Good morning everyone! Another weekend is coming to a close; hopefully things went smoothly this week! Here is to another great one!

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Weather

I’m going to sound like a broken record here, but once again the only game with any weather concern is at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Monitor this one closely as you might have been affected by the handful of delays there yesterday.

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Positional Breakdown

Starting Pitchers

It’s that day again where all the top guys seem to be going all at once, and it’s our job to try and figure out which guys to have in what spots. Darvish, Grienke, Sale, Scherzer, Samardzija, Hamels and Lester all take the bump today with plus matchups, how do we decide which arm to use?

All of these guys are in play for me today in one spot or another, but there are a few things to make a note of. Darvish was scratched from his last start with neck stiffness, keep that in mind before you shell out a ton of money for him today, despite the strikeout potential that he brings you.

Sale is still only a few starts in from a DL stint and just recently pitched in a rain-shortened game where he was once again dominant.

Hamels has never really had much success against the Mets team, but dominated them in his last start against them. Definitely a risky pick by testing your luck with him while all the other top arms are on the mound, but he’s surely in play.

Honestly all these guys are in tremendous matchups, use any of them confidently.

Catchers

There are a ton of top dollar arms today, so in order to afford them, you’re going to have to punt a position or two. I’d look to catcher to be one of your best options to punt today. David Ross will be drawing the start against veteran left-hander Erik Bedard at Fenway Park today. I know that it sounds super gross to mention David Ross, but again, we want to punt with players who are going to be in a good position to succeed. For a minimal punt play, you can’t be too discouraged by Ross’ .199 ISO and .331 wOBA against left-handed pitchers.

So you don’t dig yourself David Ross. Do you like Tyler Flowers? Normally, I don’t either, but remember, we’re punting catcher. Flowers is in a really pretty matchup today at US Cellular against Eric Stults. If you’re second-guessing this, take a look at his numbers against left-handed pitchers this season. He’s got a couple homers to go with a .343 average. Factor in the great hitters park and I love Flowers today.

First Basemen

May is up, we can move on from Edwin Encarnacion. It’s been a while since I’ve recommended Adrian Gonzalez, but I’ll go back to it today. The difficult part about rostering anyone on the West coast on Sundays is the threat of them not being in the lineup. With a matchup against Edison Volquez, I’m sure you’ll see Gonzo in there. He’s cooled down a tad from his torrid start, but this matchup could surely get him back on track. He’s sporting a .243 ISO this season, and Volquez is no threat to him today.

So where has Crush Davis gone? He came off the disabled list, hit a bunch of homers and has seemingly disappeared. Does he show up against former teammate Scott Feldman today? I think so. Obviously everyone is aware of the huge power potential that Davis presents us every day he steps on the field. His price has dipped a tad and today you’re going to want to take a chance on him in a hitters park.

Second Basemen

Ian Kinsler had a pretty brutal game last night against Chris Young, he should rebound quite well tonight against Elias. Although Elias has been a surprise in his rookie season, Kinsler has been excellent this season, and really good against left-handed pitching. He’s hitting .347 against southpaws and has a great spot today against Elias. You’ll have to pay for him, but he has a ton of upside on the bases and in the box.

Jason Kipnis is back from the disabled list and he should get it going here soon. Kipnis presents us with even more upside than Kinsler does on any given day and faces Jhoulys Chacin today at Progressive Field. One of the best parts about Kipnis is that since he was hurt, his price hasn’t matched up to level of his play. Find a spot to use him today, he might throw up some fireworks.

Third Basemen

So Josh Donaldson was just about the Oakland Athletic that didn’t want to be awesome last night, unfortunate. Today I’m going back to the well with Juan Francisco. It’s too bad Francisco can’t find a solid job anywhere yet, but he might be forcing himself into one in Toronto. Can anyone else see a little “Big Papi” in him? Three hits yesterday, including two for extra bases and he gets to see Jeremy Guthrie today, still at home in the Rogers Centre. Grab him while his price is super low, he’s got massive upside and homerun potential.

If you don’t trust him, go to the Little League World Series hero, Todd Frazier. I never seem to use Frazier, although my dad, a Reds fan, somehow rosters him every single day. Today, for his sake, I’ll recommend Frazier. Frazier is better against left-handed guys and faces Wade Miley today at Chase Field. While overall I don’t like the Reds lineup at all, Frazier presents an intriguing matchup. He’s got solid pop and should fit into that low percentage owned category for tournaments.

Shortstops

Alexeiiiiiii!!!!!!!! Yes, I’m all over Alexei Ramirez today. Ramirez has an awesome matchup at home against Eric Stults and his soft-tossing left-handed frame. In his career, Ramirez has been better against left-handed pitchers, although this season he’s shown a reverse platoon split. I don’t think it matters much today against Stults who is not a good pitcher. Stults normally gets the benefit of the doubt because he pitches at Petco Park, but that won’t be of use to him today as he will have to face a plethora of righties at “The Cell.”

Has anyone referred to Brian Dozier as, “The Bull Dozier?” If not, I’ll be trademarking that, and using him today against Chase Whitely at Yankee Stadium. This is merely a play against the young right-handed guy and the huge park shift for Dozier who has shown he’s very capable of hitting homeruns this season, even at larger Target Field. He also gives us a nice edge on the bases where he can swipe a bag or two to go along with the homer. Upside is our friend!

Outfield

Yes, Phil Hughes is back at Yankee Stadium. No, I won’t be recommending Jacoby Ellsbury, I’m blacklisting him from this column. Sorry for his terrible play guys! However, there are three studs that I’m all over today. Jose Bautista, Jonny Gomes and Marlon Byrd make up a rather odd assortment of top outfielders today. Joey Bats has just been excellent all season long and he gets a really nice matchup with Jeremy Guthrie at home today. He got pulled yesterday in a blowout for some rest, but things are fine with Joey; use him confidently. Jonny Gomes is a lot of fun to play in DFS. He takes the biggest swings of all-time and generally when he connects, hits the ball a long way. Let’s hope he does that today against Erik Bedard, the veteran left-handed pitcher that I expect to get hit around today by the Sox. Gomes is much, much better against left-handed guys and his price is too good to pass up. I always lose sight of Marlon Byrd in DFS. He isn’t super flashy, and seems to fly under the radar for the Phillies, an aging and declining team. Byrd however keeps producing and has a great matchup with Jon Niese today at Citizen’s Bank Park. Byrd is better against lefties and actually has really good numbers against Niese in his career; try your hand with him.

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