Thursday, the 2nd

Good morning, everyone. Sometimes this game can make you feel like a real dumbass, just sayin'. Anyway, I will be leaving for Memphis for the weekend right after I post this tomorrow morning. I am going to go ahead and do most of my prep work for the weekends posts today and will do the best I can to keep everything up to date. Late pitching changes, injuries, and weather could throw off the accuracy of the numbers possibly, so be sure to double check everything. I don't want to give bad info, and will try not to, but my computer time will be very limited. So please be advised and thanks for understanding.

YESTERDAY

Like I said at the top, this game...blah, blah, blah. I should have gone with Yoga yesterday, but I had settled with Verlander early. Changing would have been bad juju and the fear of said juju prevented me from making the smart move. Ultimately, I took one for the team on this one. Had I changed, Verl would have been perfect and Gallardo would have tanked. Had that happened, you all would have had a bad day with me. You can thank me at your leisure. Sadly enough, my bats sucked as well, aside from ARod who wend deep again. Since I stopped referring to him as ARoid, he has gone deep both times I have taken him. My lovely 28 points dropped me from 8th back to 13th, 19 points away from the top 10. Time to get the climbing shoes out again.

TODAY

Pitching is the key once again, as just about 50% of those that matter are on the CC train at Coors East today. Roughly 30% are split between the 'Stros and Braves, and the rest of us are picking up the scraps. Moving days are biggies with only 11 days left in the half. Don't be afraid to go for it down the stretch boys, this game isn't for pussies. Just remember to be brave, not stupid. Here's my final again...

C: Napoli (better play today)
1B: Pujols (duh!)
2B: Phillips ( better make up for last night)
3B: Wright (kills lefties)
SS: Jeter (same)
LF: Gomes (not fond of it)
CF: Hunter (solid)
RF: Upton (dependable)
DH: Sheff (need luck here)
PS: Happ (Fuck me)

TOMORROW

Weather:
White Sox/Royals 60%
Mariners/Red Sox 60%
Should not be a problem, but it won't hurt to look again tonight.

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Yankees, Braves, A's, Rangers, Royals, Twins, DBacks

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Braves vs. Detwiler (0-4 5.24 in 8 starts)
A's vs. Huff (3-3 6.26 in 9 starts)
Rays vs. Hunter (0-1 3.86 in 2 starts)
Twons vs. French (0-0 0.00 in 3 IP)
Angels vs. Hernandez (1-2 4.19 in 4 starts)
Astros vs. Sadowski (1-0 0.00 in 1 start)

Bats to Avoid:
ARod (1-12, HR)
Melky (1-11)
Posada (1-8)
Rolen (3-22)
Millar (4-21, HR)
Overbay (0-12)
Bradley (1-10)
Hall (8-41)
Hardy (2-19, HR)
Cameron (1-13)
Rollins (9-51, 2HR)
Howard (3-18, 2HR)
Pedroia (3-15)
Beltre (0-16)
Branyan (2-11)
Nix (3-23)
Young (2-13)
Kinsler (2-13, HR)
Gordon (1-11)
Konerko (5-41, HR)
Alexei 3-17, HR)
Getz (0-10)
Fields (1-9)
Miggy (1-8)
Snyder (2-11)

Pitchers:
AJ (6-4 3.93, 92 K in 94 IP, 3-2 2.10 in June, .203 BAA vs. Tor)
Z (4-3 3.69, 1-1 4.45 at home, 1-1 2.91 in June, vs. Mil)
Felix (8-3 2.54, 1.17 WHIP, 107 K in 109 IP, 5-1 1.72 on road, 3-0 0.94 in June, at Bos)
Wake (10-3 4.18, 6-0 3.55 at home, 4-0 3.45 in June, vs. Sea)
Pineiro (6-9 3.44, Low K's, 1.18 WHIP, 3-5 4.32 on road, 1-4 2.65 in June, at Cin)
Greinke (10-3 1.95, 114 K in 115 IP, 1.02 WHIP, 6-1 1.78 at home, 2-2 4.05 in June, 2-0 1.23 vs. CWS this year)
Sherzer (5-5 3.67, 83 K in 83 IP, 2-2 1.80 on road, 3-1 2.17 in June, at Col)
Kuroda (2-4 3.77, 1-4 4.10 in June, 1-0 1.59 vs. SD this year)
I am tempted to go with Greinke and I kind of feel the same about Wake, to be honest. Felix is the man, but I make it a general rule not to go against the Sox. The weather makes me a little nervous in both of those games as well, so I will take Kuroda out west and hope that the majority does the same.

First:
Tex (3-1, HR vs. lefty)
Lee (21-47, 4HR)
Prince (11-30, 2HR vs. good starter)
Youk (4-12 vs. good starter)
Pujols (1-2, HR)
Morneau (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Huff (5-14)
Bottom line - I'm not going away from Pujols against a kid likt Bailey.

Second:
Hill (2-4 vs. good starter)
Utley (8-24)
J. Lopez (4-12, HR vs. good starter)
Phillips (3-9, HR vs. good starter)
Polanco (4-11)
Roberts (8-21, 2HR)
Hudson (3-6)
I like Utley at home vs. Livan over Roberts.

Third:
Zimmerman (2-5, HR)
J. Hairston (5-13 vs. good starter)
Longoria (n/a vs. rookie)
Wiggy (4-9, HR)
This is a good place to save some money today. I'm gonna risk it with Martin Prado vs. the Nats. He has won the job from Johnson for now, is hitting well and will hopefully play. If he does, it will pay off.

Short:
Theriot (8-19)
Bartlett (n/a vs. rookie)
Zobrist (n/a vs. rookie)
F. Lopez (3-7 vs. lefty)
Just on a hunch, I will take Zo vs. the rookie in Texas.

Left:
Damon (5-16 vs. lefty)
Crawford (n/a vs. lefty)
DeJesus (6-16 vs. lefty)
Thames (3-5, HR)
Manny (5-11, 2HR)
I don't have much of a feeling on these guys either. I'll take Crawford again for the hot Rays.

Center:
Victorino (1-2)
Taveras (3-4 vs. good starter)
Upton (n/a vs. rookie)
Podsednik (13-27 vs. good starter)
Granderson (4-12,HR)
Hunter (n/a vs. rookie)
Torii, BJ and Grandy are probably all safe, but I will stay with Torii for now.

Right:
Fukudome (3-8)
Hart (6-19 vs. good starter)
Drew (6-17 vs. good starter)
Ludwick (3-5, HR)
Dye (15-39, 3HR vs. good starter)
Cuddyer (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Mags 3-9)
Hawpe (1-2 vs. good starter)
Upton (1-3 v s. lefty)
Ethier (1-3)
Upton has let me down a few times lately. I also need to save some money and Ethier will fit that mold.

DH:
Matsui (6-11, HR vs. lefty)
Johnson (2-6)
Ortiz (4-11, HR)
Kubel (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Rivera (n/a vs. rook)
I will go outside here as well with Luke Scott vs. a struggling Santana.

Catcher:
Soto (2-8, 2HR)
Kendall (10-33 vs. good starter)
Yadi (1-2)
Olivo (4-10, HR vs. lefty)
Mauer (n/a vs. lefty rook)
AJ (14-34, HR vs. good starter)
Olivo is putting together some pretty good numbers. Let's give him a shot.

Sorry for the quick answers today, but expect them all weekend as again I willbe pressed for time. Good luck to you all, unless you are in the top 25.

FINAL LINEUP

C: Olivo

1B: Pujols

2B: Utley

3B: Prado

SS: Zobrist

LF: Crawford

CF: Hunter

RF: Ethier

DH: Scott

PS: Kuroda (no imploda)

STAT CORNER

Today's numbers are a look back at July of 2008. Let's see who had good numbers in this month last year. Maybe it will be an indicator for this season.

Batting Leaders
Hunter: .314, HR, 21 RBI
Huff: .386, 8-26
M. Cabrera: .330, 8-31
Sizemore: .333, 8-18
ARod: .337, 7-21
Dye: .341, 7-18
Mora: .311, 5-26
Morneau: .360, 5-23
G. Anderson: .384, 5-22
Lind: .379, 5-17
Pedroia: .350, 1-11
Manny: .347, 5-16
Alexei: .341, 4-14
Kinsler: .340, 1-12

Pitching Leaders:
CC: 4-0, 2.27 ERA
Cain: 3-2, 1.88
Bills: 4-2, 2.32
Jiminez: 5-1, 1.74
Dempster: 3-1, 1.99
Pelphrey: 4-1, 2.70
Halladay: 3-2, 2.68
Haren: 3-1, 1.95
Maholm: 2-1, 2.43
Joba: 2-1, 2.52
Z: 4-1, 1.78
Harden: 1-2, 1.83
Johan: 2-0, 2.65
Washburn: 2-2, 2.67

DISCLAIMER

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

FU For Life Kerry Wood!