Friday, April 20, 2012
The daily grind 4-20
Posted by Brad Johnson at 5:52amThe Daily Grind provides daily match-up advice based on my every morning waiver wire search. I welcome advice to help make this column more effective. Ownership rates are from Yahoo!
Today's grind
Ross Detwiler is 10 percent owned now. The Marlins aren't the easiest assignment, nor are they the hardest.
Hector Noesi looks like a solid play for the day. He's home against the White Sox. I picked him up in one of my leagues although Detwiler was unavailable.
Lance Lynn and Jonathon Niese face the Pirates and Giants respectively, making them both solid match-up plays if available.
There's a wide range of hitters available although none have a dream match-up. Maybe I'm under-thinking this, but I like Juan Rivera against J.A. Happ quite a bit. Ryan Sweeney against Ivan Nova smells like a good match-up too. Chris Denorfia will start tonight, but he faces Cole Hamels. Gerardo Parra, Jason Kubel, and A.J. Pollock get to work against Brandon Beachy.
Tomorrow's grind
Philip Humber is seven percent owned and pitches against the Mariners at Safeco. Jeanmar Gomez draws the hapless Athletics at the Coliseum. He's almost guaranteed to be available with an ownership rate of one percent. Those who like playing the hot hand could try Joe Saunders against the Braves, but I strongly recommend that you don't. I really mistrust Saunders' skill set.
Chris Heisey might get a start against Paul Maholm, which would obviously be a boon. Another "might start" is Nate Schierholtz. He faces the very hit friendly Mike Pelfrey. If you picked up Sweeney for today, you might want to hold on to him for his match-up against Freddy Garcia. Similarly, Juan Rivera faces Kyle Weiland tomorrow.
My top recommendation is Luke Scott against Carl Pavano. If you pick up Scott, think about keeping him. He's only 16 percent owned, which is just wrong.
Reliever watch
Javy Guerra closed the door last night, extinguishing the murmur about his job security. I suspect it's going to take an injury for Kenley Jansen to claim the role. Brandon League blew a save last night, but his job is among the most secure in the league barring a trade.
Yesterday’s results
First, let me say I'm a little bit shocked Jim Thome did not start. I thought I had a grasp on how they planned to use him, but I guess not. He went 0-for1 as a pinch hitter.
If you were able to snag Vance Worley, he stuffed it up the Padres' bum while earning the win: 7 IP, 11 K, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP
If you took my recommendation for Phil Hughes, at least he got you a win. He also earned you 5.1 IP, 4 K, 3.38 ERA, 1.50 WHIP.
Josh Tomlin did well as one of the two risky plays of the day. He earned the win with 8 IP, 5 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.63 WHIP
The other risky play, Tom Milone, was decent. He also pulled down the win with 5 IP, 3 K, 3.60 ERA, 1.60 WHIP
For those keeping track at home, that's four wins for my four pitching selections.
I also mentioned Mark Ellis. He had a respectable 1-for-3 evening with two walks and a run scored.
Weekend coverage?
I'm not opposed to running the column over the weekend. However, I want there to be a demand if I'm going to spend time on my weekend morning. Here is my proposition. I have 200 followers on Twitter. If I get to 220 followers by the time I wake up tomorrow, I'll post a column. Keep in mind, it will come later in the morning than the weekday version.
Follow Brad on Twitter @baseballAteam. Email him at pitchin432 AT Yahoo.com
You have Hughes’ ERA wrong. 4 of the runs were unearned.