Daily Joust: The Weekend Ahead
May 4th, 2012 | by Ray Flowers |
It’s Friday, and that means a couple of things. First, the weekend is nearly upon us (thank goodness). Second, it’s time to get your drink on. Third, it’s time to get ready for your weekend of fantasy baseball with DailyJoust.com.
For those of you unaware of just what DailyJoust is and what the offer, click on the link to BBGuys Partners with DailyJoust. The bottom line is DJ allows you the chance to play daily fantasy baseball, choose a team today an another one tomorrow if you want, all the while giving you the chance to make some real money. Today, I’ll give some advice on how you might choose to fill out your lineup for Friday or Saturday.
HITTERS – FRIDAY
Derek Jeter: When a guy has a .421 batting average against a pitcher as Jeter does against Bruce Chen, you take notice. When it comes over 38 at-bats you should pay even closer attention. When that batter is hitting .404, leading the AL in batting average, you have yourself a must start.
Carlos Lee: He seems to be over his ankle issue, and he had two hits Tuesday in his last game played. Friday he takes on Kyle Lohse, a pitcher who is on quite the roll this year (4-0, 1.62 ERA, 0.84 WHIP), but one who he has consistently handled in his career. Lee has a substantial 70 at-bats against Lohse, and the results have been mighty impressive as they include five homers, nine RBI, a .300 average an a .965 OPS.
Mark Teixeira: Killing Bruce Chen, besides sounding like a movie title for a Kung Fu epic, could also be the title of Mark Teixeira’s outings against Chen in his career. In 19 at-bats Tex is batting .474 with, get this, a 2.003 OPS. Tex also has six homers and 13 RBI in one of the most impressive batting lines you will ever see for a batter against a pitcher.
PITCHERS – FRIDAY
Josh Johnson: When the competition is the Padres, opposing pitchers are always worth taking a look at. Over his last two starts Johnson has racked up 17 Ks in just 12 innings, and though his ratios this season leave a lot to be desired (5.34 ERA, 1.74 WHIP), the good news is that (a) he is healthy and (b) he’s facing the Padres in San Diego. In six career starts against the Padres Johnson is just 1-2 but he has 31 Ks in 29.2 innings while posting a 2.43 ERA and 0.94 WHIP. Batters that are currently on the Padres have hit .146 against Johnson.
Jon Lester: Are you looking for a lock? OK, there is no lock in the real world, but this is as good as it could possibly get. Lester not only has a 2.36 ERA an a 1.26 WHIP against the Orioles, but the lefty from Boston is also 14-0 against the club from Baltimore. Wow is right.
Wade Miley: The NL Rookie Pitcher of the Month going 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA and 0.81 WHIP as he held batters to a microscopic .133 batting average against. He faces a Mets team that has scored only 95 runs, tied for 9th in the NL in runs scored.
HITTERS – SATURDAY
Mark Kotsay: This is the type of play for those of you who want to load up on a ton of expensive options on your club leaving you scant money for your final player. Kotsay isn’t a lock to start, but I bet you when the coaching staff of the Padres realizes that he has produced 10 hits and eight RBI against Mark Buehrle in 23 at-bats (.435 average) they will be certain to have Kotsay in their starting lineup.
Joe Mauer: Normally when a guy is facing Felix Hernandez you are very interested in running and hiding which must be how Justin Morneau (.138) and Denard Span (.067) feel. However, one man in baseball actually relishes the matchup and that is Mauer. In an almost incomprehensible run of excellence, Mauer has 13 hits in 26 at-bats against the righty which obviously results in a .500 average. Not just hitting singles either, Mauer has two homers and four doubles amongst his 13 hits.
Martin Prado: It only seems like everyone in baseball has 25 at-bats against Jamie Moyer. Well, Prado is one of those fellas with exactly 25 at-bats, and he’s used them to produce 10 hits leading to a .400 average. He’s also powered three balls into the seats leading to a 1.263 OPS and six RBI. Pretty solid work from this professional hitter wouldn’t you say?
PITCHERS – SATURDAY
Chris Capuano: He faces the Cubs, a team that has produced seven hits in 31 at-bats against him amongst the current squad (.226/.273/.484). Capuano is also 8-3 with a 3.65 ERA and 1.16 WHIP against the Cubs in his career and he’s allowed a total of five runs over his last four starts this season as he’s lowered his yearly ERA down to 2.73.
James McDonald: Over his last three outings James has allowed five runs in 18.2 innings (2.41 ERA) while striking out 20 batters in 18.2 innings. Clearly he’s on a roll right now. Now he will face a Reds team that he is 3-1 against in his career with a 3.06 ERA. Current Reds hitters have also hit only .269 with a .717 OPS and just two homers in 93 at-bats.
Clayton Richard: All you need to know about Richard is whether he is starting at home or on the road. If it’s in San Diego, Richard is never a bad play. In two starts at home this year he is 1-1 with a 1.35 ERA and 0.83 WHIP an in his career at Petco Park he is 12-12 with a 2.63 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 163 Ks in 202 innings. The Marlins better be wearing their hitting shoes.
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By Ray Flowers
Tags: Carlos Lee, Chris Capuano, Clayton Richard, Derek Jeter, James McDonald, Joe Mauer, Jon Lester, Josh Johnson, Mark Kotsay, Mark Teixeira, Martin Prado, Wade Miley
By wesley on May 4, 2012
Hey ray, 12 team roto, 30 man roster, 20 moves a yr, ive used 8 moves already. Whats you think of dropping danks for stauffer, j.parker, bass or buchholz
thanks again
By greg on May 4, 2012
Hi Ray – glad to see JJ on here as I’m hoping for good things @SD tonight. What’s your view on him through 1 month? All his peripherals (BABIP, K/BB, largely giving up singles) look good and I read a report that said his shoulder feels “great” – that he’s not experiencing any soreness after throwing as he did last year.
I’ve got an offer of Garza for my JJ/Myers in one league. It’s a shallow 10-teams and we count K/9 in addition QS and wins.
Would you see see this move as a risk minmizer for my staff (verlander, strasburg, wainwright, JJ, scherzer, luebke)? Or not waiting long to see if JJ can come all the way back? Myers means nothing to me as I’m very deep at closer.
cheers! happy friday night.
By Jim on May 4, 2012
A moment of silence, please, for Mo and his knee.
By Ray Flowers on May 4, 2012
Wesley – You can make a move, but I don’t think those guys are any better ROTW than Danks, so making a move that will almost get you to the halfway point of your moves, a fifth of the way into the season, doesn’t seem like a great move to me.
By Ray Flowers on May 4, 2012
Greg – Keep JJ and Myers over Garza. The Cubs’ hurler is the best option, easily most stable, but JJ can certainly be as good or better, if he can stay healthy.
Johnson will be fine as long as he stays healthy.
By JDW on May 4, 2012
Ray, I hate that you are bombarded so casually by us fantasy players with advice requests. I couldn’t do it but I know how invaluable you are to so many. But I do have a sort of rhetorical question more real world baseball than fantasy related (though the fantasy implications are why I’m asking). Why the HELL is a KNOWN head-case like Zack Greinke being asked to introduce a CUTTER to his repertoire when what he already had was superior stuff? He dominated the second half of last season. Now Zack’s second most frequent pitch is this cutter as insisted upon by the cutter obsessed Rick Kranitz – who had one or two good season as pitching coach and SUCKED more often than not (at least his staffs did). So, my question – why are they ruining an already sensitive and easily rattled arm like Zack’s?
By Ray Flowers on May 5, 2012
JDW – Fair point on Greinke. The cutter can be a dominating pitch though.Theoretically its easier on your arm than a slider, so maybe that is the reason for the change? I know that Greinke has some mental issues he’s battled, but I think it’s more anxiety related than anything else, so I don’t think adding a new pitch would result in too much adversity… but you are right about why tinker with such a great arm? People always want to improve though.
By greg on May 5, 2012
I want to echo JDW’s thoughts, Ray. It can’t be fun being “bombarded” as he says and you do a pretty incredible job of fielding everything. I still think you’ve got the HWMIF (Hardest Working Man in Fantasy) belt, despite the utterly biased results of the 06010 appearance!
As for last night, the JJ rebound we were all looking for against hose light-hitting SD Padres didn’t exactly bear out… a bases-clearing triple to the pitcher?! Let’s hope that’s the nadir…
By Mark on May 5, 2012
Ray – I have Cliff Lee coming off of the DL, who should I drop in my 12 team 5×5 league (Jordan Walden is also available). Here is my current rotation:
Cliff Lee (DL)
Kershaw
Greinke
Shields
Peavy
Morrow
Sean Marshall
Scott Downs
Frank Francisco
David Robertson
By Ray Flowers on May 5, 2012
Greg – Thanks for the kind words amigo. Much obliged as always.
Maybe Josh Johnson isn’t healthy after all? http://miamiherald.typepad.com/fish_bytes/2012/05/marlins-facing-decisions-as-johnson-bell-falter-again.html
By greg on May 5, 2012
Ray – no worries. I actually made the Garza trade mentioned above about 10 mins before that news came about. Feeling better about it now.
Enjoy the weekend.
By Ray Flowers on May 5, 2012
Mark – I don’t see any obvious drops here to add Lee. I think you might need to investigate dropping a hitter instead.
By Alan on May 5, 2012
Ray,
Is it time to drop Justin Morneau? I am in a 5×5 12 team mixed league. I’ve got plenty of guys that qualify for 1B (Fielder, Berkman, Napoli, Kendrick). If I drop Morneau I’d pick up another reliever just in case or might stream pitchers.
Thanks
By Ray Flowers on May 5, 2012
Alan – I would never have drafted Morneau in a mixed lg, so I wouldn’t even have to worry about him. Give the four guys you can play at first base, there simply isn’t any reason to hold on to JM in your 12 tm lg.
By Daniel on May 6, 2012
Hey Ray, 12 team roto, What do you think of dropping any of these players: A. Hill, Peavy, R. Soriano, Capuano for any of these guys on the waiver wire: C. Crawford (would put in DL spot), Daniel Murphy,
J. Hammel, S. Casilla, Downs, Cishek, Cashner?
Thanks again
By Ray Flowers on May 6, 2012
Daniel – I’d drop Soriano and add Casilla. That’s about the extent of the help you need.
By Mike on May 6, 2012
Ray, first I wanted to thank you for the introduction to Daily Joust. I really enjoy it and have been winning some money on it as well, which makes it a bonus.
Have a question on Matt Moore. Should I bench him or drop him? I am in a 12 team 5×5 roto league with the standard 1,400 inning cap. I am a little behind on hitting my cap right now and am way behind in wins even though I am already in the top 3 for ERA, WHIP, and k’s right now. The top available candidate if I were to drop him would be Gavin Floyd. The others that are available but I don’t see at the same level would be: James McDonald, Drew Smiley, Jeff Samarddzjia, and Anthony Bass.
By Bill on May 7, 2012
Ray,
Last night on Living the Fantasy Kyle said K. Seager would have better fantasy numbers than Pedro Alvarez. Would you drop Alvarez for Seager or would you drop Yunel Escobar for Seager since Seager has a 3B/SS option?
Thanks and I enjoy the show.
By Ray Flowers on May 7, 2012
Mike – Glad you enjoy DailyJoust.com – it’s a great site for people who want to play those daily games.
You can’t drop Moore, just can’t. Four of his six starts have been solid, and he’s still got a huge arm. If you want to bench him that’s fine, but don’t drop him.
By Ray Flowers on May 7, 2012
Bill – Kyle and I don’t always agree. This is one of those cases. I’d have Seager listed third among the players you listed. Alvarez is a huge risk, but his 30-90 potential is more exiting to me than the so-so skills of Seager. Plus, Escobar has three seasons at the level Seager hopes to get to.
By JDW on May 9, 2012
Lovely Mr. Flowers,
Just finished watching Zack throw eight absolutely filthy innings 11Ks/2Hs/NoBB.
What I DIDN’T see were too many of those aforementioned cutters. Out of 104 pitches he threw only four cutters – 3 for balls and 1 for a swinging strike. So, just wanted you to know that Kranitz (the Brewer’s pitching coach) obviously reads your blog! That’s cool!
By Ray Flowers on May 9, 2012
JDW – BBGuys – your place for Milwaukee Brewers news!