BEST LINE: Pinnacle -101

It seems like Hiroki Kuroda has been pitching forever. Age hasn't eroded his remarkably stable skill set. Let your eyes wander down any skills column and you'll see little variance. Sure, his K rate may be leaking slightly but his command has tightened and there are no discernable vL/vR splits. He avoids disasters as much as any pitcher in the majors and gives his team a chance to win every time he takes the hill. With him, the past is prologue, pick a start and go with it. Kuroda now faces a Rays’ team that has made C.C. Sabathia, Miguel Gonzalez, Wi-Lei Chen, Jeremy Guthrie, Jason Vargas, Mark Buehrle and Drew Hutchison all look like Sandy Koufax. Tampa’s batting numbers across the board are atrocious.

With Erik Bedard’s health history, three straight years of 120+ IP is a minor miracle. While he maintains an ability to strike batters out, control on base average and fly-ball % are all heading into dangerous territory. The end is near for Bedard, making the 2008 deal that sent him to Seattle for Adam Jones, Chris Tillman, et al look like a slam dunk for the Orioles. Bedard has lost zip off of his fastball. Back in his Baltimore days, he was routinely in the 92 mph range; now, he’s at 89 mph. His general lack of dominance can be seen in the 25%/44% dominant start/disaster start he’s posted in his last 16 starts. Bedard is only pitching because the Rays have been hit hard by the injury bug to their starting staff and they need some emergency starts. This is one of them. Don't let Bedard anywhere near your bankroll.