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!