Monday, the 6th

Good morning, everyone. I see that we finally have a new leader today. Congrats, JayJay, and I really hope to see you finish the job. Welcome to the final week of the first half. It has come fast for many and surely not come soon enough for others. Yet here it is, so make it count. Also, look for some special articles I hope to have set up for the break. With no games, I will take some time away from the blog, but I am looking for some guest posters to put in some thoughts on the half, and the game itself. I'll update you as the details evolve.

YESTERDAY

Well the bats sure didn't come through as I had hoped and the Dodgers put many of us through the ringer. I thought we were good going into the 9th, but they blew it, worked it out, and got most of it back for a total of 22. I can live with that. Unfortunately, its more than half of my 39 total points. The weak effort dropped me back to #12 overall, 19 points out of 10th.

TODAY

I didn't have a real feel for the staffs today, but ended up with Cain. I feel pretty good about it,but hope that the majority has him as well, as treading water and holding my position would be just fine with me today. The last thing I want to do is lose ground. As far as the bats go, well the matchups just plain suck. I went outside of my usual routine on many of them, so we'll see how it goes. Could be interesting, here's the final again...

C: McCann
1B: Gonzalez
2B: Pedroia
3B: Reynolds
SS: Renteria
LF: Bay
CF: Granderson
RF: Hawpe
DH: Stewart
PS: Cain


TOMORROW


Weather:
There is no weather tomorrow. Do not be concerned.

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Tigers, Reds, Red Sox, Mets, Astros, Twins, White Sox, Indians, Padres, Orioles, Marlins

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Rays vs. Mills (0-1 14.09 in 2 starts)

Bats to Avoid:
Teahen (4-24 vs. starter)
J Guillen (4-22)
Feliz (2-24, HR)
Victorino (2-12)
Scutaro (4-26)
Wells (3-19, HR)
Inglett (2-17)
Rolen (2-13, HR)
Hall (3-21, HR)
R. Johnson (3-19)
Bradley (3-18)
Berkman (3-23)
K Matsui (1-12)
Crede (6-38)
Morneau (6-36, HR)
Konerko (2-11)
S Drew (4-22)
Giles (6-40)
Kouz (4-21, HR)
Napoli (4-21)
Beltre (1-18)
Renteria (2-14)
Hanley (1-10)

Pitchers:
Bedard (5-2 2.47, 65 K in 65 IP, 1.16 WHIP, just off DL, 2-0 2.15 home, 1-0 1.42 vs. Bal)
Johnson (7-1 2.76, 1.13 WHIP, 3 R or less in last 10 starts, at SF)
Verlander (8-4 3.54, 130 K in 109 IP, 3 R or more in 3 of last 4, 4-0 1.11 home, 1-0 0.00 vs. KC)
Harang (5-8 3.86, 1-5 4.94 on road, 1-0 1.29 vs. Phi this year)
Happ (5-0 2.96, 4 R in last 22 IP, 2-0 4.76 at home, vs. Cin)
Shields (6-6 3.50, less than 7 IP in 3 of last 5, vs. Tor)
Braden (6-7 3.13, 2 R or less in last 7, at Bos)
Beckett (9-3 3.67, 99 K in 105 IP, 0 R in 4 of last 6, 4-0 2.87 at home, vs. Oak)
Kershaw (5-5 3.49, 88 K in 87 IP, 2 R in last 23 IP, 3-3 5.54 on road, at NYM)
Wainwright (8-5 3.32, 5-1 4.80 on road, 1-1 12.0 vs. Mil this year)
Gallardo (8-5 2.75, 114 K in 104 IP, 1.15 WHIP, 2 R or les in 7 of last 8, 4-3 2.47 at home, 0-0 0.00 vs. StL this year)
Vazquez (5-7 3.05, 130 K in 112 IP, 1.07 WHIP, 2 R or less in 6 og last 7, 1-0 0.00 vs. CHC)
CC (7-5 3.85, 1.15 WHIP, at Minn)
Buehrle (8-2 3.09, 1.12 WHIP, 3 R or more in 5 of last 7, 4-1 2.87 at home, 0-1 5.14 vs. Cle)
Davis (3-8 3.15, 2 R in last 21 IP, 1-0 1.35 vs. SD)
There are certainly some good ones today including Gallardo, Kershaw, and Johnson. Even so, I am going to roll with Beckett at home. One of them will surely blow, I just hope it's not mine and I think Beckett will be safe.

First:
Miggy (1-1 vs. lefty)
Butler (8-20, HR vs. good starter)
Millar (11-33 vs. good starter)
Overbay (7-23, 2HR vs. good starter)
Youk (3-1, HR vs. good lefty)
Lee (21-53, 3HR vs. good starter)
LaRoche (10-26, 2HR)
Tex (2-5, HR)
Garko (11-22, HR vs. good starter)
I have to go with Cabrera vs. Bruce Chen here. He hasn't done much for me this season, but he hasn't been hitting against Chen either.

Second:
Utley (7-17, HR)
Pedroia (2-5 vs. good lefty)
Hudson (2-5)
Sanchez (11-19)
Izturis (8-25)
Kinsler (6-15, 2HR)
J Lopez (7-18, 2HR)
For right now, I will go with Utley at home. He simply has more power than the rest, aside from Kinsler, who is sucking bad right now.

Third:
Longoria (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Beckham (2-3 vs. lefty)
Figgins (9-27)
Young (29-76, 2HR)
Cantu (4-11, HR vs. lefty)
Reynolds (5-16, 2HR)
Beckham might be a good choice, but not for me. Evan is struggling and Young has hit Lackey too well for too long not for me to take him and Reynolds is on fire. Young for now.

Short:
Rollins (8-27)
Bartlett (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Zo (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Wilson (6-20)
Maybe JRoll is finally warming up. But I still can't take him. I will go outside and take Keppinger vs. Maholm, as he hits over .350 vs. lefties and saves me a good bit of dough.

Left:
Thames (2-5 vs. lefty)
Crawford (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Bay (2-5, HR vs. good lefty)
Holliday (6-14, HR vs. good starter)
G Anderson (2-3)
Damon (2-6)
Podsednik (4-11 vs. lefty)
Hairston (5-14, 2HR vs. good lefty)
Abreu (3-9)
The Keppinger pick allows me to take Damon vs. the Baggy.

Center:
BJ (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Ellsbury (1-1 vs. good lefty)
Kemp (1-3)
Cameron (4-12 vs. good starter)
McLouth (5-15, HR)
It's simply BJ, Kemp or McLouth. BJ has been letting me down and does not have the power to justify his cost. Kemp is in a pitchers park. McLouth is hot right now.

Right:
Mags (1-1 vs. lefty)
Ethier (1-3)
Pence (7-19, HR vs. lefty)
Hawpe (n/a at Coors)
Vlad 20-49, 3HR)
Ichiro (6-20)
Ross (3-9, HR vs. lety)
Vlad is heating up, but I want Hawpe at home.

DH:
Thome (6-11, 3HR vs. lefty)
Rivera (8-21, HR)
Blalock (20-61, 2HR)
Byrd (6-19, 2HR)
Who the Hell is Nippert? Give me Rivera in Texas.

Catcher:
Laird (1-2 vs. lefty)
Martin (1-2)
Posada (1-2)
VMart (19-53, 3HR vs. good lefty)
We not have to go cheap at catch again. Varitek will work, and he took care of me over the weekend.

FINAL LINEUP

C: Varitek
1B: Miggy
2B: Utley
3B: Reynolds
SS: Keppinger
LF: Damon
CF: McLouth
RF: Hawpe
DH: Rivera
PS: Beckett

STAT CORNER


Today we'll look again at the best and worst hitters and pitchers on the road. We will look at home numbers tomorrow.

The best batting averages (100 AB min.):
Beltran .366
Braun .366
Votto .366
Ichiro .364
Bartlett .356
Hanley .366
Podsednik .354
AJ .354
Wright .353
A. Cabrera .352

The worst batting averages:
Thurston .159
Bruce .169
C. Young .173
Griffey .176
Ad LaRoche.176
Bradley .178
Ianetta .183
C. Pena .187
Uggla .189
Giambi .193

The best ERA's (40 IP min.):
Happ 1.81
Felix 1.94
Hammel 1.97
Cueto 2.14
Sherzer 2.15
Greinke 2.17
Lince 2.22
Jackson 2.33
Carp 2.42
Jurrjens 2.44

The worst ERA's:
Sonnastine 8.22
Nolasco 6.48
Floyd 6.05
Maholm 6.05
Liriano 5.83
Saunders 5.74
Ohlendorf 5.70
Zito 5.66
Livan 5.34
Arroyo 5.29

DISCLAIMER


My picks are exactly that, my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, feel free to do so at your own risk. Thanks as always for reading, please come again, pass the word, and.....

FU For Life Kerry Wood!