There’s a full slate of games today with lots of great choices for daily salary cap games, both hitters and pitchers. We’ve got some aces doing battle against each other while there are some faily loose pitching match-ups in some friendly hitters’ parks. But take a thorough look through all the data as some match-ups might just have a few surprises that you didn’t see coming. Here are just some of the numbers you’ll need to know…
Los Angeles Dodgers at Colorado Rockies (3:10pm ET)
Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw takes the mound against the Rockies and has actually had mixed results against them. He’s got a 3.76 ERA against them over the last three seasons, but has a 5.85 ERA over his last seven starts at hitter-friendly Coors Field. Todd Helton is batting .276 over the course of 29 at-bats while Dexter Fowler is hitting .423 with two doubles and four walks over 31 plate appearances. For the Rockies, rookie Drew Pomeranz is facing the Dodgers for the very first time in his young career. While none of the Dodgers have faced the young lefty, as a team, they are batting .252 with seven home runs and 35 runs scored against southpaws this year.
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Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees (7:05pm ET)
Orioles starter Jake Arrieta has already faced the Yankees once this season and gave up four earned runs through six innings. While he’s had some success against some of the Yankees hitters, he’s had trouble with three of their biggest. Derek Jeter is batting .400 with three doubles, Mark Teixeira is hitting .375 with two doubles, and Curtis Granderson has a .313 average with a double and two home runs. On the hill for the Yankees is Ivan Nova who beat these same Orioles for his first win of the season. He pitched seven strong innings, giving up just two runs but he did allow 10 hits and one home run. That dinger was courtesy of Matt Wieters who is batting a robust .455 with a double and two home runs off Nova. He’ll also have to watch out for Adam Jones who is batting .308 and Nick Markakis who is hitting .333 against him.
Arizona Diamondbacks at Washington Nationals (7:05pm ET)
Journeyman lefty Joe Saunders is coming off a complete game, three-hit shutout and takes on a Nationals team that seems to have a bit of trouble against him, except for Jayson Werth who is 3-for-10 with two home runs. Ian Desmond, on the other hand, is batting just .231 while Wilson Ramos has just one hit in five at-bats. With the exception of Justin Upton who is 3-for-3 in his only game against Nationals starter Edwin Jackson, few Diamondbacks have found success against the well-traveled right-hander. Jason Kubel and Aaron Hill have each hit home runs, but Kubel is hitting just .250 while Hill is batting a dismal .212.
Oakland A’s at Boston Red Sox (7:10pm ET)
Brandon McCarthy has been quite successful over the last year, but has had his struggles against some of the boys from Boston. While he’s held Kevin Youkilis to a .091 average over 11 at-bats, David Ortiz is hitting .300 with one home run. And look for Kelly Shoppach to get the start here. He’s only faced McCarthy eight times, but he’s 3-for-6 with two walks and two home runs. The Sox will send Daniel Bard to the mound who has only faced these A’s as a reliever. He’s faced Cliff Pennington six times and has allowed two hits to him for a .333 average, but no one else on the Oakland roster has registered a hit against him.
Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves (7:10pm ET)
Tremendous pitchers’ duel brewing here with Roy Halladay and Tommy Hanson on the mound here. Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino are only hitting .167 in a dozen at-bats each while Jimmy Rollins is batting just .222 in 10 plate appearances. Unfortunately for Halladay though, the numbers against the Braves don’t look as good for him. Dan Uggla is hitting .400 with three home runs in 25 at-bats, Freddie Freeman is batting .429 with one home run and Michael Bourn is 3-for-10 (.300) with a home run of his own.
Cleveland Indians at Chicago White Sox (8:10pm ET)
Josh Tomlin gets the call for the Tribe here, and while Chicago has very limited experience against him, they have been somewhat successful. None of the Sox have seen more than three plate appearances against him, but Alejandro De Aza and A.J. Pierzynski each have a home run off of him. Philip Humber makes his second start since throwing a perfect game and if it’s anything like his last one, he could be in trouble. Similarly, the Indians haven’t seen very much of Humber, but in the limited times they have, there’s been a good amount of success. Jason Kipnis is batting .333 with a home run in six at-bats, Carlos Santana is 2-for-4 with a double, and even Casey Kotchman has a pair of hits in four at-bats of his own.
Pittsburgh Pirates at St. Louis Cardinals (8:15pm ET)
A.J. Burnett has been in the AL for some time, but he’s still faced a couple of these Cardinals enough to get an idea of how he’ll fare here. Rafael Furcal has matched up against him 38 times and is batting .324 with four walks while Carlos Beltran is hitting just .250 in 24 at-bats. For the Cards, Lance Lynn gets the nod here and is looking to duplicate his last outing against these Pirates in which he went seven innings allowing just one earned run. The one run was a home run by Alex Presley who had just the one hit in three at-bats while Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez were a combined 0-for-6 with two strikeouts.
Miami Marlins at San Francisco Giants (10:15pm ET)
This one is a battle between two veteran starters who, at least at one time, were both aces. Barry Zito gets the nod for the Giants and is looking to continue his success against Hanley Ramirez (.063) and Omar Infante who is batting just .167. He also seems to have Jose Reyes’ number as he’s held the Marlins new shortstop to a .091 average over 12 plate appearances. For the Marlins, Carlos Zambrano takes the mound and is looking to contain leadoff hitter Angel Pagan who is batting .364 in 11 at-bats. The Big Z will also be looking to continue his dominance over Pablo Sandoval (.200) and Buster Posey who is just 1-for-9 (.111) in his career.
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Howard Bender has been covering fantasy sports for over ten years on a variety of web sites, including his own, The Fantasy Baseball Buzz. You can follow him on Twitter @rotobuzzguy or you can email him at rotobuzzguy@gmail.com.
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