Good morning everyone! The month of May finishes up today; hope it was a successful month for all of you. Be sure to tryout Edwin Encarnacion one last time before the month ends to see what kind of magic he has left in store.

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Weather

Once again it appears that the only place there are any chances of rain is Busch Stadium in St. Louis. It’s a similar forecast; scatter thunderstorm chances throughout the day, so keep your eye on it.

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Positional Breakdown

Starting Pitchers

There are four very solid options at the top of the list today. Masahiro Tanaka, Johnny Cueto, Michael Wacha and Hyun-Jin Ryu top the list for the starters. Tanaka has been incredible all season long and his strikeout rate will put up on the top of most players’ lists today. Cueto will waltz in to Chase Field looking to perform as he has all season long. Although Chase Field normally plays to the hitters, Cueto is used to pitching in a hitter’s park and shouldn’t be fazed. Wacha does appear in the one game with weather concern, so while risky, he’s still got a nice matchup with the Giants bats today. The Giants poured it on Adam Wainwright last night, but I don’t see that happening to Wacha who has been outstanding this year. If he can keep command of his pitches and stay effective in the zone, he’s in for a great day. Ryu is the guy perhaps you’re not too familiar with. Following up Beckett’s no-no in his last start, Ryu took a perfect game into the eighth inning against a hapless Red’s offense. Today he faces a Pittsburgh Pirates team that is notorious for not showing up offensively. The Dodgers are looking for a stopper; you might see it in Ryu today.

Catchers

So you got burned on Brian McCann like everyone else last night. Don’t be afraid to run him back out there again tonight against Kevin Correia. Corriea truly fits the mold as a mediocre pitcher in this league and McCann has a great park to hit in tonight in the Bronx. He hasn’t quite been the signing Yankees fans were hoping for when he signed this off-season, but perhaps he turns that around today. Catcher is typically a thin position, but McCann sticks out again today.

If you’re done testing your luck with McCann, look to Derek Norris. Norris has mashed left-handed pitching all season long and gets to face young left-hander Tyler Skaggs. Skaggs got hit around in his last start but managed to rebound with a bunch of strikeouts where he had the platoon advantage. Bob Melvin isn’t going to allow him to have the advantage over many. Norris will be in there today with a solid spot to hit.

First Basemen

I promised I would do it; I have to mention Edwin Encarnacion. So the guy didn’t hit a homer last night but it’s still May! Not to mention he gets a matchup with young righty Aaron Brooks who gave up six earned runs in two innings against Detroit in his last outing. The Blue Jays are very capable of dominating this young kid at home and if they do, E5 will have something to do with it.

I think eventually we will see really good things from Jake Odorizzi, but I’m not sure if today is one of those days. Odorizzi is a fly-ball pitcher who is marching into Fenway Park tonight to face the Red Sox. David Ortiz is a fly-ball hitter, who hits a lot of homeruns. I’ll give the edge to Ortiz here. The numbers suggest that Jake isn’t allowing as many homeruns as perhaps he should, tonight, Papi gets one.

Second Basemen

Can we truly ignore what the Astros are doing in Houston? Can we ignore what Jose Altuve is doing? Altuve is the pride of that offense and just keeps getting on base for the boppers behind him. Not to mention, Altuve has tons of upside with his stolen base potential and he hits a lot of doubles. He’s hitting .324 on the season with 20 stolen bases and doesn’t seem to be slowing down and I love him again tonight against Chris Tillman.

I don’t really ever play Ian Kinsler a lot, but I like his chances today against another fly-ball guy in Chris Young. Granted, Young gets to pitch at Safeco Field, but I still like Kinsler. Kinsler has been one of the American Leagues top hitters this season and is hitting in front of two of the other top five. He has tons of upside with stolen bases and homeruns and should be in great hitting spots all day long. Remember, he only has to leadoff one time.

Third Baseman

I hate picking third basemen most nights. It seems that a position that is traditionally so deep never seems to have matchups that scream to me. Tonight only one matchup really jumps out at me as the top guy. Josh Donaldson is once again having a tremendous season and is helping lead the Oakland Athletics to another productive season of platooning and having fun. The A’s got to Garrett Richards last night and I don’t think Tyler Skaggs will have much fun either. Donaldson has a .423 ISO against left-handed guys this season, enough said.

Shortstop

Yes, Tulowitzki is away from home. Yes, Tulowitzki has been banged up. Yes, Tulowitzki is still a good play. Shortstop is a tough position to fill and Tulo’s price has actually fallen since he’s seen his average drop from around .500 to .360. What a drop right? I don’t really need to explain to you the advantages you receive if you play Tulo, just don’t be afraid to pay up for him.

If you want to go a bit cheaper, try out Dee Gordon. Gordon has perhaps slipped off your radar a little bit, but he’s shortstop eligible on most sites. What Dee hasn’t stopped doing is stealing bases as he already has 34 this season. Stolen bases are money on most sites and all it takes is for Dee to get on base one time. Brandon Cumpton is going for the Buccos in a game that the Dodgers need to win to end a skid. I think Dee provides a spark today.

Outfield

Jose Bautista, Jacoby Ellsbury and Justin Upton top my list today in the outfield. “Joey Bats” has been exceptional this season but has actually been overshadowed in the month of May thanks to Edwin Encarnacion. Thanks to what E5 has done, Joey Bats has to actually see some pitches because pitchers don’t want to pitch around him to get to Edwin. Brooks is a young, inexperienced arm who is going to be rudely welcomed to the Rogers Centre today; use Bautista confidently.

I always talk about Ellsbury and he always seems to be garbage. Not today! The Yankees are going to put up runs against Correia today and I expect Jacoby to have a hand in it. He still hasn’t really taken advantage of the park he’s been gifted in the Bronx, but the upside is there. Stolen bases and homeruns are in his genes! His price has dropped thanks to his recent play but he could pick it up today.

Normally Justin Upton is in play at home, against left-handed pitchers, but I think he surprises us today. Although he has an absurd ISO against left-handed pitchers, he’s still has one around .218 against right-handed guys and Jacob Turner isn’t a right-handed pitcher to fear. Turner hasn’t turned on the jets yet as the top prospect he was once claimed to be. In nearly 33 innings pitched, he’s yielding a 15.4% HR/FB ratio and I’m expecting that number to increase after one of Upton’s at-bats today.

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