Monday, the 10th

Good morning, everyone. Are you superstitious? All weekend long I struggled and I finally realized why. I found my mechanical pencil in my jeans pocket while doing laundry yesterday morning, then proceeded to make my notes with it. Sure enough, yesterday was a good day. On Friday and Saturday, I used some God-awful pen and got punked. All I needed was my pencil. It reminds me of a Bama-Penn State game from the late 80's. Bama got behind early. I laid down on the floor and put my feet up on the couch and we started to come back. I stayed that way the whole game. After finally taking the lead, Penn State moved down the field, getting all the way to the two yard line with seconds remaining. Only down by a point, the winning field goal was inevitable. I Turned the tv off in disgust. But then, I figured I would take it like a man, turned the tube back on, got on the floor, put the feet up again, and watched Thomas Rayam block the kick as time expired. Yeah, I'm a bit superstitious.

YESTERDAY

In the head to head battle between Johan and Cain, Johan won easily, 26-8. Fortunately, Cain wasn't himself and I was on the right side of this one. Meanwhile, my bats were rediculously good, led by Hanley (12), Wells (10), Reynolds (8), and VMart (7). They combined to give me 53 bat points and my 79 total led me back up to #26 overall and #872 in the half. Now if I can only manage to prevent Davis from knocking me back down. Also, if you have been stuck on a deserted island, or away at sea for the last two weeks, Mark Reynolds has 11 home runs in his last 13 games and is clearly the hottest bat on the planet.

TODAY

With extremely poor pitching options, the field is a little split on staffs today. Davis and Floyd each garner about 30% of the take, with Kuroda at just over 20% and about 15% from Sanchez. It could be a very long day as I can't see any way that any of these clowns go for much more than 20. Moving day is eminent. Here's my final again, along with the top picks...

C: Martin (VMart*)
1B: Miggy (Pujols*)
2B: Hill*
3B: Reynolds*
SS: Hanley*
LF: Crawford (Holliday*)
CF: Granderson*
RF: Cake (Rios*)
DH: Lind*
PS: Davis (Floyd*)

TOMORROW

Weather:
Pirates/Rocks isolated t-storms
'Stros/Marlins isolated
Reds/Cards isolated
Nats/Braves ps t-storms
A's/O's scattered t-storms
Jays/Yanks scattered
Tigers/Bosox scattered

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Braves, Rangers, Brewers, Cubs, Angels, Mariners, Giants

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Dodgers vs. Martinez (2-0 5.87 in 1 start)
A/s vs. Hernandez (3-4 3.96 in 9)
Tigers vs. Tazawa (0-1 10.80 in 1)
Chisox vs. Fister (0-0 0.00 in 1 IP)

Possible Load-ups:
Twins vs. Davies (3-8 6.37)
Rays vs. Santana (4-6 7.20)

Bats You May Want to Avoid:
Uggla (0-13 vs. starter)
Paulino (2-11)
Ibanez (5-26, HR)
Morneau (1-15)
Ichiro (2-11)

Pitchers:
Lannan (8-8 3.39, Low K's, 3-7 5.62 road, 2-2 2.46 post break, 1-1 3.00 at Atl)
Hanson (6-2 3.22, 0-0 1.29 vs. Was)
Richmond (6-6 3.97, 3-3 4.04 road, 0-1 12.00 post break, 0-1 27.00 at NYY)
Joba (8-2 3.73, 3-2 4.60 home, 4-0 2.03 post break, 0-0 7.36 vs. Tor)
Oz (6-4 3.61, 1.17 WHIP, 1-0 2.04 post break, at Fla)
Happ (8-2 2.74, 1.12 WHIP, 4-1 1.72 road, 2-2 2.25 post break, at CHC)
Harden (7-7 4.41, 124 K in 104 IP, 3-5 6.84 home, 2-1 1.80 post break, 0-0 1.29 and .1623 BAA vs. Phi)
Blackburn (8-6 3.79, Low K's, 5-0 2.95 home, 0-2 7.89 post break, 0-1 3.00 vs. KC)
Cook (10-4 3.93, 4-1 4.36 home, 0-0 21.60 vs. Pit)
Wolf (5-6 3.55, 0-0 0.00 vs. SF)
Of this crew, Hanson, Happ and Wolf are my favorites. On the downside to these are the facts that the Nats are on fire, I never have liked taking pitchers at Wrigley, and Wolf is not exactly overpowering. In this case, though, I think I will take the lesser evil and take Wolf, in kind of a "safety" move. I'mnot really fond of it, but I am not too high on any of these guys and I have to pick someone.

First:
Tex (2-2 vs. good starter)
AGonz (6-15, 2HR)
Pujols (0-2)
Helton (2-3)
Pena (4-12)
Branyan (2-2 vs. lefty)
I like Gonzo alot with the numbers in his favor, but then again, Pujols is facing a hack. With the possibility of rain in St. Louis tomorrow as the tiebreaker, I think I will go with Gonzalez.

Second:
K Johnson (6-15, HR vs. good lefty)
Pedroia (1-3)
Hill (2-6, HR vs. good starter)
Zobrist (1-3)
J Lopez (6-10 vs. lefty)
I have had alot of success with Ben Zobrist this season and with Santana on the mound, I hope to see more of the same tomorrow. He is by far the best option if you ask me.

Third:
Young (2-3 vs. lefty)
Cantu (2-5, 2HR vs. good starter)
Kouz (2-5)
Crede (1-3, HR)
Reynolds (4-6, HR)
Figgins (1-2 vs. lefty)
Seriously, how can I not take Reynolds tomorrow. It's Livan freaking Hernandez for crying out loud.

Short:
Hanley (8-19, 2HR vs. good starter)
O Cabrera (4-11)
Tulo (1-3, HR)
Hanley looks like the obvious pick, but he is facing Ozwalt. I would take Tulowitzki if he were hitting right now, but he's not. I think I have to stay with Hanley. I may change later, though, if I need cap room.

Left:
Dunn (1-2, HR vs. good starter)
Bay (1-2, HR)
Damon (1-2 vs. good starter)
DeJesus (5-11 vs. good starter)
Crawford (8-21)
I'm a little undecided here as well. I like Braun, Crawford and Holliday. Crawford looks like the pick, but has the least power. Looking at some splits, I see that Braun is much, much better on the road this year, soI can eliminate him. I think Crawford is going to be the pick, but it's a tough one.

Center:
McLouth (4-9 vs. good lefty)
Ellsbury (2-2)
Hamilton (2-3, HR vs. lefty)
Byrd (2-3, HR vs. lefty)
Upton (7-15)
Nothing here impresses me either, so I will take Granderson vs. the Bosox rookie. No real reason for it, I just like it better than the other options.

Right:
Church (4-11, 2HR vs. good lefty)
Cake (2-3)
Drew (2-3)
Hermida (5-12, 2HR vs. good starter)
Hawpe (3-3, HR)
Winn (7-19 vs. good lefty)
Just like Reynolds, I think Hawpe is easily the best pick here. None others considered.

DH:
Scott (1-3)
Ortiz (1-2)
Lind (4-8, HR vs. good starter)
Venable (1-3, HR)
Kubel (5-11)
I am interested in Venable and can't wait to take him soon, but Kubel hits righties so well, I have to take him.

Catcher:
Varitek (1-2)
Salty (2-3 vs. lefty)
Mauer (5-16)
Olivo (5-10, 2HR vs. good starter)
Doumit (2-4 vs. good starter)
OK, I just have to have Mauer tomorrow. He's facing a very weak pitcher and I can't pass on it. Except for the fact that I have some serious cap restrictions right now. Unfortunately, I can't find anywhere where I feel good about a downgrade, so I am just going to stick with Russell Martin.

FINAL LINEUP

C: Martin
1B: Pujols
2B: Zo
3B: Reynolds
SS: Hanley
LF: Crawford
CF: Granderson
RF: Hawps
DH: Kubel
PS: The Wolfman

STAT CORNER

The League Leaders in Quality Start Percentage:
Lee 0.83%
Greinke 0.83%
Johnson 0.83%
Lince 0.83%
Haren 0.78%
Felix 0.78%
Caro 0.78%
Jackson 0.77%
Lowe 0.75%
Lilly 0.74%

The League Worst in Quality Start Percentage:
D Huff 0.19%
D Holland 0.25%
Wellemeyer 0.25%
J Sanchez 0.28%
R Ortiz 0.31%
Richard 0.31%
Stammen 0.33%
M Palmer 0.33%
Sonnastine 0.33%
Owings 0.33%
Davies 0.33%

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, and pass the word if you will.

FU HALL OF FAME

Kerry MF'n Wood (Founder, -14, -11, -7, -6)
Nick MF'n Blackburn (record holder at -43)
Jake MF'n Peavy (2 time offender at -8 and -2)
Houston MF'n Astros Staff(-4)
Los Angeles MF'n Dodgers Staff (-11)
Zach MF'n Greinke (-4)