Our first full week of baseball sans all-star break is upon us!
And to kick off the week, we have a 12-game slate on tap.
Pitching is OK I guess, but I am not truly in love with a lot of options.
For today (and maybe some other times too) I am going to focus on one hitting position as official picks and then for the other hitters, I have listed a set of rankings, one through five. I also will have a list of my top 5 stacks of the night below the rankings.
Feel free to give a shout out on Twitter or comment below on what you think about this. I hope the rankings at least provide you some solid options to fill out your lineups and win you some money.
Catcher
- Gary Sanchez
- Stephen Vogt
- James McCann
- Evan Gattis
- Tony Wolters
1st Base
- Miguel Cabrera
- Wil Myers
- Justin Bour
- Logan Morrison
- Chris Davis
2nd Base
- Jonathan Schoop
- Ian Kinsler
- Casey Asujae
- Starlin Castro
- Rougned Odor
3rd Base
- Manny Machado
- Adrian Beltre
- Miguel Sano
- Josh Harrison
- Ryon Healy
Shortstop
- Carlos Correa
- Xander Bogaerts
- Brandon Crawford
- Elvis Andrus
- Marcus Semien
Stacks
- Astros
- Rockies
- Yankees
- Orioles
- Tigers
Eduardo Rodriguez – SP – Boston Red Sox – $8,200
Analysis: Like I said, I am not in love with a lot of pitching options. Josh Tomlin looked like a guy I wanted to use as an SP2, but not for freaking $8,000! But who I will pay that kind of salary for is E-Rod, who comes off the DL to face the Blue Jays at home tonight. He threw nearly 100 pitches in his last rehab start, so I am not really worried about his pitch count. I expect a lot of people to be worried about it. I think this is a great night to pay down for pitching (even though I do like McCullers) and pay up for bats. E-Rod is under priced against a weak Blue Jays team who people will continue to think is a great offense, and they aren’t. The BJs are 16th in team wOBA against lefties and strike out 21% of the time. E-Rod has been great at home in just 3 starts this season, sporting a 1.56 ERA and 21 Ks in 17 innings. E-Rod has solid PvB as well – 14-for-73, 4 HRs, 12 walks and a .192 average.
Kyle Schwarber – OF – Chicago Cubs – $4,100
Analysis: Of course I trade this guy in a season-long keeper league and he’s come back on a tear. He was tearing up AAA and has finally found his stroke. The Cubs take on a struggling Julio Teheran, who has not adjusted to the new jump SunTrust Park has given to offenses. Teheran has a 7+ ERA at home this season and continues to struggles against lefties. This is a hot hitter versus a struggling hitter in a game we need to have exposure to tonight.
