The daily grind 4-30
by Brad JohnsonApril 30, 2012
The 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
It's an ugly day for pitching picks. R.A. Dickey takes on the Astros in the waiver wire match-up of the day. Randy Wolf draws the Padres in the "if you have to do it" match-up of the day.
There are some good hitter options. Carlos Gomez is starting to garner a full-time role thanks to his hot start and Nyjer Morgan's utter absence. The Padres send mediocre righty Joe Wieland to the mound, so Gomez should be able to reach base and, hopefully, swipe a bag.
Sticking with the Padres and Brewers game, Chris Denorfia should get the start against Wolf.
Marlon Byrd should get the start in Boston against Tommy Milone.
Josh Reddick is my hitter pick for the day. He faces Clay Buchholz. Reddick is only six percent owned, but he's a great play against most righties.
Tomorrow's grind
Jonathon Niese against the Astros headlines a day of crappy match-ups. He's 53 percent owned as it is, so he's probably not available.
The only other guy I'd be comfortable looking at is Edinson Volquez. He faces the Brewers and is 48 percent owned.
Shelley Duncan gets the platoon advantage against Chris Sale tomorrow.
The Luke Scott employment train is rolling along. He's up to 36 percent and faces Hector Noesi.
Boston faces righty Jarrod Parker, which means Ryan Sweeney will be back in action.
Andruw Jones should get the start against Brian Matusz.
Reliever watch
Frank Francisco blew a save yesterday. Jon Rauch also had a bad outing, but it was his first of the season. Consider Francisco to be on his last legs.
Grant Balfour blew his second save of the season. The A's have a couple options like Brian Fuentes and Fautino de los Santos.
Jose Valverde blew his first save of the season. There are some grumbles that he hasn't looked very sharp this year, but I haven't seen him pitch yet.
Yesterday’s results
Saturday wasn't my best work.
A couple home runs ruined an otherwise solid outing from Marco Estrada: 6 IP, 2 K, 6.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP
I warned you I was cringing over recommending Bruce Chen, didn't I? And I even caught crap in the comments. I hope you didn't jump on this one: 2.2 IP, 1 K, 20.25 ERA, 3.00 WHIP
I recommended a second Chen, Wei-Yin Chen, and he did quite well. He earned the win along with: 7 IP, 4 K, 1.29 ERA, 1.14 WHIP
I thought Randy Wells could handle an easy assignment like the Phillies, but I was very wrong: 3.2 IP, 3 K, 9.82 ERA, 2.18 WHIP
Randall Delgado also pitched poorly: 4.1 IP, 4 K, 8.31 ERA, 2.54 WHIP
Eric Thames was 0-2 with a pair of walks.
Tony Campana was benched in favor of Reed Johnson, but he still went 1-for-1 with a run scored.
I said it felt like a Jonny Gomes day, and it was. He went 1-for-3 with a home run, one run, one RBI, and one walk.
Kirk Nieuwenhuis went 0-for-5.
Sunday was much better.
Tommy Hunter survived his outing against the A's: 7 IP, 2 K, 2.57 ERA, 1.14 WHIP
Tim Hudson earned the win in his return from the disabled list: 5 IP, 6 K, 3.60 ERA, 1.60 WHIP
Rajai Davis is day-to-day with a wrist injury, but he walked and scored a run in the eighth inning yesterday.
Tony Campana channeled his inner Sam Fuld with a 2-for-4 afternoon. He scored two runs and stole a base.
Seth Smith was 2-for-3 with a home run, one run, one RBI, and one walk. His teammate Reddick managed a 2-for-4 line with one run.
Justin Turner did not start as I predicted. He also did not pinch hit.
Follow Brad on Twitter @baseballAteam. Email him at pitchin432 AT Yahoo.com
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