BvP for MVP – June 3

Before we get to today’s picks, I would like to recognize that I am in complete celebratory mode today.

Yesterday I completed by 4th year of teaching. How it got to 4 years is beyond me, and a 5th is imminent unless I somehow can take down a ton of baseball and golf GPPs with my time off.

But with that said, I present you every teacher’s summer anthem (and yes, I realize Alice Cooper may be the ugliest human being on the planet outside of Donald Trump).

Yep, school’s out for summer, but unfortunately not for ever.

Tonight we have a 14-game slate, but I think it’s going to be an odd next 3 days of fantasy baseball. We will have games at Fenway, GAB, Rangers Ballpark in Arlington (if the weather doesn’t flood DFW out first) and Camden.

Not a lot of hitter’s parks to target, but there will be plenty of gas cans to target, including tonight.

I felt I needed to get creative with tonight’s picks and I was half-tempted to pick 6 Padres against lefty Chris Rusin (not an April Fool’s joke).

So in case you were wondering why I would pick a 6-man Padres stack, check out dailybaseballdata.com to check out all BvP data for tonight’s action.

Jose Bautista – OF – Blue Jays – vs. David Price

BvP: 19-for-55, 4 2B, 6 HR, 14 RBI, 7 BB

Analysis: This is a pick I am slightly apprehensive about. Price has turned it around thanks to a mechanical adjustment, but he was still tagged for 3 ER and just 3 Ks in his last start (against these Blue Jays). Fenway favors right-handed hitters and with Jose leading off for Toronto these days, I am very much in love with this matchup. Bautista has thrived as the leadoff man and is a lefty masher. I feel comfortable with this play for all formats.

Xander Bogaerts – 3B – Red Sox – vs. R.A. Dickey

BvP: 13-for-36, 4 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 2 BB

Analysis: Well, another Red Sox player has a 25-plus-game hitting streak. First it was Jackie Bradley, not it’s Bogie, who has upped his streak to 26 games. With some solid success against R.A. Dickey, how can you bet against him tonight? Factor in Bogaerts .368 average at home and a ballpark that favors RH hitting and we’ve checked a lot of boxes for success tonight.

Matt Kemp – OF and Yangervis Solarte – 2B/3B – Padres – vs. Chris Rusin

Kemp BvP: 3-for-6, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Solarte BvP: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI

Analysis: So, quietly, the Padres have scored 27 runs in the past two games…at PETCO Park no less. Both games were against left-handed starting pitching and tonight they get their third in a row. The Rockies got torched for 11 runs and went to the bullpen early the night before so even if Rusin struggles, the Padres should get ample opportunity to pound another lefty tonight. Kemp and Solarte are hitting 3rd and 4th, respectively, and if I were you, I might stack Wil Myers, Norris and Jon Jay (who went 5-for-5 last night and has an outstanding BvP against Rusin as a lefty). Kemp and Solarte are able to mash lefties, so give them a roll tonight.

Yoenis Cespedes – OF and Neil Walker – 2B – Mets – vs. Tom Koehler

Cespedes BvP – 3-for-8, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI

Walker BvP: 2-for-6, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 3 BB

Analysis: The Mets are one of the top teams vs. RH pitching. Right now, Neil Walker is one of those bats making this team go. The loss of David Wright pushes Walker into the clean-up spot and with 3 walks in 6 ABs against Koehler’s lofty .376 wOBA, Walker makes a solid play at the 2B position. He has 5 multi-hit games in his last 10, including a modest 5-game hit streak. As for Cespedes, he’s a right-handed specialist and I am willing to bet he can make Koehler pay for any location mistakes. I am not worried about the venue either, so deploy both at will.

Lastly, we have our last BvP lineup of the week. Wednesday’s lineup was very solid and the other Astros’ bats pushed us into the cash line. Let’s hope we can put together a streak tonight!

Lineup Narrative: Maeda is going to be at least 50% owned in tournaments, including this $1 Solo Shot.Velasquez has a sub-1.00 ERA at home and faces the worst strikeout team in the majors. Matt Adams has had some success against Johnny Cueto, but if Garneau isn’t in the lineup tonight, I may have to tweak the catcher and 1B position. Good luck tonight!