Friday, April 17, 2015

DFS: Daily Sports Advice April 17, 2015

Today’s edition of Smart Plays bring you more baseball, as the NBA playoffs don’t get under way until tomorrow afternoon.  These suggestions will focus on the later games, not the first two, as the first game of the day is about to start as I’m writing this.
Can’t Miss Batter
Today, I’ll post two can’t miss batters.  These guys aren’t necessarily smaller names, but guys that should absolutely have success today based on their past.
Buster Posey-Posey is hitting just .243 on the season, but he’s got 2 homeruns, 5 rbi’s, and plenty of upside.  Today he’s facing Josh Collmenter, who’s he’s seen a great deal of success against.  In the 22 times he’s faced Collmenter, he’s hit safely 11 times including a double and 3 homeruns, and walked twice.
Adrian Gonzalez-Gonzalez has been on a tear as of late, starting the season hitting a blistering .528 with 5 homers and 9 RBI’s.  I’m sure a .500+ batting average isn’t going to continue, but Kyle Kendrick probably won’t be the man to stop him, given their 15 past match ups.  Gonzalez has hit safely 4 times, and walked 3 times.  That’s an OBP of nearly .500, and a likely indication he’ll fare well today.
Pitcher to Pick Up
Today I went all the way to the bottom of the “Pitchers” cue to bring you Yovani Gallardo of the Texas Rangers.  Gallardo started the season weak, posting a 5.59 ERA over his first two starts, and walking 2 batters on top of that for a WHIP of over 1.6, but tonight might just be the night he changes that against the Mariners.
The 3-6 Mariners have been disappointing this season to say the least.  After spending in the off-season to bring in guys like Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano, they’ve quickly fallen below .500 with Cruz as pretty much the sole bright spot in the lineup.  Cruz is also the only weakness in the matchup Gallardo has against these Mariners, who come in to this game with a .111 batting average against him.  Cruz was 2-2, but otherwise the other 4 batters in their lineup he’s seen were a combined 3-43 for no runs and 4 walks against Gallardo.  He could make a great cheap buy, if you’re loading up your lineup with big bats today.
Steer Clear of…Ubaldo Jimenez-despite the fact he is coming into this game with a 0.00 ERA, and looked great in his first start against a tough lineup in Toronto I just don’t trust him.  He’s an inconsistent pitcher at best, and he’s starting tonight against Boston, the first overall team in the league when it comes to putting runs on the board, and a lineup full of guys who have seen success against Jimenez.  This lineup is lead by Pablo Sandoval, who saw his success against Jimenez in the NL, during Jimenez’s best days.
Michael Brantley-I’d also stay away from Brantley today.  He’s been struggling early in the season, and coming into this game is just 1-10 against Michael Pelfrey.  I’m not sure this is the game I’d be on him coming out of this early slump.
Yesterday’s Picks:
Pick up:
Adam Lind 1-4
Dillon Gee 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 2 HR, 7K
Marcell Ozuna 0-3, 3K, BB, RBI
Stay Away From
Paul Goldschmidt-1-5, 2R, 3 RBI, BB
Jose Bautista 0-4
Washington Nationals lineup 6-29, 5R
Not my best day.  But I’ll take my lumps and still dish you out some solid advice today.  See you tomorrow!

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