Sunday, June 8, 2014

MLB: Monday June 9 2014

Another day, another uneven performance for myself. Got an epic performance Jordan Zimmermann. Problem was scored roughly half my points. The expensive bats of the Jays and Pirates went stone cold. Good solid production from mid tier guys like Yelich and Billy Hamilton. I have a good template but having issues just getting it to all come together. Let's try again and see what Monday night holds.

Pitchers:
- Gold: R.A. Dickey TOR - I really like the matchup of Dickey's knuckler vs. the inexperienced bats of the Twins. Dickey's gets himself in trouble early when he can't control his knuckler, so we'll know early whether he's got it or not. I can't see the Twins being very prepared for this matchup.
- Silver: Steven Strasburg WSH - The only thing keeping this from being a gold play is the wishy washy bats of the Giants. Never know what to expect from that team. For Strasburg himself, he's been lights out lately. Going 7+ innings 5 of the last 6 starts, with gawdy K totals. The price point reflects it as he'll likely be the most expensive pitcher play of the night across the board.
- Bronze: Jason Vargas KC - Vargas has been more crafty than expected this year, utilizing an excellent changeup as his out pitch. The Yankees hate left handed pitching. Lately, they have been hating any kind of pitching at all as they have not been able to hit. Vargas represents more of an upside play because you just never know when the Yankees bats will wake up from their slumber.
- Economy: Jarred Cosart HOU - Houston pitchers generally go unnoticed by me, mostly because I can't get the memory of their wretched team from last season. This season's Astros are much different. A nice stead of young arms and bats that can hit. Cosart faces the D'Backs who don't particularly like RH pitching. It's the best of the bunch in the economy class tonight.

Catchers:
- Gold: Salvador Perez KC - Perez is coming off a really nice game yesterday. Going 3 for 4 with a dinger. Perez has turned into a solid professional hitter. Faces lefty Vidal Nuno in a nice matchup for Perez.
- Silver: Jason Castro HOU - Castro is going through some hitting woes. Hasn't homered in forever. Faces righty Josh Collmenter in a hitters park, so it's a chance to rectify things and find some power numbers.
- Bronze: Carlos Santana CLE - Santana qualifies at 3B on most sites, catcher on other sites. I'll put him here in a light night for catchers. Has a very nice matchup vs. Nick Martinez, in a hitters park in Arlington. Santana found his power stroke yesterday, so good things may still be yet to come for Santana.
- Economy: Alex Avila DET - Avila avoided a stint on the DL by passing concussion tests. Faces Hector Noesi, who has been surprisingly good lately. This is kind of a make or break start for Noesi, but Avila is a good punt if you need one at catcher.

1st Base:
- Gold: Freddie Freeman ATL - Freeman faces newcomer righty Christian Bergman in very friendly hitters park of Coors Field. Freeman desperately needs to start hitting. Got a good start yesterday by sending one into the seats. Time for him to add on to that.
- Silver: Chris Davis BAL - Davis faces the struggling Jake Peavy. Davis crushes mistake pitches and Peavy seems to be serving them up in droves. Davis has a tendancy to K when he shouldn't, so that always a worrisome factor.
- Bronze: David Ortiz - Ortiz faces Bud "don't call me Spud" Norris. Norris is a pitch to contact pitcher and Ortiz likes it that way. Ortiz's bat has been a little slovenly lately with the high heat, though he homered in the 9th vs. Joba Chamberlain to get the Sox the win.
- Economy: Ike Davis PIT - Ike Davis faces Edwin Jackson. Jackson will either K the entire Pirates order or won't last past the third inning. Jackson is a pure enigma. Davis hits cleanup at dirt cheap prices. Careful with Davis as he has been random platooning with Gaby Sanchez at 1B.

2nd Base:
- Gold: Jason Kipnis CLE - Kipnis draws rookie Nick Martinez. Kipnis .240ish batting average doesn't exactly inspire confidence, but trust me he's a better hitter than that. Slowly coming around from the funk he was in earlier in the season.
- Silver: Neil Walker PIT - The Pirates were such a letdown yesterday. Gotta go back to the well in this matchup with Edwin Jackson. Walker is such a pro hitter, its tough to keep him down for long.
- Bronze: Ian Kinsler DET - Kinsler faces Hector Noesi. Kind of a heat check play, more on Noesi than Kinsler. Noesi strikes me as fool's gold, but we'll see after this start. Kinsler's price is a smidge high for my liking, hence the bronze play.
- Economy: Omar Infante KC - Infante just keeps slapping along. I like this cheap play for Infante vs lefty Vidal Nuno. Nuno has been less than stellar lately, so I look for the Royals to score some runs tonight.

3rd Base:
- Gold: Adrian Beltre TEX: Beltre faces the overachieving lefty T.J. House. Beltre mashes left handed pitching. At some point you figure T.J. House will have a bit of a stat correction. The Rangers bats are just the time and place to get that done.
- Silver: Juan Francisco TOR: A pretty big drop off from Beltre to Francisco. Nonetheless, Francisco has some pop in his bat that he likes to show off every once in awhile. Faces Mr. Sky High ERA Ricky Nolasco. Seems like a ripe matchup for the Jays even though their bats have cooled of late.
- Bronze: Pedro Alvarez PIT - Alvarez represents a pure boom or bust play. Edwin Ks a lot, Pedro Ks a lot, Edwin gives up bombs a lot, Pedro dishes out bombs a lot. Doesn`t get any more straight forward than that.
- Economy: Luis Valbuena CHC - Real soft night for the economy 3B spot. Valbuena is as good at it gets tonight. Valbuena may or may not play, as he`s yielded a lot of playing time to Mike Olt, though Olt has gone stone cold, so I can`t see why Valbuena would get back in the lineup. Hits high in the order when he does play. Faces soft tosser Charlie Morton.

Shortstop:
- Gold: Hanley Ramirez LAD - Ramirez faces Tony Cingrani, who is likely one bad start from being sent to the bullpen. Ramirez is one of the few Dodgers hitting right now and with a righty v lefty matchup, seems to be beneficial matchup for Ramirez.
- Silver: Jose Reyes TOR - Reyes faces Ricky Nolasco tonight. Reyes has not hit for average this season but his price point is still up there. Not my favorite play of the night but Reyes has the ability to pile up points from time to time.
- Bronze: Asdrubal Cabrera CLE - Continuing on with the Indians onslaught vs. Nick Martinez. The switch hitting shortstop has been hitting in the two spot lately. Cabrera`s bat comes and goes, but has a ripe matchup tonight to do some damage.
- Economy: Stephen Drew BOS - Economy SS was a tough one to find. best i could come up with is Stephen Drew who faces Bud Norris. Drew is only a few games into his season, has yet to find his stroke. It may come tonight.

Outfield:
- Gold: Jason Heyward ATL - Mr. All Or Nothing Jason Heyward. Power hitter in a hitter`s park like Coors Field. It won`t take much for him to hit one out there. Heyward faces Christian Bergman in his first MLB start.
- Gold: Micheal Brantley CLE  - Brantley has really rounded out into a fearsome hitter this year. Hitting over .300 with solid power numbers across the board. Doesn`t have the brand name yet, so is still at a reasonable price point for his production. Faces rookie Nick Martinez.
- Silver: Michael Bourn CLE - If you are going to have an Indians stack, gotta have the speedy leadoff hitter. Tough to say who gets the knocks out of this bunch, but you know someone`s gonna knock around Nick Martinez.
- Silver: Alex Rios TEX - Another heat check play. T.J. House been surprisingly good this season, let`s see how good he vs, the right handed power bats of the Rangers.
- Bronze: Matt Kemp LAD - Kemp has been supremely underwhelming this season and his price point is a smidge high considering production. Might be a good time for Kemp to turn back the clock vs. the struggling Tony Cingrani.
- Bronze: Lorenzo Cain KC - Haven`t seen a .330 hitter this under the radar before, but that`s where Cain is sitting right now. Likely because he hits down the Royals order in anonymity. Faces lefty Vidal Nuno in what should be a favorable matchup for Cain.
- Economy: Scott Van Slyke LAD - Van Slyke is dirt cheap, faces lefty Cingrani, and the Dodgers have injury issues regarding Crawford and Puig, so he should play tonight. Though he did pull an 0 fer last night, so Mattingly might feel the need to punish him. Check with lineups on this one.














No comments:

Post a Comment