Draft Day Challenge, May 23

Daily baseball is all the rage in the fantasy sports world, so I will be covering the game a couple of times a week here at BaseballGuys.com. To that end, I’ve partnered with DraftDay.com to give all my wonderful followers, that’s you, the chance to play the game on a daily basis. On Tuesday and Thursday’s here at the site, every week, I’ll be giving you some insight into the mind of The Oracle as I will give you some of my best plays for the day – even if I’m willing to admit that daily games are a bit of a crap shoot given the difficulty in predicting how a handful of at-bats will work out.

To join a daily league remember to visit DraftDay.com by clicking on the link to their site.

One other source for those of you on Twitter. @MLBDailyLineups – lists all the lineups in one spot so you can make sure you don’t have someone in your lineup that is sitting on the bench that day.

NOTE: There are only four night games tonight, so I’m going to change up the format a bit since there just isn’t the volume of players we’re used to seeing most days.

ORIOLES vs. BLUE JAYS

Adam Jones has killed Morrow hitting .387 with three homers and 10 RBIs in 31 ABs.
Nick Markakis is hitting .280 in 25 at-bats.
Chris Davis is hitting .143 with 8 Ks in 14 at-bats.
Matt Wieters is awful at 2-for-18 (.111).
Manny Machado is 1-for-7.

TWINS vs. TIGERS

Miguel Cabrera murders Diamond: .500 in 16 at-bats.
Everyone else struggles against Diamond:
Jhonny Peralta (.200 in 15 at-bats)
Torii Hunter (.167 in 6 at-bats)
Prince Fielder (.091 in 11 at-bats)
Victor Martinez (.125 in 8 at-bats)

Josh Willingham clubs Porcello hitting .600-1-4 in 10 at-bats.
Ryan Doumit also has success (4-for-10).
Justin Morneau is at .231 with one HR in 26 at-bats.
Joe Mauer is hitting .259 with a .333 OBP (27 at-bats).

INDIANS vs. RED SOX

No Red Sox player has 10 at-bats against McAllister making matchup talk difficult.
Mike Carp and Jarrod Saltalamacchia are the only two with a homer.
Carp and Dustin Pedroia are the only two with two RBIs.

Michael Bourn has stolen two bases while hitting .313 against Dempster (32 ABs).
Mark Reynolds has three hits in 14 at-bats.
Drew Stubbs is a mess going 4-for-21 with 7 Ks.

ANGELS vs. ROYALS

Billy Butler is 3-for-3 against Blanton.
Jeff Francoeur has six hits and four RBIs leading to a .429 average.
Alberto Callaspo has gone 4-for-9 against Santana.
Josh Hamilton has seen Santana 37 times hitting .270-2-8.
Albert Pujols is 0-for-2 in his career.

STARTING PITCHERS
(First pitcher listed is on the road, second is at home)

Scott Diamond vs. DET
Rick Porcello vs. MIN

Diamond (.208 and .557 in 106 ABs) has had success against the Tigers, and that really doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense, in his six starts. He’s allowed 12 runs and four homers in his last two starts and is sporting a 1.44 WHIP and just 16 Ks in 39.2 innings this season. Terrible.

Porcello (.318 and .917 in 132 ABs) has a 5.92 ERA this season, but he’s dropped that mark three runs in his last three starts as he’s allowed a total of six runs. That 3.35 ERA in 91.1 innings agianst Minnesota is solid, but that 1.46 WHIP and just 46 strikeouts certainly leads to some trepidation.

Kevin Gausman vs. TOR
Brandon Morrow vs. BAL

For more on Gausman and my thoughts on what he brings to the table check out The Future Is Now.

Morrow (.259 and .861 in 166 ABs) has posted a 1.19 WHIP vs. the Orioles despite some less than scintillating career work against the club. On the year he continues to scuffle along with a 5.16 ERA and 1.46 WHIP, though at least that ERA number is a bit better at home this year at 4.07.

Zach McAllister vs. BOS
Ryan Dempster vs. CLE

McAllister (.254 and .847 in 59 ABs) has impressively struck out batters in 20 of those 59 at-bats versus the Red Sox. In eight starts this year he’s yet to allow more than three runs in an outing though he’s allowed six homers in his last six starts and hasn’t exactly love pitching on the road (3.57 ERA and 1.53 WHIP in three starts).

Dempster (.255 and .765 in 102 ABs) started hot this year before being obliterated for 11 runs, three homers and seven walks in his last two starts. He’s been solid at home this year with a 1.05 WHIP and 49 Ks in 37 IP.

Joe Blanton vs KC
Ervin Santana vs LAA

Blanton (.406 and 1.016 in 64 ABs) is pitching for his spot in the rotation with Jered Weaver close to returning. Despite the numbers he’s posted against current Royals he has had some success against the organization over the years (2.96 ERA, 1.20 WHIP over seven starts). Still, 11 ER’s and 23 hits over his last nine innings tell you all you really need to know.

Santana (.242 and .726 in 62 ABs) has been nails all season long allowing 0, 1 or 2 ER in five of eight starts. He’s got a 1.84 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in four starts at home and the Angels are the middle of the pack at 8th in runs scored.

By Ray Flowers

Tags: Adam Jones, Ervin Santana, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Josh Hamilton, Josh Wilingham, Kevin Gausman, Michael Bourn, Miguel Cabrera, Scott Diamond, Zach McAllister

The Future Is Now

The Orioles appear on the brink of calling up one of their future aces. The Cubs got back their ace after he battled an arm injury for months. The Angels might have found themselves an arm that could be a part of their rotation for the rest of the season. Those are the three stories that will be highlighted today, as well as a dating tip that you fellas can use on your next first date.

KEVIN GAUSMAN TO BE CALLED UP

The Orioles have two of the best pitching prospects in the game. The top guy, Dylan Bundy, is on the shelf right now for another couple of weeks. Shutdown in late April with a forearm/elbow issue, Bundy received the old PRP injection and should be fine without any surgical intervention (they hope). His call to the bigs could come in the second half if he proves to be physically sound. The other Orioles ace-in-waiting is Kevin Gausman, an it appears that we are on the cusp of his major league debut.

The 4th selection in the 2012 draft, Gausman is an elite talent. He throws a fastball that can sit in the mid 90′s with significant movement, has a dominating change up, and that slider of his is pretty darn impressive as well (all of his pitches possesses serious movement, and he’s done a good job keeping all the offerings down in the zone this year with a better than 51 percent ground ball rate). Standing 6’3” and weighing in at about 190 lbs, the 22 year old righty went to Louisiana State and he’s been carving up professional hitters like he was still in school this season with his vaguely Roy Halladay reminiscent delivery. Through eight starts he has a 3.11 ERA with 49 strikeouts and just five walks over 46.1 innings. On the down side he’s thrown a total of 61.1 innings as a professional, and no matter how talented you are, I’d personally like to see more time honing ones craft than that in the minors. Oh well.

Regardless, reports are circulating everywhere that Gausman will be called up to start Thursday for the Orioles (there is an opening in the Orioles’ rotation with Wei-Yen Chen on the DL with a strained right oblique muscle). Therefore, Gausman is a must add in just about every conceivable format based on talent alone. If he continues to keep the ball on the ground, and avoid the free pass like it was a case of bubonic plague, then there is little to stop him from having success at the big league level. Just be careful that you don’t go expecting a Stephen Strasburg like debut from the Orioles righty.

Over at Fleaflicker.com folks are just starting to note that Gausman will be called up. Make sure you beat it over to the waiver-wire and add him immediately.

MATT GARZA SHARP

I’ve been receiving questions about what my thoughts are with Matt Garza for weeks now. My answer has usually been something like ‘I love the guy, he’s as consistent as they come, and I would want him in virtually every format IF he’s healthy. I just don’t know where his health is at right now.’ Well, if we use one start to give us the answer about his health, then he’s good to go.

Garza hit 93 mph in his first start of the season, and he tossed a no-no into the 5th inning against the Pirates. In addition to the velocity, his location was spot an and his breaking balls were sharp and clean. So if you ask me the question again today, what do I think about Garza, my answer is – he’s worth adding in virtually all formats now that he looks healthy.

JEROME WILLIAMS WORTHY OF AN ADD?

Jerome Williams has won his last two decisions for the Angels. He’s gone at least 6.2 innings in his last three starts. He’s allowed a total of four runs while walking just three batters in those three outings. What do you know, he 3-1 with a 2.53 ERA and 1.08 WHIP through 46.1 innings this season. There’s also a growing feeling that he will remain in the starting rotation for the Angels as Joe Blanton just cannot seem to get on track this season (0-7, 6.62 ERA, 1.97 WHIP with an obscenely high .369 BAA) once Jered Weaver returns to action (Weaver could start for the Angels within the week if his appearance in extended Spring Training goes well Wednesday).

The upshot is that Williams is looking like a fantastic AL-only play at the moment, and one that you might consider streaming in mixed leagues as well. But let me offer a dose of reality.

Williams is 36-38 in his career.
His ERA is 4.16.
His WHIP 1.32.
Only once since 2005 has he thrown 50 innings in a big league season.

Even this year he isn’t missing any bats, his 5.63 K/9 marks is spot on his career 5.69 mark, and after 5-straight years with a HR/9 mark over one it’s currently sitting at 0.58.

You can add Williams in a mixed league if you need a boost, he is pitching well right now, but you need to keep your expectations reasonable to avoid being disappointed (it’s what I tell women all the time on our first date… I’m a great guy and you’ll love me, as long as you don’t expect me to be anything special that you’ll want to introduce to your folks).

By Ray Flowers

Tags: Dylan Bundy, Jerome Williams, Kevin Gausman, Matt Garza

Draft Day Challenge, May 21

BaseballGuys.com. has partnered with DraftDay.com to give all my wonderful followers, that’s you, the chance to play the game on a daily basis. On Tuesday and Thursday’s here at the site, every week, I’ll be giving you some insight into the mind of The Oracle as I will give you some of my best plays for the day – even if I’m willing to admit that daily games are a bit of a crap shoot given the difficulty in predicting how a handful of at-bats will work out.

To join a daily league remember to visit DraftDay.com by clicking on the link to their site.

One other source for those of you on Twitter.

@MLBDailyLineups – lists all the lineups in one spot so you can make sure you don’t have someone in your lineup that is sitting on the bench that day.

CATCHERS
1. Brian McCann
2. Salvador Perez

McCann loves to see Mike Pelfrey on the hill. In 39 at-bats the slugging catcher has hit .462 with two homers and 10 RBIs. Yowzahs.

Perez is batting .3008 on the year and has pushed that mark to .368 over the past week. He’s also hit .323 against righties this year. So what if he doesn’t have an at-bat against Bud Norris.

FIRST BASE
1. Albert Pujols
2. Jordan Pacheco

What was once a lock now seems like a risk. Pujols has hit .280 with two homers the past week, and he faces Aaron Harang who he hits pretty well (.311 with five homers and 15 RBIs over 74 at-bats).

After going superstar in Pujols (former superstar?), let’s go with a nobody in Pacheco. Jordan has a hit in his last three starts. Jordan is hitting .400 the past week. Jordan has hit .340 at home. He’s hit .500 (18 ABs) against the D’backs in his career. Jordan has four hits in 11 at-bats (.364) against Ian Kennedy.

SECOND BASE
1. Dan Uggla
2. Brandon Phillips

Uggla hammers Pelfrey hitting .406 with 11 RBIs in 32 at-bats which is enough for me to overlook the fact that he has one hit in his last 14 at-bats overall.

Go big or go home with Phillips. Not only has the guy knocked in 38 runners in 43 games this season, he’s also hit .300 with a homer and seven RBIs the past week. He’s gone 5/13 (.385) with two homers against Jonathon Niese.

THIRD BASE
1. Pedro Alvarez
2. Eric Chavez

Alvarez is only hitting .147 at home this season (and .201 overall), but he’s gone deep twice in the past week, is facing Matt Garza in his first start this season, and has gone 5-for-10 with a HR against Garza in their confrontations.

Chavez is hitting .343 on the year and he’s batting an unbelievable .571 with six RBIs the past week. He faces Jhoulys Chacin who he has never seen before on Tuesday.

SHORTSTOP
1. Yunel Escobar
2. Didi Gregorius

Escobar has a hit in eight of his last nine games, and he’s driven in six runs in his last four outings. He faces Ramon Ortiz, you know the old guy who we haven’t consistently seen take a turn in the big league since before Obama was elected President.

Gregorius is hitting like he never has in his life before, but we’re not worried about the fact that he has no chacne to keep that up the rest of the way. Didi has one hit in two at-bats against Chacin in his career but he has six hits in his last two games and has gone 8-for-13 against the Rockies this season.

OUTFIELD
1. Nate McLouth
2. Matt Holliday

How excited would you be about a player if I told you he had seven hits, including four doubles, in nine at-bats against a pitcher? That’s what has happened when McLouth has faced Phil Hughes.

Holliday has hit Edinson Volquez hard with a .412 average, two homers and four RBIs in 17 at-bats. Carlos Beltran has also hit .417 with five RBIs in 12 ABs against the righty.

STARTING PITCHERS
1. Zack Greinke
2. Wandy Rodriguez
3. Jose Fernandez
4. Jerome Williams

Greinke looked sharp in his return from the DL and he gets to return to his former home in Milwaukee. He faces a Brewers team that has, get this, produced two hits against in him 34 at-bats. Two. He also faces Hiram Burgos which doesn’t hurt.

Wandy has been very good this season and in four home starts this season he’s gone 3-1 with a 1.35 ERA. He faces a Cubs team that isn’t very good offensively, and he’s also posted a 2.29 ERA and 1.04 WHIP against them in their last six meetings.

Fernandez has gone at least six innings in each of his last three starts allowing a total of five earned runs for the Marlins. He’s also struck out 21 batters in those 20 innings. He faces a Phillies team that is without Howard and Ruiz.

Williams has pitched well this year, there’s no way he can sustain that 3.05 ERA and 1.10 WHIP, but he faces the Mariners Tuesday. The entire Mariners team has hit .228 with one home run in 114 at-bats against Williams.
By Ray Flowers

Tags: Albert Pujols, Brandon Phillips, Brian McCann, Dan Uggla, Didi Gregorious, Eric Chavez, Jerome Williams, Jordan Pacheco, Jose Fernandez, Matt Holliday, Nate McLouth, Pedro Alvarez, Salvador Perez, Wandy Rodriguez, Yunel Escobar, Zack Greinke

Fantasy Baseball – FAAB Report, Wk.8

This week I went a bit reliever crazy. It’s better to spend a small amount on a middle reliever who could take over as the closer than spend a huge amount on the guy a week or two later when he is officially named the closer. Therefore, I added an AL East closer in pretty much every league this week, trying to get a bit ahead of the curve. We’ll see if it plays out as I think it might, or if I will have to go middle reliever trolling in the coming weeks all over again.

TOUT WARS (15 team mixed): Raul Ibanez ($1) was added at the cost of Maicer Izturis. Not a big loss there. I will speak more about Ibanez a little lower in this piece. I need offense, wherever I can get it, and I can move the suddenly warming Emilio Bonifacio over the the MI spot that Izturis was occupying (.286 with a couple of steals and five runs scored over his last nine games).
Notable bids: Joel Peralta ($5, I bid $4), Jerome Williams ($3), Pete Kozma ($2), Rick Porcello ($2), Jake Odorizzi ($1), DannY Valencia ($1), Kurt Suzuki ($1)

LABR (12 team, AL-only): For the third time this season through eight FA periods, I didn’t make a move in this league. I was able to activate Chris Young off the DL though, so that’s a potentially big move in an AL-only league.
Notable bids: Josh Lindblom ($4), Vidal Nuno ($4), Eric Sogard ($3), Kevin Correia ($3), Pedro Florimon ($3), Matt Tuiasosopo ($2).

To see how others are evaluating players don’t forget to go to Fleaflicker.com where you can check out the owned percentages of all your favorite players.

FSTA (13 team mixed): Joel Peralta, a name you will continue to see in this piece, was added for $29. I also added Ryan Roberts to play third base over the continually pathetic Placido Polanco (Hanley Ramirez being down and out is just killing me). Roberts qualifies at second and third, and he’s hitting .316 with a homer, four RBIs and four runs over his last seven games… even if it’s been over a two week time period. I’m desperate.
Notable bids: Eric Chavez ($56), Andy Dirks ($27), David DeJesus ($24), Jerome Williams ($11), Raul Ibanez ($11). In a very interesting side note, I placed bid on Williams and Ibanez for $11… the same price as the two winnings bids (Peralta and Roberts were higher in my rankings so they were the players I was awarded).

SIRIUSXM EXPERTS (12 team mixed): Now it’s Austin Jackson who has hit the DL. I just cannot win in this league no matter what move I make. I added Joel Peralta ($4) at the cost of J.J. Putz. Without an ample series of DL spots to turn to, I just couldn’t afford to continually carry a reliever who is on the DL with no clear cut time for a return this season. Rajai Davis, another DL’d player, was let go so that Will Venable ($4) could be added to my squad. Venable has been really good in May hitting .280 with four homers, eight RBIs, eight runs and five steals in just 17 games.
Notable bids: Hector Santiago ($3), Jorge De La Rosa ($3), Derek Dietrich ($2), Oswaldo Arcia ($2), Zach McAllister ($2).

SIRIUSXM LISTENER LG (11 team mixed): This is the only league with an open waiver-wire. Of course, Joel Peralta was added (Andre Ethier was let go). I also made a minor swap of underperforming veterans. Tim Hudson was sent out and Paul Konerko was brought back. Corey Hart continues to be hurt, so I needed a boost at the CI spot. On the hill, after a couple of deals, my staff is nails: Latos, Sale, Lee, Cain, Gallardo, Wilson and Morrow, so I could afford to move Hudson.

K-BAD (12 team mixed): Joel Peralta come on down. Ricky Nolasco, who has pitched pretty damn well this season if you must know, was let go (for some reason in this league, and I’ve been in it for years, there always seems to be available SP talent on the waiver-wire, so I’m not too worried about letting Nolasco go – we all know what he is at this point). I also added Yunel Escobar to help me up the middle at the costs of Ryan Raburn (Hanley Ramirez being on the DL has set me back a piece). Escobar is warming, quickly, and he’s hit .301 the past 30 days, .318 the past 14 days and .381 the past week.
Notable bids: David Phelps ($38), Brandon McCarthy ($36), Emilio Bonifacio ($35), Matt Joyce ($35), Bronson Arroyo ($35), Chris Carter ($31), David Lough ($24), Jake Odorizzi ($21), Alex Rodriguez ($14), Mark Ellis ($12), Colby Lewis ($12).

FANBALL (13 team mixed): I took a shot on Joel Peralta ($3) taking over the the pathetic Fernando Rodney (he has 15 walks in 16.1 innings meaning his WHIP, on just walks, is higher than it was last year, 0.92 compared to 0.78). I dropped another middle reliever in David Robertson. Ryan Raburn, hey it’s time to admit that his run of excellence is over and not going to be repeated, was cast adrift in favor of the flavor of the week Raul Ibanez. Over his last eight games he has six homers and 14 RBIs. Wow is right.
Notable bids: Scott Feldman ($7), Didi Gregorius ($3), David Dejesus ($1), Adam Lind ($1), A.J. Ellis ($1), Alberto Callaspo ($1), Nick Franklin ($1).

Finally, my thoughts on the Jurickson Profar callup. Hint, you shouldn’t be overly excited?

By Ray Flowers

Tags: Joel Peralta, Jurickson Profar, Paul Konerko, Raul Ibanez, Ryan Roberts, Will Venable, Yunel Escobar

Fantasy Beat – An Evening With Jeff Mans

With Trevor Ray away, Justin ‘Fensty’ Fensterman called upon Jeff Mans from FantasyAlarm.com to join him on this weeks edition of The Fantasy Beat! Jeff and Justin talk about general fantasy baseball strategy (how to evaluate pitching properly), top performers for the season, and everything else you would generally talk about on a first date.

Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera, Jean Segura, James Loney, Starling Marte, Manny Machado, Hunter Pence, Carlos Gomez, Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay, Justin Verlander, Stephen Strasburg, Felix Hernandez, Matt Cain, David Price, Zack Greinke, Jon Lester, Wade Miley

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO.

FanDuel Contest: Vegas and $1 Million?

Do you like playing fantasy baseball? Do you like making money? Are you a fan of Sin City?

Thanks to FanDuel.com, you have a chance to enter a contest to win a free trip to Vegas, oh, and to pocket a grand prize of $200,000. All it will cost you is $10. Interested? If so, and why on earth wouldn’t a chance to seem some Vegas show girls, to put a $20 spot down on the craps table, or to walk away with enough money to buy that vacation home you always wanted?

$1 Million Daily Fantasy Baseball Championship on FanDuel

Each weekly winner will then be flown to Vegas, all expenses paid by FanDuel.com, and given a shot at the $200,000 grand prize. That’s right. Win two weekly matchups and you’ve got $200,000 coming your way. And don’t think that you have to enter hundreds of times to win. And don’t think that you have to enter hundreds of times to win. Jordy Nelson last year entered once, one time, and he ended up in the Finals in Vegas cause he won his weekly matchup. He then proceeded to win that year’s grand prize of $100,000. All from one $10 entry.

So what do you do? You go to FanDuel.com and sign up for today’s contest that also gives you a chance to win part of the $24,000 in prizes for Friday’s event.

You then put together your salary cap team (the rules are very simple and can be found at the top of the page if you follow the link).

You win, you’re rolling in cash. Simple as that.

Who should you have in your lineup? Never say that The Oracle isn’t a nice guy. In the video below I will discuss some of the matchups and some names that you might consider adding to your lineup, as well as those you would be wise to consider passing on for this Friday.

 Visit FanDuel.com.

By Ray Flowers

Tags: Andrew McCutchen, Colby Rasmus, Dexter Fowler, Garrett Jones, J.P. Arencibia, James Loney, James Shields, Jeremy Hellickson, Justin Morneau, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Harvey, Rick Porcello, Vernon Wells

Draft Day Challenge, May 16

BaseballGuys.com has partnered with DraftDay.com to give all my wonderful followers, that’s you, the chance to play the game on a daily basis. On Tuesday and Thursday’s every week, I’ll share some insight into a few of the better plays for the day – even if I’m willing to admit that daily games are a bit of a crap shoot given the difficulty in predicting how a handful of at-bats will work out.

To join a daily league remember to visit DraftDay.com by clicking on the link to their site.

One other source for those of you on Twitter. @MLBDailyLineups – lists all the lineups in one spot so you can make sure you don’t have someone in your lineup that is sitting on the bench that day.

CATCHERS
1. Tyler Flowers
2. Kurt Suzuki

Flowers is hitting .333 the past week and he faces the middling Jerome Williams who has allowed seven runs over his last 11 innings despite being solid this year with a 3.06 ERA.

Wilson Ramos is hurt again, and it looks like a DL stint could be coming. Suzuki should get lots of work behind the dish, and he’s got a hit in nine of his last 10 games.

FIRST BASE
1. Lyle Overbay
2. Adam LaRoche

A surprising contributor for the Yankees this season, Overbay should keep the good times rolling against Aaron Harang whom he has 11 hits in 24 at-bats against (.458 average).

LaRoche has gone 5-for-14 (.357) against Mr. Volquez with two walks leading to a .438 OBP. LaRoche has also been hot of late (.321 with a homer and four RBIs the past week) making him a strong play.

SECOND BASE
1. Marco Scutaro
2. Dustin Pedroia

Scutaro is hitting .480 the past week with six runs scored. When you are producing like that it doesn’t matter who you are facing (it’s Jhoulys Chacin in Colorado where Scutaro has hit .378 for his career).

Can Mr. Cobb of the Rays stop Pedroia who has 12 hits in his last 24 at-bats (.500)?

THIRD BASE
1. Pablo Sandoval
2. Adrian Beltre

I’ve never been a huge fan of Jhoulys Chacin, not when pitching in Colorado, and that’s where he takes the hill against Pablo Sandoval who is hitting .412 with two homers against him in 17 at-bats.

It’s tough to go with anyone when they face Justin Verlander, but Beltre has long held his own. He’s hit .314 with a homer in 35 at-bats, though his OPS has only been .771.

SHORTSTOP
1. Troy Tulowitzki
2. Yunel Escobar

Tulo is the best hitting shortstop in the game right now (Tulo is hitting .322, has a 1.013 OPS and 32 RBIs in 36 games). He’s also murdered Matt Cain hitting .340 with four homers in 53 games. The matchup will also take place in Colorado. Nuff said.

Escobar has four hits in 10 at-bats against the struggling Felix Doubront (he’s allowed a whopping 12 runs over his last nine innings pitched). Escobar might finally be pulling out of his season long slump as well as he’s hit in four straight and seven of eight games.

OUTFIELD
1. Jason Bay
2. Dayan Viciedo

Want a cheap outfield option who has had a great amount of success against the hurler he’s facing? Bay has hit .400 in 35 at-bats against Andy Pettitte who has a 5.64 ERA and 1.48 WHIP the past three weeks.

Viciedo has looked good since he returned to action (Viciedo has hits in nine of 10 games, and he’s gone deep twice with four RBIs in his last three outings). Can’t get any better than he has been against Jerome Williams though as he is a perfect 5-for-5. He even has a walk which might be more shocking.

STARTING PITCHERS
1. Jose Quintana
2. Edinson Volquez
3. Alex Cobb
4. Matt Cain

Quintana has a 3.72 ERA and 1.22 ERA on the season, and he faces the Angels in Anaheim Thursday. In his last outing he allowed six base runners and two earned runs over six innings against this same Angels club. Does the hitters familiarity, having seen him less than a week ago, scare you off?

Volquez has a 3-0 record and 2.49 ERA the past three weeks as he’s all of a sudden locked in. He’s facing a Nats team that is down Jayson Werth and potentially Bryce Harper, but that’s still a solid club and the game is on the road where Volquez often struggles.

Cobb had an astounding 13 Ks in his last outing, astrounding because he only recorded 14 outs (that’s the first time that has ever happened in big league history). Cobb faces the Red Sox, a team he allowed three earned runs, while striking out six batters, in a 6.2 inning loss on April 14th. He has a 3.18 ERA and 1.19 WHIP over four starts agianst the Sox.

Cain pitches in Colorado, and that’s always a difficult thing for any hurler, but Cain has pitched very well against the Rockies in his career with a 15-7 record an a 3.11 ERA. He’s 5-3 with a 4.11 ERA and 1.31 WHIP in Colorado. Cain is also 2-0 with a 2.95 ERA the past three weeks.

By Ray Flowers

Tags: Adam LaRoche, Adrian Beltre, Alex Cobb, Dayan Viciedo, Dustin Pedraoi, Edinson Volquez, Jason Bay, Jose Quintana, Kurt Suzuki, Lyle Overbay, Marco Scutaro, Matt Cain, Pablo Sandoval, Troy Tulowitzki, Tyler Flowers, Yunel Escobar

Ride The Wave

Fantasy baseball is all about riding the wave. Sometimes we paddle out and just wait, and wait, and wait. Other times we start paddling and we time the wave wrong and it just rolls by. But when everything breaks right, when the wave meets the right timing, the result is one heck of a ride. Here are some folks who have hit the wave or missed it through the first quarter of the 2013 baseball season.

Gordon Beckham (hand) will start his rehab this weekend, he hopes, and he should be back by the end of the month. Does anyone care?

Tony Cingrani has a sore shoulder so his next start will be pushed back and potentially skipped. With Johnny Cueto nearing a return, could Cingrani be DL’d or sent to the minors? Certainly possible. Oh, and this is one of the main reasons why I suggested going Tim Lincecum over Cingrani a month ago. We know that Lincecum can make 30 starts, something he has done the last five years. Cingrani? He’s never made 30 starts and we have no idea if he can handle that workload (he’s made 36 starts since the beginning of 2011). You can love those rookies, but as I keep saying, more often than not, they fail to live up to expectations.

Josh Donaldson have a strong start to the season. Donaldson had four more hits Tuesday night and is now hitting .314 on the year. He’s doubled his walk rate from last season, up from 4.8 percent to 10.7 percent, and if he can hold on to those gains that would be huge. He’s also seen his K-rate go down five percent, and when you combine patience with discipline, success follows.

To see how others are evaluating Donaldson and others, don’t forget to go to Fleaflicker.com where you can check out the owned percentages of all your favorite players.

Bryce Harper is dealing with some nausea, but the Nationals continue to insist that Harper did not suffer a concussion when he ran into the wall the other day and these bouts of feeling ill are not concussion related symptoms. I’ve been nauseous this season watching Barry Zito pitching on the road this year with an 11.25 ERA and 2.58 WHIP over three starts. He’s got a 0.55 ERA at home with a 1.03 WHIP in five home starts.

Paul Konerko returns to the lineup after sitting out the last two games to clear his head Wednesday. Through 33 games this season Konerko has been lost with a .214 average and .623 OPS. Konerko has hit at least 22 homers every year since 2004, and he’s had at least 75 RBIs in eight of the last nine seasons. He’s 37, but he should still be able to rebound from this rough start to be productive, even if he’s unable to reach his previous levels of expectation. A .235 BABIP, that mark has been over .300 the past three years, and a 25.5 percent line drive rate which would be a career best, hint at the potential comeback here. It’s also fair to guess that his 8.0 percent HR/F ratio will improve. He’s never had a mark below 12.2 percent in a career that began in 2002.

James Loney check in. He’s leading baseball with a .381 batting average. He’s hitting .391 in May and has shown no signs of slowing down… though of course he will soon. He’s hitting .446 on the road (25-for-56) and .478 against lefties (11-for-23). In his career he has hit .255 against left-handed pitching though he has hit .299 on the road.

Russell Martin had two more hits Tuesday as he returned from a neck issue. In his last nine games Martin has four games with at least two hits. He’s also gone deep four times with eight RBIs in that time as his average has gone from .227 to .273. All of a sudden this guy looks like a hitter again.

Mitch Moreland is hot, hot, hot. He has hits in nine of last 10 games. In five of those games he had two hits. He also ripped three homers in his last two games and has gone deep six times in his last nine games. He’s pumped up his fly ball rate to 45 percent this season, five percent higher than normal, and he’s also sporting an 18.4 percent HR/F ratio, four percent above normal. If he holds on to those gains we could be looking at a 20-25 homer bat this season (he hit 16 and 15 big flies the last two years).

Nikita, starring Maqqie Q, is a pretty good series. Hot babes shooting guys, strong action scenes too. It was re-upped for a fourth season, but in a limited run, so you had better start watching before it moves to DVD.

Carlos Zambrano finally got a big league job when he signed a minor league deal with the Phillies (he had previously agreed to a deal with the independent Long Island Ducks). Can you believe that Big Z is 31 years old? At least he can take the ball whenever a team wants him to. Perhaps a workhorse in the bullpen?

Tags: Bryce Harper, Carlos Zambrano, Gordon Beckham, James Loney, Josh Donaldson, Mitch Moreland, Paul Konerko, Russell Martin, Tim Lincecum, Tony Cingrani

Draft Day Challenge, May 14

BaseballGuys.com has partnered with DraftDay.com to give all my wonderful followers the chance to play the game on a daily basis. On Tuesday and Thursday’s here at the site, every week, I’ll be giving you some insight into the mind of The Oracle as I will give you some of my best plays for the day – even if I’m willing to admit that daily games are a bit of a crap shoot given the difficulty in predicting how a handful of at-bats will work out.

To join a daily league remember to visit DraftDay.com by clicking on the link to their site.

One other source for those of you on Twitter.

@MLBDailyLineups – lists all the lineups in one spot so you can make sure you don’t have someone in your lineup that is sitting on the bench that day.

CATCHERS
1. Brian McCann
2. Joe Mauer

McCann has hit the ground a running with a .333 average, three homers and 10 RBIs in his first 21 at-bats. He’s 0-for-2 against the hot Patrick Corbin, but McCann is going so well, including 7-for-17 of late (.412), that you should be starting him regardless.

You could obviously list Mauer’s name in every one of these writeups and be fine, but he’s scalding right now. Mauer has hit .447 the past two weeks with 13 runs scored. That’s enough to overlook his “mere” .316 mark against Mr. Peavy over 29 at-bats.

FIRST BASE
1. Edwin Encarnacion
2. Billy Butler

EE faces Barry Zito, in Toronto. That alone should make you interested. When you hear what he has done in nine plate appearances, your interest better be piqued: 4-for-7, two homers, eight RBIs. He also has two homers and six RBIs the past week.

Coming off a huge game (five hits, five RBIs), there is no reason to expect Butler to slow down against Jason Vargas considering he has six hits and three walks in 16 PAs against him. The end result is a .462 average, .563 OBP, two homers and five RBIs.

SECOND BASE
1. Robinson Cano
2. Neil Walker

Cano faces the all mighty King Felix Tuesday, but he’s had a ton of success in the matchup. Besides only striking out six times in 41 at-bats he’s also hit .366 with two homers and five RBIs.

Walker is back from the DL, and though he went 0-for-4 in his first game, perhaps facing Kyle Lohse will help. Walker has eight hits, to go along with five RBIs, in 20 at-bats (.400 average).

THIRD BASE
1. Ryan Zimmerman
2. Adrian Beltre

It’s borderline stupid to suggest playing anyone against Mr. Kershaw, but here goes. Zimmerman has four hits in nine at-bats against the lefty with nary a strikeout. He’s also starting to warm at the dish with a .318 mark and five RBIs the past week.

Going with two vets at the hot corner today. Beltre has hit .316 with five homers and 14 RBIs against Bartolo Colon over 57 at-bats. He owns him, or something like that. Beltre has also hist .346 with two homers and seven RBIs the past week.

SHORTSTOP
1. Ben Zobrist
2. Jayson Nix

Oh that John Lackey. Seems like many batters enjoys seeing him on the bump anymore. Zobrist is 8-for-20, a cool .400 average, with five walks against Lackey leading to a .538 OBP.

Jeter and Nunez are down and out, so Nix is the starter at short for the Yankees. He’s produced five hits in 10 at-bats against King Felix and he’s also rapped out eight hits, and six runs, over the past week of games.

OUTFIELD
1. Jose Tabata
2. Andre Ethier

Add Tabata to the list of guys that crush Mr. Lohse. Well crush might be too strong a term, but he does have 10 hits in 21 at-bats (.476), and that’s impressive. Tabata also has seven hits in his last 14 at-bats this season.

Ethier is hitting only .254 on the year, but things are looking up. He’s hit .318 the past week, and now he gets to face Dan Haren who he has only hit .426 against in 47 at-bats (two homer,s seven RBIs as well).

STARTING PITCHERS
1. Chris Tillman
2. Jeremy Guthrie
3. Julio Teheran
4. Scott Kazmir

Tillman is 3-0 with a 2.03 ERA over his last four starts and he takes on the Padres Tuesday. That’s usually a good thing, facing the Padres, right?

The last three weeks Guthrie is 3-0 with a 0.42 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. He faces an Angels team that has scored just 156 runs this season, the same total as the Astros.

The Braves haven’t lost a single one of Teheran’s starts this season, even if he is only 2-0 on the season. In his last three starts he has allowed a total of six runs which is impressive even if he has only 11 Ks and has allowed 25 hits (19.1 innings). He faces the D’backs.

Kazmir is 2-1 with a 2.65 ERA and 1.06 WHIP, not to mention 21 Ks, over his last 17 innings. I picked him up this week in two leagues. Must mean he’s bound to fall on his face. He faces a Phillies team that has a .619 OPS over their last eight games.

By Ray Flowers

Tags: Adrian Beltre, Andre Ethier, Ben Zobrist, Billy Butler, Brian McCann, Chris Tillman, Edwin Encarnacion, Jayson Nix, Jeremy Guthrie, Joe Mauer, Jose Tabata, Julio Teheran, Neil Walker, Robinson Cano, Ryan Zimmerman, Scott Kazmir

Fantasy Baseball – FAAB Report, Wk.7

Another week, another series of injuries, another series of desperation moves on the waiver-wire. Well that’s not quite accurate, but the fact is that my fantasy baseball teams are struggling with injuries, just like many of yours. We’re all doing the best we can to piece together a competitive squad until health returns. Here are my moves in free agency Monday, May 13th.

TOUT WARS (15 team mixed): Let’s go through the DL’d guys first – Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Cameron Maybin, Joel Hanrahan, Zack Greinke. I released Eric Sogard and in his place picked up Maicer Izturis. Need help up the middle badly with Jeter still on the shelf and Emilio Bonifacio forgetting that a bat is something you use to hit the baseball. Maicer has eight hits in his last six games. Two start hurler Ricky Nolasco joins the fold this week at the cost of Hanrahan who is done for the year. I purchased Izturis for $1 and went a little heavier on Nolasco at $4.
Notable bids: Heath Bell ($38 of $100), Scott Kazmir ($16), Ubaldo Jimenez ($8), Julio Teheran ($6)

LABR (12 team, AL-only): I made the huge move of adding Hank Congar for $4. Got tired of looking at Hector Gimenez doing little to nothing as my second catcher. Congar has been no great shakes, but he’s hitting .250 with an RBI over the past two weeks, and that’s actually worth adding. I know.
Notable bids: Sean Rodriguez ($2), Wilkin Ramirez ($2), Elliott Johnson ($2)

FSTA (13 team mixed): The following players are on the DL for my club: Coco Crisp, Justin Maxwell, J.J. Putz, Hanley Ramirez, Sergio Santos, Joel Hanrahan, Kevin Youkilis and Chris Young. It’s a shock I’m in 8th place out of 13 teams. I dropped Sean Marshall and added two start hurt Ricky Nolasco ($17 out of $1,000). I was outbid on Junichi Tazawa (I bid $85). I therefore ended up with Jared Burton ($26). Burton is likely the fall back if that side issue for Glen Perkins becomes something significant. Burton has a 1.69 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 18 Ks in 16 innings this season. Finally, James Loney is part of my club now ($38). Probably overpaid, but I needed something.
Notable bids: Junichi Tazawa ($208), Hector Santiago ($36), Scott Kazmir ($17), Colby Lewis ($17), Scott Feldman ($11), David Murphy ($11).

SIRIUSXM EXPERTS (12 team mixed): Stephen Drew, join the club as I finally gave up on John Axford. Had to do it given the injuries I have. James McDonald is on the DL – I added Chris Tillman for $4 to take his roster spot this week as well. Still leaves me with Austin Jackson, Neil Walker, Rajai Davis, Kevin Youkilis, Hanley Ramirez, J.J. Putz and Zack Greinke on the DL. I feel your pain everyone.
Notable bids: The big expenditure was… Heath Bell ($22). Shocker. Junichi Tazawa was the next most expensive guy on waivers at $13. The only other player in double-digits was Marcell Ozuna ($11). No one else went for more than $5 – Kevin Slowey and Julio Teheran.

SIRIUSXM LISTENER LG (11 team mixed): This is the only league with an open waiver-wire. I added James Loney at the cost of Joel Hanrahan who is dont for the year.
Notable bids: Andy Dirks, Neil Walker, Bud Norris, Lyle Overbay, Francisco Liriano and Mitch Moreland were added.

To see how others are evaluating players don’t forget to go to Fleaflicker.com where you can check out the owned percentages of all your favorite players.

K-BAD (12 team mixed): Hanley Ramirez, Kevin Youkilis, Andrew Bailey, Gordon Beckham, James McDonald are on the DL. Dropped McDonald and added Scott Kazmir ($22). I have no faith in Kazmir, he hasn’t thrown 160 innings since 2007, but he’s rolling his last few starts and I need the innings. Beckham went adios and I added two start Week 7 mound ace Ricky Nolasco ($14). Nolasco has pitched well this season with a 3.72 ERA and 1.116 WHIP through eight starts. I also dropped Eric Sogard who has done nothing since I added him, and in return Will Venable ($27) joined the club. Venable, pretty quietly, is hitting .360 with three homers and four steals the past 12 games. He’s got five bombs and seven steals on the season.
Notable bids: Heath Bell ($171), Junichi Tazawa ($121), Jeff Locke ($41), Trevor Plouffe ($35), Mitch Moreland ($30).

FANBALL (13 team mixed): Jayson Werth, Kevin Youkilis, Cameron Maybin, J.J. Putz, Vinnie Pestano, James McDonald – all on the DL. Had to make a move on the hill, don’t know how long Putz will be down, so I dropped McDonald and added David Phelps ($2) who is a 2-time starter this week. I also added Ryan Raburn ($3), there he is again (I seem to be adding the flunky in every league. Let’s hope he continues to be effective even though the best is behind him). Pestano went bye-bye.
Notable bids: Heath Bell ($35) – there was another bid at $34. Mine was $19. Junichi Tazawa ($13). Scott Kazmir ($10). Kelly Johnson ($10), Francisco Liriano ($6).

By Ray Flowers

Tags: Chris Tillman, David Phelps, Hank Congar, Heath Bell, James Loney, Jared Burton, Junichi Tazawa, Ricky Nolasco, Ryan Raburn, Stephen Drew, Will Venable