2012 Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes 5/10

Zack Greinke, Milwaukee Brewers SP

Each and every day, I’ll be combing over box scores and scouring local beat writers’ reports to make sure you have all the information you need in order to make the right decisions for your fantasy baseball lineup. Make sure you check back at this very spot for Hot/Cold Streaks, Injury News, Closer Updates, Daily Stats, and more so that you can stay one step ahead of the rest of your league.

As always, make sure you’re getting your daily fantasy sports fix by playing the FP911Challenge!

Looking Back

Before we get to today’s games, let’s take a spin through last night’s box scores to identify the Studs and Duds from Monday, May 9th.

5 Good Nights

• Zack Greinke: 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 11 K’s
• Andrew McCutchen: 4-4, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI
• Jason Vargas: 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 6 K’s, W
• Brandon Morrow: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 10 K’s, W
• Ike Davis: 2-4, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI

Honorable Mention: Matt Joyce, Adrian Gonzalez, Adam Dunn, Ryan Braun, Andres Torres, Freddy Galvis, Tony Gwynn, Adam Lind, Allen Craig, Tim Hudson, Ervin Santana, Jake Peavy, Paul Maholm, Josh Johnson, Jeff Niemann, Johnny Cueto, Cliff Lee, Christian Friedrich, Drew Smyly, Anthony Bass, Kyle Lohse, Jon Lester

5 Bad Nights

• J.J. Putz: 0.2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 0 K’s
• David Robertson: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 1 K’s
• Kyle Kendrick: 1.0 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 0 K’s
• Shane Victorino: 0-5
• Matt Kemp: 0-5

Dishonorable Mention: Dee Gordon, Jose Altuve, Greg Dobbs, Donnie Murphy, Travis Buck, Will Rhymes, Tyler Greene, John Axford, Sean Marshall, Jeanmar Gomez, Carl Pavano, Tim Lincecum, Dillon Gee

Daily Grab Bag

Check back here for daily updates on injuries, closer battles, player news, and anything else that might affect your fantasy baseball team.

• I got this update out there late yesterday, so I’m going to keep it up for today: Chris Sale is underwent an MRI on his elbow yesterday, which means you should go take a break from reading this column and go grab Addison Reed if he’s available in any of your leagues. I’ll be waiting here until you get back.
• I gave a nod to this possibility yesterday as well, but Francisco Cordero has been removed as Toronto’s temporary closer and has been replaced by Casey Janssen (who picked up the save for the Blue Jays last night). Sergio Santos is due to return in two weeks, though, so Janssen may very well lose his spot soon.
• Joel Hanrahan will be placed on bereavement leave Friday to attend a funeral and will miss at least three games, according to reports. If you’re desperate for saves, Juan Cruz may end up getting a save opportunity or two over the weekend.
• Yoenis Cespedes owners can take a deep breath, as news came out that the A’s outfielder will not require a stint on the disabled list (for now). Cespedes has been diagnosed with a strained muscle on the back of his hand and will try to swing a bat today.
• Trout/Harper Watch: With two of baseball’s best prospects being called-up on the same day last week, I’m going to dedicate this space to keeping tabs on the youngsters for the near future. Here’s to hoping that you were able to grab one (or both)!
  Bryce Harper: Harper went 0-4 with a run last night. (.265, 5 R, 3 RBI, 1 Steal on the season).
  Mike Trout: Trout went 3-5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI last night. (.289, 6 Runs, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 Steal on the season).

Looking Ahead

A quick look at some of today’s pitchers to start (3 Up), pitchers to sit (3 Down), pitchers to take a flier on if you need a spot-start (Throwing Darts), and batters with advantageous or disadvantageous matchups (Today’s Swings and Misses).

3 Up

Stephen Strasburg at Pittsburgh Pirates
Strasburg has been nothing short of outstanding so far this season (1.66 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 9 K/9IP), and sports a minuscule .167 batting average against and 2.57 ERA versus the Pirates in his career.

C.C. Sabathia vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Sabathia’s overall totals (4.15 ERA, 1.08 WHIP) would look a lot better without an Opening Day debacle against the Rays, but he posted a .224 batting average against and 2.51 ERA versus Tampa Bay last year so I don’t expect anymore problems tonight.

David Price vs. New York Yankees
I never really like starting guys against the Yankees, but Price is an exception to that rule. He’s been stellar so far this season (5-1, 2.35 ERA, 1.12 WHIP) and he pitched well against the Yankees in the Bronx back in April.

3 Down

Jason Marquis at Toronto Blue Jays
There aren’t too many pitchers to pick from today, but there’s no reason to look towards Marquis (5.40 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, only 8 K’s in 23.1 innings) as he faces a Blue Jays offense that ranks 7th in the Majors in run scored.

Tommy Hunter vs. Texas Rangers
Despite his excellent stats at home this year (2-0, 1.35 ERA), it’s hard to look Hunter’s overall totals (5.00 ERA, 1.42 WHIP) as he goes up against a Rangers team that has scored the most runs in the league this season.

Derek Lowe at Boston Red Sox
The grizzled veteran has enjoyed a nice start to the season (4-1, 2.39 ERA, 1.49 WHIP), but his 5.73 ERA and .396 batting average against on the road give me pause as he faces a dangerous (albeit, struggling) Red Sox offense.

Throwing Darts

Henderson Alvarez at Minnesota Twins
With a short slate of games today, there aren’t a lot of good spot-start options out there. Alvarez represents the best of the bunch with  his 2.83 ERA and 1.04 WHIP so far this year. He’s only allowed three runs in his last three starts combined and is coming off a complete-game six-hit shutout.

Derek Holland at Baltimore Orioles
Holland has been average thus far (4.43 ERA, 1.23 WHIP) but in two road starts, he has only allowed allowed three runs in 14.1 innings (1.88 ERA) and has limited opposing offenses to a .180 batting average against.

Bartolo Colon vs. Detroit Tigers
Credit it to the Stem Cell treatments if you want, but it’s hard to argue with a 2.83 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. Starting Colon is always a risky proposition, but I think he’s worth a look as he faces a Tigers’  offense that has been struggling to score runs lately.

Today’s Swings and Misses

• Alex Avila is 2-for-3 (.666) with two home runs in his career against today’s starter, Bartolo  Colon.
• Nick Swisher is 10-for-24 (.417) in his career against today’s starter, David Price.
• Edwin Encarnacion is 8-for-16 (.500) with two home runs in his career against today’s starter, Jason Marquis.
• Carlos Pena is 5-for-38 (.132) in his career against today’s starter, C.C. Sabathia.
• Nick Markakis is 1-for-10 (.100)  in his career against today’s starter, Colby Lewis.
• Carlos Santana is hitless in seven career at-bats against today’s starter, Josh Beckett.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the great content on FantasyPros911.com, starting with some of our most recent updates:

• Matthew Dewoskin previews today’s starting pitchers in the latest edition of Pitch or Ditch.
• Matthew Dewoskin has been a busy bee and tries to make sense of the closer carousel in this week’s edition of Blown Opportunities.
• Collin Hager is back with his patented HVaC system to adjust his top 50 rankings for all you premium subscribers. You haven’t subscribed yet? What are you waiting for?!?
• Albert Lang gives you this week’s Hot N Cold Fantasy Baseball All-stars.
• Lenny Melnick takes a spin through last night’s action and dedicates some extra time to Zack Greinke and Jon Lester on today’s episode of his award-winning podcast.
• Don’t forget to listen to Editor-in-Chief, Patrick DiCaprio and the crew on last night’s Fantasy Baseball Roundtable Show. There was also an addition to the Official Are You Crazy and Bets page last night, courtesy of Albert Lang.

• Biography of the Author(Read Below)..
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Nick Raducanu

Nick Raducanu finished 2011 ranked in the top 20 on ESPN’s Fantasy site, and is the mystery man behind the TraderX persona at www.FantasyTrade411.com. You can follow him and ask him for fantasy advice on Twitter @FantasyTrade411.

Latest posts by Nick Raducanu (Posts)

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