I had a long weekend, did you? Mixed too many drinks Saturday night while attending a birthday celebration for a friends 40th. I didn't embarrass myself, I think. I think. Need water and rest. Ah hell, I'll just blast through it like I always do. I'm indestructible right? Just wanted to share before getting to the matchups for Monday.
* 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
Gordon Beckham. My favorite. He's lit up Rick Porcello. I know, I'm shocked I wrote that sentence too. Have to say it's true though as he's hit .414 over 29 at-bats. Beckham has also gone deep once, stolen a bag, produced four doubles and driven in five runs. Conor Gillaspie is hitting .412 over 17 at-bats. Adam Dunn is at .318 with two homers in 22 at-bats. Finally, Paul Konerko has hit .350-1-5 over 40 at-bats.
Starlin Castro versus Charlie Morton. Advantage the Cubs' shortstop. Castro has hit two homers with five RBIs, while batting .429, over 21 at-bats. Emilio Bonifacio has hit .400 over 15 at-bats... but he's not stolen a bag.
Michael Cuddyer can hit. Check out the slash line against Gavin Floyd .359/.419/.564 (41 plate appearances). He's also hit two homers and swiped four bags.
Stephen Drew has three RBIs and four walks against Bud Norris. He's also batting .462 with a .588 OBP over 17 plate appearances.
Andrew McCutchen has killed the pelota when it's been tossed by Edwin Jackson. He's produced a .435/.552/.783 line over 29 plate appearances. He's also hit two homers and stolen a bag. Starling Marte has also had success batting .429 over 14 at-bats. Then there is this. Marte's also swiped five bags.
Brandon Moss hit a salami Sunday. He's gone deep twice with seven RBIs over 17 at-bats against Garrett Richards. He's hitting .412. Jed Lowrie is batting .444 with a homer and four RBIs in nine at-bats.
Dioner Navarro has an impressive line over 15 at-bats against Ricky Nolasco. He's hitting .467 with a homer and four RBIs. Juan Francisco has hit .455 with a homer and five RBIs. Oddly, in his 11 at-bats he has five hits and six strikeouts. Talk about hit or miss. Jose Reyes also does his thing with a .327 average and three homers over 49 at-bats.
Brandon Phillips has hit .333 with two homers and five RBIs over 18 at-bats against the venerable Dan Haren. Zack Cozart (5 ABs) and Ryan Ludwick (9 ABs) both have two homers and four RBIs against Haren.
Alfonso Soriano has hit lefties this year and he takes on lefty Jason Vargas Monday. He's hit a homer while batting .462 over 13 at-bats.
Ben Zobrist has only seven at-bats against Erasmo Ramirez but he's got four hits including two big flies.
DISH DISASTERS – Worst Hitting Matchups of the Day
Robinson Cano is batting only .279 with a .308 OBP and just one homer over 63 plate appearances against David Price.
Dexter Fowler hasn't figured out Josh Collmenter. He's slashed .176/.263/.412 over 19 plate appearances.
J.J. Hardy has looked inept against the struggling Jake Peavy with a mere two hits and one RBI over 19 at-bats. Meanwhile Chris Davis is 0-for-7 with two Ks.
Russell Martin has hit .158 with no RBIs against Edwin Jackson over 19 at-bats. Then there is Travis Snider who is 1-for-15 and Jose Tabata who is hitless in seven at-bats. Oh, Pedro Alvarez has hit .200 with nary a single walk over 20 at-bats. He has his obligatory homer.
What happened to Justin Morneau? Slumping overall, Justin also struggles a bit against Gavin Floyd as he's hit .194 with a .256 OBP over 39 plate appearances. Oddly, he's hit three homers and drive in 10 runs, so you'll have to decide if he's worth the risk in Colorado.
Alexei Ramirez has had a stupendous season. He's also a total mess when Rick Porcello is on the hill. In 47 at-bats he's hit .170 with a .404 OPS. That's just awful. Tyler Flowers has 10 hitless at-bats and Alejandro De Aza is batting .194 with no RBIs over 31 at-bats.
Batters that face righties Monday that have struggled in that matchup this season.
Alex Presley (.214 in 131 ABs this year) vs. Josh Collmenter
Chris Johnson (.226 with nine RBIs in 190 ABs) vs. Christian Bergman
Mike Olt (.133 in 98 ABs) vs. Charlie Morton.
Brandon Hicks (six homers in 112 ABs but he's also hitting .170 with 43 Ks) vs. Stephen Strasburg
Jackie Bradley (.198-0-13 over 111 ABs) vs. Bud Norris.
Bookmark the following three sources to check daily after you read this piece.
Fantasy Alarm Lineups
Batter Versus Pitcher
Daily Projections – For every single day of the season.
MOUND MAVENS – Starting Pitchers to Target
Josh Collmenter versus the Astros in Arizona. Over 40.1 home innings this season he has a 3.57 ERA and 0.99 WHIP while holding batters to a .215 average. He's also kept the ball in the yard his last two starts after being taken deep five times in the three starts before that.
Charlie Morton has a 2.39 ERA and 1.22 WHIP over six home starts this season. He's allowed one homer over his last eight starts. He's permitted a total of six runs over his last three starts. He takes on the Cubs in Pittsburgh.
David Price versus the Mariners in Florida. He's gone at least seven innings in his last three starts and four of five. He's allowed just three runs over his last two starts. He's got 101 Ks and nine Ks. Just looks so sexy doesn't it?
Ryan Vogelsong takes on the Nationals. He's made six starts at home with a 3.15 ERA and 0.96 WHIP. He's also allowed a total of six runs over his last four starts.
MOUND MESSES – Starting Pitchers to Avoid
Jesse Chavez faces the Angels. Jesse has allowed six homers in his last five starts. Chavez has failed to record more than 18 outs in in his last four starts and the hits are starting to mount (29 in his last 22.1 innings).
Gavin Floyd has a 1.47 WHIP which belies the 2.80 ERA. He's simply not that good of a pitcher. He pitches in Colorado where the Rockies, you keep hearing me say it, kill it. The Rockies lead baseball with a .925 OPS at home.
Rick Porcello takes to the road to face the White Sox. He's allowed three or fewer earned runs in five of his last six outings, but there isn't much to like here right now. He's lost two of his last three decisions, he's allowed five homers in his last four starts, and he's allowed nine walks and 23 hits over his last 18 innings. Yikes.
Garrett Richards dominated in his last outing (no runs or walks over eight innings). Still, he's allowed 13 runs over his last 22.2 innings. He's also pitching at home against the Athleticcs and in four starts in Anaheim he's won only one game while posting a 5.33 ERA and 1.48 WHIP.
Stephen Strasburg has a 5:1 K/BB ratio this year and 101 punchouts in 81.1 innings. He's also pitching in San Francisco and he's got a 4.80 ERA and 1.40 WHIP in five road starts. The Giants offense is better than you think when everything is going in the right direction.
Jason Vargas versus the Yankees has an ominous tone to it. Maybe it should since he's allowed four runs over his last three starts. Still, he's got a 4.73 ERA and 1.38 WHIP at home and even with his success the last three times out he's still walked 10 batters in those outings, hardly pinpoint has his control been.
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.