Some new names make the report today, guys we've yet to see mentioned at any other point in the month of April. That's what makes baseball so fun anyway isn't it? The fact that if you pay attention every day for the course of six months, you're going to see something you never expected to. The best/worst matchups for Wednesday follow.
DISH DIAMONDS – The Best Hitting Matchups of the Day
Brandon Belt has been a horrible slump, so check the lineup to make sure he's even playing, but he is batting .324 with a .845 against lefties this season. He faces Robbie Erlin Wednesday.
Michael Bourn had a nice five game run that led to 10 hits (April 22-27) to get his early season a going. He's set to face C.J. Wilson who he's hit .412 against with two steals over 19 plate appearances.
Joe Mauer has 10 hits, a homer, and six RBIs againts Dan Haren. That's good for a cool slash line of .385/.414/.577 in 28 plate appearances. Kurt Suzuki also enjoys the matchup as he's got eight hits in 19 at-bats (.421) while Jason Kubel has a homer, five RBIs and a .333 average in 18 at-bats.
Miguel Montero has five hits in eight at-bats versus Jordan Lyles, the same numbers that Gerardo Parra has. Montero is batting .288 versus righties this season, Parra .300.
Chris Owings is batting .425 at home and he gets to face the moderately successful Jordan Lyles in Arizona.
Oh Jhonny Peralta is gonna kill it Wednesday. He's blasted Matt Garza to the tune of 13 hits in 28 at-bats (.464 average with a homer). In a smaller sample size Jon Jay is 7-for-12 against Garza.
Aramis Ramirez isn't impressed by the heat of Shelby Miller. Not only has he gone deep twice in the matchup but he's also hitting .462 with five RBIs in 13 at-bats.
Am I the only one that thinks Jurassic Park is coming?
Dayan Viciedo is having a fantastic month and the good times should keep rolling even in a tough matchup with Max Scherzer as Viciedo is batting .364 with two homers in 22 at-bats. Maybe Alejandro De Aza will snap out of his funk. He's bating .294 with a .351 OBP against Max in 37 plate appearances.
Joey Votto gets to face Edwin Jackson in Cincy. Votto is batting .452 at home.
Neil Walker has lit up Bud Norris (many do). He's hit .429 with a homer and five walks over 26 plate appearances.
DISH DISASTERS – Worst Hitting Matchups of the Day
Michael Brantley take a seat against C.J. Wilson. When you have one hit in 14 at-bats you stink. Not like blue cheese mind you (that's a good stinky). |
Zack Cozart... oh never mind.
Freddie Freeman has been on fire to start the year but he's also had little success against Nate Eovaldi with only three hits in 17 at-bats (.176).
Adam Jones faces rookie righty Brandon Cumpton in Baltimore. Jones has hit .186 with no homers at home this season. He's also batting just .224 against righties.
Oddly, Andrew McCutchen just doesn't seem to see the ball well out of the hand of Bud Norris. He's hitting only .233 with nine punchouts in 30 at-bats.
Michael Morse has had a great start to the season with the Giants. Unfortunately he’s hit all of .154 against lefties this season. He takes on Padres' lefty Robbie Erlin.
Daniel Murphy is a “professional hitter.” He seems to have had his membership revoked when he takes on Kyle Kendrick (.185/.267/.222 in 30 plate appearances).
Martin Prado is hitting .197 at home with an uncharacteristic 15 Ks in 61 at-bats. He's also shown zero power this season. He faces Jordan Lyles in Arizona.
Emma Stone is my new hero. Seriously.
Alexei Ramirez has four hits in 44 at-bats versus Max Scherzer.
Jean Segura may or may not be ready to play Wednesday. He likely should take the day off anyway. He's got an 0-for-15 against Shelby Miller which is only slightly worse than the 1-for-13 that Carlos Gomez has tossed up there.
Batter Versus Pitcher
Daily Projections – For every single day of the season.
MOUND MAVENS – Starting Pitchers to Target
Just to make a point... why are folks running in droves from Jesse Chavez? He had one moderate start and you're baling? He owns a 2.32 ERA and 1.10 WHIP while allowing one earned run in four of five starts. He takes on the Rangers club that has hit only nine homers in 463 home at-bats this season though they have been productive overall.
You remember when you could just bean someone in the head with a rubber ball in a game of Dodgeball? Things just got a whole lot more interesting.
Drew Hutchison has 18 Ks and just one walk over his last two starts and over his last three outings he's allowed just four earned runs. The Royals have a .337 BABIP at home despite a mere 16.5 percent line drive rate.
Robbie Ross is pitching at home versus the A's. In three starts in Arlington he has a 3.00 ERA and 1.17 WHIP and in three night starts those numbers are even better (1.93 and 1.07). He's also avoided issuing a free pass in any of his last three starts.
Jordan Zimmermann was hit hard when he faced the Marlins back on April 9th (1.2 IP, 7 hits, 5 ER). In his other four outings he has 2.52 ERA and 1.08 WHIP. He faces the Astros Wednesday.
MOUND MESSES – Starting Pitchers to Avoid
Tony Cingrani versus current Cubs: .196/.297/.393 over 56 at-bats. Oddly, only nine punchouts though. He also looked relatively blah against the Cubs back on April 19th as he lasted five innings while giving up a homer, three runs and four walks. His season long K/BB ratio has also dropped to 2.00.
Bartolo Colon is fat. Bartolo Colon is a cheater. Bartolo Colon is also able to get outs more effectively than anyone has the right to expect him to. However, lefties are batting .293 with a .517 SLG against him this season and the Phillies boast some nice left-handed bats in Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins. Oh, and he's Bartolo Colon.
Edwin Jackson pitching at Great American Ballpark. Doesn't that just sound ominous? He faced the Reds back on April 19th and though he got the win he allowed 10 base runners in 5.2 innings. Unscientifically he's also due to be taken deep since he's gone 28.2 innings without allowing a big fly. By the way... did you know he was born in Neu-Ulm, West Germany?
Bud Norris has a 4.44 ERA and one victory in four starts. In his last six starts at Camden Yards he has a 5.68 ERA and 1.80 WHIP. The Pirates should have some success.
Make sure you tune in to the Fantasy Alarm's Daily Game Show at 6 PM EDT, Monday through Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius210, XM87) as Jeff Mans and Ted Schuster will help you to set your daily lineups.