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