Friday. Finally. The work week is nearing completion, but we at Fantasy Alarm never rest. Here is the book on Friday matchups.

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DISH DIAMONDS – The Best Hitting Matchups of the Day
 
Miguel Cabrera should struggle at least a little bit against James Shields. He doesn't. At all. In 43 at-bats look at the carnage: .419/.468/.721 with two homers and seven RBIs. Others with a .300+ average against Shields include: Austin Jackson (.321 in 28 ABs), Alex Avila (.304 in 23 ABs), Torii Hunter (.306 in 49 at-bats).

Alex Gordon hits Rick Porcello pretty darn well. In 31 at-bats Gordon has hit .355 with a .988 OPS. He's also gone deep twice with seven RBIs.

Yadier Molina loves to see him some Travis Wood on the hill as he's hit .407 in 27 at-bats. That's just part of the good news. Molina has also, get this, hit three bombs while driving in 11 runs in those 27 at-bats. John Jay hasn't taken Wood deep but he too has hit well in the matchup with 10 base knocks in 22 at-bats (.455).

Josmil Pinto faces righty Ubaldo Jimenez Friday. He's hit three bombs versus righties and has a decent .836 OPS this season.

Ryan Raburn hits lefties well. We all know that. He gets to face lefty John Danks, a man who he's always hit well (.351 with three homers, five doubles and nine RBIs over 37 ABs).

Is seven at-bats enough to draw a conclusion? Of course not. But when seven at-bats lead to six hits, you take notice. That's Alexei Ramirez' line against Danny Salazar.

Surprisingly Jayson Werth has hit .357 with two homers in 28 at-bats against Cliff Lee.

DISH DISASTERS – Worst Hitting Matchups of the Day

Alberto Callaspo has four hits, all singles, in 20 at-bats against Clay Buchholz. That's a .200 average.

Alcides Escobar equals disaster in the matchup with Rick Porcello. That's a pretty fair assessment when you note that a guy is 1-for-21 off a pitcher.

Unlike many of his teammates, Ian Kinsler simply doesn't produce against James Shields (.179/.238/.385 in 42 plate appearances). Rajai Davis is just 2-for-16.

There are some things the Oracle just doesn't get.

Aramis Ramirez is back in action but his performance Friday may not be enough for you to wish he was in your lineup. He's got a total of three hits in 24 at-bats against Mike Leake. Sometimes these things don't always make sense.

Jimmy Rollins has two hits in 18 at-bats against Stephen Strasburg. He's also struck out seven times.

Mark Teixeira hasn't looked too bad since he;s returned to action, but it's unlikely the success will continue against David Price as Tex has hit .222 with a .300 OBP over 49 plate appearances (three homers aren't enough to tilt thing in his favor). Brett Gardner and Kelly Johnson are also a combined 5-for-31.

Whatever happened to the good old freakshow?

Justin Upton better try something different, cause to this point he has been flat out dominated by Tim Lincecum. That's not a statement from a Lincecum apologist, it's a simple reading of the data which shows a shocking ineptitude by Upton: .224 average, no homers and 17 Ks in 49 at-bats.

Chris Young strikes out a lot and often has trouble producing hits. That's the situation when he takes on Jorge De La Rosa (.192 with nine strikeouts in 26 ABs).

Bookmark the following three sources to check daily after you read this piece.

Fantasy Alarm Lineups

Batter Versus Pitcher

Daily Projections – For every single day of the season.

MOUND MAVENS – Starting Pitchers to Target

Andrew Cashner has made three starts at home this year with a 0.81 ERA and 0.85 WHIP. He has allowed eight runs in his last two starts, both loses, but taking on a beaten down D'backs squad in San Diego sounds like the tonic for him to reverse course from his last couple outings.

Gerrit Cole has made two starts at home this season with a 1.80 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. He's also allowed just two runs over his last two starts (15 innings). The Blue Jays are a tough test, but he seems up for the challenge.

Desperate? If so Jorge De La Rosa might be your man. He pitches against the Mets, and he's allowed a total of two runs over his last two outings. He does pitch in Colorado though, the great equalizer. Should note though that he did have a 10-1 record with a 2.76 ERA and 1.35 WHIP at Coors last year.

Hector Santiago has an ERA under two in 13.2 innings against the Rangers. He's also held the righties in the Rangers lineup to barely a .160 average with a K-rate of over 25 percent. Just something to think about if you're going cheap, or reaching deep, on the hill.

MOUND MESSES – Starting Pitchers to Avoid

Tom Koehler has a 2.97 ERA on the year. The people rejoice. They ignore that he's allowed two homers in his last two outings, and that he's walked 11 batters over his last three leading to a season long K/BB ratio of 1.42. He takes on the Dodgers at home Friday.

Mike Minor will make his first start of the season against the Giants at home. I'm always a bit reluctant with a guy in his first outing, especially when that guy had an 4.43 ERA over five minor league outings including allowing 11 runs over his final 17.1 innings.

Ricky Nolasco faces the powerful Orioles lineup. In his last two starts he's allowed 21 hits and 11 runs in 11.2 innings. He's also struck out 13 guys in five starts. Yeah, pass.

James Shields has a 5-8 record an a poor set of ratios at Kauffman Stadium (4.57 ERA, 1.40 WHIP over 21 starts). He pitches at home against the Tigers, a team he allowed three runs to score against over 6.1 innings in his first outing of the season in Detroit.

Travis Wood allowed five runs in his last start looking a lot more like Travis Wood than he had ay any point in the rest of April. He also faces the Cardinals, a team that has historically beaten him around the yard (5.16 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, .303 BAA).

Zack Wheeler @ Colorado. Does that sound toot to you? In two road starts in Arizona and Atlanta this year he owns a 4.76 ERA and 1.50 WHIP. He's also walked three batters in three straight games. Oh, and he starts in Colorado. Did I mention that?


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