Tuesday, the 30th

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the end of June. It's interesting to me how much pitching dictates this game. Yeah, BBC is heavily wieghed on our staffs, but as much as we complain about bad pitching, is it really that bad? Last night we saw 4 of the top 5 staffs go for 29 points or more. Today, as you will see below, there are no less than 17 of the 30 starters with ERA's under 4. Is pitching as bad as we think it is? In a word, no. Picking the right one however, is what it is all about. If you have a crystal ball, you will have success. If you don't, well....So, maybe we are looking at the wrong thing. Do you know what the cummulative save percentage is in the majors this year? Check out the Star Corner to find out, along with the bullpen ERA's of some of the best pitchers. Yesterday, I promised the best of July from last year. Instead, I will focus on bullpens. Be sure to give it a look. It may change your perspective on the whole game.

YESTERDAY

I see that pretty much everyone had pitching success last night as I mentioned above. If you had Halladay, you may not feel so good right now, but someone had to go down. Lince continues to prove himself as one of the elite starts of this game with his 38 points. Unfortunately, I went without a home run yet again and my bats totalled only 23 for the night. Nonetheless, the 61 total points was good enough to get me back up to #10 overall, 75 points out of the top 5.

TODAY

It looks like it is all about the Carp today, as he runs away as the most popular pick. The bats will determine alot today as there were some pretty poor matchups to choose from. If you have Haren, you oculd be in for a move today, one way or the other. Here's the final again.....

C: Posada
1B: Pujols
2B: Kinsler
3B: ARod
SS: Hanley
LF: Willingham (El Cheapo Especial)
CF: Upton
RF: Upton
DH: Teahen (why?)
PS: Carp

TOMORROW

Weather:
Cubs/Pirates 60%
White Sox/Indians 50%
I see nothing to fear, but will check it again by the end of the night.

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Rays, Royals, Rockies, Tigers, Braves, White Sox, Yankees, Mariners

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Cubs vs. Vazquez (1-0 3.00 in 1 start)
Astros vs. Silva (0-1 9.35 in 4 starts)

Bats to Avoid:
Davis (0-8 vs. starter)
M. Izturis (2-13)
E. Aybar (2-11)
Mathis (2-10)
DeRosa (1-9)
Rollins (3-15)
Ruiz (1-12)
VMart (3-25)
Hafner (3-24)
Konerko (1-9)
H. Matsui (2-14)
Melky (0-13)
Tulo (1-8)
Crosby (0-8)
Inge (1-9)
Francouer (6-33)
K. Johnson (3-17)
Prado (3-16)
Escobar (1-13)
Kubel (4-25)
Crede (3-15)
Mauer (2-14, HR)
B. Harris (2-13)
Span (1-9)
Casilla (1-8)
Scutaro (3-22)
Wells (3-19, HR)
Barajas (2-12)
Rolen (1-9)
Zaun (2-12)
C. Izturis (2-11)

Pitchers:
Johnson (7-1 2.76, 4-1 1.94 at home, 1.08 WHIP, 3-0 2.95 in June, 1-0 4.26 vs. Was this year)
Shields (6-5 3.41, at Tor)
Romero (5-3 3.20, 4-1 2.90 at home, 3-1 2.36 in June, vs. Tam)
Beckett (9-3 3.48, 94 K in 98 IP, 5-3 4.03 on road, 4-1 1.51 in June, 1-0 4.50 vs. Bal this year)
Bergeson (5-2 3.76, Low K's, 3-0 2.23 in June, vs. Bos)
Gallardo (8-4 2.86, 102 K in 97 IP, 1.16 WHIP, 4-2 2.66 at home, 3-0 2.20 in June, 0-0 0.00 vs. Mets this year)
Kershaw (5-5 3.70, 83 K in 82 IP, 2-2 2.06 at home, 2-2 2.36 in June, 1-1 10.13 vs. Col this year)
Verlander (8-3 3.40, 124 K in 103 IP, 1.20 WHIP, 4-3 4.88 on road, 2-1 2.91 in June, at Oak)
Braden (5-7 3.26, 1-2 2.51 in June, 0-1 10.80 vs. Det this year)
Jurrjens (5-6 2.93, 1-0 0.00 vs. Phi ytd)
Washburn (4-5 3.22, 1.19 WHIP, 1-2 2.81 in June, at NYY)
Wells (2-3 2.57, 1.09 WHIP, 1-1 2.20 on road, at Pit)
Cueto (7-4 2.86, 1.14 WHIP, vs. Zona)
Weaver (8-3 2.65, 1.10 WHIP, at Tex)
Millwood (8-5 2.64, 6-1 2.17 at home, 4-1 1.30 in June, 1-0 3.00 vs. LAA)
Cain (9-2 2.57, 4-1 2.72 on road, 1-0 1.42 vs. StL)
Wainwright (8-5 3.51, 3-4 2.55 at home, 0-1 5.14 vs. SF)
This is a tough call for me. I like Johnson, but not as much as Gallardo and Verlander. Yoga is better in season ERA, WHIP, the home/road matchup and June stats. Verlander only wins in strikeouts and He is in on the road in the AL vs. at home in the NL. Both opponents suck. Still, I liked Justin from the beginning and I still do. He is my man tomorrow. Also, Gallardo may well be the most popular pick and I really need to go against the grain in order to catch up. If going against the grain means Verl at Oakland, I think it's worth a shot.

First:
Overbay (7-20, 2HR vs. good starter)
Huff (10-32, HR vs. good starter)
Price (1-1)
Morneau (10-29, 2HR)
Giambi (3-10, HR vs. good starter)
Kotchman (4-11, 3HR vs. lefty)
Votto (1-2)
Pujols (4-8, HR vs. good starter)
Gonzalez (5-10)
Prince, Votto, Morneau and Gonzo are worth another look. Alex is not hitting as well as the others this week and Prince has better numbers vs. righties than Morneau. He also has more power than Votto. Prince it is.

Second:
Hill (4-11. HR vs. good starter)
Roberts (9-33, HR vs. good starter)
Barmes (3-6, HR vs. good lefty)
Polanco (7-14 vs. lefty)
Phillips (6-14, 2HR)
This one is all about Hill and Phillips. Hill faces the tougher pitcher, so Phillips is the way to go.

Third:
Zimmerman (4-12 vs. good starter)
Wiggy (8-25, 3HR vs. good starter)
Hall (2-3)
Chipper (6-17, HR vs. lefty)
ARod (15-47, 6HR vs. lefty)
Beltre (3-8 vs. lefty)
To put it simply, I don't want to be the one that did not have Alex with those numbers. No brainer.

Short:
Hanley (n/a vs. good starter)
Zimmerman has been very good in June, so I have to go outside for this one. Is it a mistake that Renteria is the lowest prices shortstop? He is hitting .400 on a 5 game hitting streak. Damn, I can't pass that up and will save big bucks in doing so.

Left:
Spilborghs (4-7, 2HR vs. good lefty)
Holliday (1-2 vs. good starter)
Thames (4-8, HR vs. lefty)
Podsednik (3-8 vs. lefty)
Gomes (2-6, HR)
Abreu (14-45, HR vs. good starter)
Duncan (3-7, HR vs. good starter)
Lewis (3-6 vs. good starter)
None of these guys excite me at all. Braun has never faced Pelphrey and I have heard a lot of players giving up on him in the last few days. I'll admit thathe has disapointed me as well, but when everyone bails on a guy, it seems that that that is the best time to take him. Gimme.

Center:
Upton (n/a)
Gerut (6-9, HR)
Kemp (1-2)
Fowler (3-6 vs. good lefty)
Sizemore (9-23, 3HR)
Tavares (4-6)
Hunter (13-32, 2HR vs. good starter)
Rowand (6-17 vs. good starter)
I like Upton, Kemp and Sizemore here. Grady has let me down a few times as well, but with good numbers vs. Contreras and low cost, I will risk it again.

Right:
Cuddyer (6-11)
Hawpe (2-4, HR vs. good lefty)
Mags (4-10, 2HR vs. lefty)
Ichiro (12-30 vs. lefty)
Upton (3-6, 2HR vs. good starter)
Vlad (25-75, 4HR vs. good starter)
Ichiro hits .353 vs. lefties and has multi hit games in 7 of his last 8. WHile I like Upton, Hawpe and Vlad, they all face good pitchers and are not playing in a little league version of Yankee Stadium.

DH:
Johnson (5-9 vs. good starter)
Scott (6-11, HR vs. good starter)
Stewart (2-2 vs. good lefty)
Thome (4-8, 3HR vs. lefty)
Griffey (18-53, 2HR vs. lefty)
Blalock (8-21, HR vs. good starter)
Byrd (5-12 vs. good starter)
I hate to do it, but I'm gonna give Thome a chance vs. the lefty. All others I like are facing good starters.

Catcher:
Olivo (2-3)
Ianetta (2-6 vs. good lefty)
Suzuki (3-8 vs. good starter)
Laird (4-9 vs. lefty)
McCann (9-24 vs. lefty)
Johjima (1-3 vs. lefty)
This group is a pretty nappy bunch too. I guess I will run with Napoli, but I'mnot happy about it.

Now, I have 1.9 mil left over and the only weak spot I have (aside from catcher) is Renteria. Jeter hits .455 vs. lefties and is 12 for 37 vs. Washburn in his career. How I left him off the initial list, I do not know. I will upgrade there.

FINAL LINEUP

C: Napoli
1B: Prince
2B: Phillips
3B: ARod
SS: Jeter
LF: Braun
CF: Sizemore
RF: Ichiro
DH: Thome
PS: Verlander

STAT CORNER

So what is the overall save percentage in the majors this year? 65%. Can you believe that? So let's look at some of our favorite starters and their pens. Keep in mind that these stats are not only for closers, but for the bullpen as a whole. This list includes some of our favorite starters, followed by their bullpens ERA, and then their pens' save percentage. The more upsetting numbers are in bold:

Beckett - 2.89 pen ERA - 76% of saves converted
King Felix - 3.16 - 68%
Bills - 3.31 - 61%
Cueto - 3.34 - 83%
Lince - 3.45 - 65%
Gallardo - 3.66 - 67%
Johan - 3.73 - 67%
Vazquez - 4.03 - 65%
Carp - 4.04 - 78%
Halladay - 4.06 - 54%
Harden - 4.13 - 61%
Johnson - 4.22 - 62%
CC - 4.27 - 73%
Millwood - 4.29 - 81%
Verlander - 4.43 - 62%
Greinke - 4.64 - 54%
Haren - 4.96 - 61%
Lee - 5.03 - 50%
Weaver - 5.41 - 68%

Keep in mind also that there have been 79 complete games pitched this year out of roughly 2250 games (3.5%) and that the average start has been 5.84 innings. Now of course the best of the best average more than that, maybe 7 Ip per start or so. Either way you know that, in all likelihood, you are going to have to put your fate in the hands of your pen. So, I ask you:

1. Are you picking a starter, or an entire staff?
2. Which should you be picking?
3. Did this game just get a little bit harder?

DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, do so at your own risk. Thanks for reading, please come again, pass the word, and.....

FU For Life, Kerry Wood!

Monday, the 29th

Good morning, everyone. There are exactly two weeks left until the end of the first half. It's time to buckle down and make the most of it if you are in the running, or to hone your skills and maybe try a few things differently in order to gear up for the 2nd half if you are out of it. Either way, interleague is over and we are finally back to real baseball. More importantly, it's the last chance for any of the leaders to pass Poulliot, who has led for practically the entire half. He seems to be weakening of late, but is it enough? Time will tell.

YESTERDAY

Pretty much all of the top staffs equalled eachother out yesterday, aside from the Dodgers who had a really rough start, but recovered to save a decent day. Greinke was solid for me, putting up a respectable 23. My bats were led by Hill and his 2 longballs, but the rest were pretty average at best. In the end, my 30 points from the bats gave me a 53 overall. I dropped one spot to 13th overall, but am only 5 points out of the top 10 (as opposed to 20 points out a day ago).

TODAY

Close to 80% have Lincecum, so this will not me a big moving day for most. Halladay and Harden are represented, but surprisingly by only a few. Will Pujols blow the day for the majority, or does Lince have the stuff to hold him off? Keep an eye out in the STAT CORNER today for an interesting Fat Al stat. Here's the final again...

C: AJ
1B: Gonzalez
2B: Kinsler
3B: Blake
SS: Hanley
LF: Braun
CF: Kemp
RF: Dye
DH: Ortiz
PS: Lince

TOMORROW

Weather:
Cubs/Pirates 60%
White Sox/Indians 60%
Nats/Marlins 60%
I don't really think rain will be a problem, but will be sure to double check it before nights end.

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Red Sox, Indians, White Sox, Pirates, Nats, Brewers, Rangers, Cards, Tigers, Padres

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Nats vs. West (3-2 3.38 in 7 starts)
Tigers vs. Gonzalez (0-1 8.03 in 3 outings, one of them a start)

Pitchers:
Lee (4-6 2.92, 2-4 2.21 at home, 2-0 2.43 in June, 1-0 0.00 vs. CWS this year, Kerry Wood)
Joba (4-2 3.81, 69 K in 75 IP, Less than 5 Ip in 9 of last 10, 0-2 5.18 at home, 2-1 3.56 in June, vs. Sea)
Lilly (7-5 3.41, 3-4 4.96 on road, 1-1 3.24 in June, rocked in last start, at Pit)
Garza (5-5 3.61, 1-3 4.29 on road, 1-1 3.42 in June, 1.16 WHIP, at Tor)
Richmond (6-4 3.68, 1.16 WHIP, 3-2 3.92 at home, 2-2 4.07 in June, vs. Tam)
Haren (6-5 2.25, 0.81 WHIP, 104 K in 108 IP, 2-1 2.63 on road, 2-1 1.70 in June, 0-1 3.86 vs. Cin, 2 R or less in last 6 starts)
Johan (9-5 3.08, 100 K in 96 IP, 1.20 WHIP, 3-3 4.79 on road, 2-3 5.93 in June, 1-0 0.00 vs. Mil this year)
Saunders (8-4 3.66, 4-2 4.57 on road, 2-1 4.50 in June, 0-1 11.81 vs. Tex this year)
Carp (5-2 1.78, 3-0 0.43 at home, 2-2 2.70 in June, 1-0 3.00 vs. SF this year)
Bills (9-3 3.10, 99 K in 104 IP, 6-2 3.35 at home, 3-0 3.82 in June, 1-0 4.5 vs. Col)
The way I see it, this is a two man race. As much as I like Haren and as well as he has done for me, I have to go with Carp at home. The fact that he is at home breaks the virtual tie.

Bats to Avoid (and tons of them):
Feliz (5-26, 2HR vs. starter)
Howard (2-19)
Stairs (2-15, HR)
Dobbs (0-10)
Victorino (1-8)
Andino (1-9)
Zaun (1-8)
Bay (1-14)
Dye (6-30, HR)
Thome (5-24, HR)
B. Anderson (2-16)
Rios (2-15)
C. Snyder (0-8)
Kendall (2-23)
Hall (4-21, HR)
Hart (2-11)
Hardy (2-10)
Cruz (3-15, HR)
Byrd (2-14)
Blalock (1-10)
Salty (1-9)
C. Davis (1-8)
Vlad (2-11)
Abreu (1-8)
J. Buck (3-16)
Crisp (2-13, HR)
Pena (1-9)
Crede (1-10, HR)
DeRosa (1-13)
LaRue (0-10)
Renteria (1-12)
Benji (1-8)
Ausmus (6-34)
Hudson (1-15, HR)
Martin (3-15)
Ethier (1-13)
Kemp (0-8)
Atkins (1-17)
Stewart (1-8)

First:
Konerko (16-45, 5HR vs. good lefty)
A. LaRoche (5-12, HR vs. good lefty)
Overbay (5-16 vs. good starter)
Prince (3-9 vs. good lefty)
Morneau (7-20)
Pujols (9-21, 3HR)
Giambi (1-1)
Loney (6-9, HR)
I like Morneau and possibly Derek, but I just can't stand being the one smart ass that thought I could best Pujols.

Second:
Roberts (2-5)
Phillips (3-9, 2HR vs. good starter)
F. Lopez (9-21, HR)
Kinsler (8-18, 3HR vs. good lefty)
Since I have him at a discount, I will keep Kinsler, but Lopez is a good possibility if I need to save money later.

Third:
ARoid (2-7, HR)
Young (8-22 vs. good lefty)
Inge (1-1 vs. lefty rook)
I want either ARoid or Inge here. Since Inge is only .1 cheaper, I will risk another disapointment from the big boy.

Short:
Escobar (4-8, HR)
Rollins (7-23)
Peralta (2-5 vs. lefty)
Alexei (3-8 vs. good lefty)
Hanley (n/a)
Greene (7-20, HR)
Tejada (1-3)
Furcal (7-16, HR)
Tulo (5-17, HR vs. good starter)
Just like at 2nd, I am saving money on Hanley and none of the other matchups impress me.

Left:
Francisco (2-5 vs. lefty)
Crawford (2-3 vs. good starter)
Braun (4-9 vs. good lefty)
Span (3-8)
Holliday (1-1)
Surprise pick here. As I look for something I like, such as a good bat with a good matchup, I see that Josh Willingham is 9 for his last 18, is hitting .278 overall, and is facing his former team. He also costs only 3.0. It's worth a chance and saves a ton of cap room.

Center:
Podsednik (8-23 vs. good lefty)
Rowand (3-5 vs. good starter)
Turd city here. Give me Upton, just because I want to move on and he is really hitting well of late.

Right:
Francouer (2-6)
Cuddyer (4-11, HR)
Ludwick (2-5, HR vs. lefty)
Magglio (1-1, HR vs. lefty rook)
Hawpe (6-16 vs. good starter)
The only one I like (Hawpe) is facing a hell of a pitcher (Bills). When there is nothing else I see, give me Upton vs. Arroyo in a hitters park.

DH:
Ortiz (n/a vs. lefty)
Rivera (3-10)
Cust (3-6, HR)
Teahen (8-26)
Ortiz is not a good match vs. a lefty and I really don't trust Cust. I think I will give Teahen and his .293 avg. vs. righties a chance so I can go a little bigger at catcher.

Catchers:
McCann (6-7, 2HR)
VMart (2-3)
AJ ( 11-35, HR vs. good lefty)
Posada (1-2)
Napoli (6-9)
Mauer (4-13)
You know, I have never liked Posada much until this year, but somehow he has finally grown on me. That, and he keeps me under the cap.

FINAL LINEUP

C: Posada
1B: Pujols
2B: Kinsler
3B: ARoid
SS: Hanley
LF: Willingham
CF: Upton
RF: Upton
DH: Teahen
PS: Carp

STAT CORNER

Do you like to take Albert Pujols on a day after he goes hitless. It certainly sounds like a good idea. However, the best player in the game is 17-79 (.215) with 6 homers and 21 RBI coming off a night where he goes hitless compared to 59-183 (.322) with 22 homers and 53 RBI after a game in which he gets a hit. Odd but true.

It is time for me to pick my All Star Team. Here are my picks, along with what would be my second choices.

American League

1B: Youk over Branyan
2B: Hill over Kinsler
SS: Bartlett over Scutaro
3B: Longoria over Figgins
C: Mauer over VMart
OF: Bay over Damon
OF: Hunter over Jones
OF: Cake over Granderson

National League

1B: Pujols over Gonzalez
2B: Utley over Phillips
SS: Tejada over Theriot
3B: Wright over Reynolds
C: Yadi over Benji
OF: Braun over Werth
OF: Ibanez over Kemp
OF: Hawpe over Upton

Tomorrow we will look at the best and worst from July of 2008 in anticipation of what we may expect in the next 30 days.

DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, do so at your own risk. Thanks for reading, please come again, pass the word, and.....

FU For Life Kerry Wood

Sunday, the 28th

Good morning, everyone. We all make mistakes in this game, be it a stupid pitching choice, passing on Pujols, braving bad weather, what have you. If the game was too easy it wouldn't be any fun. Just be sure, though, to always double check your team. Make sure to save your lineup. Failure to do so can cost you dearly, as I found out last night.

YESTERDAY

Well, I can't say it was a good day. My massive brain fart left me with the Texas staff which only gave me 1 point while Felix and the Yanks cashed in big time. To make matters worse, the bats were no good either. Braun was my leader with five and I ended up with a grand total of 18, dropping me to 12th overall, barely ahead of a pack that goes all the way down to 22nd. Ouch.

TODAY

It appears that the vast majority (over 70%) also went with Greinke today. As the last day of interleague finally arrives, I need a big one and he may be the man to give it to me. I hope you picked your bats well, as they will decide your fate today. There were some invredible BVSP numbers for the bats. We'll see how many of them actually pan out. Here's the lineup again...

C: Posada
1B: Tex
2B: Hill
3B: ARoid
SS: Hanley
LF: Braun
CF: Sizemore
RF: Rios
DH: Blalock
PS: Greinke

TOMORROW

Weather:
White Sox/Indians 50%
Nats/Marlins 60%
I see nothing to be concerned about at this time.

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Orioles, Cubs, Tigers, Rockies

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Red Sox vs. Berken (1-4 6.32 in 6 starts)
Marlins vs. Stammen (1-3 5.49 in 7 starts)
Rangers vs. O'Sullivan (1-0 3.00 in 2 starts)

Bats to avoid:
Napoli (3-18 vs. starter)
Hunter 3-16, HR)
Aybar (2-12)
Greene (1-10)
Hairston (1-13)
Kouzmanoff (1-10)
Mora (3-17)
Scott (0-8)
Konerko (2-13)
Soto (3-15)
Kapler (2-16)
Zobrist (1-8)
Dunn (2-12, HR)

Pitchers:
Lester (6-6 4.68, 106 K in 92 IP, 3-3 5.26 on road, 2-1 2.33 in June, at Bal)
Floyd (5-5 4.45, 2-0 1.56 in June, 1 R or less in last 4 starts, at Cle)
Nieve (3-0 1.31 in 20.2 IP, at Mil)
Duke (8-5 3.09, Low K's, 6-2 2.64 at home, 3-1 3.82 in June, vs. CHC)
Halladay (10-1 2.53, 6-1 3.00 at home, 2-0 2.14 in June, 1.04 WHIP, vs.Tam)
Blackburn (6-3 3.11, Low K's, 1-1 2.25 in June, at KC)
Lince (7-2 2.57, 124 K in 105 IP, 1.14 WHIP, 4-1 2.57 on road, 3-1 1.82 in June, at StL)
Porcello (8-4 3.55, 5-2 3.02 on road, 2-1 3.67 in June, 6 IP orless in 8 oflast 10 starts, at Oak)
Oz (3-4 4.30, 2-2 3.71 in June, at SD)
Jiminez (6-7 3.83, 2-5 3.86 on road, 3-1 2.95 inJune, at LaD)
Wolf (3-3 3.64, 0-1 4.17 at home, 0-2 5.74 in June, vs. Col)
I like Halladay and Lince in this one. Halladay is coming off the Dl, but the groin injury should not have him on a pitch count. They both face good bats. I believe I will go with Lince, as the Cards only have one bat that scares me while the Rays have a handful.

First:
Huff (8-22, HR vs. good lefty)
Youk (n/a vs. rook)
Prince (1-4)
Morales (5-16, HR)
Morneau (n/a)
Pujols (2-5 vs. good starter)
Miggy (2-3 vs. lefty)
Gonzalez (6-13, 2HR)
Miggy has no run production vs. lefties and I can't go with Pujols against my starter. I wabt Youk, but he has had a tough June. Let's go, Gonzo!

Second:
Pedroia (n/a vs. rook)
Hill (n/a)
Scutaro (n/a)
Kinsler (n/a vs. rook)
Schumaker (5-8 vs. good starter)
Hudson (4-12)
Kinsler at home is the only one I really consedered here.

Third:
Figgins (9-24)
Crede (2-2, HR)
Blake (2-5)
Atkins (4-9, HR vs. lefty)
The only one of these I care for is Chone, buthe has no power. I will jump out and go with Sandoval, his high average, and decent power.

Short:
Peralta (6-14, 2HR)
Hardy (1-3)
Theriot (11-28 vs. good lefty)
Hanley (n/a vs. rook)
Izturis (7-22)
Tejada (2-2, HR)
Furcal (3-8)
Tulowitzki (2-6, HR vs. good lefty)
I have to stay with Hanley again, although Tulo and Tejada look like safe picks as well.

Left:
Bay (n/a vs. rook)
Braun (n/a)
Soriano (15-29, 2HR vs. good lefty)
Lind (n/a)
Crawford (19-64, HR vs. good starter)
Lee (1-1)
Don't care much for this group either. I'm not falling for Fonzie again any time soon. The best bets are probably Braun and Lind. I think I'll keep Braun.

Center:
Jones (5-12 vs. good lefty)
Ellsbury (n/a vs. rook)
Cameron (1-1)
Wells (n/a)
Upton (7-23, HR vs. good starter)
Rowand (5-6, HR)
Kemp (8-16, HR)
I would take Wells if he hit more than .174 at home. In the battle of guys that don't excite me, I will choose Kemp ovr Rowand.

Right:
Choo (3-8)
Dye (1-3)
Bradley (3-7 vs good lefty)
Rios (n/a)
Cruz (n/a vs. rook)
Vlad (18-46, 3HR)
Cuddyer (1-3)
Mags (2-2 vs. lefty)
Hawpe (2-6, HR vs. goodlefty)
This group isnot as good as it looks, making it a tough call. Dye has 5 straight multi hit games. It's worth a shot.

DH:
Ortiz (n/a vs. rook)
Thome (7-23, HR)
Rivra (6-18)
Kubel (1-3)
I think Papi might be back.

Catcher:
VMart (5-12)
AJ (7-10)
Schneider (5-15)
Olivo (3-7, HR)
Mauer (2-3)
Pudge (1-1)
Martin (7-19)
Due to salary restrictions, I'll roll with AJ and the numbers.

LATE UPDATE: SANDOVAL LEFT TODAY'S GAME WITH SOME SORT OF STOMACH ILLNESS. JUST IN CASE HE DOESN'T PLAY TOMORROW, I HAVE DUMPED HIM IN EXCHANGE FOR CASEY BLAKE.

FINAL LINEUP

C: AJ
1B: Gonzalez
2B: Kinsler
3B: Blake
SS: Hanley
LF: Braun
CF: Kemp
RF: Dye
DH: Papi
PS: Linc

STAT CORNER

There will be better numbers tomorrow, I swear. Unfortunately, time is hard to come by on the weekends.

Who's Hot:
Last 7 days:
H. Ramirez, FLA9-for-22, 3 HR, 14 RBI
L. Berkman, HOU7-for-15, 2 HR, 6 RBI
J. Werth, PHI8-for-18, 3 HR, 5 RBI

Last 30 days:
H. Street, COL2 W, 10 SV, 12.2 IP, 4 ER
J. Nathan, MIN0 W, 10 SV, 11.1 IP, 0 ER
F. Hernandez, SEA3 W, 0 SV, 45.0 IP, 4 ER

Who's Not:
Last 7 days:
L. Valbuena, CLE1-for-18, 0 HR, 0 RBI
E. Bruntlett, PHI0-for-11, 0 HR, 1 RBI

Last 30 days:
M. Parra, MIL0 W, 0 SV, 11.1 IP, 21 ER
D. Willis, DET0 W, 0 SV, 11.0 IP, 14 ER

DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, do so at your own risk. Thanks for reading, please come again, tell a friend and.....

FU For Life Kerry Wood!

Saturday, the 27th

Good morning everyone. It's barely 7 am and my boys woke me up half an hour ago so I'm sure you can imagine how fast the old coconut is working right now. Anyway, there are only two days left of this interleague mess if I'm not mistaken and that is certainly not a bad thing. Also, I want you all to know that I got ahold of JT yesterday and he will be contributing an article in the next few days. Please check back in and give it a look, as I am sure it will be well worth your time. Finally, are you thinking its time to take a risk in effort to make your big move. Just so you know, in 2007, just a few days before the All Star Break, I took the damn White Sox in a DH vs. Minnesota and gave up 22 and 12 runs respectively, totally blowing my season. Just sayin'...play smart.

YESTERDAY

Well I promised someone would blow up, I just pinned the tail on the wrong donkey. Beckett and Gallardo cruised right through, but Verlander and his buddy Zumaya severely disappointed. Fortunately, as poor as Millwood looked, I picked up 24 points from him and his pen, managing not to be on the low end of the popular picks. Offensively, ARoid of all people led me with 10 while Jeter (DNP), Sori and Vlad gave me just 1 lousy point. The 55 I totaled by the end of the night was nothing to get me excited really. But it does keep me in 7th place and a little closer to the overall lead, although I don't want to get into that yet for fear of bad juju. Like I have said before, I don't complain about anything over 50.

TODAY

I think that everyone is pretty much going to roll with the King out in Seattle tonight. Of course this means that it is a day for bats, unless you took an undernoticed staff. I would expect very little movement overall. This makes me feel batter as I won't be around too much today and, knowing this, will be able to relax. Here's the final again...

C: VMart
1B: Votto
2B: Kinsler
3B: Rolen
SS: Hanley
LF: Braun
CF: Granderson
RF: Upton
DH: Jones
PS: HOLY SHIT!!! I must not have changed my staff last night! You see what happens when I put all this time in for you guys, I lose my train of thought. I am stuck with the Rangers again?? This is life altering, folks. God bless America, this sucks. I don't even know who is going for them today and I'm not looking either. Spilled milk guys, spilled milk. Fuck me!

TOMORROW

Weather:
Once agin, all games appear to be clear of rain.

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Reds, Jays, Phillies, Orioles, Rays,Marlins, Cubs, Brewers, Cards, Dodgers, Padres

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Reds vs. Huff (3-2 5.71 in 8 starts)
Red Sox vs. Hanson (3-0 3.13 in 4 starts)
Rockies vs. Mazzaro (see "pitchers")

Bats to Avoid:
McLouth (2-10 vs. starter)
Podsednik (6-30)
Rowand 94-20, 2HR)
Vizquel (2-11)
Cruz (2-10)
Damon (2-13)

Pitchers:
Lannan (4-5 3.44, 2-5 5.40 on road, 2-0 1.82 in June, at Bal)
Hanson (3-0 3.13 in 4 starts, vs. Bos)
Greinke (9-3 1.90, 111 K in 109 IP, 1.02 WHIP, 3-2 2.08 on road, 1-2 4.33 in June, at Pit)
Z (4-2 3.48, 3-1 2.78 on road, 1-0 2.20 in June, 0-0 3.86 vs. CWS this year)
Jackson (6-4 2.40, 1.07 WHIP, 3-3 1.89 on road, 1-1 2.67 in June, at Hou)
Ortiz (3-3 3.47, 1-1 1.75 in June, vs. Det)
Piniero (6-8 3.40, Low K's, 3-3 2.32 at home, 1-3 2.30 in June, vs. Min)
Cook (7-3 4.00, 4-2 3.98 on road, 4-1 2.65 in June, at Oak)
Mazzaro (2-2 2.56 in 5 starts, vs. Col)
Kuroda (2-3 3.44, 0.95 WHIP, 0-2 3.71 at home, 1-1 3.77 in June, vs. Sea)
Sherzer (5-4 3.53, 81 K in 79 IP, 3-2 5.31 at home, 3-0 1.46 in June, vs. LAA)
Jackson and Cook are somewhat intriguing, but I have to go with Greinke. Pitt sucks and he is due for a gem.

First:
Votto (2-2, 2HR vs. lefty rook)
Overbay (6-16, HR vs. lefty)
Dunn (1-2)
Konerko (7-25, 4HR vs. good starter)
Prince (3-8 vs. lefty)
Pujols (n/a vs. lefty)
Morneau (5-11, 2HR vs. good starter)
Swisher (5-14)
Tex (3-6, 2HR)
Tex, Pujols and Votto are my favorite three, and I feel that Tex is due. Votto is a good cheap option vs. the rookie if you need to save cap room.

Second:
Phillips (1-2 vs. lefty rook)
Scutaro (14-33, 3HR vs. lefty)
Hill (8-20, HR vs. lefty)
Cano (4-9, HR)
It's Hill or Scutaro vs. Moyer for me, and Hill has more power.

Third:
DeRosa (2-4)
Rolen (3-9 vs. lefty)
Chipper (13-42, HR)
Zimmerman (1-1)
Crede (4-10, HR vs. good starter)
Young (12-24, HR)
ARoid (11-19, 3HR)
I saw somewhere last night that Girardi was not going to sit Alex this weekend after all. I can't confirm it, but I can risk it.

Short:
Bartlett (3-6 vs. lefty)
Zobrist (n/a vs. lefty)
Hanley (n/a vs. lefty)
Renteria (10-33)
Cabrera (4-9)
I don't care for this group much at all. Give me Bartlett and the path of least resistance.

Left:
Lind (1-3 vs. lefty)
Bay (n/a vs. rook)
Crawford (n/a vs. lefty)
Braun (2-5 vs. lefty)
Lee (2-3, HR vs. good starter)
Melky (2-5)
Again, I am not impressed with what I see. For now, I'll stay with the dependable Braun.

Center:
Sizemore (n/a)
Wells (14-40, 2HR vs. lefty)
Jones (3-5 vs. good lefty)
BJ (n/a vs. lefty)
BJ and Wells both struggle mightily with the lefties. I like Sizemore vs. Owings.

Right:
Rios (10-22, HR vs. lefty)
Bradley (3-6, HR vs. lefty)
Hart (3-7 vs. lefty)
Hawpe (n/a vs. good starter)
Upton (n/a)
I really want to keep Upton, but Rios hits the lefties well and I just don't see Moyer having two good starts in a row.

DH:
Scott (2-4, HR vs. good lefty)
Thome (4-12, HR vs. good starter)
Blalock (7-8, HR)
Matsui (3-7, HR)
Blalock's numbers are just too good to pass on.

Catcher:
Kendall (3-6 vs. lefty)
Benji (8-23, HR)
Pudge (2-4 vs. good starter)
Mauer (11-15 vs. good starter)
Salty (3-9)
Posada (4-12, HR)
I want Mauer, but can't afford him. He is still tearing it up,but his power has dropped considerably. Because of this, I won't feel too bad about taking Jorge. With the money I have left over, I am going to upgrade to Hanley at short.

FINAL LINEUP

C: Posada
1B: Tex
2B: Hill
3B: ARoid
SS: Hanley
LF: Braun
CF: Sizemore
RF: Rios
DH: Blalock
PS: Greinke

STAT CORNER

Since I am still pissed off, you tell me. What ar ethe average points scored by the Rangers staff after a day when a BBC player took them against popular opinion, and lucked out with a 24, only to fuck up and have them the next day accidentally? Sorry, I have to get to the lake. I'll have more stats tomorrow.

DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. If you follow my lead, do so at your own risk, espcially when I have Texas as my staff. Thanks for reading, please come again and.......

FU For Life, Kerry Wood!

Friday, the 26th

Good morning, everyone. Thanks for coming to see us once again. Again, I'll kindly ask you again to keep your comments friendly and BBC, blog, or baseball related. I really don't want to take away the ability to post anonymously. This just isn't the place.....Thank you in advance for complying. On a good note, Michael Jackson is dead and suddenly I feel a little better about taking my kids to California. RIP Farrah.

YESTERDAY

Aside from the 4th inning, Carp did a decent job, only to be outdone by Johan. Losing that battle 21-14 is something I can deal with, though. At least I didn't get suckered into going with Lee again, whose pen f'd him even without you know who. If you bought into it, you have my deepest sympathies. The bats came through just fine last night, led by Hanley with 16 and Upton with 10. Bay and Cameron were useless and Butler sat, but my 46 offensively gave me 60 on the night, enough to keep me nestled nicely into 7th place overall.

TODAY

Moving day has arrived! There are 4 staffs in serious play tonight. Verlander and Gallardo were the most common picks and, a step below them are Beckett and Millwood. I will say that I am extremely nervous about my Milly pick, but the numbers say it's a good choice. Time will tell. You can pretty much bet that one of them will blow up, but which? My money is on Beckett - just a hunch. My bats are loaded with vets with power. I just hope that both Vlad and Rivera play. Here's the lineup again.....

C: Mauer
1B: Pujols
2B: Phillips
3B: ARoid
SS: Jeter
LF: Soriano
CF: Sizemore
RF: Vlad
DH: Rivera
PS: Millwood

TOMORROW

Weather:
It seems that there is no weather tomorrow - pick freely.

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Jays, Phillies, Cubs, Angels, Brewers, Royals, Padres, A's, Rockies, Mariners

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Phillies vs. Mills (0-0 9.82 in 1 start)
Astros vs. Figaro (1-0 3.60 in 1 start)

TURD ALERT!
Cincy (Homer Bailey returns) vs. Cleveland (Ohka blows) could be a 12-10 kind of game. You may want to consider some heavy bats in this one.

Bats to Avoid:
Kendall (2-11 vs. starter)
Jacobs (1-9, HR)
Cora (0-19)
Wright (3-15)
Castillo (0-8)
Varitek (2-19)
Youk (1-14)
Bay (2-12)
Podsednik (2-12)
Soriano (6-29, 2HR)
Zimmerman (1-9)
Dukes (0-8)

Pitchers:
Happ (4-0 3.47, 2-0 2.20 on road, 1-0 4.13 in June, at Tor)
Vazquez (5-6 3.18, 117 K in 94 IP, 1.05 WHIP, 1-2 2.20 in June, vs. Bos)
Dumpster (4-5 3.83, 1-4 3.63 on road, 0-2 2.10 in June, 0-1 4.50 vs. CWS this year)
Buehrle (7-2 3.17, 1.13 WHIP, 4-1 2.68 at home, 1-1 4.28 in June, vs. CHC)
Davis (3-8 3.53, 1-5 3.58 at home, 1-2 3.18 in June, vs. LAA)
Burnett (5-2 4.24, 82 K in 87 IP, 3-3 4.61 on road, 2-2 2.74 in June, 1-0 0.00 vs. Mets this year, .176 BAA)
Braden (5-6 3.26, 2 R or less in last 5 starts, 4-2 3.02 at home, 1-1 2.33 in June, vs. Col)
Felix (7-3 2.74, 98 K in 101 IP, 4-1 1.98 on road, 2-0 1.19 in June, at LAD)
Milton (2-0 2.89, has not gone past 5.1 IP, 0-0 2.08 in June, vs. Sea)
This pretty easily comes down only a few for me. Burnett has been good in June and is in a pitchers park against the minor league Mets. Buehrle is a good choice, but the inconsistency of the Cubs bats makes me a little nervous. King Felix has taken care of me many times in the last few weeks and his numbers have been terrific. I am staying with the King.

First:
Pujols (n/a)
Morneau (3-6)
Lee (5-11, HR vs. good lefty)
Huff (2-3)
Votto (n/a)
Berkman (n/a vs. rook)
Miggy (n/a)
Tex (4-9)
I feel pretty good about Pujols, Huff, Miggy and Berkman, but I will start my lineup with Joey Votto against Ohka.

Second:
Hill (n/a vs. good lefty)
Scutaro (n/a vs. good lefty)
Pedroia (7-10 vs. good starter)
Roberts (1-3)
Phillips (5-8, 2HR)
Uggla (1-3, HR)
Kinsler (n/a)
This comes down to Kinsler and Phillips. Neither of them are great vs. righties and neither is exactly lighting it up this month. It's close, but I'll go with Kinsler. More power for basically the same price.

Third:
Crede (3-5, HR)
Chipper (4-12)
DeRosa (1-3, HR)
Hall (2-4, HR vs. lefty)
Longoria (n/a)
ARoid (0-2)
Crede and Hall are gread money savers if you need them. ARoid has yet to sit a game this week as far as I know and Girardi said he will sit one game a week. That kind of scares me a little, so I will take Crede as my El Cheapo Especial.

Short:
Escobar (2-3)
Hardy (2-5 vs. lefty)
Tejada (n/a vs. rook)
Zobrist (n/a)
Bartlett (n/a)
Hanley (1-3)
Jeter (n/a)
Hanley - no others really considered. And I can afford him because of the Crede pick up.

Left:
Lind (n/a vs. good lefty)
Braun (3-8, 2HR vs. lefty)
Lee (n/a vs. rook)
Crawford (n/a)
Damon (3-4)
This one is pretty easy as well. Braun with great BVSP vs. the unknown matchups. Hell, if Zito could catch a goat.....he'd surely blow it.

Center:
Wells (n/a vs. good lefty)
Victorino (n/a vs. lefty rook)
McLouth (1-3)
Hunter (4-13 vs. good lefty)
Jones (1-3, HR)
Sizemore (1-5)
Granderson (n/a)
Upton (n/a)
I can't decide here. Grandy, Sizemore, McLouth, Upton, and Victorino are all good bets. Geez, Granderson, I guess.

Right:
Rios (n/a vs. good lefty)
Drew (10-24, 4HR vs. good starter)
Dye 3-9 vs. good starter)
Bradley (8-25 vs. good lefty)
Upton (n/a)
Abreu (5-14, 3HR vs. good lefty)
Cake (1-3)
Hart (4-8, HR vs. lefty)
Pence (n/a vs. rook)
Cruz (n/a)
Hawpe (n/a vs. lefty)
Hawpe, Pence and Upton are my favorites. Justin has given me alot of points this month. Let's see if he can give us some more. Also, I feel kind of bad about passing on his brother.

DH:
Ortiz (7-23, 2HR vs. good starter in NL park)
Rivera (4-8 vs. good lefty)
Sheff (9-30, 3HR vs. good starter)
A. Jones (4-9, 3HR)
The last time I took Andruw, he didn't play. If they sit him with these numbers, I'll hit the roof. Jones has too much success with Correia not to take him tomorrow.

Catcher:
Mauer (1-2 in day game)
McCann (1-3 in day game)
AJ (4-12 vs. good starter in day game)
Soto (1-3 vs. good lefty in day game)
VMart (2-6)
Benji (2-6)
Mauer has a day game in an NL park. Could he sit? Since I don't know for sure, I will go with VMart in a night game at home.

Suddenly, I am nervous aboyt Crede playing tomorrow. Because of this, I am going to change up to Rolen, who hits .361 vs. lefties and is facing his former team.

FINAL LINEUP
C: VMart

1B: Votto

2B: Kinsler

3B: Rolen

SS: Hanley

LF: Braun

CF: Granderson

RF: Upton

DH: Jones

PS: King Felix

STAT CORNER

The best and worst batters on the road:

Best (100 AB min.)
Wright .385
Braun .376
Ichiro .372
Posednik .368
Beltran .366
Figgins .366
Hanley .361
Bartlett .358
J. Upton .357
AJ .354

Worst (100 AB min.)
Thurston .159
Bruce .162
C. Young .167
Laird .167
Bradley .169
Ortiz .179
Ad. LaRoche .179
Griffey .187
Uggla .188
Atkins .195

DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, do so at your own risk. Thanks again for reading, please come again, pass the word and.....

FU For Life Kerry Wood

Thursday, the 25th

Good morning, everyone. Can anyone tell me why the Hell Manny is playing in minor league games? To me, this is not a 50 game suspension. Where do minor leaguers go when they are suspended? Back to high school? I mean, it's no skin off my ass, but if my team was competing with the Dodgers for the division title, I would be pissed. Good job, Selig. Keep up the good work!

YESTERDAY

So, Lester didn't do much more than I expected. I guess I'll take the 17 points, though, as I only took him out of a total lack of good starters yesterday. I pussed out on Haren because of the Rangers bats and that was probably the wrong move. Seriously, what has Texas done in the last month. Oh well. The bats were pretty good for me led by Hill and Wells with 10 each. My second mistake of the day was dropping Lind for Crawford. In the end, my 52 points was enough to bump me back up to 7th overall (sorry, Gene). On the bright side, the pack that I am in is getting a little closer to 4th place, only 36 points behind.

TODAY

It looks like some of you took the chance with Lee and the bullpen tsunami that is Kerry FU Wood. I will say that Lee is a great pick, but you better hope he goes the distance. About 65% have Carp today, as do I, facing another 25% that have Johan. It should make for a great day of afternoon baseball. Here's the final again...

C: Salty
1B: Prince
2B: Utley
3B: Young
SS: Hanley
LF: Bay
CF: Cameron
RF: Upton
DH: Butler
PS: Carp

TOMORROW

Weather:
Nats/Orioles 50%
Yanks/Mets 50%
Looks like nothing to worry about at this time.

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Orioles, Reds, Jays, Phillies, Mets, Tigers, Cards, Rodkies, Dodgers, Mariners

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
White Sox vs. Wells (see "pitchers")
Orioles vs. Detwiler (0-3 4.76 in 7 starts)
Phillies vs. Romero (see "pitchers")
Rangers vs. Silva (0-0 6.00 in 3 starts)

Bats to avoid:
D. Lee (3-16 vs. starter)
VMart (2-15)
Francouer (1-10)
Chipper (5-28, 2HR)
Burrell (2-12)
Almezega (0-11)
Cameron (3-25)
Hart (1-8)

Pitchers:
Vargas (3-2 3.24, 1-2 5.16 in June, at LAD)
Verlander (8-3 3.31, 118 K in 98 IP, 1.15 WHIP, 2-1 2.15 in June, at Hou)
Wandy (6-6 3.18, 3-2 2.15 at home, 1-2 5.87 in June, vs. Det)
Wainwright (8-4 3.58, 3-1 4.15 in June, vs. Minn)
Weaver (7-3 2.53, 2-2 3.65 on road, 3-1 2.96 in June, at Zona)
Kershaw (4-5 3.76, 75 K in 76 IP, 1-2 2.18 in June, vs. Sea)
Millwood (7-5 2.62, 3-1 0.94 in June, vs. SD)
Wells (1-3 2.57, 0-1 2.10 on road, 1-1 3.38 in June, 1.10 WHIP, at CWS)
Contreras (2-6 5.23, 2-1 1.23 in June, vs. CHC)
Harang (5-7 3.66, 1-4 4.47 on road, 0-2 2.19 in June, at Cle)
Happ (4-0 3.47, 1-0 4.13 in June, at Tor)
Romero (4-3 3.59, 3-1 3.75 at home, 2-1 2.96 in June, vs. Phi)
CC (6-4 3.71, banged up, 4-3 3.44 on road, 1-1 4.50 in June, at Mets)
Beckett (8-3 3.74, 88 K in 91 IP, 4-3 4.67 on road, 3-1 1.88 in June, shutout Atlanta last week)
Jurrjens (5-5 2.89, 2-3 3.43 at home, 0-3 3.80 in June, vs. Bos)
Johnson (7-1 2.66, 1.05 WHIP, 4-1 1.94 at home, 3-0 2.64 in June, at TB)
Shields (6-5 3.36, 4-2 3.07 at home, 2-1 2.93 in June, vs. Fla)
Cain (9-1 2.28, 4-0 2.06 on road, 3-0 2.22 in June, 1-0 1.29 vs. Mil this year)
Gallardo (7-4 3.00, 93 K in 90 IP, 1.18 WHIP, 2-2 2.53 in June, vs. SF)
It's pretty easy for me to narrow this down to, oh, seven. Millwood, Beckett, Johnson, Cain, Gallardo, Verlander and Weaver can all be great picks. As we all know, though, at least two of them will blow up. Cain and Johnson have to go because of the teams they face. I just don't trust Gallardo for some reason. I am really torn between the other four. I almost never do this, but Millwood is by far the cheapest of the three. He has been as good as anyone in the last month and the Rangers pen really hasn't been bad at all. Hopefully he can at least keep pace with the others.

First:
Dunn (1-3, HR)
Tex (4-10)
Youk (1-3 vs. good starter)
Pujols (n/a vs. lefty)
Giambi (3-4)
Youk and Pujols face decent pitchers and Tex has slowed down lately. Give me Dunn on the road in a good hitters park. He actually hits .280 vs. righties. If I have money left when I am done, I may upgrade though.

Second:
Phillips (4-10, 2HR vs. lefty)
Hill (n/a vs. lefty)
Scutaro (n/a vs. lefty)
Cano (1-3)
Kinsler (n/a vs. rookie)
Fontenot (4-8, 2HR)
Utley (2-5 vs. lefty)
I like Kinsler, buthe only hits .226 vs. rhp. Cano is not hitting anything this week and both Hill and Scutaro face a decent starter. I want Phillips on the road vs. a poor pitching squad.

Third:
Zimmerman (1-3)
DeRosa (4-14, HR)
ARoid (2-3)
Longoria (2-4 vs. good starter)
Inge (2-3 vs. good lefty)
This group is pure crap. Inge (banged up), DeR0 (struggling), ARoid (can't hit), Longoria (vs. good starter), and Zimmerman don't impress me at all. I'll come back to this at the end.

Short:
Rollins (2-4 vs. lefty)
Jeter (1-3)
Hanley (5-15 vs. good starter)
This group isn't much better. Hanley sees a good pitcher and Rollins is undependable this year. Tulowitzki is a good thought, but he doesn't hit lefties too well. Jeter has hit over .400 vs. the Mets in the last three years. Book him.

Left:
Soriano (5-8, 3HR)
Lind (n/a vs. lefty)
Anderson (9-20, HR vs. good starter)
With very little thought, Fonzie's numbers vs. Contreras are too good to pass on.

Center:
Sizemore (8-20)
Wells (n/a vs. lefty)
Victorino (1-2 vs. lefty)
Melky (1-3)
Granderson (2-4 vs. good lefty)
Wells doesn't hit lefties, Grandy sees a decent starter and Victorino has little power. Sizemore vs. Harang is a pretty easy one for me.

Right:
Fukudome (2-5)
Bradley (4-12, HR)
Cake (1-3 vs. lefty)
Ross (3-8 vs. good starter)
cruz (n/a vs. rook)
Hawpe (n/a vs. lefty)
The only one in this group that is hitting well is Hawpe, but he is not too good with the lefties. I know Vlad has been poor this year, but he traditionally hits over .330 vs. lefties. He also cut that nappy hair of his and immediately got results last night. it's worth a shot.

DH:
Ortiz (2-3, HR but in NL park)
Cust (2-3, 2HR)
Rivera is a decent option as he hits lefties very well (over.425), but I like the numbers on Cust as well. Let me go with the one that has both average and power. Juan.

Catcher:
Soto (2-5, HR)
Posada (1-3)
Benji (4-8 vs. good starter)
Yadi (n/a vs. lefty)
Mauer (n/a vs. good starter)
I kind of like Posada, but not in that lame ass pitchers park that replaced Shea. I know Wainwright is decent, but Mauer is better.

Back to Third. Money is not an issue, but do I want to spend it here? I can go back to Pujols at first and still have anyone I want. Let me start by doing that. I'll regret it later, but when they all suck, I want the Hall of Famer (steroid HOF that is).

FINAL LINEUP
C: Mauer

1B: Pujols

2B: Phillips

3B: ARoid

SS: Jeter

LF: Fonzie

CF: Sizemore

RF: Vlad

DH: Rivera

PS: Millwood

STAT CORNER

Lets look again at the best and worst home batting averages. Tomorrow, we'll look at the same numbers, but on the road.

Best Avg. at home (100 AB min.)
Mauer .458
Miggy .409
Hawpe .402
Sandoval .392
Ad. Laroche .376
Tejada .367
Harris .355
Castillo .353
Ichiro .351
Youk .350

Worst Avg. at home:
Headley .157
Wells .165
Giles .176
Fontenot .176
Swisher .177
Hardy .188
Buriss .190
R. Sweeney .191
Rollins .192
Duncan .192

DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. If you choose to dollow my lead, do so at your own risk. Thanks for reading, please come again, make a suggestion if you like and.....

FU For Life Kerry Wood!

Wednesday, the 24th

Good morning, everyone. Thanks for coming back and, if you are new, welcome. We have been averaging about 250 views a day for a while now and yesterday was exactly one month after I started this. Your respose has been tremendous and I am very happy that you guys find it worth your time to drop by. Please keep one thing in mind if you will. While all comments and suggestions are welcome, this is not a message board. If you would like to comment on baseball, the blog, ot BBC in general, please do so. Positive or negative, all suggestions are good suggestions. That being said, please keep your comments constructive and do not criticize previous comments or the people who post them. Let's save the smack talk for the real message boards, whichever one you prefer. I myself come from the Country Club. However, anyone who plays this game is welcome here and will be treated equally, no matter who you are or what your alliance is. Thank you.

YESTERDAY

I was very adamant about how good I felt about my bats yesterday. For some reason, though, Jamie Moyer decided he was tired of being a whipping post and most of my bats curled up like a dried up worm. Justin Upton gave me 10, but the rest pretty much busted out. It just goes to show that no matter how much we think we know, baseball will always have the upper hand. If it was easy, we wouldn't play. Fortunately, Lince kicked in 32 and, as promised, movement was minimal for most of us. In the end, my 55 points was not too bad, but dropped me to 8th overall, in the middle of that pack of about 7 teams, jockeying for position to see who can reach the next level first.

TODAY

Today will be different as the Red Sox carry about 45% of the staffs and Zona has another 30% or so. This leaves a good few of you to share the rest. I also see that the popular position picks are a little more diverse today than they have been. Could be a moving day. Here's the final...

C: Weiters
1B: Pujols
2B: Hill
3B: Rolen
SS: Zobrist
LF: Crawford
CF: Wells
RF: Pence
DH: Stewart
PS: Lester

TOMORROW

Weather:
Cubs/Tigers 50%
Dodgers/White Sox 50%
Indians/Pirates 50%
It looks like the weathermen have no idea at this point, but 50% doesn't scare me in the least.

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Tigers, Cardinals, Dodgers, Mariners, Padres, Braves, Pirates, Rays, Reds, Marlins, Orioles

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Twins vs. Burris (1st career start, but 46 relief appearences in previous years)
Mariners vs. Leblanc (0-0 9.00 in debut)
Reds vs. Cecil (2-1 4.26 in 5 starts)
Rays vs. Bastardo (2-2 5.21 in 4 starts)
Orioles vs. West (2-2 3.96 in 6 starts)

Bats to avoid:
N. Johnson (6-32. HR vs. starter)
R. Belliard (3-17)
Dunn (2-12, HR)
C. Guillen (4-22)
Inge (1-9)
Tatis (0-8)
Ludwick (2-15)
Counsell (1-12)
Teix (0-9)
Swisher (1-9)

Pitchers:
Lilly (7-4 3.04, 3-3 4.40 on road, 1-0 1.98 in June, 1.06 WHIP, at Det)
Carp (5-1 1.53, 2-1 2.15 on road, 2-1 2.43 in June, 0.72 WHIP, at Mets)
Johan (8-5 3.22, 97 K in 89 IP, 5-2 2.18 at home, 1-1 7.33 in June, vs. StL)
Bills (9-3 2.83, 96 K in 98 IP, 3-1 2.27 on road, 3-0 2.92 in June, at CWS)
Bannister (5-4 3.89, 2-2 4.55 on road, 1-2 4.01 in June, at Hou)
Washburn (3-5 3.24, 2-2 3.00 at home, 0-2 2.77 in June, vs. SD)
Smoltz (Welcome back Smoltzie! will be on a pitch count, at Was)
Lee (4-6 2.94, 2-2 3.83 on road, 2-0 2.40 in June, Kerry FU Wood, at Pitt)
Cueto (6-4 2.55, 5-2 1.53 on road, 2-1 2.63 in June, 1.12 WHIP, at Tor)
Carp, Bills and Washburn look like the best of the bunch. Lee would be a very good pickas well, but there is no way that I am going to fall forthat one again. The fact that the Mets are using a minor league lineup is all I need to know. Carp.

First:
Lee (n/a)
Pujols (2-4, HR vs good lefty)
Prince (5-15, HR)
Morneau (n/a)
Youk (n/a)
Votto (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Howard (n/a)
C. Davis (3-5, 2HR)
This one is automatic for me. Without any serious consideration for the others, I want Prince.

Second:
Castillo (6-20 vs. good starter)
Phillips (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Utley (n/a)
Roberts n/a vs. lefty rook)
I am jumping off the Jays duo today for sure. Phillips looks safe, but I like Utley at the Trop.

Third:
Chipper (7-19 vs. good lefty)
ARoid (7-24 vs. good starter)
Longoria (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Chipper never performs when I take him, plus it's a day game and he tends to puss out. ARoid sucks and Longoria doesn't impress me inthis matchup. To save dough, I'll roll with Michael Young.

Short:
Jeter (15-52 vs. good starter)
Zobrist (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Bartlett (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Hanley (n/a vs. lefty)
Bartlett is decent, Jeter sees a good pitcher, and Zo is cold as ice this week (see stat corner). Give me Hanley by default.

Left:
Pierre (n/a vs. lefty)
Anderson (32-80, 3HR vs. lefty)
Damon (5-11 vs. good starter)
Bay (n/a)
Bay is hands down the best of this bunch. Watch out if you want Anderson. He rarely sees lefties in favor of Diaz.

Center:
Cameron (2-5, 2HR)
Sizemore (1-1)
Upton (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Jones (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Upton is hot,but struggles vs. lefties. Jones doesn't sound good to me. I could go with cameron, but Sizemore is a steal at less than 5 mil. You know what? Serious cap issues are in the works, make it Cameron.

Right:
Hart (2-6)
Guillen (6-16)
Francouer (3-6, HR vs. good lefty)
Bruce (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Cake (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Upton (n/a)
Upton is the only one I am considering here.

DH:
Matsui (12-22, HR vs. good starter)
Blalock (10-33, HR)
Byrd (5-10)
I can't be sure any of these will play. Give me Billy Butler whohits .292 vs. righties and is facing a turn in the form of a starter.


Catcher:
McCann (1-3 vs. good lefty)
VMart (1-1)
Salty (2-6)
Money is still a big issue for me. I'll take Salty in the night game.

Guys, be very careful tomorrow with the day games. Many starters could get the day off, especially if they are of the older variety.

FINAL LINEUP
C: Salty
1B: Prince
2B: Utley
3B: Young
SS: Hanley
LF: Bay
CF: Cameron
RF: Upton
DH: Butler
PS: Carp

STAT CORNER

Struggling bats over the last 7 days:
Zobrist .120
Reynolds .125
Rollins .130
Cruz .160
VMart .174
Soriano .179
Chipper .182
Zimmerman .185
Wright .185
Barmes .185
Ad. Jones .192

DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, do so at your own risk. Thanks for reading, please come again, tell a friend, and.....

FU For Like Kerry Wood!

Tuesday, the 23rd

Good morning, everyone. I hope you enjoyed your uneventful Monday and I also wish you a good uneventful Tuesday. More on that later. Are my eyes decieving me, or have the Rockies really won 17 of 18 games. Sadly enough, they are still 9 games behind the Dodgers. On the bright side, they only train the Giants by 1/2 a game for the wild card. Who would have thought that those two would be in the position they are in. This is why I love this game. I also see that we had close to 300 views again yesterday. Your partonage is once again greatly appreciated.

YESTERDAY

Like I promised, yesterday was kind of a wash. The vast majority picked up 28 ugly points from the Braves staff, myself included. The second most popular pick (Oakland) did pretty much the same. Most of us had the same bats as well. Hawpe gave me 10, Tulo 6, and everyone got at least two, giving me a total of 65 on the day. This was good enough to move me up to 6th overall. Unfortunately, I am about 50 points behind the next pack and am only a handful of points away from being out of the top ten altogether. No complaints, though.

TODAY

I speculated yesterday that 75% of the Leaderboard would have Lincecum today. Boy was I wrong. It's 88%. This will give us yet another day of little movement unless you went against the grain. The bats will be the factor that decides your fate today and, fortunately, I love the ones I have lined up. Here they are...

C: Pudge
1B: Pujols
2B: Hill
3B: Longoria
SS: Bartlett
LF: Crawford
CF: McLouth
RF: Upton
DH: Rasmus
PS: Lince

TOMORROW

Weather:
Orioles/Marlins 60%
I see no reason for concern at this time.

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Nationals, Indians, White Sox, Angels, Rockies, A's, Giants

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Boston vs. Stammen (1-2 4.76 in 6 starts)
Florida vs. Berken (1-3 6.84 in 5 starts)

Bats you might want to avoid:
Hinske (1-9 vs. starter)
Bartlett (2-14)
Stairs (1-10)
Olivo (2-11)
Guillen (0-9)
Vizquel (3-26)
Abreu (3-21)
Holliday (2-17)

Pitchers:
Saunders (7-4 3.80, 3-2 3.12 at home, 1-1 5.19 in June, vs. Col)
Joba (3-2 3.80, 64 K in 69 IP, 6 IP or less in 9 of last 10, 3-0 2.72 on road, 1-1 3.75 in June, at Atl)
Porcello (8-4 3.54, 2 R in last 2 starts, 3-2 4.22 at home, 2-1 3.08 in June, vs. CHC)
Lester (5-6 4.69, 100 K in 86 IP, 1.67 in last 4 starts, 2-5 5.36 on road, at Was)
Duke (7-5 3.18, low K's, 5-2 2.77 at home, 2-1 4.33 in June, vs. Cle)
Richmond (5-4 3.79, 2-2 4.22 at home, 0-1 4.60 in June, some is bullpen work, vs. Cin)
Garza (4-5 3.83, 3-2 3.52 at home, 0-1 4.60 in June, vs. Phi)
Thompson (2-1 3.89, Bullpen guy, 2-1 3.63 in June, vs. NYM)
Nieve (2-0 1.84 in 2 starts, vs. StL)
Blackburn (6-2 3.09, low K's, 3-2 3.46 on road, 1-0 1.88 in June, at Mil)
Wolf (3-2 3.29, 3-1 2.28 on road, 0-1 4.63 in June, vs. CWS)
Haren (6-4 2.23, 96 K in 101 IP, 4-3 1.87 at home, 2-0 1.50 in June, vs. Tex)
Marquis (9-4 3.71, low K's, 5-2 3.10 on road, 2-1 3.18 in June, at LAA)
Outman (4-1 3.48, 2-1 4.43 in June, 0-1 6.00 vs. SF this year)
What I see here is a large number of second rate starters that is just are just as likely to blow up as they are to pitch shutouts. Haren, Wolf, and Lester are the best of the bunch in my opinion. I can't risk Haren vs. Texas. Wold is probably fairly safe,but I have to give the ball to Lester the way he has been going lately.

First:
Tex (n/a vs. Kawakami)
Youk (n/a vs. rook)
Overbay (1-1)
Pena (4-7)
Pujols (0-1)
Huff (1-3, HR)
Morneau (1-1)
Berkman (n/a)
Gonzo (2-3)
I would be happy to drop Pujols, but there is not anyone who's numbers give me a good enough reason to do so.

Second:
Cano (n/a vs. Kawakami)
Polanco (5-7 vs. good starter)
Hill (3-9)
Roberts (3-4)
Again, I'll stay put here. Cano and Roberts are good options, but they don't have Hill's power and cost considerably more.

Third:
DeRosa (7-20 vs. good lefty starter)
Rolen (9-25, 2HR)
Longoria (1-3)
Wright (2-6, HR)
Young (11-28, HR vs. good starter)
I am going to pass on everyone else and save money with Rolen, who is hot and hits righties well against a poor pitching Arroyo. He also has multiple hits in 6 of his last 7 games.

Short:
Zobrist (1-3)
Hanley (n/a vs. rook)
Hardy (2-3, HR vs. good starter)
Tejada (n/a)
Renteria (3-5 vs. good lefty)
Big Ben's power is vs the righties and that's who he's facing tomorrow in Blanton. Because of this, I will continue to try topick the right side of Tampa's SS combo.

Left:
Damon (n/a vs. Kawakami)
Bay (n/a vs. rook)
Lind (1-1)
Crawford (7-22)
Braun (2-3 vs. good starter)
Lee (n/a)
Pierre (3-6)
I like Lind, Crawford, and Pierre the best among this group. Give me the hot hitting Lind over Pierre unless I need the money later.

Center:
Granderson (1-3, HR vs. good starter)
Wells (8-28, 2HR)
Kemp (2-4, HR)
I want to go with Kemp,but Wells has more power and isa steal at his current price. This does give me four Jays however, which I do not want. I may have to drop Lind before its all said and done.

Right:
Rios (2-5, HR)
Church (2-6)
Hart (2-3, 2HR vs. good starter)
Cuddyer (1-3)
Pence (n/a)
Upton (n/a)
I always talk about Pence, but rarely take him. Tomorrow, I will. No real good reason for this one, just a hunch.

DH:
Byrd (6-11 vs. good starter)
Rivera (1-3 vs. good lefty)
Rivera is probably the best pick here because of his numbers vs. lefties, but Marquis has been surprisingly good and I don't care much for that matchup. I could keep Rasmus, but Stewart is really hitting well and deserves a chance to play.

Catcher:
VMart (1-2 vs. good lefty)
Mauer (3-3, HR)
Martin (2-5, HR)
Benji (2-3 vs. good lefty)
Schneider (3-9, HR)
I can't afford the ones I really want, so let's get crazy. Nolasco really blows and it's enough that Weiters might just go deep for me.

I said before that I didn't want to have so many Blue Jays and I still don't. Drop Lind for Crawford. Now this leaves me .6 mil unused. Please remember the following. You do not always have to use it all. Changing your team simply for the sake of spending money is a bad move. If you like it, leave it.

FINAL LINEUP
C: Weiters

1B: Pujols

2B: Hill

3B: Rolen

SS: Zobrist

LF: Crawford

CF: Wells

RF: Pence

DH: Stewart

PS: Lester

STAT CORNER

As promised, we will check out the best pitchers thus far in June.

ERA Leaders (with at least 20 IP)
Millwood 0.94
Lannan 1.16
King Felix 1.19
Contreras 1.23
Haren 1.50
Floyd 1.57
Zambrano 1.66
Lester 1.71
Mazzaro 1.75
Blackburn 1.88
Beckett 1.88
Lilly 1.98

DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, do so at your own risk. Thanks for reading, please come again, tell a friend and.....

FU Kerry Wood

Monday, the 22nd

Good morning, everyone. I see that we crossed 5000 views late last night. I must say again that I am pretty impressed by that. I thank you all for coming and especially for coming back day after day. The fact that you read in and seem to enjoy it makes it well worth my time. If you look to your left, you will see the "follow" link. Please join if you like. It let's me know who's reading. I'm not too sure what else it does, but it doesn't cost anything. Below that you will see a new feature I added last night that will send you updates everytime there is a new post on here. Check it out if you like. It could be helpful to some of you. Thanks again for coming guys, I really mean that.

YESTERDAY

King Felix did his job for me once again. Yeah, he had one bad pitch, but I don't often complain when my staff gives me 27 points. Hell, he was so good he even outscored Pujols (19). If you didn't have him yesterday, I am really sorry. He was the difference between moving up and moving down for most. Aside from Fat Al, the pats were pretty poor. Rivera, Bartlett and Hunter helped out though and I totalled 37 offensive points for a grand total of 64. This was good enough to move me back into the top ten for the first time since May 4th, I believe. I only hope that I can stay there this time. Gene Ducette, you're in my sights pal.

TODAY

Once again, it is a lame day with only foue games going. From looking at the Leaderboard and the Suspect list, it appears that we all have pretty much the same lineups. I would not expect to see a lot of movement today, aside from a brave few that went against the grain. So relax today, take it easy and don't sweat this one. I've not seen this many on board of the Braves' PS train since I don't know when. Here's the final again.....

C: Ianetta
1B: Pujols
2B: Schumaker
3B: Wright
SS: Tulowitzki
LF: Holliday
CF: Hunter
RF: Hawpe
DH: Cust
PS: Vazquez

TOMORROW

Weather:
Orioles/Mets 60%
I see no reason for significant worry at this time.

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Red Sox, Pirates, Reds, Rays, Phillies, Orioles, Brewers, Dodgers, DBacks, Padres

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Yankees vs. Hanson (2-0 4.08 in 3 starts)
Pirates vs. Huff (2-2 7.09 in 7 starts)
Reds vs. Mills (0-0 9.82 in 1 start)
Phillies vs. Price (see "pitchers")
Giants vs. Mazzaro (see "pitchers")

Players to avoid:
Greene (3-20, HR vs. starter)
Yadi (2-11)
C. Lee (1-9)
Everett (3-29)
Polanco (1-10)
Dunn (5-28, 2HR)
Dmitri Young (1-11)
Kearns (1-9)
Church (2-11)

Pitchers:
Z (4-2 3.44, 1-0 1.66 in June, 3-1 2.58 on road, vs. Det)
Jackson (6-4 2.39, 2 R or less in 6 of last 8 starts, 1-1 2.70 in June, 3-1 3.00 at home, vs. CHC)
Lannan (4-5 3.38, 2-0 1.72 at home, 2-0 1.16 in June, vs. Bos)
Price (1-1 3.46, 31 K in 26 IP, rocked in last start, 1-0 1.80 at home, vs. Phi)
Pinero (5-8 3.76, 3 R or more in 4 of last 5, 2-5 5.27 on road, 1-0 2.25 vs. Mets this year)
Greinke (8-3 1.96, 106 K in 101 IP, 3 R or more in last 4, 2-2 2.29 on road, at Hou)
Ortiz (3-2 3.60, 1-0 1.45 in June, vs. KC)
Kuroda (1-3 3.86, 9 R allowed in last 2 starts, 1-1 4.09 on road, at CWS)
Sherzer (4-4 3.58, 74 K in 73 IP, 2-0 0.96 in June, 2-2 5.73 at home, vs. Tex)
Jiminez (6-6 3.73, 2 R or less in 3 of last 4, 2-4 3.67 on road, at LAA)
Lince (6-2 2.72, 112 K in 96 IP, 1-0 0.00 vs. Oak this year, 2-1 2.05 in June)
Mazzaro (2-1 2.75, 2-1 1.75 in June, 1-0 0.00 at home, vs. SF)
There are a few solid picks here that may very wellput up 30 point nights. Jackson and Greinke would be most likely to do so, but there isno way Ican pass on Lince right now. I would guess that 75% of the leaders will have him and I willbe one of the majority.

First:
Tex (vs. rook)
Pena (10-20, 2HR)
Pujols (11-32, 3HR)
Morneau (1-3)
Branyan (1-3)
I really feel good about Pena tomorrow vs. Moyer, but he is currenyly 5.9 mil and I have a red hot Pujols locked in at 6.0. No way I'm changing, not tonight anyway.

Second:
Hill (n/a)
Scutaro (n/a)
Phillips (n/a vs. lefty rookie)
Hill has more power vs. righties than Phillips has vs. lefties. Hill has been hitor miss forme,but when he hits, it's usually good for big numbers.

Third:
Chipper (2-4 vs. Wang)
Wright (5-12 vs. good starter)
Longoria (vs. Moyer)
Derosa (5-10)
As much as I am a big fan of Derosa, I have to take a big bat against Moyer. Longoria is the man. On top of that, Chipper and Wright have let me down on multiple occasions lately.

Short:
Zobrist (1-2 vs. lefty)
Bartlett (1-3 vs. lefty)
Tejada (3-6, HR vs. good starter)
Betancourt (5-12, HR)
Zobrist hits .350 vs. lefties. Bartlett hits .400 vs. lefties. Zo has more power. However, I have a feeling that Zo is due for a day off. I have nothing to prove this, just a feeling. Because of that, I will take Bartlett.

Left:
Damon (vs. rook)
Bay (2-4 vs. good lefty)
Lind (n/a)
Crawford (9-19 vs. lefty)
Pierre (1-3 vs. lefty)
Holliday (8-25 vs. good starter)
I can go with either Crawford, Lind or Pierre here and feel good about it. Pierre kills lefties, Lind is on fire, and Crawford has the numbers vs. Moyer. I'll stick with the Rays theme and add Crawford.

Center:
McLouth (n/a vs. Wang)
Wells (n/a)
Upton (3-5 vs. lefty)
Beltran (5-16 vs. good starter)
Ankiel (2-3, HR)
Kemp (1-1 vs. lefty)
I am determined to have at least 1 player going against Wang tomorrow and I also need to save some cap room. Hence - McLouth inan easy one.

Right:
Rios (n/a)
Bruce (n/a vs. rookie lefty)
Upton (n/a vs. lefty)
Cruz (n/a)
Cruz has cooled some and I don't trust Bruce or Rios much at all. It's not them, it's me. Upton hits .367 vs. lefties and that's my pick.

DH:
Johnson (3-5)
Rasmus (1-3)
Kubel (2-3)
Jr. (2-6, HR)
Johnson doesn't have the power to justify his value. Check out the stat corner today and you will see why I want Rasmus vs. a washed up Livan tomorrow.

Catcher:
McCann (1-3 vs. Wang)
VMart (n/a)
Mauer (2-5)
Pudge (10-27, HR vs. good starter)
Money is a major issue now. I can only spend 3.0 mil here. I know he's facing Greinke, but Pudge has great numbers against him and I am fairly certain he will play. Fudge it. Guys, I feel really good about this team for tomorrow. Surely you have been in the same boat before, only to see it blow up in your face, but I really like this one. We'll see. Here's the final.

FINAL LINEUP

C: Pudge
1B: Pujols
2B: Hill
3B: Longoria
SS: Bartlett
LF: Crawford
CF: McLouth
RF: Upton
DH: Rasmus
PS: Lince

STAT CORNER

Lets look today at the best performers in June offensively:

Average (50 ab minimum):
McGehee .432
Mauer .420
Figgins .412
Sandoval .403
Rasmus .400
Rolen .393
Fielder .382
D. Lee .375
Wright .373
Lind .352

Home Runs:
Pujols 10
Kubel 7
Zobrist 7
Lee 6
Cust 6
Olivo 6
Howard 6
Lind 6
Braun 6
Stewart 6
Reynolds 6

RBI:
Pujols 26
Fielder 19
Reynolds 19
Overbay 18
Rivera 18
Barmes 18
Kouzmanoff 18
Braun 18
C. Lee 17
Derosa 17
VMart 17
Bay 17
Stewart 17

Tomorrow, we will look at the pitching leaders for June.

DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, do so at your own risk. Thank you for reading, please come agaun, make a suggestion if you have one and.....

FU For Life Kerry Wood!

Sunday, the 21st

Good morning, everyone. I hope you all are having a great Fathers Day today. Kick back, enjoy some golf, and make the best of your afternoon. There are three weeks left until the All Star Game and the end of the first half, so get your game faces on and prepare for a strong finish. This is where it counts.

YESTERDAY

I missed everything yesterday and didn't see the first score until about 1 a.m. due to a family outing. On top of that, I drank way, way too much to really comprehend anything at all. So I am pleasantly surprised to see this morning that Beckett pitched a shutout last night. 34 points from my pitcher along with 42 more from the bats led by Braun (12), Lee (9) and Mauer (8). Tejada was my only bust and the 76 points bumped me up to #11 overall. Damn good effort. My hangover says we need to move on.

TODAY

I have King Felix on the hill today as I imagine most will. Fortunately, interleague play is coming to an end soon and we can get back to normal baseball. Here's the final again...

C: Napoli
1B: Pujols
2B: Hill
3B: Chipper
SS: Bartlett
LF: Lee
CF: Hunter
RF: Cruz
DH: Rivera
PS: King Felix

TOMORROW (slow day)

Weather:
none

Teams Facing Lefties:
Oakland

Teams Facing Rookies:
none

Players to Avoid:
R. Johnson (3-19 vs. starter)
Bradley (3-18)
Crosby (0-7)

Pitchers:
Dempster (4-4 3.92, 2 R or less in 5 of last 7 starts, 0-1 1.89 in June, .200 BAA at Atl)
Vazquez (4-6 3.41, 112 K in 92 IP, 0-2 2.86 in June, 2 R or less in 6 of last 8, .283 BAA vs. CHC)
This is a tough call. Both pitchers are doing well, but both teams are starting to hit better. I can almost guarantee that Fonzie goes deep tomorrow as he always hits one in Atlanta, but Vazquez has the K's behind him and I think he is the safest pick.

First:
Lee (20-50, 3 HR vs. good starter)
Pujols (11-27, HR)
Since Lee is facing my starter, I will go with Fat Al.

Second:
Castillo (3-6)
Schumaker (1-3)
There is not much to choose from here, but Skip did me right the first time I took him, so he gets another shot.

Third:
Wright (7-10)
Since he's the only one with a hit vs. his opposing starter, I guess I'll take Wright. Chipper, Figgins, and Sandoval are options as well, but they aren't 7-10 vs. the starter either.

Short:
I have nothing here. Escobar, Theriot, OC, Renteria........blah. I think I'll go with Tulowitzki as he has been heating up a little.

Left:
Holliday (4-16 vs. lefty)
Fonzie (hits well in Atlanta)
I hope Soriano doesn't hit one because I am going Halliday.

Center:
Beltran (3-11)
Hunter (1-3)
McLouth
I'll stick with Torii. Cook can't strike anyone out so balls will be in play and that can't be a bad thing.

Right:
Hawpe (1-1)
Again, there are no good stats to go by here, so I will use my gut feeling and roll with the hottest bat - Hawpe.

DH:
Cust (1-4, HR vs. lefty)
Stewart
Rasmus
I'll take Cust, by default

Catcher:
Yadi (2-6)
Napoli (2-3)
Benji
Ianetta
I want to go with Napoli, but he seems to let me down too often. Let's give Ianetta a shot, just for kicks. Again, it is a piss poor day to pick a team and there are very few stats to go by. We'll wing it today and see what happens. Here's the final...

FINAL LINEUP

C: Ianetta
1B: Pujols
2B: Schumaker
3B: Wright
SS: Tulowitzki
LF: Holliday
CF: Hunter
RF: Hawpe
DH: Cust
PS: Vazquez

STAT CORNER

In a battle of stats vs. Waffle House, the greasy spoon wins. My 5 year old is taking me there for Father's Day. Great for a hangover. If I come up with some stats as the day goes on, I will post them. Please accept my apologies if I don't get to it though. I promise - good stats tomorrow.

DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, do so at your own risk. Thanks for reading, please come again, tell a friend and....

FU for life, Kerry Wood

Saturday, the 20th

Good afternoon, everyone. You know, it has certainly been a tough week for the pitching staffs. I guess that is why I have seen a lot of talk about "quitting" in the last few days. You know, if that's what you want to do, knock yourself out but I just don't get it. Maybe it's me, but the thought of giving up has never crossed my mind. Yeah, it's easy to say that when you're doing well, as I am now. Still, this is by far my best half, the exception to the rule, and I never even considered throwing in the towell in the previous 6 years I have played this game. My best finish ever for a half is #192 and I usually end up in the 400-600 range. Ultimately, having someone quit just makes the competition that much easier for me, but I honestly can't figure out why someone would give in with only 3 weeks to go. For me, it's kind of like a suicide threat. Do what you gotta do brother, just don't expect me to try to talk you out of it. To each his own, I guess. For me though, it's never that bad.

YESTERDAY

That mother fucker.........I knew it was going to happen. As soon as thy cut it to 7-6, I told my wife it was inevitable. Kerry mf'n Wood. That sumbitch! I tell you now that I will never, ever again take any staff that has this jackass on their side. I don't care if Cliff Lee is facing the Ukranian Little League Champs and they are hitting with sawed off broomsticks. I will never, ever let it happen again. The sad thing is that Lee was the smartest pick. The best pitcher ofthe day against the coldest bats in the league. Ah well, at least the other popular staffs were just as bad. My bats did OK and gave me 32 led by Bay (10) and VMart(8). Ortiz, Ellsbury and Hill busted out for me. It really could have been much worse. I dropped from 12th to 13th (have been trading off with Zeus for a few days) but extended my lead on 50th to 107 points. Still: never, ever again............

TODAY

Weather:
Rays/Mets 70%
Orioles/Phillies 60%
Braves/Red Sox 60%
I will probably stay away from the Mets game just to be safe, but the other two games do not concern me at this time.

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Reds, Nats, Orioles, Twins, Astros, Cubs, Mariners, Rockies, Pirates, Padres, Rangers, Marlins and Angels

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Nationals vs. Romero (see "pitchers")
Indians vs. Wells (see "pitchers")

Players to avoid:
Kinsler (1-11 vs. starter)
Cantu (1-11)
Blake (2-16)
Pierre (1-11)
Kemp (0-9)
Hawpe (1-9)
Spilborghs (1-9)
Rowand (1-8)
Stairs (3-18)
Greene (1-9)
Freel (1-10)

Pitchers:
Millwood (7-4 2.62, 3-0 0.42 in June, 2-3 3.32 on road, at SF)
CC (6-4 3.67, 3 R or more in last 5 starts, 4-3 3.35 on road, at Fla)
Braden (5-5 3.31, 2 R or less in last 5, 1-3 3.61 at home, vs. SD)
Gallardo (7-3 2.93, 85 K in 83 IP, 4-1 2.89 on road, 2-1 2.00 in June, at Det)
Verlander (7-3 3.39, 110 K in 90 IP, 3-0 0.82 at home, 1-1 2.57 in June, vs. Mil)
Buehrle (6-2 3.43, 3 R or more in last 4, 2-1 4.64 on road, at Cin)
Harang (5-6 3.65, 4-2 2.70 at home, 0-1 1.53 in June, vs. CWS)
Jurrjens (5-5 2.89, 0-3 4.20 in June, 3-2 2.38 on road, at Bos)
Romero (3-3 3.73, 1-0 3.10 in June, 0-2 3.71 on road, at Was)
Wainwright (7-4 3.33, 2-1 3.15 in June, 4-1 4.38 on road, at KC)
Meche (4-5 3.31, 2 R or less in last 6, 2-0 0.41 in June, vs. StL)
Wandy (5-6 3.33, 79 K in 83 IP, rocked in 4 of last 5, at Min)
Wells (0-3 2.55, 0-2 3.24 at home, 0-1 3.63 in June, vs. Cle)
Davis (3-8 3.72, les than 7 IP in last 3, 1-2 4.02 in June, at Sea)
Felix (7-3 2.77, 90 K in 94 IP, 1 R or less in last 5, 2-0 0.78 in June, vs. Zona)
There are 3 good options here. Gallardo and Verlander both face good bats in an AL park, so does King Felix, but he is only facing the DBacks. He has quietly been one of thebest starters in the league over the last 6 weeks. This one isa no brainer for me.

First:
Horard (n/a)
Pujols (1-4)
Morneau (vs. good lefty starter)
Berkman (n/a vs. lefty)
Branyan (4-8, 2HR vs. lefty)
Tex (2-3)
Tex has been struggling a little and Branyan - as much as I want him - has a lefty/lefty matchup. I'll roll with Pujols for now, but keep Big Russ in mind if money becomes a problem.

Second:
Hill (n/a)
Scutaro (n/a)
Roberts (2-2, HR vs. good lefty)
Sanchez (4-8 vs. lefty)
I really like the Sanchez matchup, but since he is basically the same price as Hill, I will take Aaron. Home Run power breaks all ties.

Third:
Wright (n/a in bad weather)
Longoria (n/a)
Chipper (4-9)
Utley (n/a)
DeRosa (n/a vs. rook, but back in Chicago)
I think Chipper gets it done against the knuckler. He usually lets me down, but I like him barely over D-Ro.

Short:
Zobrist (n/a)
Bartlett (n/a)
Tulowitzki (3-6 vs. lefty and heating up)
Renteria (13-39, 2HR vs. good starter)
Tejada (n/a vs. lefty)
Troy can't hit lefties, so which of the Rays is it? Bartlett its righties better. I said before that I will bail on this game, but being that it's the last game of an interleague series, I'll risk it. I will, however, double check the weather before the end of the night.

Left:
Lind (n/a)
Lee (n/a vs. lefty)
Holliday (5-17)
Carlos hits .393 vs. lefties.

Center:
Beltran (n/a with weather)
Hunter (1-3 vs. lefty)
Torii hits .352 vs. lefties and is the only one I feel good about here.

Right:
Dye (1-2)
Cuddyer (1-2 vs. good lefty starter)
Pence (n/a vs. lefty)
Ichiro (6-17, HR vs. lefty)
Winn (9-14, 2HR vs. good starter)
Cruz (3-6, 2HR vs. lefty
There are a number of good options here but I can't pass on Cruz.

DH:
Rivera (0-2 vs. lefty)
There are no good matchups here, so I will stick with the hottest bat.

Catcher:
Mauer (1-3 vs. good lefty)
Martin (2-9 in night game)
Napoli (night game)
I really don't like having 3 bats against Kershaw, but when there is not much else to go by, what can you do?

FINAL LINEUP

C: Napoli
1B: Pujols
2B: Hill
3B: Chipper
SS: Bartlett
LF: Lee
CF: Hunter
RF: Cruz
DH: Rivera
PS: King Felix

STAT CORNER

I'm a little pressed for time today, but will bring back some decent stats tomorrow. I will ask you this, though. How many current major leaguers, including managers and coaches, have college degrees? The answer will be after the Kerry FU Wood shoutout.

DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, do so at your own risk. Thanks a ton for reading, please come again, feel free to comment, become a "follower" if you like, and.......

FU Kerry Wood - For Life you Rat Bastard!




Stat answer: 26