Tuesday, the 25th

Good morning, everyone. We all need to remember that as the season is beginning to come to a close, we will see more and more starters getting random days off. Playoff teams such as the Yankees will continue to rest starters and the teams at the bottom of the barrel will begin to play more and more youngsters in order to see what they bring to the table. Of course much of this will happen after September first, but thats less than a week away. Pick wisely.

YESTERDAY

Cliff Lee came through just as expected with an impressive 32 points. He continues to match pitch for pitch what CC did for the Brewers last fall. Fortunately for me, Gallardo was just as good, giving me 29 of his own. My bats were off to a great start with my wild card guys Howard (15) and Braun (7). However, the A's bats continued to do what they do best and got manhandled by Ian Snell. They only accounted for 8 points. My 59 total dropped me to #31 overall and #843 in the half.

TODAY

Choosing the right staff is clearly the key to today as the top staffs are fairly well split. Wainwright is the top pick at 38% followed by Cain (25%), Jurrjens (12% and Haren (10%). I went with Greinke for the Royals in order to get them out of the way. It should be a decent pick. Here are the top picks, followed by my load of the day...

Top Picks -
C: Mauer
1B: RyHo
2B: Utley
3B: ARod
SS: Hanley
LF: Bay
CF: Victorino
RF: Werth
DH: Vlad
PS: Wainwright

My Load -
C: Weiters
1B: Prince
2B: Roberts
3B: Mora
SS: Izturis
LF: Reimold
CF: Jones
RF: Cake
DH: Scott
PS: Greinke

TOMORROW

Weather:
Indians/Royals scattered t-storms
Dodgers/Rocks isolated t-storms
Nats/Cubs scattered
Sox/Sox isolated
Mets/Marlins isolated

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Royals, Tigers, Yanks, Rangers, Pirates, Phills, Jays, Rays, Rocks, Mariners, A's, Giants, DBacks

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Rays vs. Rczepcynski (2-3 3.65 in 9 starts)
Cubs vs. Martin (2-3 4.76 in 7)
A's vs. French (3-3 3.83 in 9)

Bats You May Want to Avoid:
Abreu (5-28)
Kendrick (1-13)
Raburn (0-12)
Blalock (2-11)
Milledge (2-12)
Howard (2-14)
Lind (2-12, HR)
Thome (8-52, 3HR)
Hanley (4-23, HR)
Almezaga (2-11)
D Murphy (2-11)
Bruce (2-17, HR)
Phillips (1-16)
O Cabrera (1-10)
Yadi (3-16)
Michaels (2-13)
Hudson (2-15)
Reynolds (3-16)

Pitchers:
Jackson (10-5 2.86, 1.19 WHIP, 4-4 2.80 road, 3-0 4.13 August, 1-1 2.57 at LAA)
Kawakami (6-9 3.97, 1-1 2.39 August, 0-1 4.50 vs. SD)
Floyd (10-8 3.98, 5-5 5.38 road, 3-2 2.92 post break, at Bos)
Johnson (12-3 2.99, 1.09 WHIP, 6-1 2.09 home, 2-0 2.46 vs. NYM)
Harden (8-7 4.04, 138 K in 118 IP, 3-5 6.31 home, 1-1 1.80 August, 1-0 0.00 vs. Was)
Oz (7-4 3.83, 1.19 WHIP, 4-2 4.04 road, 1-0 5.50 August, 0-1 6.23 at STL)
Pineiro (12-9 3.15, 1.11 WHIP, 5-4 2.41 home, 3-0 4.79 August, 1-0 2.70 vs. Hou)
Wolf (8-6 3.34, 1.11 WHIP, 6-4 2.91 road, 0-0 3.75 at Col)
Davis (7-11 3.77, 3-5 4.46 road, 3-2 4.81 post break, 1-2 4.50 .366 BAA at SF)
I think that Johnson and Harden are clearly going to be the top picks tomorrow and I would definately give the edge to Johnson. One thing that is important here, though, is that the Mets are among the best in the league when it comes to strikeouts taken, while Harden is amont the best in strikeouts given. Just something to think about.

First:
Huff (8-18 vs. lefty)
Miggy (3-8 vs. lefty)
LaRoche (5-5)
Votto (5-15, 2HR)
Pujols (23-75, 5HR vs. Oz)
Berkman (5-14, 2HR vs. Pineiro)
Lee and Butler are also worth a look.

Second:
M Izturis (6-18 vs. Jackson)
Hill (10-30, HR vs. lefty)
Uggla (7-21)
Roberts (2-3)
Sanchez (17-37, HR vs. Davis)
Zobrist is also worth a look.

Third:
Figgins (7-13 vs. Jackson)
Cantu (6-16)
Crede (2-4, HR)
DeRosa (11-25, HR vs. Oz)
Sandoval (5-14 vs. Davis)
Young, Beckham and Blake are also worth a look.

Short:
Escobar (2-2)
Jeter (4-4 vs. lefty)
Scutaro (5-15 vs. lefty)
Bartlett (2-3 vs. lefty rook)
Renteria (6-18, 2HR vs. Davis)
Drew (6-19 vs. lefty)
Asdrubal is also worth a look.

Left:
G Anderson (2-3)
G Jones (1-3, HR vs. lefty)
Quentin (2-3)
Holliday (5-15 vs. Oz)
C Lee (11-26, 2HR vs. Pineiro)
Braun and DeJesus are also worth a look.

Center:
Hunter (4-12, 2HR vs. Jackson)
Granderson (4-13, HR vs. lefty)
Byrd (5-10, HR vs. lefty)
Hamilton (1-3, HR vs. lefty)
McClutcheon (2-3, HR vs. lefty)
Wells (12-33, 3HR vs. Lefty)
Kemp, Victorino and Fukudome are also worth a look.

Right:
Choo (1-3, HR)
Mags (7-19, HR vs. lefty)
Cuddyer (2-4)
Cake (1-2, HR)
Hawpe (3-9, HR vs. Wolf)
Ichiro (2-5 vs. lefty)
Werth and Choo are also worth a look.

DH:
Vlad (5-16, HR vs. Jackson)
Thames (4-12, 2HR vs. lefty)
Venable (3-3 vs. Kawakami)
Matsui (2-4, 2HR vs. lefty)
Ortiz (3-8, HR vs. Floyd)
Kubel (4-7, HR)
Cust and Lind are also worth a look.

Catcher:
Pudge (16-43, 2HR vs. lefty)
Doumit (2-3 vs. lefty)
VMart (5-15 vs. Floyd)
Baker (4-11)
Benji (17-44, 4HR vs. Davis)
Mauer and McCann are also worth a look.

FINAL LINEUP (Journey Day 6)
With the pitching, I definately like Johnson and Harden above the others. I will be going with Harden for two reasons. First, the wind is blowinf in at Wrigley at 10-20 mph, if I'm reading it right (double check this if you are using this to help you decide). Secondly, I need to save the Marlins staff for a Thursday next month where I only have 7 teams to choose from at this point. The bats were tough to call. I really gave some thought to the Cubs, but the wind is an issue there (like that Mr. H?). With the Jays, Kazmir may just have something in him. I will take the Twins instead at home against Guthrie. At second, I do knot know for sure who will play and at third, Crede is hurt, so I will use those two spots for my outs. I will fill these slots with Aaron Hill and ARod. Here is the load...

C: Mauer (m)
1B: Morneau (m)
2B: Hill
3B: ARod
SS: OC (m)
LF: Young (m)
CF: Span (m)
RF: Cuddyer (m)
DH: Kubel (m)
PS: Harden

JOURNEY STATS

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

Current Rankings:
#31 and #843

Change:
-2 and -147

Bats Used:
Mariners, Royals, White Sox, A's, Orioles, Twins

Staffs Used:
Tigers, Indians, Mariners, Brewers, Royals, Cubs

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)