4/9 Cheering, Venting & SWEEPING

[bigh0rt]

Spring Break ends today, so somebody else is going to have to keep this rolling tomorrow...

News, Notes & Nonsense...
- The METS, O's, Rays, Tigers and D-Backs all swept their opening series to the tune of an undefeated 3 - 0 start to the season. The quest for a perfect season is still alive in these 5 teams...
- Meanwhile, the Yankees, Red Sox, Twins, Giants, and Braves are all still searching for that elusive first victory. It felt so good typing Yankees and Red Sox first there...
- Miguel Cabrera, Corey Hart, and Jay Bruce have all hit 3 HR in the past 2 days, because it's an impossible feat to send that many balls out of the park in a single day...
- Not only was Christ resurrected yesterday, but so was the Jewish Hammer Ryan Braun, belting his first homer of the season.
- Matt Harrisson threw 7 shutout innings vs the Pale Hose yesterday, and gets to face a pathetic looking Twins offense this upcoming week. I predict his ownership % quintuples by this time next week, as a result.
- Jeff Samardzija came 1 out away from a CG 1 ER effort in his first start of the season, striking out 8 Natinals en route to a victory.
- Clayton Richard showed yet again why he is the ultimate spot start at Petco Park, fanning 3 over 7 shutout innings against the Dodgers.
- Jeremy Hellickson, who many are projecting huge regression from this season, fell just 1 out shy of a CGSO in his first outing against the Yankees. He struck out 4.
- Derek Lowe recorded 15 ground ball outs over 7 scoreless innings against the Blue Jays, notching 1 BB and 1 K.
- Juan Nicasio carried a strong Spring over into an impressive first outing consisting of 7 innings of 1 Run baseball, striking out 4.
- Jon Niese took a no hitter into the 7th innings against the Braves Sunday. Then God remembered the Mets aren't allowed to throw no hitters, and it was promptly broken up.
- The Red Sox bullpen is a mess with both Melancon and Aceves pitching like absolute dog dung, and rumors of Daniel Bard moving back into the pen circulating like crazy. It's a good thing we spent 4 pages in the Closer Thread pissing and moaning over who was the better option between Aceves and Melancon
- Max Scherzer was Scherzer-esque Sunday, allowing 8 Hits over 2.2 innings to the Red Sox, but somehow avoiding taking the Loss due to Clay Buttholes and the aforementioned Sox bullpen being equally terrible.


Today's Matchups...

Anibal Sanchez (R) @ Cole Hamels (L) (-160)

Barry Zito (L) @ Jhoulys Chacin (R) (-165)

C.J. Wilson (L) (-170) @ Nick Blackburn (R)

Shaun Marcum (R) (-135) @ Chris Volstad (R)

Chris Sale (L) @ Josh Tomlin (R) (-120)
- If I were still a gambling man, I think my money would be on Sale today.

Felix Doubront (L) @ Henderson Alvarez (R) (-125)

Ivan Nova (R) (-160) @ Brian Matusz (L)
- We'll see how the Yankees treat the 'Cy Young Candidate' Matusz after starting 0 - 3.

Jake Westbrook (R) @ Homer Bailey (R) (-125)

Edwin Jackson (R) @ Mike Pelfrey (R) (EVEN)

Brandon Beachy (R) (-170) @ J.A. Happ (L)

Hector Noesi (R) @ Yu Darvish (R) (-220)
- I'll be tuning in for this. Yu gets a nice lob of a first start against Seattle, and I'm interested to see how he fares.

Luis Mendoza (R) @ Tim Milone (L) (-115)

[Tavish]

Running Beachy, Marcum, and Sale out today. I really thought about grabbing Mendoza for a spot start but chickened out.

[Skin Blues]

I grabbed Mendoza for a spot start in my AL Only. Let's hope he was worth the $1 FAAB bid. How bad could it be, playing in Oakland? Coincidentally, I already had Tommy Milone going. Battle of the Superstars.

[kab21]

I will be very interested in how Darvish, Sale and Noesi throw today. 3 guys with a lot of upside but very little MLB experience. The only way it gets better for Darvish is if the game was in Seattle (or Oakland or MN).

[ensanimal]

Hamels, Marcum and Beachy for sure today for me. Still undecided on Bailey vs the Cards.

[lastingsgriller]

[vent] in my main fantasy leagues I have now been to and lost 3 straight championship games. Hockey last year, baseball last year, and now hockey this year. Worst part about it is that all three times it has ended in a 5-5 tie and I lost on the tie breaker (regular season record). Fcuk![/vent]

[NikkiSixx]

Hamels, Marcum and Beachy for sure today for me. Still undecided on Bailey vs the Cards.

I have these 3 in my money league, lets hope for the best!!!

[bigh0rt]

Trotting Chris Sale out there today for my team; hoping he treats me better than Minor yesterday. In ESPN this isn't Week 2 yet, we've got a whole 'nother 7 days to go.

On another note, I hate when none of the players on my teams play until 7:00.

[NikkiSixx]

Carlos Santana has been making solid contact and hitting the ball hard (2 home runs yesterday). If he stays healthy I dont see why he cant hit 30-35 HR's and will probably hit around .270. He also walks all the time and bats cleanup so the run production will be there. Thinks are looking up for Carlos!

[chargerss24]

Got Hamels, Moore and Sale (RP) going for two, with Greinke, Price and Zimmerman rounding out my rotation for nine starts this week. Here's hoping for some good monster stats!