Wednesday, the 15th

ATTENTION!!!

Due to a busy schedule, JayJayCox (#3 overall in the first half and damn near the winner) was not able to get me an All-Star article as planned. However, he was kind enough to take some time to send me one today. Please look to see this early tomorrow morning. Thanks again, JayJay!!!!!!!!!!

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the second half of the season. How good was your first half? Doesn't matter. How bad was it? Doesn't matter. It's a fresh start for everyone today and hope springs eternal as they say. I hope you all had the chance to read the All-Star entries yesterday, as the provided alot of valuable insight and value. If you didn't check them out by clicking on the links along the left side of the page. Thank's also to those that contributed. You all did a great job and I really am thankful for your help.

Back to business. Please be aware of a few things this week. Firstof all, I will be leaving for Nashville tomorrow afternoon. Computer time will be limited there so most of my statistical prep work for the weekends games will be done today. Please double check your starters during this time. Sorry, but will be tough enough just to get this up everyday. Secondly, I saw last night that there were a number of position changes when BBC was updated. You may see some names in here that are assigned to the wrong position. Just be aware of it. I will catch all of these in the coming days and change accordingly.

Finally, good luck with your second half. I wish you all luck, but honestly hope I can beat your asses again. I hate to say that but it's true. Get over it and, seriously, good luck. Now, on to business..

TOMORROW

Weather:
Mets/Braves 60%
We rarely rain out in Atlanta and as they are retiring Maddux's number, I am pretty confident that this game will be played. Double check it tonight, though.

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Braves, Mariners, Cubs, Marlins, Angels, Dodgers, Astros

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
None

Teams That Have Never Faced Starter:
Cubs

Bats to Avoid:
Ross (2-23 vs. starter)
Diaz (3-19, 2HR)
Beltran (4-26)
Castillo (1-13)
Beltre (4-26)
Encarnacion (3-22, HR)
Bruce (2-17, HR)
Phillips (1-14)
Victorino (2-13)
Werth (1-11)
Crosby (2-20)
K Suzuki (1-17)
Giambi (1-14)
Berkman (2-23)

Pitchers:
Lee (4-9 3.47, 3 R or more in 4 of last 5 starts, Kerry FU Wood, vs. Sea)
Braden (7-7 3.12, 2 R or less in last 8 starts, 5-3 2.84 at home, 0-2 4.50 vs. LAA this season)
Cook (8-3 3.98, 2 R or less in 5 of last 7, 1-0 2.40 vs. SD in 2 starts)
Wandy (8-6 2.96, 106 K in 112 IP, 1 R or less in 5 of last 6, 0-1 1.00 vs. LaD)
Wolf (4-3 3.45, 1.17 WHIP, 2 R or less in 5 of last 6, 0-1 4.04 at home, 0-0 5.14 vs. Hou)
It sure is a crappy way to start the second hlf, I'll say that much. I'm torn between Cook (very low strikeouts), Wandy ('Stros staff is always unreliable) and Wolf (vs. good bats and Houston). I really want to go with Wandy because ofhis K potential, but can't decide. He has been solid lately, but sohas Cook. Since Wolf has struggled at home and vs. Houston, I will give Wandy a go. Very reluctantly. At least he's in a pitchers park.

First:
Howard (4-12, 3HR)
Gonzalez (11-28, 2HR)
I like Prince in Cincy as well, but the numbers for Ryho are too much for me to pass on.

Second:
Lopez (6-18, HR vs. good lefty)
Hudson (4-9 vs. good lefty)
Matsui (7-22 vs. good lefty)
When the choices are this poor and values arer as low as they are going to be for a while, I have to go with Utley. He is 2-9 with a homer vs. Volstad.

Third:
Chipper (11-26, HR vs. lefty)
Wright (4-8)
Cantu (7-23 vs. lefty)
Helms (6-13, 2HR vs. lefty)
Feliz (2-6)
Figgins (5-10 vs. good lefty)
Atkins (2-6)
Blum (5-10 vs. good lefty)
Once again I am not happy about the options here. Chipper has very little power vs. lefties, so I will go with Wright. At least he has a quality average.

Short:
Escobar (4-8 vs. lefty)
Hanley (12-36, 4HR vs. lefty)
Rollins (5-13)
Aybar (4-11 vs. good lefty)
Tulo (1-2)
Furcal (3-7 vs. good lefty)
Tejada (4-13 vs. good lefty)
Hanley. Moyer. Done.

Left:
Morgan (3-4)
Holliday (1-3)
Manny (2-3 vs. good lefty)
Sheff (8-17, 2HR)
Halliday is done without Coors. Morgan has no power and Manny faces my starter. I have to have someone in Cincy. It will be Braun in left. I also don't trust Sheff vs. decent pitching.

Center:
McLouth (1-3 vs. lefty)
Sizemore (1-3)
Taveras (5-15, HR)
Cameron (2-5)
Fowler (2-6)
Kemp (2-6 vs. good lefty)
Due to the fact that I can, give me Grady. Nothing else impresses me at all.

Right:
Church (3-5 vs. lefty)
Hart (1-3)
Matthews (3-6 vs. good lefty)
Hawpe (2-3)
Why would I not take Hawpe vs. shit pitching?

DH:
Griffey (5-14, 3HR vs. good lefty)
There is no way I would take Junior. Cust is only 2-10 vs. Santana, but then again, the Santana he faced then is not the Santana he is facing now.

Catcher:
VMart (2-2)
Hernandez (5-8, HR)
Kendall (3-5)
Paulino (5-11 vs. lefty)
Baker (3-7 vs. lefty)
Torrealba (2-5)
VMart has been cold lately, but I rill risk it anyway. None of the others do anything for me at all.

FINAL LINEUP

C: VMart
1B: Ryho
2B: Utley
3B: Wright
SS: Hanley
LF: Braun
CF: Sizemore
RF: Hawpe
DH: Cust
PS: Magic Wandy (hopefully)

STAT CORNER

Let's get the 2nd half off to a good start. Below are the league leaders in Average, Home Runs, and RBI over the last 30 days:

Batting Average:
Hanley .405
Willingham .397
Prince .379
Gutierrez .378
Dye .373
Victorino .368
Ichiro .366
Alexei .356
4 with .352

Home Runs:
Werth 11
D. Lee 10
Pujols 10
Sandoval 9
Konerko 8
Ortiz 8
Rivera 8
ARod 8
Tulo 8
10 with 7

RBI:
D. Lee 30
Pujols 30
Abreu 27
Hanley 27
Sandoval 26
Ludwick 25
Werth 25
ARod 24
Prince 22
Ortiz 22
Rivera 21

DISCLAIMER

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

FU For Life Kerry Wood!