Today is Mother’s Day, so I’m not going to worry about the introduction for today. We have 15 games and there are only 2-3 pitchers that even interest me. Today could not be any more of a closer type of day.

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Weather:
ARI/CWS: Rain 40-50%
WSH/OAK: Wind blowing out to RF at 16mph
BOS/TEX: Wind blowing in from RF at 19mph

Positional Breakdown:

Starting Pitchers

Clayton Kershaw is the top pitcher of the day and seems like as close to a must play as you can get today. He faces the Giants who are going to be without Brandon Belt for 4-6 weeks plus could be without Posey considering the day game. Jonathon Niese is the next best pitcher I would consider with his matchup against the Phillies. Many of their better hitters are lefties and Niese has under a 2.00 ERA this season.

Josh Tomlin is honestly the last pitcher I’d consider today. He had a great start his last time out throwing 6.2 innings and 4 Ks. The Rays don’t intimidate me enough to shy away from this pick and price.

Others to Consider: Robbie Ray, Aaron Harang

Catchers

Jonathan Lucroy had a home run last night and is a strong play considering he’ll be at home and against a pitcher like David Phelps. Derek Norris gets to face off against a LHP in Gio Gonzalez today and although Gonzalez is a very good pitcher, I like Norris a lot today. His price is under 5k and he has done well against LHP in his career and has four hits in his last three games.

Kurt Suzuki has had some very good at bats lately and surprisingly leading all catchers in RBI as of a few days ago. He gets to face Ray, the LHP from Detroit, who should give up at least one hit per inning. Jason Castro has been struggling somewhat lately, but had a hit yesterday and always has home run potential when facing a RHP like he is today.

Others to Consider: Rene Rivera, Miguel Montero

First Basemen

Hector Noesi has been terrible against RHB in this short stint with the White Sox, so I think Paul Goldschmidt has to be in play, but I don’t think I can play him when Miguel Cabrera is just $600 more on Draftstreet. He gets Deduno after hitting a nice opposite field home run and a one hop out as well.

Freddie Freeman could be a nice contrarian play here at this position. He’s down to 7k and has great splits against Edwin Jackson. He’s 7 for 11 against him with four extra base hits.

As for value, you could look CJ Cron’s way. He hit his first home run in Toronto just the other day and in Toronto could easily do it again. He’s hitting .417 on the season and gets a nice RHP matchup against Hutchison. Matt Adams will forever be on this list of value as long as he hovers around 5k, but I’m going to need to see some power out of him. The Cardinals don’t pay him to hit singles and neither do I.

Others to Consider: Mike Napoli, Justin Morneau

Second Basemen

Anthony Rendon against a LHP please. He’s his price is only 7k and Scott Kazmir is not the most dominating LHP. He’s hitting .429 with 6 extra base hits out of 15 so far this season against them. Brandon Phillips is 3 for 3 in his career against Juan Nicasio and has been solid lately. He has a hit in each of his last two games with a run or RBI in each.

Daniel Murphy might be the most surprising batter versus pitcher guy today as he’s hitting .405 in 37 at bats against Cole Hamels. He had a stolen base yesterday and also has four in his career against Hamels. I like that stat as he obviously sees something off that LHP. Jedd Gyorko is pretty cheap today and had a nice two home run game the other night. He added another hit yesterday, so maybe he has decided to be a really good young player again.

Others to Consider: Ian Kinsler, Dee Gordon

Third Basemen

David Wright had a monster game last night recording three hits including a home run. He had two hits the night before that, so we’re looking at the Wright time to use him. He’s hitting .333 in 66 at bats against Hamels in his career. Juan Francisco is always in play against RHP especially at home and especially against guys like Weaver. He’s hitting .250 with four home runs in his last 15 days.

For value at this position, I think you must consider Chris Johnson. The guy is sitting at under 3k and has looked much better lately. He’s hitting .318 on the season and gets to face Edwin Jackson. If you’re going value at third base then this is the only guy I would consider.

Shortstop

Troy Tulowitzki is not over 15k yet, so he’s still a play you have to talk about when discussing this position. He’s hitting .440 with six home runs in his last 15 days. He’s averaging an insane 6.79 fantasy points in his last 15! Besides Tulowitzki, I like a guy like Erick Aybar against Hutchison tonight. He’s five for ten in this series and is clearly feeling it.

Elvis Andrus is absolutely crushing the ball right now with six hits in his last two games. He has shifted to the bottom of the order recently, but if he gets pushed towards the top then he’s great play at his price. Going with the hot hand against a guy like Lackey isn’t dumb at all. Obligatory Everth Cabrera is super cheap mention here.

Others to Consider: Alexei Ramirez, Starlin Castro

Outfielders

Carlos Gomez started the Brewers off with a home run last night and I think he’ll be another good pick tonight against David Phelps. He’s hitting .306 against RHP and has nine extra base hits at home this season. Charlie Blackmon had himself an impressive three hit game last night and is certainly an option tonight against Homer Bailey. He has three multi-hit games in his last five with two home runs during that time.

It really feels like you’re chasing points when considering Corey Dickerson today, but I can’t get mad at anyone for playing him at a 5k price. He had four hits yesterday including two home runs. He’s hitting .388 against RHP with all ten of his extra base hits against RHP this season. Yasiel Puig had himself a nice night last night picking up two hits and a run/RBI. He gets Tim Hudson tonight, a RHP that will give up hits. Puig has a nine-game hit streak with two home runs and ten runs scored during that time.

Someone tweet @lhitch09 and tell him to ask his brother if Colby Rasmus is in play please. His brother has a sixth sense about when to use Rasmus. I don’t have that sense, but it seems like today is the day. He has a nine-game hit streak like Puig, but with five home runs. 15 of his 18 extra base hits have come against RHP and he’ll get one today.

For value at the outfield position there are many that I like. Allen Craig was put back in the four-hole last night and I like him for his 5k price. He’ll be primetime tonight and against a very hittable Charlie Morton. Cameron Maybin has a seven-game hit streak, but hits in that weak offense in San Diego. I think he’s in play, but I’d much rather use Dickerson over him at about the same price.

Seth Smith at a mid 4k price tag is awesome right now. He’s 15 for 27 in his last seven games including ten extra base hits! Smith against the RHP today is one matchup I’m going to exploit everywhere.

Others to Consider: Cody Ross, Giancarlo Stanton, Nelson Cruz

Pitching Combos:

This day screams two pitchers and one closer to me. You could roll out those three pitchers I discussed, but then you would have to get a little tight on hitting. I think rolling Kershaw and Niese is the best option on the

Top Stacks:
Toronto: Bautista/Encarnacion/Rasmus/Navarro
Arizona: Goldschmidt/Hill/Montero
St. Louis: Carpenter/Holliday/Craig/Adams
Colorado: Blackmon/Dickerson/Tulowitzki

Lineup:

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