I guess it was a good thing the rain pushed me off of Jameson Taillon last night. He wasn’t horrible, but wasn’t spectacular as the Reds continue to reek havoc on opposing pitching to start the season.
Taillon’s performance won’t boost my grading here at DO, but there were plenty of pitchers that spun the ball efficiently last night, including Pied Piper Cole Hamels, who I used quite a bit.
Hell, I even came around on Wily Peralta late in the afternoon after Josh Donaldson was ruled out, and he put up a decent stat line at his cheap price.
The weirdest thing of all Wednesday was Jered Weaver being serviceable against the Rockies. I don’t know if it’s the cooler temperature in Denver, but the Rockies haven’t shown to be the Rockies yet. Arenado and LeMahieu each missed homeruns early in that game, but CarGo, Blackmon and later Arenado hit the go-ahead bomb, to take only a 3-2 win over the Padres.
If you had the Mets, which many didn’t in tournaments, you were the breadwinner last night. I probably should start keeping track of that just for fun and total that as the rest of the year plays out?
I look at the winning lineup in a large-field GPP each Monday through Friday, record what teams had the stack that night and tally, so the Mets would have a tally mark for tonight and tomorrow it could be Colorado and just see how the stacks play out over the course of the year. If two 3-man stacks are part of the winner, then each team gets a point. What do you think?
I’ll think about that moving forward.
Anyway, it’s hump day for the Index, which means, for the last time this week, you will be required to be a premium member or a 7-day free trial subscriber to access all 7 picks for tonight’s slate. Good luck, as always!
Kole Calhoun – OF – Los Angeles Angels – $3,900
Analysis: Don’t get me wrong, I love Trout and I love Trout in this spot (he’s a Ranger killer). But I love me some Kole Calhoun. Lefties against A.J. Griffin have raked against the soft-tossing RH hurler. Since 2014, Griffin has allowed a whopping .291 average, a .414 wOBA and a 2.98 HR/9 rate to lefties. Calhoun is one of the few lefties on this team and hits in the heart of the order. In that same time frame as Griffin, Calhoun has a .336 wOBA, a .176 ISO and a 32% hard contact rate against RH pitching. The Angels’ ballpark makes things a little more difficult, but Calhoun is one of the top options on the board for me.
Mitch Moreland – 1B – Boston Red Sox – $3,500
Analysis: Mitch Moreland is a very hot and very cold hitter. Right now, he’s one of the lone bright spots in this Boston offense. Moreland has 3 multi-hit games in his last 5 (hits in all). I don’t like to recommend Mitch ever because he can instantly go cold, and for a long time. Moreland owns a .330 wOBA, a .192 ISO and a 38% hard contact rate against RH pitching. Fenway is tougher on lefty bats, but it is still favorable for Mitch, who takes on Ubaldo Jimenez, who can blow up on the road in a hurry. He owns a .341 wOBA against lefties since 2014 and a 30% hard contact rate. Jimenez gives up way more fly balls to lefties than right-handers as well. No BvP data right now, but i hope it confirms my love for Moreland today.
