Tips 'n Trends: Wednesday's games

HITTERS:

Imagine you’re a hitter in a massive slump. You’ve watched the tape over and over again, spending countless hours in the clubhouse rewinding the footage of your atrocious at-bats. It feels like every adjustment you make just doesn’t seem to matter. Then you look behind and you see Casey Blake, and you feel better — because he’s in for a tougher day than even you. You see, the Indians third baseman has had 22 career at-bats versus Javier Vazquez, and he’s whiffed in 11 of them. If you have Casey on your fantasy team, now is not the time for him… Neither is it the time for Orlando Cabrera, as the “O.C.” has struggled against Indians scheduled starter, Paul Byrd. Cabrera is 3-for-27 lifetime against Byrd, so you should weigh your other options at shortstop… But for Raul Ibanez, he doesn’t need any game footage to do well against Kenny Rogers. Even though he doesn’t have as much pop in his bat against southpaws, give Ibanez a piece of lumber against Rogers and he’ll do just fine. Ibanez is 10-for-33 when facing the Tigers’ southpaw and should be in your lineup as the 43-year-old Rogers has been struggling... Also make sure Gary Sheffield and Paul Konerko are penciled in as well. I know both have been a bit inconsistent this year, and are playing nowhere near the level of years past,  but today is a day you definitely need to find a spot for them. Sheffield is a lifetime .421 hitter versus Jarrod Washburn and Konerko has 11 hits in only 32 at-bats when facing Byrd. If you need some extra pop, don’t hesitate to go with Sheff and Paulie.

PITCHERS:

Making his first start of the year for the Boston Red Sox is former Angels’ ace, Bartolo Colon. But do not be fooled by the “ace” title. He’s not the pitcher that won the American League Cy Young Award in 2005. He’s older, fatter, and not nearly as dominant as he was. I’d say avoid Colon completely until he can prove he can stay healthy and pitch effectively — but I don’t expect that to happen anytime soon... Ian Snell is another pitcher who needs to be a bit more effective before I can recommend trotting him out there on regular basis. I had high hopes for the Pittsburgh ace, but he’s failed to live up to expectations thus far this year. While Snell can usually be accounted for at least piling up the punch outs, he hasn’t done that this year. Sit Snell until further notice...Meanwhile, it’s amazing that Shawn Chacon has made nine starts this year and is still decision-less. I say Chacon gets out of that funk on Wednesday — but unfortunately for him, and fantasy owners — it’s going to bein the form of a loss. The Cubbies aren’t the easiest lineup to deal with in the NL, and I don’t see Chacon having the stuff to match up… As surprising as the Cardinals have played so far, I’m even more surprised on how poorly the Padres have been. The Padres simply cannot muster any offense this season, and they are really struggling right now. If I own Braden Looper, I’m playing him against San Diego and hoping that the St. Louis offense can give him two-to-three runs, because that’s all it will take to beat the Friars… Another pitcher to play is Jonathan Sanchez versus Colorado. Sanchez, who can rack up the K’s, has had success against the defending National League champs. Todd Helton, Matt Holliday, and Garrett Atkins are a combined 4-for-25 with eight strikeouts against Sanchez. Plug in Sanchez and look for a win with at least five K’s.

Wednesday’s Positive Trends:
David DeJesus [career against Bartolo Colon]: 8/25, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, .320/.370/.640
Alex Cora  [career against Brett Tomko]: 11/32, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI, .344/.417/.438
Raul Ibanez  [career against Kenny Rogers]: 10/33, 4 2B, 4 RBI, 4 BB, .303/.378/.424
Ivan Rodriguez [career against Jarrod Washburn]: 15/36, 2 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, .417/.447/.778
Gary Sheffield [career against Jarrod Washburn]: 8/19, 1 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, .421/.522/.789
Marco Scutaro  [career against Jon Garland]: 10/16, 2 2B, .625/.647/.750
Paul Konerko [career against Paul Byrd]: 11/32, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .344/.364/.500 

Brian McCann  [career against Mike Pelfrey]: 5/9, 3 2B, 1 RBI, .556/.600/.889
Xavier Nady [career against Ben Sheets]: 7/13, 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, ..538/.500/1.154
Prince Fielder [career against Ian Snell]: 6/12, 2 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, .500/.538/.917
Aramis Ramirez [career against Shawn Chacon]: 10/17, 4 2B, 5 HR, 13 RBI, .588/.600/1.706 

Wednesday’s Negative Trends:
Adrian Beltre  [career against Kenny Rogers]: 3/21, 1 RBI, 5 BB, 1 K, .143/.333/.143
Magglio Ordonez [career against Jarrod Washburn]: 5/34, 1 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, .147/.194/.353
Casey Blake  [career against Javier Vazquez]: 5/22, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 11 K, .227/.346/.273
Grady Sizemore [career against Javier Vazquez]: 7/27, 2 2B, 2 3B, 4 BB, 10 K, .259/.394/.481
Orlando Cabrera [career against Paul Byrd]: 3/27, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K, .111/.143/.111 

Todd Helton  [career against Jonathan Sanchez]: 2/11, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 4 K, .182/.250/.273
Matt Holliday  [career against Jonathan Sanchez]: 0/7, 1 BB, 3 K, .000/.125/.000
Rickie Weeks  [career against Ian Snell]: 0/4, 4 K, .000/.000/.000
Ryan Zimmerman [career against Jamie Moyer]: 1/11, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K, .091/.231.182
Brian Giles  [career against Braden Looper]: 1/11, 3 BB, 4 K, .091/.286/.091