Fantasy football fanatics are going hog wild right now. The airwaves are dominated by Tom Brady, Josh Gordon and Johnny Manziel. But we at Fantasy Alarm know that you're still playing fantasy baseball, so we're here for you. In what follows Ray Flowers talks matchups for August 20th, 2014. 

* NOTE: Players are listed in alphabetical order for the sake of making them easily sortable/findable. The matchups are also generated based on Batter vs. Pitcher data. Just because a player is not listed does not mean that he is a bad or good play. The players listed below are mentioned merely because of the BVP data for the matchup.

DISH DIAMONDS – The Best Hitting Matchups of the Day
 
Darwin Barney, and yes it's a shock, actually has had success against Eric Stults batting .500-1-4 over 12 at-bats. Carl Crawford is 5-for-10, Yasiel Puig is 5-for-8 and Matt Kemp is 5-for-12. 

Jay Bruce has a .474 batting average with two bombs and right RBIs against Lance Lynn in just 19 at-bats. He's also hit a double with two triples leading to a 1.053 SLG. 

Yoenis Cespedes has hit .316 with three doubles and three RBIs against Garrett Richards

Stephen Drew has hit .455 with a homer in 11 at-bats against Scott Feldman. Mark Teixeira has hit .350 with a homer in 20 at-bats. 

Taylor Swift's hero is Eminem?  

Carlos Gomez has hit .600 in 10 at-bats against R.A. Dickey.

Jon Jay has hit .476 with three homers and seven RBIs against Johnny Cueto. Yeah, who knew? Matt Holliday has hit .300 with five RBIs over 30 at-bats. 

Logan Morrison has hit .316 in 19 at-bats against Cole Hamels. He's hit .298 against left-handed pitching this season. 

Brandon Philips has returned from injury and he's a .304 hitter with five RBIs over 23 at-bats against Lance Lynn.

Pablo Sandoval blisters the ball against Edwin Jackson. He's hit .533 with a homer and five RBIs. Angel Pagan has returned from injury and he's hit .667 with six hits in nine at-bats.

Mike Trout has two big flies an a .462 average against Clay Buchholz over 13 at-bats. Albert Pujols has one homer an a .417 average in 12 at-bats. Howie Kendrick has a homer, four RBIs and a .348 batting average over 23 at-bats.

Luis Valbuena has a .400 batting average over 15 at-bats against Jake Peavy.

Josh Willingham has three hits in eight at-bats against Jorge De La Rosa. He's also walked six times leading to a .643 OBP over 14 plate appearances. 

DISH DISASTERS – Worst Hitting Matchups of the Day

Andre Ethier normally doesn't hit lefties well and Eric Stults is yet another that he's failed to have success against with two hits in 15 at-bats. 

Todd Frazier has had a great year, but he doesn't like to see Lance Lynn on the bump. In 18 at-bats he's hit a mere .167 with 10 strikeouts. Seemingly he's gotten a bit lucky with two of the three hits going deep.

Josh Hamilton is benching himself these days, and things don't figure to improve against Clay Buchholz given that Hamilton has hit .091 over 22 at-bats in the matchup. Erick Aybar is barely better with a .107 mark over 28 at-bats.

Wow, this guy oozes class.

Hunter Pence, gotta love the spaz, hasn't had any success against Edwin Jackson. He's hit .200 with a .333 SLG over 15 at-bats. Buster Posey is even worse. He has nine hitless at-bats. 

Mark Reynolds has one hit in 15 at-bats against R.A. Dickey. Meanwhile Ryan Braun is 1-for-10 and Lyle Overbay is batting .125 over 24 at-bats. 

Ichiro Suzuki has hit only .256 over 39 at-bats against Scott Feldman

Bookmark the following four sources to check daily after you read this piece.


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MOUND MAVENS – Starting Pitchers to Target

Wei-Yin Chen has allowed one of fewer runs in three of his last four outings. On June 23rd he allowed three runs in 5.2 innings against the Sox. He's sporting a 3.90 ERA and 1.24 WHIP on the road – decent work. The White Sox are middle of the pack with a .703 OPS against lefties, 15th overall. 

Roberto Hernandez faces the Padres in Los Angeles. The last time he faced the club he allowed two runs over six innings. The last four times he's taken the hill he's allowed a total of six runs. He's also gone at least six innings each time out and he's permitted 15 hits over his last 27 innings. Oh, and the Padres stink.

Lance Lynn faces the Reds in St. Louis. Lynn has an 8-3 record with a 2.53 ERA and 1.21 WHIP at home this season. He's posted a quality start in seven of his last right outings. He hasn't allowed a homer in six games. He’s walked a total of three batters his last three outings. He's on it. 

Jake Odorizzi starts at home against the Tigers. In 13 home starts he's only 4-5 but he has a 3.10 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 82 Ks in 72.2 innings. He's also won five of his last six outings and over his last seven outings he's permitted two or fewer earned runs six times.

Jake Peavy has made four starts with the Giants. He has only one win but he's also posted a 3.86 ERA and 1.21 WHIP. He's not exactly a bastion of consistency at the moment but he faces a Cubs team that is the second worst in baseball in OPS against righties while they have hit .229, again the second worst. The only team more pathetic is the Padres. 

Eric Stults has a 5.11 ERA and 1.40 WHIP on the road this season. However, he held the Dodgers to two runs over seven innings back on June 22nd, and only once in his last nine outings has he allowed more than three runs. The Dodgers are also only 24th in OPS against lefties this season. This one is a gutsy call. 

MOUND MESSES – Starting Pitchers to Avoid

Clay Buchholz pitches at home against the Angels. In 11 career starts against them Clay has a 4.48 ERA and 1.44 WHIP. This season he has a 5.79 ERA and 1.55 WHIP. In 10 road starts on the year he has a 7.00 ERA and 1.70 WHIP. Good luck with that. 

Gerrit Cole returns from his lat injury Wednesday against the Braves. Before the injury he failed to go six innings in 3-straight outings. The last time he had more than six strikeouts was back on May 24th. Why? He's only made three starts since May 30th. You gonna trust in him first start since July 4th? 

Beware Big Brother...

Danny Duffy faces the Rockies in Colorado. The 2.60 ERA and 1.09 WHIP impress, but look deeper. In three of his last four starts he's failed to complete six innings. He's struck out four or fewer batters in three of his last four outings. The Rockies lead baseball with a .805 OPS against lefties. They also lead baseball with a .881 OPS at home. Toss in that Duffy can be wild, and you've got a recipe that could blow up in your face. 

Ricky Nolasco has a 5.99 ERA. He's allowed 11 runs over his last eight outings. In three of his last four starts he's permitted at least five runs. He's won one of his last seven games. He pitches at home against the Indians. 

Rick Porcello allowed six runs, five earned, in his last start. He's lost three straight outings. He has one win in six outings. He's struck out eight batters in three outings. The last time he faced the Rays he permitted 11 hits and seven runs over 5.2 innings. The game is in Tampa. 


Make sure you tune in to the Drive at 7 PM EDT, Monday through Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius210, XM87), to hear Ray Flowers pontificate about the world of sports.