I had a killer weekend. By my count, and I talked about this on my Sunday night show on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Fantasy Sports Tonight, 7-10 PM EDT), I hit up seven bars in three cities. Yes, that is both impressive and sad. I'm going with impressive. I even watched the Clippers/Warriors Game 7 (well the 4th quarter at least). My brain is working fine, don't worry (hangovers don't get me), so you can be sure that this piece will be spot on.

NOTE: THE 2014 PLAYER RANKINGS ARE UPDATED. LOOK FOR MONTHLY UPDATES ON THE FIRST OF EACH MONTH. CLICK HERE FOR THE MAY 1ST RANKINGS OF NEARLY 500 PLAYERS.

Happy Cinco de Mayo by the way.

DISH DIAMONDS – The Best Hitting Matchups of the Day
 
Adrian Beltre finally had a nice day Sunday. Let's go out on a limb and suggest that the good times will continue Monday when he faces Jordan Lyles. I know Lyles has been pretty good this year, but he doesn't have impressive stuff and his talent certainly is no match for those of Beltre. Adrian is also hitting .353 over 17 at-bats in the matchup.

Aaron Hill has remembered how to hit the past two weeks. Finally. He's set to face the struggling Matt Garza and it's a matchup that he's been able to exploit in the past (.333 over 33 at-bats).

Hanley Ramirez has nine hits and six RBIs in 20 at-bats against Jordan Zimmerman. Matt Kemp has also been very productive. That's what you call it when a guy has five hits in 12 at-bats leading to two homers and seven RBIs.

Maybe Jose Reyes will finally get going against Kyle Kendrick. After all, he has hit .394 with a 1.171 OPS, two homers and four steals off the guy (38 PAs).

Giancarlo Stanton is on pace for 50+ homers and 175+ RBIs. He's also hit .389 with two bombs against  Jonathon Niese (18 at-bats). He's also hitting better than .330 at home. Others who might get into the action versus the lefty of the Mets: Reed Johnson (7-for-18, .389) and Jeff Baker (6-for-12, .500).

Top hitters for Week 5...

Brian Dozier .360-1-3-7-5
Todd Frazier .364-1-8
Desmond Jennings .355-3-8-3-3
Yasiel Puig .444-1-7-4-3
Colby Rasmus .320-3-9-5
Anthony Rizzo .357-3-6-6-1
Jarrod Saltalmacchia .474-2-4-7
Troy Tulowitzki .619-2-9-8
Jonathan Villar .353-2-5-3-2
Neil Walker .467-04

DISH DISASTERS – Worst Hitting Matchups of the Day

Robinson Cano is owned by Scott Kazmir. That's what I call it when I see Cano batting .222 with a .243 OBP and 12 Ks in 36 at-bats. You agree?

Yadier Molina has had a hell of a start to the year and Aaron Harang was bombed in his last outing. Still the catcher has hit just .216 over 37 at-bats in the matchup. Matt Holliday would be so lucky. The slugging outfielder has produced two hits in 232 at-bats (.087). You never see Holliday struggle that badly against someone.

My new favorite dive bar is Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco. You would never notice it walking down the street. Just a building with the window blacked out on a busy street. Inside is tiki greatness though. Brilliant.

Ichiro Suzuki is batting .254 against Jered Weaver over 71 at-bats. It's not likely he will be active. Derek Jeter? He might be but he's hitting .185 in 27 at-bats vs the younger Weaver hurler. Ouch. It gets worse from there are three Yankees are all 2-for-15 with one double against Weaver (Brian Roberts, Brett Gardner, Brendan Ryan). That's a .133 batting average. Luckily for Ryan he's not around to be further humiliated.

Horrible hitters for Week 5...

The following men failed to hit .120 last week: Ben Revere, Everth Cabrera, Elvis Andrus,Freddie Freeman, Evan Gattis, Derek Jeter, Matt Joyce, Josmil Pinto, Carlos Beltran, Ben Zobrist and Pablo Sandoval. 

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

Nathan Eovaldi faces the Mets. That's good. He's also 2-1 with a 2.42 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in four home starts this season. He's also allowed two earned runs in his last three starts. He's also the proud owner of a 35/5 K/BB ratio. Lots to like.

Oh hell. I can't explain it. Scott Kazmir continues to get it done. He's somehow walked three men in four starts. That's amazing for a guy with his track record. He's also allowed three or fewer earned runs in all six of his outings this season and only once has he failed to last six innings. He faces the Mariners in Oakland.

Some pictures of Smuggler's Cove. Yes, I'm a fan. Still.

Jonathon Niese takes on the Marlins, and though the Fish are hitting extremely well at home Niese has been locked in. Over five starts he's allowed as many as three runs just one time, and over his last three outings the opponent has pushed across a mere three earned runs. Sounds like a good setup to me.

Yusmeiro Petit will make the start in place of Matt Cain (DL with his injured finger). In his last outing he worked six scoreless innings and in 18 outings as a Giant check out the numbers: 3.31 ERA and  1.23 WHIP. He makes for a decent option versus the Pirates.

Yordano Ventura pitches in Petco. That means he faces the lame Padres too. He's also pitching at night, a situation that has occurred four times this year with wonderful results (0.35 ERA, 0.85 WHIP over 26 innings). He's also tossed 13 scoreless his last two times out.

Jered Weaver's demise is greatly exaggerated. He's only allowed one homer in his last three starts as he's allowed a total of four runs. He's also won two of those three games. Oh, and in his career at home all he's done is go 60-25 with a 2.70 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. He faces off with the Yankees.

MOUND MESSES – Starting Pitchers to Avoid

Kyle Gibson takes on the Indians. Doesn't really matter who the opponent is for me. Over his last two outings not only has Gibson been saddled with two loses but he's also surrendered 12 runs and 19 hits over 9.2 innings. Don't do it, just don't.

Jordan Lyles, I'm just not buying it. I know you have a 2.70 ERA and 1.06 WHIP but two things. (1) you're not that good (a mere 19 Ks 36.2 inning but one obvious thing to note). (2) You pitch for the Rockies. I'm not starting him Monday as he hurls the pelota in Colorado against a Rangers club that has beaten him so badly over six starts that Lyle should get a Purple Heart for his willingness to go out there again. I mean, look at these numbers: 0-5, 9.82 ERA, 2.28 WHIP, .380 BAA. That's over 29.1 innings and six starts.

Martin Perez is tempting. When you're 4-1 with a 2.95 ERA it makes sense to look a guys way. Still, he was bombed for eight runs last time out and when your followup start is in Coors like it is for Perez today, let's just say the safe play is to leave him on the bench.

Eric Stults pitches at home, and last year he was a star in Petco. Still, he's not looked sharp for long portions of the year. He's allowed at least one homer in every start (seven in five). He's failed to work six innings in five of his six starts. He's struck out 13 batters in 28.2 innings. He's allowed 17 hits over his last eight innings. Hard to trust him against the Royals.

Make sure you tune in to the Fantasy Alarm's Daily Game Show at 6 PM EDT, Monday through Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius210, XM87) as Jeff Mans and Ted Schuster will help you to set your daily lineups.