Some quick hitters for your Friday…
Friday Notes
Clay Buchholz has been roughed up left and right in the early going, but the Blue Jays have been overly kind to him in the past. Adam Lind has a .375 mark to go with a couple home runs. Only the 1-for-15 of Travis Snider is a truly “bad” number, but the rest of the team is largely busienss as usual. Buchholz, though, is 6-2 against them in his last eight starts.
Derek Lowe has held the bulk of the Mets lineup in check. David Wright certainly continues to be a must start given his .321 average against Lowe, but he is about it. Carlos Beltran is 7-for-35 while Jose Reyes is 3-for-13 and Angel Pagan is 4-for-18.
Xavier Nady and Stephen Drew are the only Diamondbacks that are hitting .300 or better against Matt Cain. Drew adds three home runs to go with a .333 average in his 27 at-bats against Cain. Look to avoid the rest where you can. Kelly Johnson and Chris Young are both sub-.200 while Justin Upton checks in at just .235.
Nothing great to report from the Pirates camp against Bronson Arroyo. Andrew McCutchen is the worst offender at 0-for-9. Arroyo is 5-1 in his last seven starts against the Pirates and has put up an ERA under 2.00 in those starts. The Pirates are hitting just .198 against him in that same stretch.
Hanley Ramirez is a .393 hitter against Roy Oswalt with three home runs in 28 at-bats. Oswalt has been lit up like a Christmas tree against the Marlins in the last three seasons. Though this is not the same type of team that they have been, it would be worth holding him back if you have better options available.
Jimmy Rollins is hitting just .183 against Javier Vazquez in 60 at-bats. Placido Polanco and Raul Ibanez are both better than .300 as is Ryan Howard. Howard is 5-for-15 with three home runs against Vazquez. Ibanez has four home runs in 25 at-bats against him as well. Even Ben Francisco gets in on the fun with four hits in 13 at-bats. The message is really to bench Rollins, but keep your other Phillies in the lineup for this one.
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