Start or Sit: Yovani Gallardo at Diamondbacks

Yovani Gallardo vs Arizona Diamondbacks Batters
Out of 40 at-bats against the current Diamondbacks hitters, only Chris Snyder has been able to drive home some runs - two to be exact - against Gallardo and no other Diamondbacks have more than one hit off Gallardo in at least three at-bats. The Diamondbacks are a combined 9 for 40, compiling a .225 BA, 5 BB, and 14 K. Four of those strikeouts belong to Mark Reynolds, who earned the golden sombrero at home on August 20th of 2007.

Yovani Gallardo vs Arizona Diamondbacks
Gallardo not only owns a 2-0 lifetime record, but also has a 0.00 ERA against the Diamondbacks in two starts - winning both the home and away games in his 2007 rookie season. In 12 innings - going 6 in both starts - Gallardo has given up 8 hits while issuing 3 bases on balls and striking out 10.

Trends and Injuries
Gallardo is straight-up cruising right now. After a sluggish start to the 2010 season due to control issues, Gallardo has won three straight, during which he's only allowed just one earned run in 18 innings while striking out 25.

Arizona's offense, on the other hand, has been very hot all year - an exact opposite of its pitching - and is currently second in the league in runs scored and OPS. The Diamondbacks also own the highest OPS (.885), are third in the league in batting average (.293), and have yet to be shut out at home.

Opposing Pitcher
Edwin Jackson will make his seventh start for the Diamondbacks, after having given up 18 earned runs in 6 1/3 innings over the last two. Jackson has been better at home than on the road, but his home start numbers aren't pretty by any means, with a 4.95 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and .282 BAA.

The Call: Start
All the numbers and trends point to a high-confidence start for Yavani Gallardo except for the fact that the Arizona offense has been potent this year, especially at home. If I were a pessimist, I would bank on Gallardo's nice streak coming to an end and the Diamondbacks jumping all over him at home. But in fantasy baseball, we have to stick to the numbers and the trends and since most of the signs point to a good outing by Gallardo, he's a must-start. The Therapist foresees that Gallardo will go 6 IP 4 H 2 ER 1 HR 2 BB 9 K for the win.