Tuesday is the day to make your mark in the fantasy game. I just made that up. I'm here to help you Monday through Sunday, I don't try any harder any day of the week than the other, but when you write an intro to an article every single day, eventually you run out of things to say? OK, that's not true, I'm just saving all the good stuff for the body of the article.
DISH DIAMONDS – The Best Hitting Matchups of the Day
Erick Aybar has 10 hits in 22 at-bats. That's good for a .455 batting average off of Scott Feldman. That average is only five points better than Howie Kendrick who is sitting there with a .450 mark in 20 at-bats. He's gone deep once too.
Adrian Beltre has eight hits in 22 at-bats against Hisashi Iwakuma. That's a .364 average. He's also hit two homers and driven in four runners.
Michael Brantley has 16 hits in 41 at-bats against Justin Verlander. He's also driven in eight runs while batting .390. Michael Bourn also gets it done with a .400 average and three steals over 23 plate appearances.
Edwin Encarnacion has five hits in 15 at-bats versus Felix Doubront. One of the hits was a double, another a homer.
Carlos Gonzalez may not be totally himself cause of his bum knee, but he's still been productive and he should remain that way in the matchup with Madison Bumgarner that takes place in Coors Field. CarGo is batting .351 with five homers and nine RBIs in just 37 at-bats. Other Rockies who have had success in the matchup: Jordan Pacheco (.360-1-6 in 25 ABs) and Wilin Rosario (.320 with no homers in 25 ABs).
Matt Holliday doesn't go nuts against Bronson Arroyo, but he's always been very good in the matchup as he's hit .296 with four homers and 11 RBIs over 54 at-bats. Also noteworthy is the .378 average of Jon Jay in 37 at-bats.
Brian Roberts has seven hits in 17 at-bats versus Jason Hammel (.412). He's also stolen three bags. Ichiro Suzuki has only one theft but he's also hit .400 in 20 at-bats. Kelly Johnson has an unsightly 10 Ks in 30 at-bats but he's hit .300 with two homers and six RBIs.
Seth Smith has six hits in 15 at-bats off Kevin Correia (.400). He's also hitting like .750 the past three weeks so you should probably be starting him.
Justin Smoak is junk. That's my professional opinion. He does rip up Colby Lewis though with six hits in 11 at-bats (including a homer). Kyle Seager also likes to battle with the righty hitting .429 with a homer over 14 at-bats.
DISH DISASTERS – Worst Hitting Matchups of the Day
Nolan Arenado hasn't had much success against Madison Bumgarner early in his career with three hits in 14 at-bats (.214 with a .267 OBP). At least one hit was a bomb. Drew Stubbs no homers, five Ks an a .200 average in 15 at-bats. That's about as bad as DJ LeMahieu who has hit .214 over 14 at-bats.
There are four Indians you want to leave planted on your bench against Justin Verlander: Carlos Santana (.176 in 34 ABs), Nick Swisher (.194 with 23 Ks in 67 ABs), Asdrubal Cabrera (.211 with 23 Ks in 57 ABs) and Mike Aviles (.217 in 234 ABs).
Brian McCann is barely hitting .200 against righties this season. He faces righty Jason Hammel who he's 4-for-16 against in his career. Brett Gardner also does a lot of nothing against Hammel with one hit in 10 at-bats.
Yadier Molina just can't hit the soft junk from Bronson Arroyo. Think it's pretty fair to say that given that he's hitting .192 with three RBIs in 52 at-bats. A couple other Cardinals stink in the matchup too as both Allen Craig and Matt Carpenter are only 4-for-18 (.222) while Jhonny Peralta is 2-for-14.
The Pentagon has an anti-zombie plan?
Alex Rios has only three hits in 14 at-bats against Hisashi Iwakuma (one of the hits was a homer). Elvis Andrus (.211 in 19 ABs), Leonys Martin (1-for-12) and Mitch Moreland (2-for-18) also struggle to hit the Mariners impressive righty.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia has predictably slowed after his hot start and he's never figured out how to do anything with a ball out of the hand of A.J. Burnett. Twelve at-bats have led to just one hit while he's piled up seven strikeouts.
Michael Saunders has improved his performance of late and he has a strong .250/.368/.625 slash line off of Colby Lewis. So why is in in this section? I see seven strikeouts in 16 at-bats an it makes me nervous.
David Wright isn't lost against many pitcher, but he sure seems to be in a dark room without a flashlight when he faces Josh Beckett whom he has one hit against in just 18 at-bats.
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MOUND MAVENS – Starting Pitchers to Target
Bronson Arroyo has won each of his last three starts and has gone at least seven innings in each outing. He's also allowed one earned run in the three starts, and going back four starts that number merely swells to four. He's also got a 2.92 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in four starts on the road. He faces the Cardinals in St. Louis.
Jason Hammel will faces the Yankees for the second time this season. Back on April 16th he held them to three runs over seven innings but was saddled with a loss. He's still not walking anyone, a total of seven over his last five starts, and he's been extremely effective at home this season with a 0.85 WHIP over three starts.
Hisashi Iwakuma faces the Rangers in Texas, but he's still starting in my lineup. His last two starts have resulted in 12 Ks and no walks while he's worked 16 scoreless innings. He's also the owner of a 3.83 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 54 innings against the Rangers.
Ian Kennedy has a 3.60 ERA and a 5:1 K/BB ratio through nine starts (he also has more than a K per inning). He gave up five runs in his last outing he permitted just six runs over the previous four. He's a solid start at Petco versus the Twins.
Adam Wainwright always starts. He has one loss in his last seven outings and over his last six outings he's allowed nine runs. He's also pitching at home versus the D'backs and he has a 2.57 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in front of the home folk.
MOUND MESSES – Starting Pitchers to Avoid
Madison Bumgarner has won his last three outings as he's allowed five runs. He's also gone 8-6 with a solid 3.19 ERA and 1.33 WHIP in 104.1 innings at home. Still, the Rockies lead baseball with a .849 OPS against lefties and their mark at home of .981 also leads the league. That's just sick.
A.J. Burnett has a K/BB rate that is under two right now, and he's allowed 16 hits and nine runs in his last two outings. He also faces a Marlins club that drove Burnett from the hill after 4.1 innings on April 11th as he allowed five hits and six walks (though he did limit the damage to two runs). The Marlins also have the second best OPS at home as a club at .827.
Scott Feldman has a 2.63 ERA through six starts. He's also struck out more than three batters once, has allowed six runs and 15 hits (including three homers) over his last two starts and even though he held the Angels to one run back on April 6th he's long struggled in the matchup (4.97 ERA, 1.43 WHIP over 83.1 innings).
Yovani Gallardo has seen his ERA go from 1.42 to 3.07 over the course of his last four starts. He's also permitted five homers over his last four starts and he's allowed 26 hits over his last 24 innings to push his WHIP to 1.20. He's always dominated the Braves – 5-1 with a 1.79 ERA and 1.03 WHIP including six innings of shutout work in his first start back in March – but this has the feeling of a labor intensive outing for the righty.
Tyler Skaggs has pitched well for a rookie and he faces the Astros at home. That's not enough to get him a recommendation Tuesday. I know he held the Astros to one run over eight innings in his first start, but that also isn't enough to get him a recommendation. Skaggs pitches at home where he's struggled to a 6.91 ERA and 1.53 WHIP over five starts. He's also won just one of his last four starts and has allowed five and six runs in two of his last three outings. He's just not locked in right now.
Yordano Ventura is winless in four starts. He's also allowed four big flies in his last three starts. The White Sox are 12th in baseball in road OPS and their at 7th in OPS against righties. Just a hunch.
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