John Lackey, Jeremy Bonderman & Chien-Ming Wang: AL Pitchers to Avoid in Fantasy Baseball's 2nd Half-

Los Angeles Angels Starting RHP-John Lackey--After only 7 starts this year, Lackey has only 2 wins to show for it and they took heroics from hitters to salvage them. John sports a mediocre ERA of 6.10 and an uncharacteristic WHIP (walks & hits per innings pitched) of 1.57! I know the Angels are only 2 games out of 1st in their division but that is hardly what the team expected from this roster. Lefty hitters have been feasting on Lackey at a .433 clip and right handed hitters aren't having much of a problem either. Lackey had been on the injured list at the beginning of the season and has been brought back very slowly to assure that he sticks around through the summer months, but his return has been shaky at best and troubling to those who own him in fantasy leagues.He is coming off of a 10 strikeout day against the San Francisco Giants but the team still had to score 9 runs to get him the win. That could be attributed to his bullpen support that is missing the invaluable Scott Shields-out for the season with knee surgery. I would dangle Lackey and move him soon for a more healthier Pitcher or two.

New York Yankees SP-RHP-Chien-Ming Wang-Wang had a stellar year in 2007, making him the de facto Ace of their pitching roster coming into 2008. Wang suffered an injury that could well have been blamed on overwork as much as anything else. The Yanks added CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett after the embarassment that was the 2008 season. Wang went on the disabled list and finally came back this May only to be batted around to the tune of a 13.50 ERA and allowing batters to avg. .446 against him( He is still winless). He looks completely lost out there and the team is not about to show him any sympathy with Sabathia showing signs of a tired arm and A.J. giving up Homers while he leads the team in Walks. The Yankees are imploding in their pitching staff just as the team gets A-Rod back and Power is finally making a regular appearance. If you own Wang hoping that he will right his ship...Good Luck! I think he is falling out of the Starters and goes back into the bullpen, even though he has shown a disdain for relief situations. He could be released but he would definitely be snatched up by a team who could use a spot starter after they work on his mechanics or find that he is still injured. As a fantasy owner, you don't have the same luxury...DROP HIM!

Detroit Tigers Starting RHP-Jeremy Bonderman-This is strictly a guy who had shoulder surgery last June and apparently it wasn't a very good job as Jeremy is back on the DL with the same problems. It looks like another year on the sidelines for Bonderman as the Tigers scramble to fill Starting Pitcher roster spots due to Dontrelle Willis, Armando Galarraga & Nate Robertson all displaying signs of clueless baseball. Through all of the upheaval Detroit remains in First Place in their division. Go Figure!

Source: Mlb.com