Yesterday was one of those embarassing days for any writer. If anyone is supposed to be prepared it is us. Most of us write our material in advance because it has to run early on the east coast. Well, that little trick burned me yesterday when I started Justin Maxwell in the outfield despite the fact that he broke his hand on Tuesday night. These things happen I suppose.

The beauty of Draftkings is that those little errors in judgment only kill you for one day. Imagine the poor souls that drafted Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez in full season fantasy baseball. I’d think they feel like fools too. This doesn’t even mention the folks that have to deal with injuries during the season. Being that we have started on an injury theme, we’ll take a look at some injury news once we get to the recap section.

Today, we will be playing the MLB Moon Shot $2 to see if our luck will be any better. The moonshot offers larger prize opportunities than the MLB Daily Dollar we played yesterday, but it only costs us an additional dollar. Let’s just say we’re working our way up to the big money. If you are anything like me, a dollar or two is plenty to get your juices flowing.

The Lineup

Catcher: Rob Brantly vs. Edwin Jackson

This comes with what I wantingly call the “small sample size warning.” Brantly has a career .318 TAV against right-handers, but that includes only a couple of months of action from 2012. Jackson has been struggling lately, so for a pittance you can roll the dice that Brantly will continue to produce.

First Base: Paul Goldschmidt vs. Jorge De La Rosa

We see Goldschmidt going against lefties two days in a row. I guess it’s our lucky day. De La Rosa’s numbers are good so far, but we are talking a small sample size here. Sooner or later Colorado is going to fall out of their tree and come back to reality. It may have already happened with their double header defeat on Tuesday.

Second Base: Chase Utley vs. James McDonald

The options are limited here as most of the solid second basemen are looking at bad matchups. Utley has a career .304 TAV against right-handers and McDonald is as average as they come.

Third Base: Kevin Youkilis vs. Mark Buerhle

Yuk loves hitting lefties (career .332 TAV) and Buerhle has become increasingly hittable the last several seasons. His 1-0 record comes with a 5.87 ERA on the season. He’s not that bad, but he’s also not that good.

Shortstop: Ruben Tejada vs. Hyun-Jin Ryu

Again, we see a player going up against back to back lefties. Ryu has been fairly competitive for the most part, but he’s not exactly Clayton Kershaw either. Right-handed bats should enjoy some success off of this guy.

Outfield: Starling Marte vs. Cliff Lee

Okay, it’s not a perfect matchup. Marte does have a career .361 TAV against lefties, but few lefties are as good as Lee. Lee makes it on the best strikeout to walk ratio this side of a video game. Yet, with that control comes an ability to be hit, so Marte has a shot.

Outfield: Mike Trout vs. Brandon Maurer

Again, we go with a pricey selection, but this one begs for a play. Trout has a .361 TAV against right-handed pitchers and Maurer has been as average as they come. The Mariners are definitely struggling as they can’t even boast a winning record against the Astros. This one is ripe for the taking.

Outfield: Cody Ross vs. Jorge De La Rosa

Ross just came back and has been inserted into the lineup. He should be fairly affordable for you and you can bank on his .325 lifetime TAV against lefties in this one. De La Rosa isn’t exactly a Cy Young candidate, so playing both Goldschmidt and Ross seems like a smart play.

Pitcher: Clay Buchholz vs. Houston Astros

Take away the Mariners and the Astros are 3-12 on the season. Plus, Buchholz is already 4-0 with an 0.80 ERA on the season. This play almost seems too obvious.

Pitcher: Hyun-Jin Ryu vs. New York Mets

I like to hedge my bets as much as I can, but this play is more about the Mets throwing up Jeremy Hefner than it is about Ryu. Hefner smells like a guy begging for a demotion, so it could be an easy victory for Ryu. Victories bring points.

Recap

Monday and Tuesday brought a number of transactions that will be important down the line for you in full season and daily fantasy baseball. The following is merely a highlight of those transactions.

Braves Activate Freddie Freeman

By most accounts, Freeman is a good but not great fantasy first baseman. However, the Braves have been killing the ball as a team, so it only makes sense for Freeman to join in the fun.

Astros promote Robbie Grossman

I’ve always loved Grossman back to his days as a Pirates farmhand. In 2011, he was the only player in all the minor leagues to have 100 or more walks and 100 or more runs in the same season. He’s an on base machine and should be cheap.

Nationals promote Anthony Rendon

This one should be considered more as a daily option because he will likely only be up for a few weeks. Still, he’s destined to hit well in the interim. Rendon would probably be playing regularly at third for about 20 of the 30 teams in MLB.

Detroit officially signs Jose Valverde

This is strictly for the full season players. Valverde will go on a rehabilitation assignment to build up his arm strength and likely will be ready to take over the full time closer duties by mid to late May.

MLBtv Game of the Day

On Thursday, the Yankees and Blue Jays begin a very important early season series. Both teams are hovering either above or below the .500 mark. The AL East will be the most competitive division in all of baseball. 90 wins might be good enough to win the division, but both teams will need to establish themselves soon if they want to be factors in the race. Mark Buerhle goes for the Blue Jays and Hiroki Kuroda goes for the Yankees.