Daily Joust: The Weekend Ahead

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HITTERS – FRIDAY

Michael Cuddyer vs. Cliff Lee: The two have faced each other 33 times with Cuddyer hitting .303 with three homers and eight RBIs. Marco Scutaro has also hit .321 in 28 at-bats against Lee.

Johnny Damon vs. Ricky Romero: If there was ever a lock to get a hit, or two, it’s Damon in this matchup (over at Fleaflicker Damon is barely owned). The duo has faced off 29 times and here’s the damage inflicted by Damon – a .522 avearge, four homers, eight RBIs a .633 OBP an a 1.807 OPS. Wowzah’s.

Jhonny Peralta vs. Jason Hammel: In 12 at-bats Peralta is hitting .417 with a homer and seven RBIs. Peralta also hit the break with four hits in his last two games while Hammel has a 6.20 ERA and 1.82 WHIP in six career games against the Tigers.

PITCHERS – FRIDAY

Tim Hudson vs. Mets: The Mets have 149 at-bats against Hudson, those currently on the roster that is, and they have gone deep just two times while hitting .235 with a .637 OPS. Seems like Hudson has a pretty good shot at holding the Metropolitans down.

Clayton Kershaw vs. Padres: Any time you see Kershaw on the hill you should be pumped. When that matchup has him taking on the Padres, you should be super pumped. When you notice that current Padres are hitting .213 with a .542 OPS, and not a single homer in 141 at-bats, it’s time to start doing cartwheels (though be careful not to injure yourself cause I know I would if I attempted that move).

Adam Wainwright vs. Reds: In his career current Reds batter are hitting .187 with a .555 OPS over 107 at-bats against Waino. Take out that one rough outing against the Pirates and Wainwright has allowed a total of four earned runs in his last three starts with at least seven Ks each outing.

HITTERS – SATURDAY

Billy Butler vs. Jake Peavy: Maybe those Royals fans that felt slighted All-Star weekend will have something to cheer for in this matchup as Butler has hit .389 with a 1.365 OPS against Peavy in 18 career at-bats.

Torii Hunter vs. Freddy Garcia: The two have faced each other in 48 official at-bats with Hunter emerging with 19 hits leading to a .396 batting average. Hunter has also gone deep four times while knocking in eight runs.

Casey Kotchman vs. Aaron Laffey: OK, I take my Damon prediction. This might be the most bonkers matchup ever. E-V-E-R. In 10 at-bats Kotchman has nine hits against Laffey. That is all.

PITCHERS – SATURDAY

Gio Gonzalez vs. Marlins: Current Marlins batters have 36 at-bats against Gio. They have struck out 12 times and produced… one hit (Emilio Bonifacio). Coming off a first half that saw him post a 2.92 ERA and 1.11 WHIP, not to mention 118 Ks in 101.2 innings, Gio is a must start in this matchup.

Kyle Lohse vs. Reds: In the last matchup between these two foes Lohse worked seven scoreless innings. In each of his last four starts he has worked at least seven innings while allowing a total of seven runs. That’s sounding like a pretty good matchup to me.

Max Scherzer vs. Orioles: On the year Scherzer has a 4.72 ERA and 1.39 WHIP. Terrible numbers for a guy with his arm. I try to focus more on the 121 Ks in 97.1 innings and the nearly four to one K/BB marks. I also like the fact that he’s allowed a total of six runs over his last four starts as he’s finally finding his rhythm on the hill.

By Ray Flowers

Daily Joust: The Weekend Ahead

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

Robinson Cano/Nick Swisher/Mark Teixeira: All three of these Yankees face King Felix, and in most cases that is a recipe for a benching. However, the three Yankees bats have had ample success against the Mariners’ ace.

Cano: .355/.429/581 with two HRs, 4 RBI in 31 at-bats
Swisher: .238/.333/.548 with 4 HRs, 5 RBI in 42 at-bats
Tex: .321/.393/.679 with five HRs, 9 RBIs in 53 at-bats

Sometimes things don’t make a lot of sense.

Casey Kotchman: Clay Buchholz has allowed only 10 hits to all the players currently on the Indians, it just so happens that six of them have been to Kotchman in 11 at-bats, and that’s good for a .545 average. Kotchman is also eight for 23 of late good for a .348 average the past eight days.

Adrian Beltre: The Rangers’ slugger is back to playing third base after dealing with a lower body injury for a while now, and he’s likely looking forward to facing C.J. Wilson given that he has seven hits in 19 at-bats against the lefty (.368/.429/.684).

Jeff Baker/Geo Soto: The two Cubs batters face the always moderately effective Randy Wolf (if you’re looking for a cheap play, Baker is your guy. Look at how many teams over at Fleaflicker have him rostered). The duo has combined to hit four homers with 13 RBI in 54 at-bats against Wolf with Soto hitting three of the bombs with a .333 average while Baker has hit .417 in the matchup.

PITCHERS – FRIDAY

Chris Capuano is undefeated through six starts with a 2.21 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 36 Ks in 36.2 innings. He faces a Rockies club that has hit just .235 against him, and Capuano is 5-1 in his career at Dodger Stadium where the game will take place.

Gio Gonzalez faces a Reds club that he has held to a .109 batting average over 14 innings. The Reds hitters have only managed to bat .109 against Gio who has allowed just three runs in his last five outings this season.

I know I wrote earlier about three hitters from the Yankees that have had a lot of success against Felix Hernandez, but that doesn’t mean King Felix is a bad play Saturday. He is 3-0 with a 0.38 ERA in his outings at the new Yankees Stadium.

Johan Santana has been fantastic this year with a 2.61 ERA and 1.19 WHIP with 34 strikeouts through 31 innings. He faces the Marlins Saturday, a team that he has gone 6-1 against with a 1.46 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 81 punchouts in 68 innings.

HITTERS – SATURDAY

Michael Bourn/Jack Wilson: In 25 at-bats against Adam Wainwright Bourn has hit .320 whereas Wilson has hit .364 in 22 at-bats against the righty from St. Louis.

Omar Infante: The guy just keeps on hitting everyone, including going deep with a greater frequency than we’ve ever seen from the slap hitter. Infante has had immense success against the Mets’ R.A. Dickey with 12 hits in 25 at-bats, good for a  .480 batting average.

Andrew McCutchen: Hitting .330 through 28 games, McC has only two bombs on the year, though they have come in the past five days. McCutchen faces J.A. Happ Saturday, a hurler who he has beat around for three homers and five RBI in just 22 at-bats (he has also hit .364 against Happ).

David Wright: This guy has flat out murdered the Marlins’ Ricky Nolasco. Wright, in 57 at-bats, has hit .386 with a 1.118 OPS. He’s also gone deep four times with 13 RBI against the perpetually underachieving Nolasco who has actually performed pretty well this year.

PITCHERS – SATURDAY

R.A. Dickey faces a Marlins club that continue to struggle to score despite the talent they possess. Dickey shut down the Marlins earlier this season with a one run, seven inning effort that led to a victory. Dickey was bombed in one start this season but in five of his six outings this season he has produced a “quality start.”

Doug Fister faces the Athletics, arguably the worst offense in baseball. Fister also tossed seven shutout innings in his first start back from the DL to up his season long mark to 10.2 shutout innings. Fister has enjoyed plenty of success in his career against the Athletics with a 5-3 record in 10 outings. Fister has also posted a 2.55 ERA and 1.22 WHIP over those 60 innings.

Shaun Marcum is 3-0 with a  2.70 ERA and 0.90 WHIP in three games against the Cubs. Rather amazingly he also has 17 Ks and just one walk in 20 innings against the Cubbies.

Adam Wainwright is 6-0 with a  2.25 ERA, 1.14 WHIP against Braves in 44 innings. Wainwright has also gone 2-0 with only five runs allowed in his last three starts this year as he rounds into form as he continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery.

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By Ray Flowers

Overlooked Greatness

Today I’ll point out some guys that have been pretty darn amazing this year even if you really haven’t taken much notice. Greatness might be too strong a word, I’ll freely admit that, but I needed to catch your attention.

CATCHER: Matt Wieters
Finally living up to expectations, Wieters had a big year for the Orioles. He may have only hit .262, but he socked 20 homers with 65 RBI and 70 runs scored. As a result he was the only catcher in baseball who hit .260 with 20 homer and 70 runs scored.

FIRST BASE: Casey Kotchman
I know the guy hit only 10 homers, had only 48 RBI ans scored just 43 times. Those are horrible numbers for a corner infielder unless you’re in an AL-only league. But give the guy some credit. He has hit .305 over 495 at-bats. That’s a better batting average than Michael Morse (.303), Albert Pujols (.301) and Prince Fielder (.295) to name just three.

SECOND BASE: Danny Espinosa
Limited for sure, that .235 batting average and .311 OBP are awful, Espinosa has still had an impressive run. Not only did he become just the third rookie second baseman in history with 20 homers (the others were Dan Uggla with 27 and Alexei Ramirez with 21), he also stole 16 bases while scoring 72 runs. Only four second basemen hit 20 homers with 70 runs and 15 steals – Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia, Kelly Johnson and Espinosa.

THIRD BASE: Mark Reynolds
What the hell you’re saying? I know he hit .222 and struck out 192 times, but with all the injuries at third base this season his effort was mighty impressive. He was second at the position in homers with 37 (Jose Bautista had 43), 6th in RBI (86) and third in runs. Not too shabby for an afterthought to many.

SHORTSTOP: Erick Aybar
The Angels’ shortstop hit .280 with 10 homer, 59 RBI, 71 runs scored and 30 steals. Do you know how many shortstops went .275-10-50-70-30 this year? The answer is one. Even if we drop the steal total to 20, only two other men join the list – Jimmy Rollins and Starlin Castro.

OUTFIELD: Torii Hunter
I know what you’re thinking – Ray has finally hit on the neighbor’s wife one too many times, had too many drinks with an umbrella in it, and has spent too much time staring at touchdown runs the past month to remember what the hell he is talking about when it comes to baseball. I mean, didn’t Hunter hit horribly for months on end this year (.214 in April, .224 in June, .209 in July)? The answer to that is yes, Hunter did post a terrible batting average for long stretches, but that’s precisely why he was such an overlooked player this season. I’m not going to defend the league average .262 batting average, that’s a poor mark. However, did you know that Hunter will end the year with 20 homers, 80 RBI, and 80 runs scored (He has 23 homers, 82 RBI and 80 runs)? Only 15 outfielders hit all three of those marks in 2011 putting Hunter in some rather solid company despite the nauseating roller coaster ride he put his owners through.

By Ray Flowers

MLB: Ups and Downs

Day 2 of the major league season has been a bore (OK, it was Day 3, but the first day only had the Yankees and Red Sox playing, so you know what I mean). A day after all that excitement, the Albert Pujols homers, the 6-inning no-hit bid from Shaun Marcum, and the homer in his first major league at-bat from Jason Heyward, everyone was fired up. Roughly 24 hours later, it’s like your dog died. Major league baseball, in it’s unfailing wisdom, scheduled seven games for the second full day of games, but not a single one was scheduled to start before 7:10 PM EST. That’s right. A day after all of that excitement to kick off the campaign, major league baseball didn’t schedule a single day game, not one. I’m all for making a buck, but seriously MLB, how greedy can you be? Schedule a flipping day game. There is no excuse, none, that there should ever be a day in which at least one game is played during the day. I don’t care about TV rights or gate receipts, baseball was meant to be played during the day under the sun. So get with it MLB – some things are more important than the almighty dollar.

Zack Greinke hurled two run ball over six innings on Monday against the Tigers but wound up with a no decision when the bullpen blew his lead. That isn’t overly surprising for Greinke who was let down frequently last year. Amazingly, Greinke has allowed one or zero earned runs in 19 of his last 34 starts. That’s 56 percent of his starts since the beginning of the 2009 season.

Scott Kazmir was “very surprised” to learn that some shoulder weakness landed him on the DL to start the year. I’m only surprised that Kazmir still has a shoulder.

Casey Kotchman hitting third for the Mariners? Maybe they should have kept Russell Branyan after all.

Tim Lincecum was questioned about his struggles in camp both with velocity and results. After tossing seven shutout innings in dominating the Astros, no one is saying anything today.

Anyone else hate doing drafts on computers? The other day I was doing an AL-only auction and my computer crashed in the middle. I returned to learn that I missed out on Joba Chamberlain and Magglio Ordonez, two players I had been targeting in the middle rounds to get on the cheap. I did land Matt Guerrier though, and for $4, even though I didn’t have him in my queue, so I have no idea how he ended up on my squad. At least the computer didn’t give me Jason Berken for $4.

Jon Rauch has been named the closer with the Twins. He has some experience in the role and is a decent choice to fill in for the injured Joe Nathan. At the same time, he clearly shouldn’t be looked at as someone who has the job locked down. I just wish Pat Neshek was fully healthy (he is coming back from arm surgery though he has looked good so far).

Jose Reyes is still targeting a return to the Mets this weekend after an extended minor league game on Monday. In related news, the Mets are hoping that Oliver Perez can find the strike zone before then.

You gotta feel for the Giants’ Nate Schierholtz. Thought to be the man in right field after biding his time the past few years, he ended up struggling in spring and lost his starting spot to John Bowker who led the club in homers and RBI. Though you may not think things could get worse for Nate they did on Tuesday when the Giants, facing the Astros’ lefty Wandy Rodriguez, decided to go with Andres Torres in right field essentially meaning that Nate is the third right fielder at the moment. Schierholtz has the highest upside of that trio and still profiles as a decent outfield option in NL-only leagues, though I will admit the start to the 2010 season is certainly distressing.

Huston Street got good news on his injured shoulder. It doesn’t look like it will fly off at any point in the near future according to Dr. James Andrews. Street still hopes to return to the Rockies in early May, though who knows when he will be able to reclaim his ninth inning role from Franklin Morales.

By Ray Flowers

Around the Horn: Feb.1, 2010.

(1) Orlando Cabrera signs with Reds.
(2) Willy Taveras to A’s, then designated.
(3) Johnny Damon wants to play for Tigers?
(4) Ryan Garko signs with Mariners.
(5) Jose Reyes running sprints.
(6) Orlando Hudson still undecided – Nationals, Indians, Rockies in the mix.
(7) Joe Mauer deal all rumors at this point.

By Ray Flowers

Three in One

Today I will discuss the signing of the biggest bat on the free agent mark, a minor deal for two spare parts, and a player re-upping with his squad after a fine all-around season in 2009.

Holliday Remains with Cardinals
How does he do it? Super agent Scott Boras got the Cardinals to bid against themselves, and the result was a 7-year, $120 million deal for Matt Holliday. The deal is for $17 million a year – slightly better than the $16.5 million Jason Bay’s deal with the Mets is for – and it includes a full no-trade clause. I hate Boras, but I tell you this; if I was a player he would certainly be my agent. I guess the Cardinals determined they could afford to dump more than $40 million a year on Holliday and Albert Pujols to strike fear into opponents from the center of their lineup (Pujols’ contract is coming up), but we’ll have to see if it hampers their ability to construct a team around their dynamic duo. One last note. If Holliday finishes in the top-10 in NL MVP voting in the 7th year of the deal an option for $17 million kicks in for an eighth season. Hopefully the fans in St. Louis can forgive him for trying to use his cup as a glove in the playoffs against the Dodgers. To spare Mr. Holliday I will not post a link to the failed catch, though it certainly isn’t hard to find online. For more on the Holliday signing click on the link to Holliday Signs with Cardinals.

Kotchman Traded for Hall
A deal that will reverberate for the next, oh, two days, was completed on Tuesday as the Mariners sent Bill Hall to the Red Sox in exchange for Casey Kotchman. Here is the upside of the deal which, surprisingly, has some extended ramifications.

1- Kotchman, a slick fielder, should make about $5 million in arbitration this year. His addition to the Mariners signals that slugger Russell Branyan won’t be returning to the Pacific Northwest. Kotchman hit .268 with seven homers and 48 RBI last season for the Braves and Red Sox in 385 at-bats. He is a doubles hitter who could push .300 if things broke right, but he doesn’t have the bat of your traditional first baseman.

2- Even with the move of Kotchman out of town, the Red Sox still don’t seem to have any plans for Mike Lowell. The Sox, who acquired Adrian Beltre earlier in the week, you can see me break down that signing in Beltre to Join Red Sox, will go with Beltre at third, Kevin Youkilis at first and David Ortiz at DH. Look for Lowell to be dealt at some point once spring training begins (you can keep up on the latest news at the Baseball Guy’s Twitter Page ).

3- As for Hall… some of us will fondly remember his massive 2006 season (.270-35-85-101-8), but since that time he has regressed, and substantially, the past couple of seasons. Last year he hit a mere .201 with eight homers in 334 at-bats for the Brewers and the Mariners, and that .596 OPS was simply ghastly. Hall is versatile, he can play second, third and the outfield, but he must be on the bench when there is a righty on the on the hill (.186/.261/.328 in 204 at-bats last season). He is a fine 25th man for a club like the Red Sox, just don’t expect him to become fantasy relevant with this move.

Gutierrez Signs 4-Year Deal with Mariners
Franklin Gutierrez parlayed a fine 2008 season into a 4-year, $20.5 million deal with the Mariners. You might be thinking to yourself something akin to ‘really, they gave that guy $20 mil? Where’s my glove?’ but the truth is that Gutierrez is better than you probably think. He finished near the top of many defensive metrics last season flashing great skill on defense, and though he hit a mere .283-18-70-85-16 last season, the totality of those numbers are actually very impressive. Here is a quote lifted directly from my Breaking Down: Franklin Gutierrez piece from October 27th, 2009. “In 2009, Franklin Gutierrez was one of only nine men who managed to hit at least .280 with 18 homers, 70 RBI, 85 runs and 15 steals, and one of just four full-time outfielders to pull off the trick.” Like I said, better than you thought right?

By Ray Flowers