Friday's Roundup was a smashing success, leading to a 4-0 sweep, and some happy fantasy gamers. After taking the weekend to catch our collective breath, it's time to dive back in and hope the fantasy fun leads to more sweet, sweet money. Today's game card has a crazy number of young pitchers going against new competition, but we'll do our best to point out some trends.
NL
Livan Hernandez - It's not often I'd put "It shall be" Livan on this list, but he's 2-0 against the Nats this year, with an ERA of 0.56. He has allowed baserunners, but always seemed to come through with a big pitch. Livan's been struggling, but the Nats are on a 4-game losing streak, so he's catching them at a good time.
Austin Kearns - A career .407 hitter against Livan Hernandez, you'd figure the Nats would give Kearns (and his 2 homers, 10RBI versus Livan) a chance to hit tonight.
Nyjer Morgan and Christian Guzman - Two more Nats that have decent averages against Hernandez, but these two have only 2 combined RBI and no runs scored. Deploy if you want a few singles in your fantasy lineup tonight.
Albert Pujols - 6-for-9 against Moehler...bring your mitt if you're sitting in Minute Maid's short porch in left.
Skip Schumaker - A sneaky .500 average against Moehler, Schumaker could be a surprise performer tonight.
Jorge De La Rosa - Despite a colossal home ERA, De La Rosa's last two starts at Coors have been quite impressive, going 14.1 innings, and allowing just 3 runs. One of those starts came against these same D'backs, and he went 8 shutout in a 5-0 Rockies win.
The Rockies - This is a broad one, but the Rox are going up against a pitcher that they have simply given fits. Doug Davis, having a wonderful season ERA-wise, has barely been able to retire any of the current Rockies. Some numbers: Garrett Atkins, .385; Todd Helton, .556; Ryan Spilborghs, .400; Ian Stewart, .500; Troy Tulowitzki, .308; Yorvit Torrealba, .308.
Ramon Hernandez - I dropped some Ramon last week, and he failed to produce, but today, against a confused and weakened Jason Schmidt, Ramon's 7-for-16 career numbers against Schmidt (with 2 homers) should lead to 2 hits in the game.
James Loney - Loney is hitting .400 against Owings, and the Dodgers have won 9 straight against the Reds in LA.
Russ Martin - Martin's been heating up, and carries a .375 average against Owings into tonight's contest.
Rafael Furcal - See "Russ Martin."
AL
Melvin Mora - Andy Pettitte has been terrible at home, and Mora already hits the aging lefty at a .417 clip in 24 AB.
Adam Jones - Jones is 4-for-9 in his brief career against Pettitte, and for the same reasons mentioned above, should be able to do some damage tonight.
J.D. Drew - Drew has always smashed Kevin Millwood, and after a 2-for-3 performance earlier, this year, he's now hitting Millwood at a .462 rate.
Jason Varitek - Tek is 8-for-18 off Millwood, and now's a good time to get him, as Millwood struggled mightily heading into the break.
Bobby Abreu - Abreu has killed Sidney Ponson, batting .600 with 2 homers and 7 RBI in only 10 AB. Yikes.
Picks coming later in the day (and possibly some more fantasy notes once we know for certain who's pitching in St. Louis...)! Also some questions worth monitoring, how will Sanchez follow up his no-no in Atlanta, which team is hotter in Philly (Cubs/Phils), can the Bucs finally win a game against Milwaukee, is Sidney Ponson on an all-burger diet, who will win the White Sox/Rays ALDS rematch, will anyone watch the Marlins and Padres and their career Minor League starters, and finally, can the Dodgers keep on brutalizing the Reds?
Top Plays1) Washington Nationals vs.
New York Mets (+115) - Livan Hernandez has picked an opponent that he loves to annihilate, and that opponent is Washington. Take note, there are a few bats in the Nats lineup that can do some damage to Hernandez, but he's done a great job this year and in years past of limiting the damage and making the key pitch against Washington. The Nats are calling on...wait, who? J.D. Martin? Apparently so. A control pitcher, and career Minor Leaguer trying to sneak a few high 80s fastballs by some hungry Big Leaguers. We all know what the Nats bullpen can do to a close game, as well. I'd say this is a safe time to make a play on a short dog to come through on the road.
2) Pittsburgh Pirates vs.
Milwaukee Brewers (-105) - Basically a pick on this game, and you don't have to look far to see who has been dominating these season series. The Pirates have not defeated the Brewers since May of 2008. Neither team has a terribly impressive starter going, but the Brewers are better in every other facet of the game. Milwaukee also picked up Felipe Lopez to shore up their infield, so add that boost to the better offense and better pen, and you've got the Brewers with a better than 50-50 shot of taking this road affair.
3)
Colorado Rockies (-147) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks - I'm not a huge fan of the juice on this particular matchup, considering, on paper, it looks like the D'backs have the better starter going. I would have expected the Rockies to be closer to -130. That being said, the line might just be this high because Vegas thinks Colorado is going to win, and so do we. Jorge De La Rosa has been much better at home recently, as you can see in the Roundup, and Doug Davis has struggled mightily against this particular lineup. I think the Rockies win this one 5-3.
4)
Los Angeles Dodgers (-145) vs. Cincinnati Reds - The Dodgers have the best record in baseball. The Reds are in a tailspin, and playing in a ballpark where they have not won a single game since 2005. The Dodgers took the last 2 from the hotter-than-hell Astros, and there's no reason to think they won't parlay that home momentum into this series against a team they've been beating on for half a decade.
5) Kansas City Royals vs.
Los Angeles Angels (-120) - You can see in the Roundup the type of damage Bobby Abreu and Chone Figgins have done to Sidney Ponson. And even if Ponson holds the Angels in marginal check, the Royals pen has blown save opportunities in the 8th inning in all 3 games they've played since the break. This is a team giving up quickly, and on the other side is an Angels team that's just starting to sniff an AL West lead. The Rangers are treading water, and Mike Scioscia has his bunch playing like they want to separate themselves from the pack.
6) Oakland Athletics vs.
Minnesota Twins (-121) - This is a case of going with the better team. The Twinkies just took 2 of 3 from the Rangers in Texas, a place that is usually pretty tough on Minnesota. Yes, they lost a long game last night, so they might be a tad sluggish coming out of the gates, but by the time this one ends, the Twins will be celebrating the win. Minnesota's road record might not give you extreme confidence, but it's important to look at the intervals of road games. They started the season as one of the worst road teams in the Majors, but over the last month and change, Minnesota is 12-7 away from home, the 3rd best road record in the League. I see no reason why this veteran club can't pick on a young 5th starter on an A's team that can barely score.