The Hardball Times Fantasy

The daily grind 7-2

by Brad Johnson
July 02, 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!

I will be driving from Georgia to New Jersey overnight and hence will not be writing a column tomorrow morning. And probably not the next morning either.

Today's grind


Today's pitching options all have their warts.

Carlos Zambrano is 36 percent owned and matches up against a solid Brewers offense.

Jarrod Parker's ownership has skyrocketed to 49 percent, and his match-up against the Red Sox is scary.

Jordan Lyles isn't a great pitcher, but he's just one percent owned and will face a weak Pirates lineup.

Jim Thome will face Mariners righty Hisashi Iwakuma. Thome is six percent owned, but should probably be picked up in most formats.

I'll let Seth Smith out for his usual match-up against a righty. Today it's Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Luke Scott and Carlos Pena are set to face Freddy Garcia.

Brennan Boesch is having a hard time of it this season, but he has to be able to hit Liam Hendriks. Right?

Tomorrow's grind


Some good options including Marco Estrada against the Marlins, Jair Jurrjens versus the Cubs, Andrew Cashner against the Diamondbacks, and Wei-Yin Chen against the Mariners.

Jonny Gomes will get another crack at Jon Lester.

If Boesch can hit Hendriks, he should be able to hit Nick Blackburn too.

Vin Mazzaro seems like a good match-up for Adam Lind.

Salvador Perez is still out there for the taking in many leagues. Brett Cecil opposes.

Reliever watch


Santiago Casilla blew the save yesterday, but only because he felt like earning a win.

Yesterday’s results


Perhaps another time...

Follow Brad on Twitter @baseballAteam. Email him at pitchin432 AT Yahoo.com

<< Return to Article