniscule 1.08 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched). Other National League teams batted a paltry .227 against him. 2009 has been a different story for the Man in the Phillies patched up rotation. Cole has been missing the strike zone with regularity and if just one of his pitches isn't working then he starts to scramble to find a pitch that will. The remainder of the starting five is a patchwork assemblage of fill-ins and pickups due to injuries and giving minor league pitchers a shot to try to right this listing World Champion Team. If I had Hamels on my team now, I think I would attempt to work a trade for an up and comer that is on my radar and maybe a solid bat to add to my arsenal. Hamels is going to be a work in progress for the rest of this season, keep him in keeper leagues but trade him for value in other ones.

Houston Astros veteran ace - RHP- Roy Oswalt- Starting Ace of the Cellar Dwelling Houston Astros is beginning to show his wear and tear on a poor run producing club. Oswalt will end up a .500 Pitcher at best in 2009 due to a weak power hitting team and an aging mediocre bullpen. Roy has given up a team high 13 Homeruns and has seen all of his numbers slide in a negative direction in 2009. The owner of the Astros has stated recently that Oswalt is not available for trade discussions. That doesn't mean that you fantasy owners can't have talks to see what you can get for him in this second half.

Cincinnati Reds All-Star 2008 Rookie starter - RHP- Edinson Volquez-- Volquez has a chance to salvage this season after being lifted due to an elbow injury which he is currently rehabbing as I type this article. The good thing about 2009 (pre-injury) was that he pitched back-to-back shutouts before the elbow problems pulled him out of rotation. To the Reds' credit he was pulled at the right time and his fellow starters have picked up the slack with above averge efforts coming from Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo and they still have Johnny Cueto, Volquez's fellow rookie 2008 starter who tried to keep pace with Edinson fantastic 206 strikeouts last season. This season his K's are down and his ERA is up, that could be a sign that the other teams are beginning to learn his movements and pitches OR this elbow injury is more serious than he is telling the team. Either way I don't see Volquez matching his 2008 year, if you have received offers for him then it's time to reconsider them.

Stats are from yahoo.com