Saturday, May 31, 2014

MLB Sunday June 1 2014

Things were very comme ci, comme ca last night. Drew Smyly pissed me off to no end with his timidness of the weak and feeble Mariners lineup. Ryu was OK, but I was expecting dominant. Rays bats are in the middle of nowhere. Literally got saved by a late evening home run by Cespedes that managed to save me a few coins. The Trout late scratch threw my entire night off. Didn't have time to switch him out for Puig, and then got stuck with a bunch of salary as the next best option was Torii Hunter who was far cheaper, and ended up blessing me with a zero. But that's the way it goes sometimes. Gotta think on your feet in this business. Here's my picks to click for Sunday.

Pitchers:
- Gold: Chris Sale CWS - Sale draws the Padres today, which should be a mismatch on paper. The Padres have been a light hitting club that strikeouts a lot, which plays right into the hands of Sale. The question is will the White Sox get him enough runs to get the win.
- Silver: Zack Greinke LAD - Greinke has been cooking along so well lately, you almost feel like a dud could be in line somewhere. Pirates might be a team that could hand him that dud. But with Greinke dueling Edison Volquez and the Dodger bats coming off a 12 run game. There is a lot of safety in this play.
- Bronze: Max Scherzer DET - Scherzer is a stud, plain and simple. With Cano on the shelf, Scherzer faces a Mariners lineup that is less than stellar. Could very well be the potential for a high K game for Scherzer.
- Economy: Mark Buehrle TOR - Buehrle's price point is a smidge high for economy, but his value and matchup is too tough to ignore. The Royals are the type of Buehrle likes to feast on. Impatient bunch that generates a lot swings and misses. With the way the Jays are producing runs, the run support should be there.

Catchers:
- Gold: Devin Mesoraco CIN - Mesoraco is bursting onto the scene this season. With Votto on the shelf, Mesoraco has inherited a middle of the order spot and has done wonders with it. Is really starting to drive the ball. Mesoraco has the day off yesterday, and should be good to good today vs. lefty Wade Miley.
- Silver: Brian McCann NYY - McCann is starting to earn his stripes with the pinstripes. Slowly coming around with the bat though he has yet to fully take advantage of the short right center fence. He still has a prime hitting spot and the price point is just dandy in my eyes. Faces former Yankee Phil Hughes today.
- Bronze: Miguel Montero ARI - Montero faces Alfredo Simon, who got roughed up by the Dodgers in his last outing. Montero still hits cleanup for the D'Backs which give him plenty of RBI opportunities.
- Economy: Dioner Navarro TOR - I'm gonna keep plugging Navarro in here until they raise his price point. Faces Jeremy Guthrie, who throws one of the straightest fastballs in the history of baseball. I think the Jays mash today, but what else is new.

1st Base:
- Gold: Adrian Gonzalez LAD - The Dodger bats woke up in a big way vs. the Pirates last night. Now get the chance to rough up for Dodger, Edison Volquez. Bad timing for Volquez, great spot for the Dodgers to continue to mash.
- Silver: Edwin Encarnacion TOR - I wanna see him go cold for a stretch before I stop putting him here. He faces fastball tossing Jeremy Guthrie and as I have said before, Edwin loves his fastballs. His price point is just now, starting to hit the ridiculous stage, but its been aiming to get there for quite some time.
- Bronze: Miguel Cabrera DET - Miggy finally makes my list, not because he isn't a good hitter but more because he price point is so ridiculous, its tough building a lineup around with so many great, cheaper 1B options. Cabrera faces young lefty Elias, which seems like a matchup Miggy and his friends can take advantage of.
- Economy: Paul Konerko CWS - Konerko's best days are clearly behind him but still has the ability to mash soft tossing lefties, which he gets today in Eric Stults. Check with lineups to see if he's in, sometimes still sits even with lefties on the hill.

2nd Base:
- Gold: Jason Kipnis CLE - Kipnis got the day off yesterday with the Tribe facing a lefty. Today they face right hander Jhoulys Chacin. Kipnis has a few games under his belt now from his DL stint and is very close to rolling off a hitting streak. Have to figure he'll be in the middle of the Indians today.
- Silver: Ian Kinsler DET - I figure to have Kinsler and a few of his Tigers buddies in lineups with them facing lefty Roenis Elias. Detroit loves their left handed pitching. Elias has been in the league long enough now, that he hasn't been surprising many with stuff like he did early on. Kinsler is a guy that just makes solid contact.
- Bronze: Brandon Phillips CIN - Had himself a nice game last night and today, gets the chance to face lefty Wade Miley. Hit 3rd last night but with Mesoraco out, so it will be interesting to see where he hits today.
- Economy: Derek Dietrich MIA - Not much in the way of economy at 2B, but Dietrich has always been a favorite filler of mine. Decent price point, usually hits 2nd for the Marlins. Faces Aaron Harang today, whom I'm always baffled at how he gets hitters out.

3rd Base:
- Gold: Lonnie Chisenhall CLE - Chisenhall is quickly becoming a favorite of mine at the hot corner. He even played yesterday in a lefty v lefty. I imagine they may move Santana to first once he comes of the DL. Guy is hitting .360+, so monitor closely, a cold streak could be just around the corner with him. Faces Chacin today.
- Silver: Yangervis Solarte NYY - Another one of my favorites at the hot corner. Qualifies at 2B on some sites, which makes him even more attractive. Solarte had a nice game yesterday to break out of a slump, so I'd deploy him with confidence vs. Phil Hughes.
- Bronze: Evan Longoria TB - Longoria planted me with a zero last night, so I'm not exactly enamoured with him, but baseball is a finicky game that way. Rays bats in general are stuck in the mud. Faces lefty Jon Lester today, of which he has 3 taters against lifetime.
- Economy: Matt Dominguez HOU - Dominguez is quickly gaining notoriety as one of those low average mashers. Faces lefty Wei-Yin Chen. Is getting some looks in the cleanup spot vs. left handed pitching. Check with lineup on this one, but the price is definitely good.

Shortstop:
- Gold: Hanley Ramirez LAD - Had to move him up from the bronze spot to the gold spot after yesterday's shenanigans. 4 for 4, couple of jacks, yeah, I'm paying attention. Draws Edison Volquez to boot today, yeah, I'm expecting the Dodgers to continue to mash.
- Silver: Alexei Ramirez CWS - ARamirez still feels like a secret even though his price point says he shouldn't be. Might be because of where he hits in the lineup. No bother, he faces lefty Eric Stults today and is a dual threat to steal or hit for power.
- Bronze: Asdrubal Cabrera CLE - ACabrera is the guy I compare to a hockey pest. Doesn't do anything for the longest time and then, BAM!, he right in your face. Cabrera has a good matchup vs. Chacin but seems to be matchup deficient, so tough call on this, but its a light day at SS. Besides I really like the Tribe to mash Chacin today.
- Economy: Eduardo Escobar MIN - Another down the order, light hitting slappy occupies the economy SS spot again. Tough to ignore his .322 but has little power and isn't likely to swipe a bag, so he is what he is. Unlikely to give you a big number, but also unlikely to grace you with a zero.

Oufielders:
- Gold: Jose Bautista TOR - Bautista & Encarnacion are fixtures on this list regardless of handedness of the pitcher. Guthrie is a fastball pitcher, Bautista is a fastball hitter, 'nuff said. Love these guys when they play at home.
- Gold: Yasel Puig LAD - Stacking Dodgers today is not a bad idea, and if you do, Puig needs to be in the middle of that. Guy is a table setter and a run producer all in the same bat.
- Silver: Michael Brantley CLE - If you believe the Indians will rough up Chacin, like I do, then Brantley needs to be in the middle of that. I really like the way the Tribe have been swinging the bats over the last couple of games.
- Silver: Michael Bourn CLE - Geez, getting pretty close to Tribe stack here. Bourn's effectiveness is in the base stealing, so he's only going to be effective if the game is close. Kind of a hedge play.
Bourn is sitting at a nice price point.
- Bronze: George Springer HOU - I'm pretty sure I'm late to the party when it comes to Springer, but here he is. 5 tool prodigy that can pile up points in many different ways. He's young, so he goes thru prolonged stretches of coldness, but right now, he is as hot as a firecracker.
- Bronze: Dayan Viciedo CWS - You'll likely only see Viciedo here if the White Sox are facing a soft tossing, mediocre lefty. Enter Eric Stults. Viciedo usually hits cleanup when the White Sox are facing lefties.
- Economy: Jonny Gomes Bos - Gomes mashes lefties and the Sox face Erik Bedard. Should be a very ripe matchup for Gomes to chew on. Like that Gomes price point is still reasonable even though he's playing everyday.











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