LOGIN

Yesterday’s short schedule day reminded me of an old Chinese proverb.  Since a lot of you don’t speak Chinese, I’ll translate it for you.  If you can grab a hitter or two on a short schedule day, you should.  In bed.  I’d take a season of 0-for-4’s from my one day hitter pickups just for that outside chance I get one homer.  There is nothing more rewarding in fantasy, except maybe the one day pitcher grabs that nets you solid ratios and a Win.  Those are kinda sweet too.  So I decided to look at some guys that are probably owned in less than 50% of most leagues who could get you some value in fantasy baseball.  Because it’s just under two months into the season, a lot of names listed are fluky.  For instance, Luke Scott gets hot for 7 games and they’re all at home then suddenly he’s the best home slugger.  Most times picking up a hitter for one day really is about the hitter vs. pitcher matchups, but sometimes more general situations matter.  Anyway, here’s some potential hitter pickups for one day in fantasy baseball:

Best Hitters vs. Lefties – Francisco Cervelli.  Batting .483 in 45 ABs.  As I once told my girlfriend, it may be a small sample size, but it packs a powerful punch.  Some other names to look at include:  Cristian Guzman, Marcus Thames and Orlando Cabrera.

Best Hitters vs. Righties – Mike Aviles.  Hitting .440, but it’s only through 50 ABs.  Of course most of the top hitters vs. righties are just the top hitters overall.  Some other names to consider are Eric Hinske, Ryan Hanigan and John Jaso Jingleheimer Schmidt.

Best Hitters at Home – Miguel Olivo.  Putting up some serious home/away splits through the first two months of the season.  As with the good righty hitters, home hitters tend to just be good hitters, but some other names are Cristian Guzman, Marlon Byrd, David Freese and Cody Ross.

Best Hitters in Away Games – Jeff Keppinger. .350+ away, .250+ home.  And that may be the only time Keppinger is mentioned in a favorable light on the blog.  Some other players are Francisco Cervelli, Austin Kearns and Ramon Santiago.  Wow, that’s a sexy list.

Best Sluggers in Away Games – Mike Napoli.  A lot of catchers on this list so far and Rod Barajas, who I sometimes call Rob Darajas, is another name that appears.  But picking up a catcher on a short schedule day usually isn’t ideal because they tend to sit, so here’s some other names:  Austin Kearns, Kosuke Fukudome and Jim Thome.

Best Sluggers at Home – Luke Scott.  I ignored Miguel Olivo because he was mentioned already and there’s already enough catchers on this list of names.  Some other names are Seth Smith, Josh Willingham and Brennan Boesch.