Step on up for a happy Monday! On this fine spring (in these parts, anyway) start to the week, there’s some pretty good pitcher depth for your Draft team today, even if you’re in a 6- to 10-person draft. You can afford to wait a little to draft a pitcher, but if you’d prefer to take one early for tonight’s middle slate, nab Carlos Carrasco. In previous match-ups, he’s held the active Detroit Tigers to a team OPS of .561, with the biggest possible threat against him being Jose Iglesias: Joey Church has gone 9 for 28 versus Carrasco (OPS of .906), and after that the Tigers fall off a cliff. The weather is a little bit of a worry in Detroit, though (more on that after the jump), so keep an eye on that. Let’s take a look at some other pitcher and hitter options for today.
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Jose Quintana, SP: Early – Quintana’s your top pick for early-slate pitcher (first game at 2 p.m. today). Admittedly, he was shaky last time he faced the Braves (…as in, 7 earned runs shaky), but that was a month ago and Quintana’s been whittling down his ERA ever since.
Joey Lucchesi, SP: Late – One word (well, actually seven): 11.82 K/9. Another two words: Petco Park. This is your Hodgepadre of the day. He’s also running a 2.87 ERA at home, and has held the Rockies to a team OPS of .637 thus far.
Anthony Rizzo, IF: Early – In 17 at-bats against Julio Teheran (Streamonator’s third-lowest-ranked pitcher today; we’re going to pick on him and fellow bottom-dwellers Mike Fiers, facing Cleveland at home, and Sean Manaea, who has the misfortune of pitching in Boston today), Rizzo has hit him for a decent .821 OPS. Then there’s his VERY decent 7 for 18 over the last 7 days (after a slow start to the season). HR to the Rizzo?
Kris Bryant, IF: Early – Cubs are waking up, yo. Over the last week, Bryant is on a power surge, with a .350 AVG. Bryant’s projection on Draft today is 9.1, so you may have to nab him early. If you miss out on him, try Freddie Freeman: 10 for 21 in the last week, 1.357 OPS versus LHP Jose Quintana.
Mookie Betts, OF: Middle – Let the Mookie win, please. He’s Hittertron’s highest-rated hitter overall today for this match-up versus LHP Sean Manaea at home in Boston, where he’s hitting .439 this year. Manaea’s been good to start the season, but has earned 4 runs in his last 2 starts, and I think this is going to be a tough match-up for him versus the Red Sox in Fenway.
Nelson Cruz, OF: Middle – Draft hasn’t updated his projected points at time of writing, so he’s showing up as having a projection of 0.0 and may just cruz (do you see what I did there [sorry. I need more coffee]) under the radar. Nelson has a 1.008 OPS (7 for 20) versus Jake Odorizzi. He seems to be waking up out of his spring slump/slumber (slumper?) and starting to knock in the runs.
George Springer, OF: Late – Springer’s been sidelined with a bruised elbow issue the last couple of games, but is apparently ready to go (still, check yer line-ups, kids); hopefully he can get back to the form he was in pre-bruise. He’s hitting .349 versus lefties such as Andrew Heaney (4.78 ERA, 1.37 WHIP). If you miss out on George — but I’m hoping your fellow drafters may be reluctant to grab him, owing to said elbow — try Carlos Correa.
Jose Altuve, IF: Late – He’s been cool recently, but I’d take a gamble on him today for this lefty-righty match-up today versus Andrew Heaney; it’s a small sample size, but Altuve has a 1.100 OPS against him.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Dampness ahoy! There’s a chance of rain in Minnesota for the Twins game (versus the Mariners), and chance of a thunderstorm in both Kansas City and Detroit. So, again, check your lineups!
Doing Lines In Vegas
Cleveland are massive favorites over Detroit today, at -260. Too close to call: Tampa and KC, at -101, with the tiniest edge to Tampa.
