I'm in San Francisco for the FSTA Conference, the vodka and Red Bull's are flowing, and it's hard to focus. OK, I'm playing up the “cool guy” thing a bit. No matter how much vodka is swirling in my system, you know you can  count on me to be there for you. I'm like the mailman. I always deliver. Unless there's a hot brunette stopping me from doing so. Here are the BVP matchups for Tuesday, June 17th.

* 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

Elvis Andrus has produced eight hits in 21 at-bats against Tommy Milone (.381). Adrian Beltre can better that as he's hitting .412. He's also gone deep twice with four RBIs over 17 at-bats.

Adam Dunn has had success against Matt Cain. In 20 at-bats the sluggers has hit .300 with two homers and a .391 OBP. Just another day at the office.

Andre Ethier has dominated Jhoulys Chacin no matter the venue. In 29 at-bat's he's hit .414 with a homer and three RBIs. Get this though. He's also worked 10 walks leading to a .564 OBP over 39 plate appearances.

Alex Gordon has hit .387 with two bombs, a steal, and seven walks leading to a .500 OBP against Max Scherzer over the course of 38 plate appearances. Salvador Perez also gets it done with a .381 average, two homers and four RBIs over 21 at-bats.

Desmond Jennings faces a returning from the DL Miguel Gonzalez. In 19 at-bats he's hit only .263 but he does have three homers, six RBIs and has also coaxed four walks leading to a .400 OBP.

Adam Jones has six hits in 12 at-bats against Erik Bedard. Nelson Cruz has as .333-2-4 line over 21 at-bats against the lefty.

Joe Mauer... get it flipping going kid. Come on son. Time to start hitting. Right now. Do it. He's hitting .350 with a .908 OPS against Jon Lester over 24 plate appearances.

Yadier Molina is 5-for-13 against Jonathon Niese.

Brandon Moss has 20 at-bats against Yu Darvish. He's clearly “won” the matchup. Moss has hit .350 with a .435 OBP. That alone would make him the winner. But, there's more. He has a 1.000... SLG. Moss has hit four homers and driven in six runners. He's not the only Athletic with success. Coco Crisp (.368-1-7 in 19 ABs) and John Jaso (.368-2-3 in 19 ABs) don't seem to be as impressed as the rest of the baseball universe is.

Mike Napoli has only 12 at-bats against Phil Hughes, but when 12 at-bats lead to two bombs, six RBIs an a 1.333 OPS people tend to take notice. Dustin Pedroia is batting .290 with three bombs and nine RBIs over 31 at-bats. And then there is the case of David Ortiz. He's hit .417-2-6 over 25 at-bats.

Gerardo Parra is hitting .385 with a 1.044 OPS against Kyle Lohse over 14 plate appearances. Martin Prado has also had success batting .368 with three RBIs in 19 at-bats.

Drew Stubbs has hit .444 with a steal in 18 at-bats against Zack Greinke. He's also struck out eight times though.  

Will Dan Uggla play Tuesday? He's hit .308 with two homers and seven RBIs against Kyle Kendrick over 39 at-bats. Justin Upton has hit two homers and driven in four runners in 14 at-bats.

DISH DISASTERS – Worst Hitting Matchups of the Day

Pedro Alvarez has hit .200 with a .450 OPS against Johnny Cueto over 27 plate appearances. Travis Snider has one hit in 14 at-bats. Starling Marte has 11 at-bats without a hit. Russell Martin is 1-for-13. Ike Davis has two hits in 12 at-bats. Jody Mercer has two hits in his 10 at-bats, the same marks as Gaby Sanchez. Andrew McCutchen has four homers in 46 at-bats so hard to call him a flop, but he's also hit .261 with a .358 OBP, well below the excellent bar he has set.

Erick Aybar is 0-for-9 against Josh Tomlin.

Marlon Byrd has hit .200-1-2 with nine strikeouts in 30 at-bats against Ervin Santana.

Was the tomb of Dracula discovered?

Yoenis Cespedes is an unmitigated disaster against Yu Darvish. That's what we say when a guy has nine strikeouts in 14 at-bats.

Jason Heyward can't hit Kyle Kendrick despite being undoubtedly more talented. In 22 at-bats Heyward has five hits leading to a .136/.208/.136 slash line. Wow that is bad.

Eric Hosmer struggles, being kind, against Max Scherzer. In 28 at-bats he's hit .214 with two RBIs. His OPS is an unsightly .544. Mike Moustakas stinks too. Consider me shocked, In 26 at-bats he's struck out eight times and hit .115. He hasn't one walk either. Jarred Dyson has one hit in 14 at-bats. Lorenzo Cain is worse with no hits and five whiffs in 12 at-bats. Billy Butler has hit .240 with a .549 OPS over 52 plate appearances. And then there is Alcides Escobar. He has two bombs and two steals over 32 plate appearances but he's also hitting .219 with a .219 OBP.

Daniel Nava has finally started to hit for the Red Sox. However, Phil Hughes has had his number holding him to a .231 batting average over 13 at-bats. A.J. Pierzynski wishes has was that good. In his 18 at-bats he has three hits (.167).

Alex Rios has four strikeouts and one hit in 12 at-bats against Tommy Milone.

Big Brother is watching. Scary...

Troy Tulowitzki often loses the battle with Zack Greinke. In 23 plate appearances he's struck out seven times with a dreadful slash line: .261/.261/.304. Add in Justin Morneau as another unlikely offensive contributor Tuesday. JM has hit .179 with a .431 OPS over 40 plate appearances in the matchup.

Delmon Young is no bueno against Erick Bedard. That's what I deduce from two hits in 21 at-bats (eight Ks).

Ben Zobrist is batting .143 with one RBI in 21 at-bats against Miguel Gonzalez. Matt Joyce and James Loney are both hitting .200 with one RBI in 15 at-bats.

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

Johnny Cueto has held the Pirates to the following slash line, and it's remarkable: .169/.233/.263 over 213 at-bats. Take away the contributions of McCutchen and the Pirates have gone 167 at-bats without hitting a homer.

Zack Greinke faces the Rockies in LA. They beat him around for 11 hits and four runs in seven innings in Colorado on June 7th.  That's the only time this season he's allowed more than three runs in an outing.

"10 Real-Life Laws That Regulate The Supernatural World."

Jon Lester has had a strong season, but there are some concerns Tuesday. He's just 1-4 with a 4.74 ERA in nine outings against the Twins. He's also allowed 20 hits and two homers over his last 12 innings. Luckily for him the Twins are the 2nd worst offense in baseball against lefties according to OPS (.651).

Kyle Lohse rebounded from his beating to toss eight innings of one run ball against the Mets in his last outing (the run was unearned). That give him 17 innings of shutout ball wrapped around his eight run drubbing against the Pirates. Lohse, even with that bombing in Pittsburgh, still has a 3.66 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in eight road starts.

Jonathon Niese has a 2.54 ERA. He hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in any of his 13 starts. He held the Cardinals to one run in a 6.2 inning victory on April 23rd. He's also posted a 2.45 ERA and 1.07 on the road this season and in six career outings against the Cards he's 4-1 with a 1.87 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.

Tommy Milone at home against an injury ravaged Rangers club sounds enticing. In five home start this season he has a 1.93 ERA and 1.07 WHIP.

MOUND MESSES – Starting Pitchers to Avoid

Yu Darvish has a lot less success against the Athletics than you would think. The current A's roster has hit eight homers with an .818 OPS against Yu over 172 at-bats. The two faced off back on April 21st when the Athletics forced four walks and got to Darvish for three runs over six innings. This isn't a “stop” sign. It's merely a yellow light of caution.

Phil Hughes has long been blasted by the Red Sox: 5.40 ERA, 1.46 WHIP over 83.1 innings. Hughes did hold the Sox to one run over six innings back on May 15th but this game takes place in Boston. Hughes also continues to pitch so well that the odds are long that a regression is on the horizon. He's allowed only three homers in his last seven starts and he's walked two batters in nine games. Is he really the next Greg Maddux?

Wade Miley faces the Brewers and that club has a mere .708 OPS against lefties, 19th best in baseball. However, the game is in Arizona and Miley has a 5.69 ERA and 1.37 WHIP in home games this season. He's also allowed at least three earned runs in five of six games and he's been beaten for six big flies in his last three starts.

Jeff Samardzija goes on the road to take on the Marlins. In home games this season the Marlins have a .775 OPS, the 5th best mark in baseball. JS did hold the Marlins to two runs over seven innings on June 7th, but he's also got a 4.93 ERA and 1.57 WHIP over 38.1 innings against the Marlins and he's also been a very blah option on the road this season (1-3, 4.10 ERA, 1.32 WHIP).

Ervin Santana has been hit or miss for a month. In four of his last six outings he's allowed at least five earned runs as his ERA now sits at 4.09. He's also picked up just one “W” in that time. The only thing that could save him is that the Phillies don't hit righties well (4th worst OPS in baseball).

 


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