Better night last night. Some misses, a lot of hits. Pitching was pretty ugly. My economy pick, Zack Wheeler, ended up being one of the best picks of the night. Really needed Josh Collmenter if you wanted to win anything of substance last night. Collmenter might have been the last guy I picked to have a great night, but that's the way it goes sometimes. Sometimes you win some, sometimes you lose some. Overall, it was a pretty good night for me. Let's check and see what's going on for Friday.
Pitchers:
- Gold: A.J. Burnett PHI - Burnett has not been pitching well lately, but draws the motley Mets, chalk full of swings and misses. Burnett's stuff is still pretty fine, but he has had issues with wildness and other teams being patient. Mets are not known for their patience. I expect a bounce back game from Burnett tonight at home.
- Silver: Adam Wainwright STL - Wainwright has been as absolute stud as of late. His price point suggests so as well. While not an ideal matchup vs. Bumgarner and the Giants, Wainwright has two things going for him this game. The Cards mash lefties & the Giants best hitters are predominantly right handed free swingers. Wainwright's breaking stuff should be put to fine use tonight.
- Bronze: Steven Strasburg WSH - Strasburg has very quietly come back into rookie season form, having gone 7+ inning 5 out of his last 6 starts. The Ks are back, his stuff is back. The Rangers have ultra aggressive bats which will either help or hurt Strasburg. This is really a boom or bust pick.
- Economy: Vidal Nuno NYY - Nuno faces Twins tonight. If Joe Saunders can generate a lot of swings and misses on the Twins, why can't Nuno? Nuno is not known for going deep into game, so one will have to temper enthusiasm, but I think there is a lot of safety in this play, especially with the Yankees bats salivating at the thought of hitting vs. Ricky Nolasco.
Catchers:
- Gold: Jonathan Lucroy MIL - Brewers are built to mash lefties and they get to face Travis Wood who is always around the plate. Lucroy has has a mighty fine season hitting in the middle of the Brewers lineup. I can't see how Wood can navigate with ease through this lineup
- Silver: Brian McCann NYY - McCann has had hitting woes early on this season. I feel like Ricky Nolasco and a short porch in right field in Yankee Stadium will help alleviate some of that pain. As long a Joe Girardi keeps penning him into the middle of the Yankees lineup, I'll keep penning him into my lineups. Guy is still at a reasonable price to boot.
- Bronze: Jason Castro HOU - I just have a soft spot for reasonably price catchers hitting cleanup. Castro is going through a bit of a hitting funk, but draws Miguel Gonzalez tonight. You could do a lot worse than Castro.
- Economy: Dioner Navarro TOR - As long as Navarro's price point stays stagnant and R.A. Dickey isn't pitching, Navarro will probably be a fixture in this spot. Guy seems to be at bat with guys on base. Hits down the order so he avoids having Edwin or Jose cleaning the bases for him.
1st Base:
- Gold: Edwin Encarnacion TOR - Who else? I don't know how anyone can go away from this guy. All he does is mash. He has 16 HRs IN THE MONTH OF MAY! It's ridiculous, he is about as locked in as anyone I have ever seen. Oh yeah and he draws soft tossing lefty Jason Vargas. Good luck Vargas. Edwin may just get 4 BBs tonight.
- Silver: Albert Pujols LAA - If you have psychic ability and see Edwin putting up a dud tonight, well Albert will have himself a nice matchup vs. lefty Drew Pomeranz. Pujols had yesterday off, so should be good to go, unless he's hurt and well, that changes everything.
- Bronze: Ryan Howard PHI - Mr Hit & Miss himself gets to face Rafael Montero. Montero actually has good stuff but he's young and prone to mistakes, and there is nothing Howard likes to feast on more than chunky fastballs. Howard's price point is decent enough if you are looking to spend elsewhere.
- Economy: Tommy Medica SD - Kind of a hidden secret right now. All he has done in his last two games is hit 2 HRs and 5 RBIs, including damn near hitting for the cycle in his last game. Oh yeah, and he faces the mistake prone John Danks.
2nd Base:
- Gold: Chase Utley PHI - A lot of the things that applied to Ryan Howard apply here. Utley loves fastballs and loves rookie pitching. Montero has and is both. Utley has just been raking this year hitting +.330 range.
- Silver: Jason Kipnis CLE - Kipnis is only one game removed from a stint on the DL, so tempered enthusiasm is a must. But Terry Francona didn't hesitate to put him back in the cleanup spot first game back. It shouldn't be long before Kipnis finds his swing. Draws Juan Nicasio tonight.
- Bronze Yangervis Solarte NYY - I love Solarte's approach and swing. It can do so much damage with the short right field in Yankee Stadium. The higher Solarte hits in the Yankees lineup, the better it is for all of his owners. So check that first before deploying him.
- Economy: Danny Valencia KC - Usually finding an economy middle infielder ends up being some bottom of the order slappy. Valencia is slightly better than that and draws left J.A. Happ tonight. I imagine Valencia will be in the lineup tonight.
3rd Base:
- Gold: Mark Reynolds MIL - Yeah, I'm loading up the right handed bats on Milwaukee vs. Travis Wood. Reynolds is literally all or nothing. He'll either hit the big fly or strikeout four times, and rarely is there anything in between. But with a light night at the hot corner, Reynolds makes the top spot.
- Silver: Lonnie Chisenhall CLE - Burned me the last time out by gracing me with a big, fat ZERO! But us dfs'ers and fantasy types have to have a short memory, amirite? Chisenhall is still hitting in middle of the Indians' order while Santana is away with a concussion. The Indians draw Nicasio, so left handed bats should be deployed.
- Bronze: Manny Machado BAL - On many of the poop lists these days, including his own manager who has resorted to moving him down the order. Ultra slow start and a Mendoza line type average will do that for a guy. Machado has a chance to make amends by facing lefty Brett Oberholtzer. Did I mention its a light night for 3rd base?
- Economy: Kelly Johnson NYY - Not a fan of Kelly Johnson per se, because often he looks over matched. But every once in awhile he has a game that shouts, "SEE, I TOLD YA I COULD HIT!" Johnson could very well have that night tonight vs. Ricky Nolasco. That's if he plays, depending on the availability of Mark Teixeira.
Shortstop:
- Gold: Jean Segura MIL - I'm targeting Wood like I targeted Cingrani last night. Pleathora of right handed bats vs. left handed pitching. Segura has spent the last few games hitting leadoff for the Brew Crew. That's good enough for me to have him on the list.
- Silver: Asdrubal Cabrera CLE - ACabrera did me dirty like Chisenhall did on Wednesday night. But one has to forgive in this business and move forward. Liking a lot of the Indians left handed bats vs. Nicasio tonight.
- Bronze: Hanley Ramirez LAD - On paper, this should be a favorable matchup for Ramirez vs. Liriano. Lirano has been a hot mess this season, lefty vs. righty matchup, Ramirez hitting in the middle of the vaunted Dodger order. The only thing that bugs me about this is Ramirez is hitting sub .250 and just coming off a DL stint, therefore I feel he's overpriced. Otherwise, deploy.
- Economy: Andrelton Simmons ATL: Not a fan of this play other than the fact I know he'll play. He hits down the lineup, faces righty Tom Koehler, but to be honest, there really is not much for the economy class. Shortstop in general is pretty much a wasteland tonight.
Outfield:
- Gold: Nelson Cruz BAL - Cruz has been mashing somewhat quietly, largely due to Encarnacion and his hitting phenomenon. Cruz vs Oberholtzer in Houston? I can't think of a better matchup than that.
- Gold: Adam Jones BAL - May as well put his bash brother beside him. I think Cruz and Jones feast tonight and the Orioles tally a pile of runs. Astros have been playing well lately and are due for a "crash down to Earth" type game.
- Silver: Chris Gomez MIL - Gomez has some serious swag, but its well deserved. Guy can do it all and is now hitting cleanup so he can pile up RBIs too? Sign me up.
- Silver: Ryan Braun MIL - Another set of bash bros in the silver spots. Not as fond of Braun now that he's hitting in the two hole. But the dude can still hit and hit for power which cannot be ignored. The gang up on Travis Wood continues. If Wood tosses a gem, Imma gonna lose my mind.
- Bronze: Jose Bautista TOR - Its criminal for me to put Bautista this low on the list vs. a soft tossing lefty like Jason Vargas. But this is where the outfield is at for today. Pick your poison, plenty of options.
- Bronze Yasel Puig LAD - Puig is another guy that gets to face a struggling lefty in Liriano and has been mashing as of late. But what can ya do, 3 outfield spots, plenty o' options. Needless to say, spending on OF would be a wise option today.
- Economy Jonny Gomes BOS - Gomes gets the daunting task of facing David Price but crushes left handing pitching, and loves him those fastballs. Something has got to give in this matchup. If you need a punt, Gomes is a good option for testing out the Green Monster.
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