Tuesday, the 9th

Happy Tuesday, everyone. I heard from JT yesterday and his first post should be up in the next few days. Please come back to see it as I am sure he will bring some quality stuff that you will find beneficial in your quest for success. Thanks for coming again, as your regular patronage is greatly appreciated.

YESTERDAY

To all of you that had the sack to run with the ChiSox, I tip my cap to you. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Thescary part is that we still have yet to have a total bust from a double dip this season. Keep this in mind when the next one comes along, as we are way overdue. All in all, it was a good day. I ended up with 72 from the bats, led by Dye, Thome, Alezei, and Konerko who all reached double digits. Polanco and Granderson were the onle disappointments with 2 each. Jake the Snake treated me well with 25 in a quality effort. In the end, my 97 points was not enough to get back to the Leaderboard, but it did bump me up to 57th overall, only 6 off the LB pace.

TODAY

I see this morning that the leading staffs, according the the LB and Usual Suspects (thanks Mo), are the Bills, Carp, Lee, and Johan in that order. Some of you must have forgotten about Kerry Wood as he is sure to ruin the Tribe's afternoon once again. I really like Cain's chances against the D'Backs tonight and am really surprised to see that I am seemingly the only one that does. While that makes me a little nervous, it could be a good day for me if the Dodgers go down. Man, when I give the disclaimer every day, you guys must really pay attention. Not even one of you trusted me on that pick. I sure hope you were wrong........

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

TOMORROW

There are no less than 13 pichers going tomorrow with ERA's under 4. The amazing thing is that I have a hunch that we will all have the same man anyway. There are going to be some hidden gems if you want one, just pick wisely. Lets get to it.

Weather:
Rockies/Brewers 60%
Royals/Indians 60%
Blue Jays/Rangers 50%
Tigers/White Sox 60%

Teams facing Lefty starters:
Mets, Brewers, Rangers, Cubs, Tigers, DBacks, Giants, A's, Twins, Padres

Teams facing rookie starters:
Reds vs. Detwiler (0-2, 5.23 in 4 starts)
Rangers vs. Romero (3-2 4.10 in 6 starts)

Pitchers:
Braden (3-5 3.41, 4-2 3.11 at home, 3 R or less in last 4 starts)
Davis (3-6 3.36, 2 R or less in last 3)
Zito (2-6 3.86, 2-4 4.98 on road)
Jurrjens (5-3 2.84, ( runs allowed total in last 2, 1.35 ERA vs. Pitt in 1 start, 2-2 3.51 at home)
Felix (5-3 3.22, 79 K in 78 IP, 1 R or less in 4 of last 5, 2-1 2.56 on road, .373 BAA at Balt.)
Niemann (5-4 3.77, 6 IP or less in 8 of last 10, 1 R or less in last 3)
Wainwright (5-4 3.35, 2 R or less in 4 of last 5, 3-1 4.22 on road)
Volstad (4-5 3.65, less than 7 IP in 6 of last 7, 2-3 4.00 at home)
Gallardo (6-2 2.84, 71 K in 73 IP, 1 R or less in last 3, 3-1 2.87 at home)
Millwood (5-4 2.96, 3-1 2.59 at home, 5.14 ERA in 1 start vs. Tor)
Z (4-2 3.72, 53 K in 55 IP, Less than 7 IP in last 4, 3-1 2.97 on road, 1.50 ERA in 1 start vs. Hou)
Wandy (5-5 2.97, 69 K in 72 IP, 18 R allowed in last 3 starts, 1.50 ERA vs. CHC in 1 start)
Verlander (6-2 3.26, 97 K in 77 IP, 3-2 5.08 on road)
I think Jurrjens and Gallardo are certainly worth a look, but I am not going to Pass on Verlander again. This surely means that he will be a bust, but I have to take him vs. the weak hitting Sox. I expect to be in the vast majority with this pick.

First:
Youk (8-27)
Howard (5-14, HR)
Overbay (5-13, 2HR)
Millar (16-41, HR)
Lee (12-24, 2HR vs. good starter)
Morneau (1-5 but kills lefties)
I think Howard and Youk have the best matchups, but Wang is on the mound, so Youk it is.

Second:
Peralta (14-38, 2HR)
Phillips (vs. rookie)
Pedroia (5-16)
Cano (12-37, 3HR)
Kinsler (vs. rookie lefty at home)
I like Phillips and Kinsler best, and will pencil in Ian for the time being.

Third:
Chipper (never faced starter)
Zimmerman (1-2)
Longoria (1-2)
ARoid (21-76, 7HR)
Rolen (19-56, 2HR vs. good starter)
Inge (4-10, HR)
ARoid and Chipper are the choices. I think Chipper may be going on a run with help from the addition of McLouth. I also heard him the other day talking about how the ball is beginning to jump out of Turner. Tough call, but Chip is cheap. I may change this later.

Short:
Jeter (31-99, 3HR)
Tejada (7-15, HR vs. good starter)
Theriot (9-18 vs. good pitcher)
Based strickly on the matchups, I have to take the pretty boy.

Left:
Crawford (11-30, HR)
Damon (19-60, 4HR)
Ibanez (2-6)
Braun (5-6, HR
Lee (17-49, 4HR vs. good starter)
I have to roll with Braun, although Damon feels right too.

Center:
McLouth (never faced starter)
Hunter (never faced starter)
Melky (5-11)
Give me McLouth. The Braves bats seem to be waking up.

Right:
Choo (6-11)
Bruce (vs. rookie)
Magglio (10-17, HR)
This position offers very little today. I'm not happy with it, but Choo is the pick.

DH:
Johnson (3-3, HR)
Ortiz (16-36, 2HR)
Kubel (1-1 vs. Lefty)
It's time to give Ortiz another chance vs. a piss poor pitcher.

Catcher:
McCaan (never faced starter)
Mauer (1-3)
I'll stay with McCaan.

The amazing thing now is that I have 1.3 mil left over. I see that as a sign and, because of it, will dump Larry Jones Jr. for ARoid and his 7 long balls vs. Wake. Here is the final.....

FINAL LINEUP

C: McCaan
1B: Youk
2B: Kinsler
3B: ARoid
SS: Jeter
LF: Braun
CF: McLouth
RF: Choo
DH: Ortiz
PS: Verlander

STAT CORNER

Last year, in 81 home games, 160 home runs were hit in the old Yankee Stadium. This year, in 29 games, 105 have beenhit in the new Yankee Stadium.

Have you ever looked at your scoring summary to see who you are usually right/wrong on? I did this last night and here is what I have found:

Top pitching staff successes:
Blue Jays 4/24.8 avg
Braves 3/23.3
Arizona 8/22.3
Giants 6/22.0

Top pitching busts:
Indians 1/-1.0 (Kerry Wood)
Royals 3/7.7
Astros 5/9.0
Cubs 3/9.7
Padres 4/10.5

Top hitting successes by position (5 time minimum):
C: Benji 5/3.2
1B: Pujols 21/5.7
2B: Utley 15/6.3
3B: Wright 11/4.4
SS: Hanley 13/4.5
LF: Ibanez 5/6.6
CF: Jones 5/5.2
RF: Cruz 5/5.0
DH: Sheff 5/5.8

Top hitting busts by position (5 time minimum)
C: Varitek 6/2.0
1B: Cabrera 6/3.7
2B: Roberts 9/3.0
3B: Longoria 10/2.9
SS: Jeter 10/3.2
LF: Quentin 5/1.0
CF: Cameron 5/2.0
RF: Cake 13/4.4
DH: Ortiz 7/2.9

DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. I do not tell anyone who to pick for their team. If you choose to follow my lead, do so at your own risk. Thanks for reading, please come again, make a suggestion, and.....

FU Kerry Wood