Wednesday’s MLB brings us a full slate of games and even some early games to watch. This will impact lineups as full day slates will be impacted by regulars getting days off tonight. Beware of guys that are banged up and playing late tonight. They are the ones that could sit without warning tonight.

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Weather:
TEX/OAK- Wind out to RF at 11mph
LAA/WSH- Wind in from LF at 17mph
CIN/PIT- Wind out to RF at 12mph
STL/NYM- Wind in from LF at 21mph

Positional Breakdown:

Starting Pitchers

The two obvious plays of the day are my favorites. Michael Wacha is sporting a 1.73 ERA on the season and faces a Mets team that is hitting terribly especially at home. It’s also nice to see the wind blowing in from left field as of now. Zack Greinke is the other obvious play as he too has been great with 29 Ks in 22.1 innings. He faces the Phillies who should struggle against a pitcher of his level.

Aaron Harang is sporting a 0.70 ERA right now. There is no typo there. He faces the Marlins who scored just one run yesterday and didn’t do well against Julio Teheran on Monday. Harang’s 16k price is solid, but I wish was just a tad cheaper.

The best value of the day is Jason Vargas against the Indians. They are hitting just .216 against LHP this season compared to .254 against RHP. Vargas has the matchup and he has been great so far. He’s rocking a 1.24 ERA through 29 innings. Alfredo Simon is begging to be played, but I’m not sure I’ll be on him. He has been great, but against weaker lineups. He faces the Pirates tonight whom Johnny Cueto did very well against. I would consider Simon a GPP play tonight.

Others to Consider: Jeff Samardzija, Kyle Lohse, Martin Perez

Catchers

Matt Wieters hasn’t been in the lineup in the last few days, but if he gets back in it tonight I like him a lot. He’s hitting .375 against RHP this season and the middle of that Orioles lineup is great. Jason Castro hit a bomb last night and is a strong play against RHP. He is probably my favorite mid-range option today.

Alex Avila is under 4k again tonight and this time he faces a RHP. He had three hits last night and even though he has dropped to the 7/8 spots lately, he should be getting plenty of RBI opportunities with the Tigers seemingly starting to come around.

Others to Consider: Jonathan Lucroy, Wellington Castillo

First Basemen

Miguel Cabrera had three hits last night including his second home run of the season, so I wouldn’t mind paying up for him. He faces Rienzo who doesn’t have a whole lot of MLB experience. Albert Pujols is priced up and with good reason. He had two home runs yesterday and seems to be back to his old self at least power wise. Jose Abreu’s price is a little more reasonable and I love him against Drew Smyly. Abreu hit a home run against Verlander yesterday and has gotten back on track in the last few days.

If you’re not a fan of Alfredo Simon today then you should be on Ike Davis and how he has been hitting as a Pirates player. He’s at 5.8k and probably the lowest I would feel great about going at this position today.

Others to Consider: Mark Teixeira, Chris Davis

Second Basemen

Don’t fall for Ian Kinsler tonight. Fade his 9.4k price on Draftstreet. Do target Emilio Bonifacio though. He’s 11 for 21 against LHP (.524) and faces an average one in Wade Miley tonight.

This position is thin tonight, so there are more value plays to like than studs. Scooter Gennett is one of them. He hit a home run last night and faces Tyson Ross a solid, but not dominant RHP.  Jedd Gyorko is a big GPP play tonight for me. There’s not a whole lot of reason behind it other than that he is a much better hitter than he is showing. He had a massive bomb against Scherzer earlier in the season, so the pop is there. He’s also at a hitter’s park and faces Lohse who is known to give up hits.

Others to Consider: Jose Altuve, Howie Kendrick

Third Basemen

Trevor Plouffe is not a sexy name, but he’s hitting .310 on the season and .333 against RHP. He’s a middle of the order guy for the Twins who face Odorizzi, an average RHP. Nolan Arenado has been hot lately and although he has a decently tough matchup against Matt Cain, I do think he has potential for his mid 5k price. He has four home runs on the season and will be at Coors Field tonight.

Chris Johnson is who I’d roll as value tonight if I was going to. He’s hitting .267 on the season with not much in terms of runs and RBIs. The Braves should get it going in this last game of the series. As long as he keeps hitting in the five-hole, he’ll keep having potential. Mike Olt is a big home run guy as he’s hitting just .195 on the season, but has four home runs. Three of those home runs have come against LHP.

Others to Consider: Pedro Alvarez, Evan Longoria

Shortstop

Troy Tulowitzki is the stud I would pay up for, but Alexei Ramirez is not. Ramirez doesn’t hit for power like I want out of a high priced hitter. Elvin Andrus is a strong play with the hitters around him being in good matchups today. I think Andrus has been under the radar and he’s averaging 3.23 points on Draftstreet so far this season.

Starlin Castro is not a bad play today against the LHP. He’s 8 for his last 27 and faces Miley, the weak LHP. Everth Cabrera is whom I’ll strongly target at this position with his .305 average and he hits a bit better against RHP this season. He only has two stolen bases, but has much more potential than that.

Others to Consider: Derek Jeter, Hanley Ramirez

Outfielders

Mike Trout is 10k tonight and with good reason. If you can fit him then you’re fitting in a guy who is hitting .458 against LHP on the season. He faces Gio Gonzalez tonight. Ryan Braun is 2k cheaper and should be just as good tonight. He hits for a tad worse average against RHP, but hits for much better power. 8 of his 10 extra base hits on the season have come against RHP. Melky Cabrera not only hits beter against RHP (.354 compared to .345), but he also hits for much better power. 7 of his 10 extra base hits on the season have come against RHP.

Chris Colabello is finally getting some respect when it comes to price, so I’ll probably shy away from him tonight. I mention him because it’s my responsibility as a former independent league player to talk about him as much as possible. He’s a solid play tonight with 8 of his 11 extra base hits coming against RHP on the season, but he doesn’t get me super excited.

Matt Joyce is an underrated player because he becomes so nonexistent against LHP. Well, tonight he faces a RHP in Mike Pelfrey who he should do well against. He’ll be in the middle of that Rays order with a .347 so far this season. Bryce Harper is at 5.7k, which is just too low for a guy of his skill set. Feel fine playing him against Weaver. Jason Kubel tears up RHP and so far this season he is showing it with his .378 average against them. He’s in a good spot tonight against Odorizzi. I said the other day that Will Venable would hit his first home run of the season in Milwaukee and he hasn’t done it yet. They leave tonight today, so consider it a lock. He is priced at a very affordable tag.

Others to Consider: Marcell Ozuna, Shin-Soo Choo, Angel Pagan

Pitching Combos:

Tonight’s pitching situation is an interesting one. You either have to put a lot of faith in Alfredo Simon or skimp on some hitting. I decided to skimp on hitting, but only because I think guys like Avila, Everth Cabrera, and Chris Johnson are underpriced for their talents. By using Simon instead of Harang, you could easily bump up a hitter like Johnson or go for a bigger hitter at another position.

Top Stacks:
Baltimore- Cruz/Davis/Jones/Wieters
Minnesota- Dozier/Plouffe/Colabello/Kubel
San Fran/Colorado- Adjust according to lineup

Lineup:

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