Wednesday, the 10th

Wakey, wakey, hands of snakey! 'Mornin gents. It feels like a leaderboard kind of day,so lets get right to it.

YESTERDAY

Of the three most popular starters (Bills, Carp and Lee) the average score was 12. That doesn't even account for what Johan did. With this being the case, my 13 from Cain kind of worked out ok. I still can't believe that I was the only one thathad him. Oh well, I'll take it. How about those bats, though? 13 from Ethier and his two dingers. I never saw that coming, nice job Andre! Thwor in another 22 from Wright, Beltran and Escobar, then a few scraps from the rest and I ended up with 55 on the night. So my on again/off again relationship with the Leaderboard continues. This morning I am ranked #41 with a 7 point cushion. This time, I really need to find a way to stay for a while.

TODAY

I fully expect to see what everyone, their mother, and their mother's mother has Verlander today. There were some good choices out there but I really don't see too many passing on him against the Sox. As I look at my lineup, I feel pretty decent about my bats. Not overjoyed, but decent. If everyone indeed has Verlander, I think I will have enough today to stay on the LB. Hopefully it's enough to give me some stability there as well. Here it is again.....

FINAL LINEUP

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

TOMORROW

The pitchers are not as promising as they have been earlier in the week. Unfortunately, the batter matchups don't really thrill me either. This is going tobe the kind of day I really hate, I'm afraid. Oh well, lets get to it and see what shakes out.

Weather:
Tigers/White Sox 60%
Reds/Nats 50%
Royals/Indians 50%
Mariners/Orioles 50%
Yankees/Red Sox 50%
Phillies/Mets 50%
Looks to me like the weathermen have no clue at all. With all these cities at 50%, it looks like they just decided to punt instead of making a call. I'm not going to worry about it.

Teams facing Lefties:
Cards, Braves, DBacks, Reds, Royals, Red Sox, Angels, Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays, Orioles

Teams facing Rookie Starters:
Mariners vs. Uehara (2-3 4.09 in 9 starts)
Angels vs. Price (See Pitchers)
Blue Jays vs. Holland (6.54 ERA, has never gone more than 5.2 IP)

Pitchers:
Maholm (4-2 3.94, rocked in 3 of last 6, 2-1 5.71 on road, 7 scoreless vs. Atlanta this year)
Vazquez (4-5 3.54, 93 K in 76 IP, 1-4 4.19 at home, .233 BAA vs. Pitt)
Jackson (6-3 2.16, 2 R or less in 5 of last 6, 3-2 1.31 on road)
Gallardo (6-2 2.84, 71 K in 73 IP, 1 R or less in last 3)
Blackburn (5-2 3.30, 2 R or less in 5 of last 6, 3-2 3.48 on road, .267 BAA at Oakland)
Lannan (3-5 3.68, Lok K's, 2-0 1.76 at home)
Greinke (8-2 1.55, 91 K in 81 IP, 2-2 1.93 on road, 11 IP - 2 ER vs. Indians this year, .305 BAA)
Price (1-0 2.45, 20 K in 14 IP, has never gone 6 IP)
CC (5-3 3.56, 3 R or more in last 3, 4-2 3.07 on road, at Yanks)
I really want to trust Greinke, but I can't. I think Vazquez, Jackson and Gallardo ore the best options. I'll take NL pitcher at home over an AL pitcher on the road. Give me Vazquez.

First:
Pujols (2-2)
Lee (16-55, 3HR)
Dunn (3-5, HR)
Tex (0-6)
I want Pujols, although I will keep Dunn in mind in case I get in a salary jam.

Second:
Uggla (2-4, HR)
Polanco (8-24, HR)
Phillips (3-6)
Utley (8-18, 2HR)
Chase usually does me well.

Third:
Hall (5-11)
ARoid (0-2)
Wright (16-38, 3HR)
Wright continues to heat up with the weather and these numbers are too good to pass on.

Short:
Tejada (5-15)
Theriot (4-12)
Drew (6-16)
Jeter (1-3)
You know, the only one I like is Drew and his HR vs. Cain last night has him on my bad side. Gimme Zobrist.

Left:
Braun (1-2)
Lee (7-20, HR)
Crawford (7-18)
Damon (0-2)
Ibanez (1-6)
I think Lee hits two to the Dumpster. Just a hunch.

Center:
Upton (7-12)
Victorino (6-16)
For the first time this season, I am beginning to trust BJ.

Right:
Pence (8-17, 2HR)
Cruz (2-3)
I like Cruz at home in this one.

DH:
Cust (2-5)
Sheff (14-30, 4HR)
Can't pass on Sheff, even if he is slumping.

Catcher:
Mauer (day game)
Benji (2-5 but in day game)
Posada (never faced pitcher)
I'm way the hell over the cap. To make room, I am going to give Dunn a shot at first since Pujols is slumping and put Zaun behind the plate since he has a night game. Here's the final.....

FINAL LINEUP

C: Zaun
1B: Dunn
2B: Utley
3B: Wright
SS: Zobrist
LF: Lee
CF: Upton
RF: Cruz
DH: Sheff
PS: Vazquez

STAT CORNER

Who's hot:
Last 7 days:
A. Lind, TOR12-for-26, 4 HR, 7 RBI
I. Stewart, COL11-for-27, 3 HR, 9 RBI
A. Ethier, LAD9-for-20, 4 HR, 6 RBI

Last 30 days:
R. Halladay, TOR4 W, 0 SV, 48.0 IP, 9 ER
J. Beckett, BOS4 W, 0 SV, 35.2 IP, 3 ER
J. Broxton, LAD3 W, 6 SV, 14.0 IP, 4 ER

Who's not:
Last 7 days:
A. Hernandez, WSH1-for-19, 0 HR, 0 RBI
G. Beckham, CWS1-for-17, 0 HR, 0 RBI

Last 30 days:
S. Kazmir, TB0 W, 0 SV, 7.2 IP, 14 ER
R. Nolasco, FLA0 W, 0 SV, 12.2 IP, 18

Sorry there is not more to see here today, but I'm low on time today as the little one turns 5. Birthday party starts soon.

DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. 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