HITTERS:
With Brad Penny on the hill
for the Dodgers, Colorado will have to be patient at the plate and hope to
manufacture some runs. Garrett Atkins,
who is 11-for-31 with 4 HR over the last seven days, should continue his
success against the big righty. Atkins is 12-for-31 lifetime off Penny, which
is good for a .387 clip. But as for Rockies who have had trouble with Penny in
the past, include the struggling sophomore, Troy Tulowitzki. Tulo was dropped in the order recently by Clint
Hurdle and is only 2-for-9 with zero extra base hits of Penny. If you have another
option at shortstop, I would strongly consider giving Tulowitzki some pine. For
the Rockies, Mark Redman gets the
nod. Nomar Garciaparra has a
terrific line (10-for-21, 1 HR, 7 RBI, .476 AVG) against the veteran lefty.
Depending on what kind of league you’re in, see if Orlando Cabrera is hanging around the waiver wire. The “OC” is off
to a slow start this year, but could have a great night against the O’s and Steve Traschel. Cabrera is 15-for-37
off Traschel and could be the catalyst tonight that sends Traschel to the
showers early. Don’t be shy plugging Carlos
Delgado into your lineup against sinkerballer, Tim Hudson. Delgado is 17-for-53 with 6 HR against the Atlanta
hurler. I would, however, hesitate with San Diego sluggers Adrian Gonzalez and Khalil
Greene. Greene and Gonzalez are a combined 2-for-15 off of 4-0, Micah Owings and that spells trouble
for the Friars against the Baby Backs.
PITCHERS:
Make way for Erik Bedard,
as he will make his first start after his short stint on the DL. Bedard should
be dealing tonight when the Oakland A’s come in to town. No one on the A’s has
more than three career hits against Bedard, and the team collectively is
hitting .161 versus the hard
throwing lefty. An interesting battle in
the NL Central goes down on Saturday when team aces Roy Oswalt and Adam
Wainwright go “mono y mono” in St. Louis. Look for Wainwright to get the
best of the Oswalt and the ‘Stros tonight. Houston is 10-for-44 with zero homers
off Wainwright. That doesn’t mean sit Oswalt either though. This should be a
low scoring game, and a great game for anyone who loves a pitchers duel.
Looking for spot start, from a guy who is most likely on the waiver wire? Check
out former number one overall pick Luke
Hochevar. Hochevar got hit a little bit in his first start of the year, but
the stuff was there. With a 94 mile per hour sinker and low-80s off speed stuff,
Hochevar is going to get big leaguers out. Look for him to have a quality start
against Shaun Marcum and Toronto and prove to the world why he was selected number
one. A couple arms to be aware of are Mark
Hendrickson and John Maine.
Hendrickson may be off to a 4-1 start, but I don’t expect it to last as he may
struggle against that southpaw-loving Milwaukee lineup. The Brewers, who have
seen Hendrickson, are collectively 12-for-40 when facing the former NBA player.
Maine does have the advantage that he is pitching at home, but he’s really
struggled with this Atlanta Braves lineup. The Braves’ three, four and five
hitters are 10-for-28, with a couple of homers against the Maine man — and just
might not be the man you want in your lineup tonight.
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