Tuesday, the 7th

Good morning, everyone. There are now only 6 days to go in the first half and I hope you are not digging your own BBC grave as we speak. Keep in mind that we are fortunate enough to end the half with a double header this Sunday as well. My advice to you is to pick your teams with great caution on that day as I have seen last weekend double dips ruin good halves before.

YESTERDAY

Well, the pen kind of took away from the Giants good fortunes last night, giving myself, and the vast majority some pretty weak 17 spots from pitching. Unfortunately, that was my good news. I only got 13 from my bats led by Jack Squat with 4. That's the second day in a row my bats have been shit which is the primary reason I have dropped to 17th overall, 31 points out of 10th place. McCann, Pedroia, Renteria, Grandy, Hawpe and Stewart combined for only 4 - clowns.

TODAY

I feel pretty decent about this crew and sure hope they right my ship. The last two days have been quite frustrating. There are a good numbers of quality starters going today, so there could be some good movement, and I expect that there will be. Today and tomorrow are the kinds of days where moves can be made, you just have to be smkart about it. Here's the final again...

C: Varitek

1B: Miggy

2B: Utley

3B: Reynolds

SS: Keppinger

LF: Damon

CF: McLouth

RF: Hawpe

DH: Rivera

PS: Beckett

TOMORROW



Weather:
A's Red Sox 50%
I see no reason for concern,but please double check it.

Teams Facing Lefties:

Pirates, Rockies, Nats, Royals, Rays, Jays, Angels, Yankees, White Sox

Teams Facing Rookies:
Rockies vs. Detwiler (0-4 5.81 in 9 starts)
Marlins vs. Sadowski (2-0 0.00 in 2 starts)
Mariners vs. Hernandez (2-2 4.15 in 5 starts)
Royals vs. French (0-0 2.35 in 1 start)
Angels vs. Hunter (1-1 3.18 in 3 starts)

Bats to Avoid:
Mags (5-35 vs. starter)
Granderson (4-29, HR)
Giambi (15-92, 4HR)
O Cabrera (4-24, HR)
Kendall (2-14)
Hart (1-11)
Hall (0-10)
VMart (4-28)
Hafner (3-27)
Cruz (3-16, HR)

Pitchers:
Morton (1-1 2.65 in 4 starts, only 17 IP)
Wandy (7-6 3.21, 95 K in 103 IP, 3-2 2.60 at home, 0-1 9.64 vs. Pitt)
Z (4-3 3.50, 3 R or more in 3 of last 4 starts, vs. Atl)
Sherzer (5-6 3.73, 88 K in 89 IP, 3-3 5.40 at home, 1-0 1.50 vs. SD in 2 starts this year)
Felix (8-3 2.62, 114 K in 116 IP, 1.17 WHIP, 7+ IP in last 6 starts, 1-0 1.29 vs. Bal)
Greinke (10-4 2.00, 1.05 WHIP, 120 K in 121 IP, 4-2 2.17 on road, 2-1 0.50 vs. Det in 2 starts this year)
Kuroda (3-4 3.91, 1.01 WHIP, 3 R or more in 4 of last 5 starts, at NYM)
AJ (7-4 3.83, 99 K in 101 IP, 3-1 1.00 in last 4 starts, 0-0 2.70 vs. Min in 1 start this year)

Wandy and Felix get killed by the teams they are facing and the only ones of this group I even somewhat trust are Greinke and AJ. This one really is tough to call. I will go with Greinke and hope it doesn't backfire on me. The numbers say that this is the play.

UPDATE ALERT!!!

According to MLB.COM, Vargas is pitching for the Mariners tomorrow, not Felix. Please check this on your own, just to be sure. Thank you.

UPDATE ALERT #2

It appears that Dempster has been scratched tonight due to injury in favor of Zambrano. Please adjust your plans accordingly. Thank you.

First:
LaRoche (5-12 vs. good lefty)
Lee (1-3)
Dunn (4-11, HR vs. lefty)
Branyan (1-3)
Miggy (5-15 vs. good starter)
Overbay (4-12 vs. lefty)
Prince (5-14)
Pujols (13-34)
Morneau (4-12, HR vs. good starter)
Tex (1-3, HR)
This group is full of good options as well. I am down to Pujols, Prince, Lee and Branyan. I think I will go with Prince. I don't really know why, other than I fel better about it.


Second:
Sanchez (10-23, HR vs. good lefty)
Lopez (2-3)
Roberts (10-31 vs. good starter)
Polanco (11-32, HR vs. good starter)
Hill (8-23 vs. lefty)
Scutaro (3-9 vs. lefty)
Ellis (8-23, HR)
Cano (5-8)
Kinsler (8-22, HR)
Kinsler has been in a Hell of a slump. Because of this, I want to go back to Hill, who hits lefties pretty well.


Third:
Sandoval (2-3, HR)
Mora (10-26 vs. good starter)
Gomes (8-17, 2HR)
Wright (2-4 vs. good starter)
ARod (5-9, HR)
Young (16-41, 2HR)
I like ARod here and there is no one else I really gave much thought to. Young always lets me down.


Short:
Wilson (8-22, HR vs. good lefty)
Drew (2-5, HR)
Hanley (n/a vs. rook)
Bartlett (1-2 vs. lefty)
Hardy (7-14)
The fact that Hanley is banged up and Hardy only hits .229 makes this one pretty easy. Bartlett hits .380 vs. lefties.


Left:
Lee (1-3)
Willingham (2-5 vs. lefty)
crawford (3-6 vs. lefty)
Wells (10-27, 2HR vs. lefty)
Braun (7-13, HR)
Duncan (6-13)
Lee is struggling, Wells can't hit lefties for shit anymore and Braun has been my guy for most of the half. He will be again tomorrow.


Center:
Gwynn (3-3)
Rowand (3-3)
Victorino (2-4)
Upton (1-2 vs. lefty)
Melky (5-9)
Hunter (n/a vs. rook)
I will eventually have to save money somewhere. Tony Gwynn Jr looks like a great opportunity to do just that.


Right:
Pence (1-2)
Hawpe (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Ichiro (2-3)
Cake (10-22 vs. good starter)
Church (2-5, 2HR vs. good starter)
Ludwick (3-10, HR)
Hawpe is the only one worth having here. Seriously, no one else was even considered.


DH:

Cust (5-16)
Matsui (1-2)
Blalock (11-29, 3HR)
This is a matter of trust. Blalock or Matsui? As much as I hate to do it, since Hideki faces a lefty, Hank the Tank is employed on my team once again, but is just this close to being banned forever.


Catcher:
McCann (5-9 vs. good starter in day game)
Weiters (2-3 vs. good starter)
Laird (4-11 vs. good starter)
Suzuki (3-9)
Schneider (2-3 vs. good starter)
Martin (5-10 vs. lefty)
Mauer (3-10 vs. good starter)
I think I am going to take Suzuki vs. Wake. I like having at least one bat against a knuckler and the catcher is as good as anyone to do it with.


FINAL LINEUP

C: Suzuki

1B: Prince

2B: Hill

3B: ARod

SS: Bartlett

LF: Braun

CF: Gwynn

RF: Hawpe

DH: Blalock

PS: Greinke

STAT CORNER



Top 10 Batting Averages at Home (100 AB Min.):

Mauer .442
Miggy .412
Sandoval .402
Hawpe .381
Morneau .367
Ichiro .366
Tejada .361
Pujols .358
Ad LaRoche .357
M Izturis .355

Worst 10:
Headley .149
Stewart .163
Wells .172
Giles .176
Navarro .178
Swisher .181
Buriss .190
Duncan .192
C Davis .193
J Lopez .198

The Top 10 Home ERA's (40 IP Min.):

Verlander 1.11
Weaver 1.83
Kershaw 1.85
Greinke 1.88
Haren 1.91
Lilly 1.96
Johnson 1.98
Johan 2.08
Lannan 2.20
Lince 2.25

The Worst:
Davies 8.12
Garland 7.51
De La Rosa 6.49
Arroyo 6.37
Moyer 6.35
Padilla 5.93
Pavano 5.88
Meche 5.73
Galaragga 5.44
Sherzer 5.40

DISCLAIMER

My picks are just that, my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, you are 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!