Tuesday, the 11th

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to day two of the poor pitching marathon. Just as there was nothing to choose from tomorrow, there is nothing to choose from today. Good damn luck. Lets move on.

YESTERDAY

I believe I predicted yesterday that none of the top staffs would go for more than 20. Well, as luck would have it, Kuroda was the head of the class with an award winning 19. Had it not been for Chad "How did I make it to the majors" Qualls, Davis would have been right there as well. With Floyd blowing up, as well, there will be some movement today once ESPN gets out of bed and updates the rankings. I'll take my 13 from Davis without too much complaint, though. My bats were less than exciting, but not too bad. Led by Hill (7) and Crarford (6), they gave me 32 more and I ended up with a respectable 45. On a day like that, I'll be happy with a 45.

OK, ESPN has finally updated the rankings. I am still #26 overall, but moved up to #813 in the second half. With Davis as my starter, I'll take it.

TODAY

Pitching, what there is of it, is spread far and wide again today. Hanson is the top pick with 31%. Wolf (17%), Happ (15%), and Sherzer 12%. Again, with none of these guys being what I would consider to be aces, it will surely be an nailbiter tonight. Here is my final again, along with the top picks...

C: Martin (Mauer*)
1B: Pujols*
2B: Zobrist*
3B: Reynolds*
SS: Hanley*
LF: Crawford (Holliday*)
CF: Granderson*
RF: Hawpe*
DH: Kubel*
PS: Wolf (Hanson*)

TOMORROW

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

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Yanks, DBacks, Twins, Royals, Mariners

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Rays vs. Bell (Debut)
Marlins vs. Norris (2-0 1.69 in 2 starts)

Possible Load-ups:
DBacks vs. Perez (2-3 6.38)
Rangers vs. Carmona (2-6 6.66)
Phills vs. Samardzija (1-1 6.29)
Cards vs. Bailey (2-3 7.11)

Bats You May Want to Avoid:
Millar (4-21 vs. starter)
Overbay (1-15)
Snyder (1-10)
Loney (2-12)
Ethier (2-11)
Bard (4-24, HR)
Dunn (2-19)
Kearns (2-17, HR)
Polanco (4-21)
Granderson (2-11)
F Lopez (4-27)
Soriano (7-43)
Betancourt (1-14)
Taveras (5-26)
Beltre (2-18)
Wilson (2-13)

Pitchers:
*Please be advised that, as of right now, the Dodgers are not settled on a starter*
Romero (10-5 3.66, 3-2 5.65 post break, 1-0 4.26 at NYY)
Burnett (10-5 3.67, 0-1 5.11 August, 1-1 4.30 vs. Tor)
Niemann (10-5 3.73, 6-3 4.26 road, 0-0 9.82 at LAA)
Lince (12-3 2.20, 198 K in 163 IP, 1.04 WHIP, 7-1 1.97 home, 1-0 1.20 August, 1-0 4.15 vs. LAD)
Hunter (4-2 2.63, 1.19 WHIP, 1-0 1.39 road, 1-1 4.50 August, at Cle)
Beckett (13-4 3.12, 1.13 WHIP, 139 K in 150 IP, 7-0 2.58 home, 1-0 0.00 August, 1-0 0.00 and .189 BAA vs. Det)
Carp (11-3 2.26, 0.97 WHIP, 6-1 1.62 home, 2-0 2.65 August, 2-0 1.13 and .189 BAA vs. Cin)
Jimenez (9-9 3.65, 2-0 1.84 August, 0-0 1.50 vs. Pit)
Buehrle (11-6 3.89, 1.18 WHIP, 4-3 4.81 road, 0-2 9.00 August, at Sea)
Felix (12-8 2.84, 1.19 WHIP, 148 K in 158 IP, 4-3 4.05 home, 3-1 4.05 post break, 1-0 0.00 vs. CWS)
There are certainly a number of safe picks tomorrow, but it's just as difficult to pick one as it has been the last two days. Lince and Carp are my favorites of this group and I, as usual will have Lince. His strikeouts are unmatched and he traditionally does well coming off a poor outing. Carp has owned the Reds, but that will eventually come to an end. Either one should be a safe pick.

First:
LaRoche (2-3, HR)
Youk (3-5, 2HR)
Pujols (1-5, HR)
Branyan (1-3, HR vs. good lefty)
Morneau (1-4, HR vs. lefty)
I like both Pujols and Morneau here. Justin owns Bannister for sure, but Fat Al should wear out Bailey too. I think I will stay with Pujols. He is over half a mil cheaper and I will need to save some dough because of the Lincy pick.

Second:
Castillo (7-16)
Hudson (7-15 vs. good starter)
Pedroia (1-3)
My gut tells me to go with Utley vs. Samar%#*a, but he is hitting poorly. For now, I will stay with Zobrist in Anaheim. I may come back to this later, though.

Third:
Figgins (2-3 vs. good starter)
Reynolds (0-4 vs. lefty)
Young (4-12)
Lowell (2-6)
DeRosa (1-3, HR)
Since Reynolds is average vs. lefties, I will drop him. Young is intriguing, but lacks the power I want. To make matters worse, DeRosa is banged up. I guess I will take Longoria, but mainly because there isn't much to choose from.

Short:
Scutaro (5-16 vs. good starter)
Guzman (11-29)
Tejada (4-9)
Alexei (3-6 vs. good starter)
Tulo and Rollins will be among the top picks, and Bartlett is there if you want to save cash. I will go with J-Roll. He is 0-2 vs. ole what's his name and has done me well this half.

Left:
Sheff (6-16)
Pierre (5-11 vs. good starter)
Murphy (2-4)
Braun (3-10, HR)
Holliday (1-2)
I'll be going with Braun here. I haven't had him in a while and he is as due to go deep as I am to take him. Holliday is a thought, but not much of one for me.

Center:
A Jones (2-3)
Morgan (5-9)
Hamilton (4-7)
Ellsbury (2-6)
Gutierrez (7-15, 2HR vs. good lefty)
I think I'll take a shot with Josh Hamilton tomorrow. Struggling or not, he is a steal at 3.9 mil and, facing Carmona, is a good matchup.

Right:
Francouer (5-8, HR)
Cruz (3-6, 2HR)
Pence (2-5, 2HR)
Werth (1-1, HR)
Luddy (3-8, HR)
Ichiro (17-39 vs. good lefty)
If Werth were doing anything at all right now, I'd take him. Instead, it's Luddy vs. Homer.

DH:
Ortiz (2-6)
Thome (5-8, 3HR vs. good starter)
I really don't like bats vs. good starters, but Thome has absolutely owned Felix.

Catcher:
Salty (3-6)
Olivo (4-10, HR vs. lefty)
Yadi (2-5)
Doumit (1-3 vs. good starter)
Since VMart is 1-9 vs. Gallaragga, I will go with McCann at home. I have no good reason for this, but think it will work out just fine.

FINAL LINEUP

C: McCann
1B: Pujols
2B: Zo
3B: Longoria
SS: Rollins
LF: Braun
CF: Hamilton
RF: Luddy
DH: Thome
PS: Lince

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)