Last week I laid out some Men In Black references for you fine readers. Always one to double down whenever possible, this week, we need to break out our neuralyzers and forget all about Zack Greinke’s Fenway debacle. It’s Fenway and the Red Sox are leading the world in runs scored. Just imagine if the Sawx had actually signed Greinke a few years back…~Wavy Lines~ Zack Greinke and his 8.37 ERA are in Florida pitching to Pablo Sandoval as he works his way back from his third nervous breakdown in 3 seasons. ~Wavy Lines~ Huh, almost exactly how I pictured it, go figure. Well, all will be sunshine and unicorns this week as Zack and the D-Backs head to sunny San Diego to take on the woeful Padres. Lucky for us, his recent outing in Beantown has suppressed his salary to a very rosterable, $8,800. A pitcher of Greinke’s caliber, against a team with a bottom three team OPS is a borderline ace. For this price, you can get your ace and load up on as many Cubbie bats as possible. So, keep your memory short and let’s take a look and some more picks for tonight’s slate:
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Gerrit Cole, SP: $7,500 – Yet another underpriced semi-ace is the perfect compliment to Greinke and allows lots of roster flexibility to stack your offense. Cole has had a rough go of it the past couple weeks, hence the low price tag, but his upside is decent for the price. Plus, the Pirates are home and taking on the now Giancarlo-less Marlins. It’s all about price and I’m a big fan of rostering these quality guys while that price is low.
Cole Hamels, SP: $11,100 – I can’t really see getting away from Greinke/Cole myself, but if you feel the need to pay or have some extra dough to spend once your offense is figured out, Hamels would be my guy. Hamels faces the Rays who have the 4th most strikeouts in all of baseball (MIL, SD, HOU have a leg up). Say what you want, Hamels is a horse and should be a lock for 7IP/7K which should put him line for a win as well.
Wade LeBlanc, SP: $7,100 – LeBlanc is the lowest I’m going tonight and I really can’t believe I’m recommending him. The people demand value (read: cheap) plays though, so here we are. This is all about the match-up against those strikeout-heavy Brewers. LeBlanc is at home and opposing Wily E. Peralta, so has a nice shot at the win and a handful of Ks. I can’t imagine a scenario where I couldn’t squeeze out another $400 for Cole, but you never know.
Sandy Leon, C: $2,800 – “Downtown” Sandy Leon is quite possibly one of the hottest hitters in baseball right now. He even DH’d for the Sawx yesterday! Ride the lightning and the reasonable price tag and hope he stays hot.
Carlos Santana, 1B: $4,200 – Oh Francisco Liriano, from Razzball darling to DFS gas can and stacking target. The Indians are clobbering good pitchers, I can only imagine the damage they’re going to do to Liriano.
Albert Pujols, 1B: $3,400 – Really just a price play tonight, another established hitter that just seems way too cheap. More of a GPP play I’d say, as he’s all about the longball upside.
Starlin Castro, 2B: $3,800 – Jered Weaver is maybe my all-time favorite pitcher to stack against, it’s close between him and Clay Buchholz though. Castro is 0 for 8 vs. Weaver in his career, which is an amazing feat in itself. He’s coming in red hot with 3 HRs in his last 6 games and I expect that 0-fer to get corrected in a hurry.
Javier Baez, 2B/3B: $5,200 – Must avoid listing Cubs roster…must avoid…
Ryon Healy, 3B: $3,300 – If you’re a frequent podcast listener you will have heard Grey mention that we may have seen the last of James Shields every being a usable pitcher again. Well, that’s all a matter of perspective. I think he has a perfect use still, that of pitcher to stack against. So, grab the cheap rookie and put Shields to good use.
Dansby Swanson, SS: $2,200 – Sure, he might be hitting 8th, but come on, he’s basically free. Take his 2 for 4 with a couple walks and cram another Cubs bat in that lineup. It’s not like he’s Erick Aybar or anything.
Xander Bogaerts, SS: $4,000 – Fulmer’s been great, but I don’t think he’s great enough to knock Bogaerts down a grand. He’s still in a prime spot in a great lineup and should make for a nice contrarian play.
Jorge Soler, OF: $4,600 – The cheapest of the Cubs in Coors, besides Heyward, but screw that guy. With all the savings above, it should be no problem squeezing Soler in.
Aaron Judge, OF: $3,100 – Judge vs. Weaver already has me drooling, and that price. Lock and load.
Hernan Perez, 3B/OF: $3,700 – If you don’t end up using LeBlanc, Hernan Perez is a Brewer I’m interested in rostering. He’s been a slam and legs machine and checks in with a very nice price tag.
Jacoby Ellsbury, OF: $3,700 – More Weaver love and our BvP play of the night. Ells has seen Weaver 29 times in his career and has 9 hits, 2 HRs and 5 SBs in that span.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
The weather has been brutal lately, I’ve actually sat out a few recent slates as I didn’t feel like playing weather man all night It’s not much better tonight. There is a chance of rain for all of the following games: BOS@DET, TOR@CLE, OAK@CWS, MIN@KC and unfortunately, CHC@COL. The rain in Colorado looks like it should clear out though, but you’ll need to keep tabs on all of this weather ahead of game time. Fortunately, it shouldn’t affect any of our starters.
Doing Lines In Vegas
Would you look at that, Gerrit Cole is the biggest favorite tonight, a -170. That price is looking better and better. The Mets (Matz) @ Giants (Cueto) features the evening’s lowest over/under with 7 runs. The Giants are -145 favorites, so Cueto is your “safest” pitcher of the night. The highest over/under is, of course, in Colorado where the Cubs and Rockies have an 11 run total.
