Friday, the 5th

CHANGE OF PLANS!!!
The Rays and Yanks have been postponed. I apologize, but I am a little pressed for time right now. Please adjust your plans accordingly for tomorrow. I will update my stats later provided I have the time, and am sober, if you would like to check back. What you will read below was composed prior to this information becoming available.

I'm Back! If only for a day, I am back on the Leaderboard. The double dip was not the bust that I was afraid it would be and all is well. Congrats to Randy Johnson for his 300th win(check the stat corner today for a pretty interesting tidbit on him). He now has the most wins of any rat who has ever taken the hill in a major league game. Something tells me that distinction will never be taken away from him. Man, I feel good today. On a side note, it looks like we will cross the 2000 hit plateau today. This blog has been up for less than 2 weeks, so I would consider it to be a success at this point. If you come regularly, click the "follower link to your left and let me know who you are. If you don't come regularly, start. Please? Again, if there is something else you would like to see on here, let me know.

YESTERDAY

As I stated in the opener, the DH actually worked out pretty well. Judging by the non-DH scores, it was a good day for just about everyone. Well done guys. As luck would have it, Pujols was my best batter, pitching in 10 points. VMart was my only clown and the bats totalled 38 at the end of the night. RJ and the Giants gave me 49 from my staff and in the end I totalled up 92 points on the day, good enough to move me BACK onto the Leaderboard at #45 overall. It may not last for long, though, as I only have a 4 point cushion.

TODAY

The weather continues to look miserable in New York and Boston. Is much as I hated to do it, I stayed completely away from those games. As a result, I have a list of bats tonight that do not thrill me at all and am excessively worried about what the evening will give me. Greinke is my starter and it appears that both the Usual Suspects and the LB were pretty much split down the middle on this one. Here is the final.....

C: AJ
1B: Pujols (bum rule in effect)
2B: Utley
3B: Larry Jones Jr.
SS: Tejada
LF: Braun
CF: Kemp
RF: Upton
DH: Jones
PS: Greinke

TOMORROW

Weather:
Giants/Marlins 60%
Indians/White Sox 50%
I see no reason to be worried about either of these games and, for the first time in what seems like forever, will pick my team freely, with no weather worries.

Teams facing Lefties:
White Sox, Twins, Marlins, Giants, Astros, Mets, Red Sox, Rangers, Reds

Teams facing rookie starters:
Brewers vs. Hanson (Minor League K machine, Braves #1 pitching prospect, MLB debut)
Red Sox vs. Holland (6.33 ERA in 2 starts)
A's vs. Berken (1-1 2.25 in 2 starts)
Orioles vs. Cahill (2-5 4.33 ERA)

Pitchers:
Garza (4-4 3.67, .232 BAA, at Yankees)
Maine (5-3 3.74, banged up, .217 BAA, at Nats)
Joba (3-1 3.71, 0-1 5.82 at home, 51K in 53IP, vs. Rays)
Richmond (4-2 3.50, 2-1 3.42 at home, .200 BAA, vs. Royals, 7IP and 1 ER vs. KC on 4/28)
Blackburn (5-2 3.50, 7+ IP in 4 of 5, 7 scoreless vs. Mariners on 5/10, 2-0 3.06 at home)
Kuroda (1-1 2.53, not vs. Phills)
Escobar (1st start of year at Detroit)
Jackson (5-3 2.30, 7+ in 4 of last 5, 2-1 3.55 at home, .345 BAA, vs. Angels)
Maholm (3-2 3.82, inconsistent)
Oz (banged up, 2-1 3.52 at home, vs. Pitt)
I'll immediately narrow it down to Richmond, Blackburn, Jackson, and OZ. The Angels can hit, the Pirates suck, and Oz is at home. Against my better judgement, lets go 'Stros.

First:
Tex (0-5 vs. good starter)
Pujols (3-6)
Huff (vs. rookie)
Gonzo (never faced pitcher)
Adrian has hit 15 of his 22 long balls on the road and Huff is struggling. I'll play most dependable with Fat Al again.

Second:
Cano (5-14 vs. good starter)
Utley (2-6)
Uggla (never faced pitcher)
Roberts (vs. rookie)
Phillips
I have to go with Phillips vs. the Dumpster although there is nothing her that stands out to me.

Third:
ARoid (2-6)
Chipper (7-10)
Young (5-10)
As much as I hate him, I'll stay with Chip. His only power is when batting left and the choices here are once again poor.

Short:
Jeter (5-14 vs. good starter)
Peralta (6-12, 2HR)
Harris (1-1 and cheap if needed)
Hanley (never faced starter and hitting .500 in last 6 games)
It's time to give Hanley another shot.

Left:
Ibanez (never faced starter)
Bay (vs. Lefty rook)
Since Bay does his best work vs. righties and Raul hits everyone equally, Raul it is.

Center:
Rowand (2-2, HR)
McLouth (6-17, 2HR)
Hunter (3-8, 2HR vs. good starter)
Beltran (4-12)
Ankiel (3-3, HR)
Jones (vs. rook)
I have a good hunch about McLouth this weekend.

Right:
Ethier (4-8, HR)
Magglio (10-24)
Vlad (5-12, HR vs. good starter)
Cruz (on fire)
Bruce (1-1)
Hawpe (2-5, 2HR)
Cake (vs. rook)
Upton (never faced starter)
Cruz does most of his damage vs. RHP and, even though he usually is ppor on the road, Hawpe is on fire and kills righties.

DH:
Thome (4-6, 3HR)
Sheff (2-3, HR)
I can't pass up a chance for Thome to drill Sowers some more.

Catcher:
Posada (2-5)
VMart (4-9)
Mauer (never faced starter)
Martin (2-5)
Yadi (2-6)
Varitek (vs. rookie)
As crazy as it sounds, Tech is hitting the ball well right now.

In the end, I don't feel too good about my pitcher, but I love my bats for tomorrow. Furthermore, I have not yet received my annual prison rape from Oz this year. What better time to do it then when you're on the LB?

FINAL LINEUP

C: Varitek
1B: Pujols
2B: Phillips
3B: Larry Jones Jr.
SS: Hanley
LF: Ibanez
CF: McLouth
RF: Hawpe
DH: Thome
PS: Oz

STAT CORNER

Did you know that Randy Johnson, who just picked up his 300th career win last night, has won 236 games since he turned 30 years old? This means that he obviously only won 64 before turning the corner. Wondering who might be the next to win 300 games? Well, Jason Marquis (86 wins), Kyle Loshe (82) and Joel Pinero (77) are all well ahead of the Big Unit's pace and are all under 30 years old. Take it for what you will.

Last night, Adam Lind had 5 hits while his teammate, Alex Rios struck out 5 times. This is the first time that 2 players on the same team have held this distinction on the same day since 1920.

The top 8 batters with the least number of strikeouts with a minimum of 200 official at bats:
1. Dustin Pedroia 14/206
2. Roninson Cano 15/223
3. Miguel Tejada 15/217
4. Ichiro 16/204
5. Carlos Lee 17/200
6. O. Cabrera 17/213
7. J. Ellsbury 20/224
8. Victorino 20/217

The top 8 batters with the most strikeouts with a minimum of 150 official at bats:
1. Chris Davis 80/177
2. Mark Reynolds 75/193
3. Carlos Pena 70/195
4. Ryan Howard 65/205
5. BJ Upton 62/167
6. Adam Dunn 60/188
7. A. Soriano 56/210
8. Josh Fields 55/176
9. David Wright 54/190

DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. I do not tell anyone who to put on their team. 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