Monday, the 8th

Lord have mercy, let's get straight to yesterday.........and thanks for coming!

YESTERDAY



Ok, so it seems like the consensus is that the bats were pretty much useless for everyone. At least I wasn't alone. Wright got me 8 the hard way and pretty much everyone else was useless. In the end, I got a measly 22 from the lumber haulers. But what about that pitching? Remember that I flipped a nickel to give me my staff and ended up with Haren of the Desert. I realized how stupid that was when Hallady put up a cool 31 in just over 2 hours. Of course when it was 6-1 going into the 9th, I was feeling a little better. Then Qualls came in. I was all prepared to finally let Kerry Wood off the hook for ever until that bastard came in. At the end of the 9th, it was 6-6 and I had 2 points from the arms. Then, of all damned things, the rest of Snakes staff goes for 9 hitless innings and Reynolds tees off on a shortstop. By the time it was done, I had 40 points from pitching alone. Luck, brother, luck. Kerry Wood, you're not off the hook just yet. I gues the nickel was lucky afterall. If anyone needs it, I can ship it to you for a small fee. Now that it is all said and done, I am ranked #70 and am 15 points off the Leaderboard pace. After that ride I went on yesterday, I'll take it.

TODAY

As you saw from yestrday's post, the Dh was pretty much all I looked at. I have said before that I have no problem taking bats against my staff in a double dip, but after I had picked my bats, I had 4 from each team. This was enough to tell me that taking either staff would be a crapshoot. It may come out well for one of them, but I won't be the one that benefits from it. For the first time this year, I did not take a staff from a DH. I thought long and hard about going with Duke vs. Atlanta, but in the end stayed with Jake the Snake. I know his pen got worn to shreds last night, but I really think this is the safest pick, especially with Upton banged up. Here is the final.....

C: Mauer
1B: Konerko
2B: Polanco
3B: Inge
SS: Alexei
LF: Thames
CF: Grandy
RF: Dye
DH: Thome
PS: Peavy

TOMORROW

Weather:
Royals/Indians 50%
Tigers/White Sox 60%
Phills/Mets 50%
Cards/Marlins 50%
None of this scares me. I will pick freely.

Teams facing Lefties:
Orioles, Royals, Mets, Phillies, Rangers, Astros, White Sox, Tigers, and Twins


Teams facing rookie starters:
Seattle vs. Bergeson (2-2 4.64 ERA in 9 starts)


Pitchers:
Bills (7-3 2.59, 85K in 80 IP, Less than 7 IP in 3 of last 4, .227 BAA)
Buehrle (6-2 2.91, 8 scoreless vs. Tigers on 5/7)
Cain (7-1 2.27, 1 R or less in 5 of last 6, 3-1 1.36 on road)
Lowe (6-3 3.40, 3 R or less in last 5, 2-1 3.16 at home, .178 BAA vs. Pitt)
Vargas (2-0 1.93, 2 R or less in all 5 starts, only gone 7 IP once)
Lee (3-6 2.96, 3 runs or less in last 10, 2.25 vs. KC in 2 starts this year, Kerry Wood)
Cueto (5-3 2.43, 7+ IP in 9 of last 10, 4-1 1.80 on road)
Weaver (5-2 2.26, 1 R or less in 5 of 6, 1-2 3.77 on road, .180 BAA at Tampa)
Niemann (5-4 3.77, 3 R or less in last 5)
Johan (7-3 2.00, 3+ R in 3 of last 4, 4-1 1.37 at home, 89 K in 72 IP, .219 BAA vs. Philly)
Carp (4-1 0.71, 3 ER all year, never faced Marlins)
Johnson (5-1 2.63, 72K in 82 IP, 3 R or less in last 9, 3-1 1.71 at home)
Lilly (6-4 3.28, 5.73 ERA vs. Houston in 2 starts this year, 7 IP and 1 R in each of last two)
The good news it that I can easily narrow it down to Bills, Lowe, Cain, Lee Cueto and Carp. Take out the AL team and the Kerry Wood factor and Lee is gone. I can eliminate Lowe from, this list as well and Cueto doesn't have enough bats behind him. I want Carp, but for some ungodly reason the Marlins bats make me nervous. Bills has been close to average in his last few starts. You know it, I'm taking the unheralded Cain. He has been as solid as anyone and Zona's bats are less than impressive.


First:
Prince (never faced starter)
Lee (6-16, 3HR)
Morneau (never faced starter, kills lefties)
It should be Lee based on the numbers but Prince may beginning a big run.

Second:
Phillips
Pedroia (6-20, 2HR)
Cano (12-36, 2HR)
Hill (4-12, HR)
Polanco (12-32)
Pedroia hits .343 at home and I think ther will be some fireworks in that one.Also, Hill faces a decent starter and Phillips had a poor weekend.


Third:
ARoid (11-34, HR)
Wright (2-5, HR)
Young (2-3 and kills lefties)
ARoid usually chokes on the big stage so I will eliminate him. I wish I knew where Wright's power went. He and Young both kill lefties. Wright for now.


Short:
Jeter (14-41, HR)
Cabrera (9-21)
Escobar hits righties well and is also solid at home. In effort to save a little money, I'll add him to the roster.

Left:
Bay (6-16, HR)
Damon (12-38, 2HR)
Braun (never faced starter)
Soriano (7-20)
Lee (kills lefties)
Bay hits lefties better. Soriano doesn't hit for average on the road. Lee and Braun are both heating up, but Braun has the better matchup.

Center:
Fukudome (4-12)
Melky (kills Beckett)
I don't care for either of these, but with the money I have available I can afford Beltran

Right:
Cruz (0-1 but almost all power vs. righties)
Mags (15-30, 3HR)
Ethier (10-26, 4HR)
For some reason, I tend to shy away from Andre, but today looks like a good time to give hima chance.


DH:
Scott (1-2, HR and .361 vs. lefties)
Hafner (5-12)
Scott looks like the best way to go.


Catcher:
McCaan
Varitek (5-17, HR)
Posada (9-26)
Mauer (never faced starter)
Martin (7-23)
I like Jorge, but am going to take McCaan


FINAL LINEUP
C: McCaan
1B: Prince
2B: Pedroia
3B: Wright
SS: Escobar
LF: Braun
CF: Beltran
RF: Ethier
DH: Scott
PS: Cain

STAT CORNER

Since May 23rd, the Braves bats have had 3 scoreless streaks of 18 innings or more.

Juan Pierre was named after Juan Maricial

The best hitters vs. lefties (min. 50 at bats)

Pierre .455
Jeter .421
C. Lee .409
Rivera .409
Morneau .405
M. Young .397
Rolen .392
Melky .386

The worst hitters vs. lefties (min. 50 at bats)

Giles .120
C. Davis .143
N. Morgan .143
O. Cabrera .164
Rollins .167
Dye .171
Bruce .173
Huff .192
Uggla .196

The best hitters vs. righties (min. 100 at bats)

Ichiro .369
Pence .367
Hawpe .364
Ad. Jones .362
Hanley .361
Zimmerman.358
Beltran .356
Tejada .353
Kubel .353

The worst hitters vs. righties (min. 100 at bats)

Hall .168
Atkins .173
Ortiz .183
Bradley .186
K.Matsui .191

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, make a suggestion if you have one, and.....

FU Kerry Wood