It’s Friday eve! In other words, it’s Thursday, and yes there is still plenty of baseball action today. When there is baseball action, there is surely a Daily Double Switch not too far behind.

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Weather

Only one game appears on the radar tonight. Keep your eyes open for the tarp in Baltimore, it looks like some rain could be headed that way.

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Positional Breakdown

Starting Pitchers

Yu make a good team last night? Yu pick Yu? Yu were disappointed if Yu did. Tonight though, Yu won’t be disappointed if Yu pick Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw is the game’s top arm, the best pitcher in baseball. He’s super dominant and we pick him even against really good teams. The Padres aren’t a really good team, in fact, they’re a bad team. I seriously don’t even know what to type to possibly get you to understand the magnitude of the decision you’re making if you don’t use Kershaw tonight. He’s gone 36 innings in a row without yielding a run. In that stretch, he threw a no-hitter, which could have been a perfect game, he’s struck out one bajillion guys, and he’s won all four starts. Dudes, this isn’t hard, just pick him.

Fine, I understand that Kershaw won’t be the only guy that you can use tonight, so maybe you’ll pick on my Cubbies and pony up with Homer Bailey. Bailey got off to a slow start this season, but has found his groove of late and is looking more like an arm that deserves the money he got. His K/9 is at a serviceable 8.15 and his groundball rate is up to around 50%. Pair that stuff with the Cubs inability to do anything right since dealing Shark and Hammel, and you’ve found yourselves a perfect match.

Catcher

Salvador Perez is severely underrated. So underrated, that you might be wondering why I randomly bolded some dude’s name. If you didn’t know, start paying attention, this guy is going to be a perennial all-star and should really be known throughout the league. Perez went big fly last night and gets a nice matchup with left-hander Drew Smyly tonight. Oddly enough, Perez has been atrocious against left-handed starters this year, but historically, has been much better against them. I’m going to look past 2014’s sample size, and take his career .207 ISO against lefties tonight.

First Baseman

You know what makes me sad? Miguel Cabrera’s decreased slugging and wOBA this year. Miggy represents curly headed individuals everywhere, and when he’s not performing Miggy-like, neither are we. I’m expecting a Miggy performance today against Jeremy Guthrie though. Guthrie yields a lot of contact, and gives up almost 1.5 homeruns per nine innings. I’d like to think that today is Miggy’s turn to get that guaranteed 1.

Second Baseman

Remember last time I recommended Dee Gordon? I did that weird Dee chant, and it really messed with everyone’s head. My apologies, but I’m back on the Dee-train. If you haven’t noticed, Dee has quietly crept up his OBP to .351 and his average to .298. With his ability, all the guy needs to do is get on base for you reap the rewards of his rostering. He’s swiped 42 bags this year, and we aren’t even midway through. If I were to guess, I’d say Dee is looking for the 100 mark, and hey, the only way to get there is steal every time you get a chance. He’s going to get on base tonight, and he’s going to steal.

Third Baseman

Man, Edinson Volquez has been pretty good his last three starts. Man, I’m still going to tell you to play Matt Carpenter. Want to know what I love about guys like Matty? He gets on base, a lot. If you’re a cash game player like me, you’ll quickly fall in love with the guys who consistently get on base, and Carpenter is one of them. His OBP is up to around .380 this season, and he’s excelling against right-handed pitching, and all pitching for that matter. He never costs too much, and he always provides offense, play it safe, take Matty Carpenter.

Shortstop

Yesterday, I left you with one sentence about a shortstop. That shortstop hit two homeruns. Today, I’m going to give you 4-5 sentences, and this shortstop probably won’t hit two homeruns, it’s funny how that works. Shortstop is super yucky today, so I’m going to jump off the deep end and give Jed Lowrie one last chance. Jed has been bad, unfortunately, and fortunately. He hasn’t really done anything well this season, but his price also reflects that and he’s still a very good talent. Also, if you’re digging in, Jed has been better against right-handed guys this season, and three of his four homers have come from the left side of the plate. If we’re lucky, he’ll make it four of five. C’MON JED!

Outfield

What ever happened in that cage match between Giancarlo Stanton and Yasiel Puig? Someone let me know, I’m dying to hear. Anyway, today, I’m paying up here, and I’m not fooling around. This isn’t going to be one of those fishy Jacoby Ellsbury mentions, I’m going Mike Trout. (Did you see what I did with the word choice ‘fishy’ back there?) Trout has really turned his game around. At one point we were complaining about him striking out too much and never doing anything well for our DFS teams. Now we’re rooting against him when our opponent has him because we know inevitably our fate is doomed. Just use him, and you won’t have to deal with the consequences of not doing so. Trout has an OBP around .400, and an ISO that is climbing and nearing .300, he also has the luxury of facing Colby Lewis tonight, who has been atrocious this year. Lewis is an extreme fly ball guy, hopefully one of Trout’s flies land in a nearby river, or gorge, I don’t know, you choose.

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