Saturday, the 22nd

Well, we are one day into the somewhat contraversial journey through the league and so fat, so good. Guys, I know this may seem sily, but trust me, it is really keeping me interested. Without it, I was really cose to bailing altogether. Also, please be aware that tomorrows post willnot be up until around 9 or 10 pm. I will have no computer access between now and then. Thanks for understanding.

YESTERDAY

Well the top staff, Vazquez, kind of got rolled last night. The bullpen managed to hold on and get a positive score, but it wasn't near good enough to match Jackson, who had a very nice 25. As you know, I had Jackson. The bat were quite interesting. I had 3 DNP's and Bay got pulled after two at bats in the massacre. Only 4 bats got me any points at all, but I was right about Huff getting punked by the M's. Branyan, Lopez, Guttierrez, and ichiro combined to give me 30 ontheir own and my 55 overall actually bumped me up to #27 overall and #515 in the half. I will document the "Journey" stats later on.

TODAY

The summary is not up yet and I am about to leave for the weekend. My guess is that the top staffs will be Carp, Happ and Hanson in that order. Here is my load again...

C: Mauer
1B: Butler
2B: Callaspo
3B: Teahen
SS: Betancourt
LF: DeJesus
CF: Maier
RF: Werth
DH: Jacobs
PS: Laffey

TOMORROW

Weather:
Phills/Mets scatterd t-storms
Brewers/Nats scattered
Yanks-Sox scattered

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Angels, Phills, Nats, Rangers, O's, Red Sox

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Jays vs. Bell (1-0 5.91 in 2 starts)
DBacks vs. Norris (3-1 4.05 in 4)
Cards vs. Carillo (1-1 4.88 in 2)

Possible Load-ups:
Braves vs. Nolasco (9-8 5.22, .357 BAA)
Chite Sox vs. Berken (2-11 6.72, .450 BAA)

Bats You May Want to Avoid:
Stewart (1-12)
Benji (2-16)
AGonz (2-12, HR)
Furcal (6-31)
Varitek (1-13, HR)
Lowell (2-13)
Almezaga (1-11)
Mora (4-27)
Teahen (2-13)
Olivo (1-10)
B Harris (2-11)
Atkins (3-16)
Francouer (4-25, HR)
Howard (3-24, HR)
Feliz (1-19, HR)
Utley (3-16)
Helms (1-11)

Pitchers:
Felix (12-4 2.66, 1.18 WHIP, 167 K in 172 IP, 8-1 1.92 road, 1-0 2.00 August, 1-0 2.25 at Cle)
Romero (10-5 3.95, 6-3 4.17 home, 1-1 5.56 August, vs. LAA)
Buehrle (11-6 3.78, 1.19 WHIP, 0-2 5.54 August, 1-0 1.23 vs. Bal)
Lince (12-3 2.37, 1.04 WHIP, 207 K in 178 IP, 5-2 2.82 road, 1-0 2.73 August, at Col)
Jiminez (11-9 3.41, 4-0 1.47 August, 1-1 2.57 vs. SF)
Bills (12-6 3.70, 2-0 1.59 August, 0-1 2.57 vs. CHC)
CC (14-7 3.58, 1.13 WHIP, 4-0 2.35 August, 1-1 2.46 at Bos)
Beckett (14-4 3.38, 1.13 WHIP, 8-0 2.58 home, 2-0 4.14 vs. NYY)
I think Felix and Bills are the best picks here, and I would probably go with Felix as the top pick. Lincy is nice, but I don't like any staff at Coors.

First:
Prince (2-3)
Konerko (1-2, HR)
Butler (5-12)
Morneau (9-25, 2HR but hurt)
Helton (7-11, HR vs. Lince)
Miggy (5-14, HR)
Youk (4-12 vs. CC)
Votto and Berkman are also worth a look.

Second:
J Lopez (3-8)
F Lopez (2-3)
Callaspo (5-10, HR)
Eck (5-13)
Cano (14-41, 2HR vs. Beckett)
Hill, Uggla and Zobrist are also worth a look.

Third:
Chipper (10-19, 4HR)
Cantu (7-8, HR)
Zimm (5-8 vs. lefty)
Sandoval (3-9 vs. Jiminez)
Reynolds, Longoria and Young are also worth a look.

Short:
Rollins (8-26, 2HR vs. lefty)
Escobar (7-13, HR)
Hanley (10-19)
Tejada (11-26, 2HR)
Tulo (5-14, HR vs. Lincy)
Theriot (3-5 vs. Bills)
Scutaro, Drew and Aybar are also worth a look.

Left:
Ibanez (2-4, HR vs. lefty)
Diaz (3-8)
Braun (2-3, HR)
DeJesus (5-15)
Dunn, Crawford and Rivera are also worth a look.

Center:
Grady (7-14 vs. Felix)
Victorino (5-15 vs. lefty)
Bourn (2-3)
Span (5-14)
R Sweeney (4-4)
Melky (12-36 vs. Beckett)
Morgan, Byrd and Hamilton are also worth a look.

Right:
Werth (5-16, HR vs. lefty)
Willingham (2-6, HR vs. lefty)
Rios (3-5, HR)
Cake (6-13, HR vs. Buehrle)
Cuddyer (6-16, HR)
Ethier (6-14, HR)
Abreu and Pence are also worth a look.

DH:
Thome (1-3, HR)
Ortiz (7-23, 2HR vs. CC)
Vlad and Burrell are also worth a look.

Catcher:
McCann (7-22, 2HR)
Mauer (6-19)
Ianetta (6-9, HR vs. Lincy)
Martin (3-10)
Posada (10-31 vs. Beckett)
Montero and Napoli are also worth a look.

FINAL LINEUP (Journey Day 3)

Pitching is a tough one. I don't really want to burn Felix in a road game, but there are no other quality options really. So that's my pick there. With the bats, I am looking in a few directions. The best four choices for me are the Braves, Nats, and White Sox. I will hold off on the Braves right now and only want the Nats on the road, so White Sox it is. They do not have anyone at second or center, so those are the spots that I will go elsewhere for. Here's the final...

C: AJ (c)
1B: Konerko (c)
2B: Hill
3B: Beckham (c)
SS: Alexei (c)
LF: Quentin (c)
CF: Victorino
RF: Rios (c)
DH: Thome (c)
PS: Felix

JOURNEY STATS

Beginning Rankings:
#29 overall and #596 in the half

Current Rankings:
#27 and #515

Change:
+2 and +81

Bats Used:
Mariners, Indians, White Sox

Staffs Used:
Tigers, Indians, Mariners

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)