Yesterday was not much to write home about. Had some good economical picks, but high many priced duds across the board. The bats across the board were pretty quiet, a few teams made some noise, many did not. Gotta take the good with the bad sometimes. The Dodgers night cap was a real downer. Today's a new day and a chance to set things right.
Pitchers:
- Gold: Clayton Kershaw LAD - I expect a heavy right handed hitting lineup from the White Sox tonight. No matter, Kershaw is dominant vs. most hitters. Other than the blip vs. the D'Backs a few starts back, Kershaw has been as tough as ever. Price point is sky high, but the return is worth it more times than not.
- Silver: Matt Garza MIL - Garza gets the chance to face the Twins tonight. The Twins have the ability to bite someone every once in a while, but more often than not, are a limp hitting bunch. Seems like a matchup that Garza can have his way in.
- Bronze: Alex Cobb TB - Cobb is a quality start machine and when he's on, the Ks are there too. Cobb draws the Marlins who are somewhat under appreciated this season. Marlins have some power bats that can hurt you, but the bottom of their lineup is no great shakes. Cobb can make hay here.
- Economy: Roberto Hernandez - By me having Hernandez here, it says the economy plays just are not there today. But Hernandez has two things going for him, one, he faces the swing happy Mets, and two, the Phils are facing 80 year old Bartolo Colon. This matchup could go either way, but the Ks should be there for Hernandez.
Catchers:
- Gold: Yadier Molina STL - Plenty of motivation for the Cards in this one. They face Danny Duffy, the Cards crush lefties and they got taken to the woodshed by Giants over the weekend. A good chance to right some wrongs in this game. Molina is by far the best option at catcher today.
- Silver: Jonathan Lucroy MIL - The Brewers get to face perennial punching bag Kyle Gibson. While the Brewers don't do as well vs. righties as they do lefties, Gibson is no great shakes, and the Brewers have been mashing lately. Just ask the Cubs.
- Bronze: A.J. Pierzynski BOS - Pierzynski faces Justin Masterson, who has been coming around but still sub par. Like that Pierzynski hits in the middle of Sox order, otherwise I would have a tough time finding a 3rd catcher to occupy this spot.
- Economy: Mike Zunino SEA - Zunino is slowly turning into a John Buck wannabe. A low average masher. Which is OK for fantasy purposes, but is just as likely to give you a zero than he is a crooked number. At any rate, the price is right and is a decent punt option.
1st Base:
- Gold: Allen Craig STL - May only qualify for the outfield on your site but either way has a ripe matchup vs. Danny Duffy and is likely hitting clean up. You might be detecting a theme here but I REALLY like the Cards to mash tonight.
- Silver: Ryan Howard PHI - Ryan Howard faces Bartolo Colon. This matchup really could go either way. Howard could be baffled by Colon's off speed stuff, or Howard could just crush Colon's mistakes. Either way, he's at flyer prices and a good mid range option if you are looking to spend elsewhere.
- Bronze: Justin Smoak SEA - Smoak faces David Phelps, who is about a no name pitcher as it gets. Smoak is still hitting cleanup for the Mariners, so he has that going for him. Be wary of the Mariners having to fly cross country for this one, may show up with a case of heavy hands. Qualifies as a punt option. so the price is nice. Love left handed hitters at Yankee Stadium.
- Economy: Ike Davis PIT - Davis has been seeing a lot of time as the Pirates cleanup hitter lately, and at dirt cheap prices is worth the look. Faces Tim Stauffer, who is more of a pitch to contact type. Davis Ks way too much for my liking, but is at dirt cheap prices.
2nd Base:
- Gold: Chase Utley PHI - Utley is most expensive and likely best option at 2B today (outside of Cano). Faces Colon, who has been pitching well lately, but I don't know Colon navigates through all of these left handed power the Phillies possess. Just seems like a mismatch on paper.
- Silver: Neil Walker PIT - The Pirates bats are slowly starting to come around. They got there knocks vs. Dodgers pitching which is no small feat. Outside of McCutcheon, Walker is the hitter that I'd have a lot of apprehension over. Very professional hitter. Faces Tim Stauffer.
- Bronze: Ben Zobrist TB - Zobrist faces lefty Randy Wolf, who was decent about ten years ago. Now he's just mediocre. Rays need to bust out of their slump in a big way after getting swept by the BoSox. I expect them to vs. the Marlins.
- Economy: Scooter Gennett MIL - Gennett is like safety blanket for myself. I need a punt at 2B? He's usually available at a price that rarely fluctuates. I also like the fact that he rarely puts up a zero. That's all you can ask for at this price point. Has a nice matchup vs. Kyle Gibson.
3rd Base:
- Gold: Evan Longoria TB - It almost seems wrong to put any of the Rays in a gold spot with the way they've been swinging the bats but that's where 3B is at tonight. Longoria got a couple of knocks vs. Lester yesterday, hopefully a sign he's coming around. Has a ripe, juicy matchup vs. Randy Wolf. (Supposed) power hitting righty vs. soft tossing lefty? What more can you ask for?
- Silver: Pedro Alvarez PIT - For me, it feels like an eternal fall to go from Longoria to Alvarez, but like I said, its where 3B is at. Alvarez, like Ike Davis above, is a boom/bust play. Faces Tim Stauffer, so the matchup is there. Alvarez just isn't as appealing now that he is no longer hitting clean up but still has plenty of pop in that bat, when he makes contact.
- Bronze: Kyle Seager SEA - Seager just seems like a hitter that was built to hit in Yankee Stadium. Unfortunately for him, he spends half his games hitting in that cavern in Seattle. Like Justin Smoak above, I'm worried about the Mariners having heavy hands tonight, which is the only reason he's not in the silver spot. Faces righty David Phelps.
- Economy: Logan Forsythe TB - Forsythe could damn near qualify a any position depending on what site you play. For now, I'll put him here. Forsythe has been underwhelming so far this season, hitting sub .200. Draws lefty Randy Wolf, so, if he doesn't hit here, a DFA could be in his future. A good time to buy painfully low.
Shortstop:
- Gold: Hanley Ramirez LAD - Shortstop is a lot like 3B tonight, woefully thin. Hanley is comfortably the best play at SS, but also the most costly by a good margin. Ramirez faces Jose Quintana, who is no walk in the park, but draws a righty/lefty matchup that he could take advantage of.
- Silver: Everth Cabrera SD - I like ECabrera vs. soft tossing righties, which Charlie Morton is because it means a better chance to swipe a bag if he can find his way on base. Cabrera's average is down, which is a concern, but its also means so is his price point.
- Bronze: Jhonny Peralta STL - With the oncoming theme of ganging up on Danny Duffy, I give you Jhonny Peralta. I like it better when Mr. HGH hits in the 2 hole, as opposed to sixth or seventh, just better and more opportunities in that spot.
- Economy: Reid Brignac PHI - Mr. Slappy of the day today is none other than Reid Brignac. Not a fan of his Mendoza line batting average nor him hitting at the very bottom of the Phillies order, but does get the nice matchup of facing Bartolo Colon at a minimum wage punt price. With all these ripe high price matchups, likely going to need a dirt cheap punt.
Outfield:
- Gold: Matt Holliday STL - Holliday had a devil of a time vs. Giants pitching over the weekend, only drawing one hit and two walks for the three game set. Holliday faces lefty Danny Duffy. You just have to feel that the Cards are going to be chomping at the bit to set things right vs. the Royals.
Holliday's power numbers are way down. It's kind of a heat check spot to see if Holliday has anything left in that bat.
- Gold: Yasel Puig LAD - Will probably be a fixture here until he cools off. Reaching base for 33 straight games will do that for a guy. Puig is putting solid swings on everything right now, and faces lefty Jose Quintana tonight.
- Silver: Chris Gomez MIL - Mr. Swag grabs himself a silver spot. Brewers are just mashing these days, just ask the Cubs, who they torched endlessly over the weekend. Seems like a hornets nest for Kyle Gibson to be heading into.
- Silver: Ryan Braun MIL - I'm tempted to go with the Brew Crew bash bros, over the top two in the gold spot. Brewers are red hot, and Kyle Gibson is no great shakes. Braun seemed to have found his power stroke over the weekend. The only thing that bugs me about Gomez/Braun is deciding which hitter to pick, because they are damn near impossible to play together, due to price point.
- Bronze: Andrew McCutcheon PIT - Tough to give McCutcheon just simply a bronze spot in his matchup vs. Tim Stauffer, but its just how highly I think of the top four spots and their matchups. McCutcheon just finished raking vs. Grienke last night, so you know he is on his game.
- Bronze: Desmond Jennings TB - A Rays stack seems absurd with the way they have been swinging the bats, but yet still seems justified with them facing Randy Wolf. Something has to give in this matchup. One thing is for certain, the Rays are more than happy to be leaving Boston.
- Economy: James Jones SEA - Jones is only worth the value if he gets on base and swipes a bag, but still, he's at a punt price. Jones hit 1st or 2nd so he gets lots of looks. Faces David Phelps.
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