Wednesday, the 5th

Good morning, everyone. I know we can't always catch every game and watch every box score, but as we get closer to September, be sure to watch out for the late season call-ups. For example, Will Venable of the Padres, who is tearing up the league this week (11-23, 4HR and 10 RBI) and Everth Cabrere of the Padres (led all of pro baseball with 73 steals last year, has 15 steals and 6 triples in only 168 AB's this season). We will be seeing more and more of these guys in the coming weeks and they can be great assets to you if used wisely. A good way to be aware of these guys is to watch the PP7 column on BBC and always scroll all the way to the bottom. This way, you won't bee too late on them.

YESTERDAY

After a slow start, Vazquez calmed down and held the Padres in check, giving me 27 points. I will take a decent 27 any day of the week, especially when Johan and his pen get destroyed and Johnson blew up in the 8th. The failures of the latter two (my apologies to those of you that need them) were the difference for me last night. My bats were ok, led by Mauer (10), Rollins (8), and Morneau (6). The 38 total batting points gave me a overall score of 65, leaving me #26 overall and bouncing me up to #790 in the second half, a 500 spot jump. Nice, very nice.

TODAY

Its the Braves rookie Hanson vs. the Cubs vet Harden. Head to head they go. Both are on the road. Both face bad teams. Who will survive? These two split the popular pick pretty about 45% to 45% today. The rest of the picks were basicall scraps, leaving these two to duke it out. I can see good days from both of them, but would not be surprised to see them both struggle either. It's really tough to call and I don't feel too good about either of them. An interesting day could lie ahead. Here's my final again...

C: Shop
1B: Morneau
2B: Hill
3B: Reynolds
SS: Jeter
LF: Manny
CF: Granderson
RF: Willingham
DH: Ortiz
PS: Hanson

TOMORROW

Weather:
Marlins/Nats - scattered t-storms
Rocks/Phils - isolated t-storms
Mariners/Royals - isolated
Red Sox/Yanks - pm showers

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Rocks, Angels, Royals, Mariners, Mets, Braves

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Tigers vs. Hernandez (3-3 3.28 in 9 starts)

Possible Load-ups:
Twins vs. Carmona (2-6 7.13)
White Sox vs. Santana (3-6 7.31)
Yanks vs. Smoltz (2-4 7.12)

Bats You May Want to Avoid:
Peralta (1-10 vs. starter)
Casilla (2-11)
Drew (0-13)
Ellsbury (2-11)
Beltre (3-18)

Pitchers:
Blackburn (8-5 3.83, Low K's, 3-5 4.58 road, 0-1 9.98 post break, 1-0 1.29 at Cle)
Cook (10-3 3.88, 0-0 4.50 at Phi)
Lee (8-9 3.02, 4-0 1.32 post break, vs. Col)
Joba (7-2 3.58, 2-2 4.37 home, 3-0 0.83 post break, 0-1 4.09 vs. Bos)
Hunter (3-2 2.63, 0-0 0.00 road, 0-0 5.06 at Oak)
Sherzer (6-6 3.80, 115 K in 111 IP, 1-0 4.80 post break, 1-0 0.00 at Pit)
Wolf (5-6 3.47, 1.18 WHIP, 0-1 4.50 vs. Atl)
This is a really poor group to choose from I never go against Boston, so Joba's out. Kee is a good choice, but I hate taking staffs in that park. Even though Sherzer has struggled lately, I like him against the Bucs.

First:
Howard (6-14, HR vs. good starter)
Tex (1-2)
I like Tex alot, but I also like Morneau against Carmona. Because I am still holding out hope that Smoltzie will get it together againm and because of the possibility of rain, I will continue to go with Morneau.

Second:
Uggla (1-2)
Utley (7-19, HR vs. good starter)
Pedroia (6-12 vs. good starter)
I simply think that Utley is the only way to go here. Cook has very few strikeouts, so Chase should at least keep it in play tomorrow.

Third:
Cantu (1-2)
Young (2-3)
Lowell (5-13, HR vs. good starter)
Kouz (4-12, 2HR)
Chipper (17-47, 3HR vs. good lefty)
He's not listed above, because he has no numbers vs. the starter, but Reynolds vs. the Pirates hack should work out well.

Short:
A Cabrera (4-13 vs. good starter)
Hanley (2-3, HR)
Rollins (8-26 vs. good starter)
ARam (2-2)
Wilson (4-10 vs. lefty)
I like Rollins here, but I like Hanley equally. Because I don't want too many Phills against Cook and with weather being a possibility, I have to take Hanley.

Left:
Dunn (3-5)
Ibanez (1-3 vs. good starter)
Bay (4-7, HR vs. good starter)
Diaz (5-10 vs. good lefty)
I like Dunn here, as he seems to always do well for me, but Rivera is facing a lefty in Danks. He is 1-7 against him, but that will not dissuade me this time. The Halo's bats are on fire, so he should get RBI opportunities.

Center:
Sizemore (5-16 vs. good starter)
Granderson (2-2)
Byrd (2-3)
McLouth (3-9 good lefty)
Grady and Grandy are the most sensible picks, but I really have a good feeling about Adam Jones facing Porcello. Porcello has been average at best lately and I really like the game Jones brings. He has never faced Porcello.

Right:
Werth (4-8 vs. good starter)
Abreu (2-5, HR vs. lefty)
Ichiro (7-13 vs. lefty)
I feel like I have to stay with Zona on this one. Justin should have a good one, as should Reynolds. Weather and decent pitching back me off of Werth.

DH:
Kubel (10-20, 2 HR)
Venable (1-3)
I have to take Kubes here. The numbers are too strong to pass on, especially against a really poor starter.

Catcher:
Shop (3-5, HR vs. good starter)
Mauer (3-10)
Napoli (1-3)
Posada (1-3, HR)
VMart (2-5, HR vs. good starter)
McCann (4-5, HR vs. good lefty)
I want Napoli in a bad way, as he kills lefties and usually does very well for me. Unfortunately, he puts me over the cap. Let me re-assess. OK, dump Jones for Sizemore in center. I hope he jacks Blackburn's ass up, too.

FINAL LINEUP

C: Napoli
1B: Morneau
2B: Utley
3B: Reynolds
SS: Hanley
LF: Rivera
CF: Grady
RF: Upton
DH: Kubel
PS: Sherzer

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)