BaseballGuys.com. has partnered with DraftDay.com to give all my wonderful followers, that’s you, the chance to play the game on a daily basis. On Tuesday and Thursday’s here at the site, every week, I’ll be giving you some insight into the mind of The Oracle as I will give you some of my best plays for the day – even if I’m willing to admit that daily games are a bit of a crap shoot given the difficulty in predicting how a handful of at-bats will work out.
To join a daily league remember to visit DraftDay.com by clicking on the link to their site.
One other source for those of you on Twitter.
@MLBDailyLineups – lists all the lineups in one spot so you can make sure you don't have someone in your lineup that is sitting on the bench that day.
CATCHERS1. Brian McCann2. Salvador Perez
McCann loves to see Mike Pelfrey on the hill. In 39 at-bats the slugging catcher has hit .462 with two homers and 10 RBIs. Yowzahs.
Perez is batting .3008 on the year and has pushed that mark to .368 over the past week. He's also hit .323 against righties this year. So what if he doesn't have an at-bat against Bud Norris.
FIRST BASE1. Albert Pujols2. Jordan Pacheco
What was once a lock now seems like a risk. Pujols has hit .280 with two homers the past week, and he faces Aaron Harang who he hits pretty well (.311 with five homers and 15 RBIs over 74 at-bats).
After going superstar in Pujols (former superstar?), let's go with a nobody in Pacheco. Jordan has a hit in his last three starts. Jordan is hitting .400 the past week. Jordan has hit .340 at home. He's hit .500 (18 ABs) against the D'backs in his career. Jordan has four hits in 11 at-bats (.364) against Ian Kennedy.
SECOND BASE1. Dan Uggla2. Brandon Phillips
Uggla hammers Pelfrey hitting .406 with 11 RBIs in 32 at-bats which is enough for me to overlook the fact that he has one hit in his last 14 at-bats overall.
Go big or go home with Phillips. Not only has the guy knocked in 38 runners in 43 games this season, he's also hit .300 with a homer and seven RBIs the past week. He's gone 5/13 (.385) with two homers against Jonathon Niese.
THIRD BASE1. Pedro Alvarez2. Eric Chavez
Alvarez is only hitting .147 at home this season (and .201 overall), but he's gone deep twice in the past week, is facing Matt Garza in his first start this season, and has gone 5-for-10 with a HR against Garza in their confrontations.
Chavez is hitting .343 on the year and he's batting an unbelievable .571 with six RBIs the past week. He faces Jhoulys Chacin who he has never seen before on Tuesday.
SHORTSTOP1. Yunel Escobar2. Didi Gregorius
Escobar has a hit in eight of his last nine games, and he's driven in six runs in his last four outings. He faces Ramon Ortiz, you know the old guy who we haven't consistently seen take a turn in the big league since before Obama was elected President.
Gregorius is hitting like he never has in his life before, but we're not worried about the fact that he has no chacne to keep that up the rest of the way. Didi has one hit in two at-bats against Chacin in his career but he has six hits in his last two games and has gone 8-for-13 against the Rockies this season.
OUTFIELD1. Nate McLouth2. Matt Holliday
How excited would you be about a player if I told you he had seven hits, including four doubles, in nine at-bats against a pitcher? That's what has happened when McLouth has faced Phil Hughes.
Holliday has hit Edinson Volquez hard with a .412 average, two homers and four RBIs in 17 at-bats. Carlos Beltran has also hit .417 with five RBIs in 12 ABs against the righty.
STARTING PITCHERS1. Zack Greinke2. Wandy Rodriguez3. Jose Fernandez4. Jerome Williams
Greinke looked sharp in his return from the DL and he gets to return to his former home in Milwaukee. He faces a Brewers team that has, get this, produced two hits against in him 34 at-bats. Two. He also faces Hiram Burgos which doesn't hurt.
Wandy has been very good this season and in four home starts this season he's gone 3-1 with a 1.35 ERA. He faces a Cubs team that isn't very good offensively, and he's also posted a 2.29 ERA and 1.04 WHIP against them in their last six meetings.
Fernandez has gone at least six innings in each of his last three starts allowing a total of five earned runs for the Marlins. He's also struck out 21 batters in those 20 innings. He faces a Phillies team that is without Howard and Ruiz.
Williams has pitched well this year, there's no way he can sustain that 3.05 ERA and 1.10 WHIP, but he faces the Mariners Tuesday. The entire Mariners team has hit .228 with one home run in 114 at-bats against Williams.By Ray Flowers