It might seem odd that a 42-year-old pitcher with zero wins this season is an excellent starting option this week.

Until you read the name: John Smoltz.

The career 210-game winner has yet to record his first victory as a member of the Red Sox, but that should change in Week 14 of the fantasy season.

Smoltz has started twice since being activated from the disabled list, and he's 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA. He left his last start after four innings because of a rain delay, and the Red Sox couldn't hold a 10-1 seventh-inning lead against the Orioles.

The schedule is much more favorable this week. Monday, he will face the Athletics, who rank 29th in the major leagues with a .240 batting average and 24th in runs scored (4.2). Saturday, it's the Royals, who are 25th in batting (.252) and 29th in runs (3.9).

Both starts are at home. The opposing pitchers: Monday, Smoltz will trade outs (or in the Athletics' case, hits) with Oakland's Brett Anderson (4-7, 5.45 ERA). Saturday, it's the 4-8 Gil Meche.

And you thought the Boise State football team had a favorable schedule.

Smoltz is owned in only 32 percent of the leagues on ESPN.com. If he's available in your league and you need a third or fourth starter this week, he's an ideal option.

He should also be here to stay.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-5, 8.23 ERA) is out with an injured shoulder. As I wrote in Saturday's column for the print and online editions, he likely can't be counted on for more than a month.

All of which makes Smoltz and Brad Penny (6-3, 4.67 ERA) intriguing prospects for the second half of the season. Boston's rotation has two All-Stars (Josh Beckett and Tim Wakefield) and a 25-year-old future ace who has won four of his last five decisions (Jon Lester). That leaves two spots in the rotation -- one to Smoltz, who should stay there if healthy, and one to Penny, who, if Dice-K can turn his season around, likely would have the least job security.

With that depth, the Red Sox have no reason -- other than his standing on the salary scale -- to rush Dice-K back.

Penny has given up three runs or fewer in five straight starts and eight of his last nine. He's owned in only 16.3 percent of the ESPN leagues, despite his recent success and his past production (back-to-back 16-win seasons with the Dodgers in 2006 and '07).

Smoltz is the better option for the rest of the season, partly because of his tendency to strike out eight batters per nine innings, even at an age when most of us will be lucky if we can read 90 mph on a Jugs gun.

Closing numbers: Tribe outfielder Shin-Soo Choo has played in 81 games -- half of a big-league season. Multiply Choo's statistics by two and you get: 98 runs scored, 24 homers, 106 RBI, 26 stolen bases, 96 walks, a .301 batting average and an .889 OPS (OK, the latter two numbers didn't need to be multiplied, but you get the point). Depending on how much emphasis you place on steals, Choo is the Indians' best or second-best fantasy player (behind Victor Martinez), and with Grady Sizemore bothered by a bad elbow, there really is no one else in the running.

Coming attraction: Inspired by Wakefield's first real All-Star selection, we'll unveil our first-half fantasy all-stars (minus the incentive clauses).

If you're in an ESPN.com league, you've probably noticed the %OWN icon listed along with each player's statistics. You probably haven't thought anything of it, but if you're a stats geek, it can be an interesting tool.

Many fantasy starters are owned in fewer than 40 percent of the ESPN leagues, and duds such as Royals infielder Mike Aviles (.183, one homer, eight RBI) are owned in more than half.

Braves second baseman Kelly Johnson, who has been dreadful, is still owned in 60.9 percent of the leagues on ESPN. Clint Barmes, who is eligible at second and shortstop, is owned in only 32.5 percent of the ESPN leagues, and Kansas City second baseman Albert Callaspo, who's batting .318, is available in 84.7 percent.

Are owners not paying attention? Is Steve Phillips doing the math, proving he can be annoying in two mediums? Why do I care?

The latter question is a very good one, but caring does at least give me a method of selecting the weekly Pick Three. Again, the following players are available in more than half of the ESPN leagues (this week, it's 67.5 percent and up).

Clint Barmes, 2B, SS, Rockies (owned in 32.5 percent of the ESPN leagues): You're not going to confuse him with Ian Kinsler, but any time you can acquire a middle infielder who is eligible at two positions and is batting .289 with six homers and 30 RBI in 61 games, it's worth a shot. Barmes has been very good this month (.367 with 11 RBI in 60 June at-bats), and he's stolen five bases and has an .823 OPS overall. Factor in his 393 at-bats last season, and he has 17 homers, 74 RBI and 18 steals while batting .290 in 594 at-bats (roughly a full season) since 2008.

Nick Blackburn, SP, Twins (13.2 percent): He won 11 games in 2008, his first full big-league season, and he's been lights out of late (3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in his last five starts). For the season, he's 5-2 with a 3.31 ERA. The only negative is his lack of strikeouts: 37 in 84 1/3 innings this season and 96 in 193 1/3 last year.

Pedro Feliz, 3B, Phillies (7.8 percent): Once a decent source of home runs (Feliz had 20 or more every year from 2004 to '07 with the Giants), he has hit only three long balls. Still, he's batting .318 with 35 RBI in 60 games, numbers that certainly are worthy of a roster spot. Feliz is batting .367 with an .855 OPS in June.


Speaking of percentages ...

-- How is Tim Wakefield owned in only 38.9 percent of the ESPN leagues? Yes, he celebrated his 40th birthday almost three years ago, but the knuckle-baller is 8-3 and gets more run support than a pitcher who throws 36 times a year at the new Yankee Bandbox. Since May 2, Wakefield is 6-2. In those eight starts, the Red Sox have scored 56 runs.

-- Did almost everyone give up on Gavin Floyd? The White Sox pitcher is only a season removed from winning 17 games, but he's owned in only 35.2 of the ESPN leagues. If an owner foolishly dropped Floyd after his awful start, acquire him. In his last five starts, he's won only once, but seems to have turned his season around. He has a 1.67 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings in that span.

-- Don't drop Ricky Nolasco, who incidentally is still owned in 61.2 percent of the ESPN leagues despite getting demoted to the minor leagues last month. In two starts since being recalled by the Marlins, Nolasco has struck out 13 in as many innings and has a 2.77 ERA. He was 15-8 with a 3.52 ERA and 186 K's last season.

Since the Rangers rank in the top eight among among major-league offenses in home runs (second), total bases (second), slugging percentage (second), RBI (fifth) and runs scored (eighth), you would think replacing an injured Josh Hamilton might be as simple as glancing at Texas' depth chart.

You would be wrong (but if you want to waste your time, as I did, here it is).

Hamilton, a second-round pick in many leagues after a monstrous 2008 (.304, 32 homers, 130 RBI, .901 OPS), will miss four to six weeks with a partially torn abdominal muscle. He's played in only 35 games and has been one of fantasy's bigger disappointments with a .240 average, six homers and 24 RBI.

His extended absence will mean more time for David Murphy and Andruw Jones, but not enough to warrant fantasy consideration.

With Hamilton out, Murphy has been starting against right-handers. He batted .275 with 15 homers and 74 RBI as a rookie last season, but he hasn't lived up to that billing in 2009 (.259, two homers, 12 RBI). He has improved this month (.368 and two RBI), but you'd have to really need outfield help to consider him.

And you'd have to be playing in a 16-team AL-only league to consider Jones, who has decent numbers (.269, five homers, 15 RBI in 92 at-bats), but usually only starts against lefties and has only seven at-bats in June.

The playing time of the Rangers' starting center fielder (Marlon Byrd) and right fielder (Nelson Cruz) shouldn't be affected much by Hamilton being on the DL. The impressive Cruz (.291, 17 homers, 42 RBI, nine steals) is a fantasy starter, and Byrd (.299, four homers, 26 RBI, two steals) is useful strictly in AL-only leagues. Even then, he's only going to help you in batting average and possibly RBI.

If you own Hamilton and need outfield depth, the four who follow are all owned in fewer than 50 percent of the leagues on ESPN.com (ranked in order of projected effectiveness the rest of the season): 1. Jose Guillen, Royals (.255, six homers, 25 RBI, 9.5 percent ownership); 2. Jason Kubel, Twins (.304, seven homers, 31 RBI, 45.1 percent); 3. Melky Cabrera, Yankees (.304, six homers, 23 RBI, four steals, 25.9 percent); 4. Aaron Rowand, Giants (.309, six homers, 27 RBI, four steals, 22.5 percent).

Looming ...

-- John Smoltz will make his fifth (and last) minor-league rehabilitation start for the Red Sox on Thursday. Smoltz, who is coming back from 2008 shoulder surgery, is 42 and hasn't pitched in the big leagues in more than a year.

Then there's this: Smoltz has the following career numbers: 210 wins, a 3.26 ERA and 3,011 strikeouts in 3,395 innings. He was also effective before the injury ended his 2008 season in Atlanta (3-2, 2.57 ERA, 36 strikeouts in 28 innings).

Clearly, the latter paragraph is beating out the concerns from the prior graph. When Smoltz is ready to join Boston's starting rotation (warning: scoop to follow), someone has to go, and that pitcher could be Brad Penny, who's won five games.

If Smoltz is available and you play in a 10- or 12-team league, he's worth a look. Don't expect huge results -- WEEI reported Monday that the Red Sox might occasionally skip his starts to keep him healthy -- but if he gets the call twice in a week, he should be an effective play.

Penny, who is owned in 12.2 percent of ESPN leagues, has too high of an ERA (5.85) and too few strikeouts (39 in 60 innings) to be a regular fantasy starter. He is an asset, however, and a return to the National League likely would boost the fantasy value of the 31-year-old who won 16 games with the Dodgers in both 2006 and '07.

If Boston doesn't trade Penny, there's a chance Tim Wakefield (7-3, 4.50 ERA) could be moved to the bullpen, which would wreck his fantasy status faster than you can say "Spencer Pratt."

Penny or Wakefield would have to be the odd man out when Smoltz returns, since Josh Beckett and Jon Lester certainly aren't going anywhere, and Daisuke Matsuzaka's hefty contract does for him what his results do not (1-4, 7.33 ERA).

-- Brandon Webb, who has started all of one game since he was selected as one of the top two or three pitchers in almost every draft, is targeting Friday for his first throwing session on the mound. Webb expects to return from a shoulder injury before the All-Star break, which would mean you wouldn't get Arizona's ace back in your lineup until about Week 15 (July 6-12).

Webb's ownership percentage in ESPN leagues is 98.8, meaning some guys and gals out there are getting sick of holding his roster spot. If someone in your league is so foolish, take the gift and hope you get a pitcher who at least slightly resembles the player who won a combined 40 games and struck out 377 batters the previous two seasons.

Not so fast

Matt Wieters' big-league debut was hyped as the catcher's version of a young Alex Rodriguez or Ken Griffey Jr. with the Mariners.

Thus far, the Oriole has more closely resembled Kelly Shoppach. Wieters is 4-for-28 with zero RBI in eight games.

That will change. Wieters, after all, became one of MLB's top prospects because he tore up the minor leagues (.343, 32 homers, 121 RBI, 67 extra-base hits and a 1.014 OPS in 578 at-bats), and he eventually will hit in the majors.

Already, he's owned in 84.2 percent of the ESPN leagues -- a surprisingly high number when you consider Jim Thome is owned in only 81.1 and Todd Helton 74.6 -- which means he's probably starting in most leagues.

I wouldn't make that move in mixed leagues. Until Wieters has a good week, I'd play someone else -- unless your alternative is Shoppach.

Tomorrow, we'll be back with a Pick Three for the week, and Saturday we'll break down what's sure to be a very difficult decision in football drafts late this summer: Who should be drafted No. 2, after Adrian Peterson? That story will be published in print editions and on the N-H's online sports section.

Until then, good luck and remember it's OK to hope Joe Buck's new HBO show fails.