What day is it? Hump day. One way I love getting a jumpstart on the second half of the workweek is to build my Star Fantasy Leagues daily lineup. As has been the case lately, I’m using about half of my budget on pitchers while using strategy plays on offense. Since building my team this way, I have gotten lots of points with my pitchers, which is the goal. I just have to make sure my hitters also do their job. Here’s hoping they will. To try a team for yourself, visit SFL and use the promo code “SJN” for a 40% deposit bonus.
(C) Alex Avila $4,977 – The Tigers catcher is hitting just at the Mendoza Line this season, but has been better as of late. He has hits in nine of 10 games, including home runs in three of his last six.
(1B) Eric Hosmer $6,671 – Like Avila, Hosmer has hits in nine of 10, but has a better average over that time. He has multiple hits in seven of those games, with nine in the last four alone. He’s gotten his average up to .295 on the season.
(2B) Neil Walker $5,632 – Walker has hit safely in three of his last four games and is coming off a three-hit performance last night. He has one previous game against the Marlins’ Tom Koehler, who’s on the mound again tonight, and he went 2-for-3.
(3B) Chris Johnson $5,928 – Johnson has gone hitless in his last two games, but he is still the National League’s leading hitter with a .338 average. With the Braves having won 12 in a row, everything seems to be going right in Atlanta.
(SS) Stephen Drew $5,872 – Drew is working on a nice stretch, with hits in seven straight games and multiple hits in four of them. Last night, he reached base four times thanks to three walks. With another game in Houston, the Red Sox offense could have another big nice after putting up a 15 spot on Tuesday.
(OF) Cody Ross $5,505 – Ross is hitting .429 in August and has two home runs in his last four games. He only has two hitless games since July 26th.
(OF) Robbie Grossman $5,175 – The Houston outfielder is working on a nine-game hitting streak with 15 hits over that time. He also has two home runs and four stolen bases in that stretch. He’s a threat for production in multiple ways.
(OF) Kole Calhoun $2,701 – Calhoun remains an inexpensive option who has potential. In his 10 games this season, he’s hitting .333. Last night, he had two hits, and a home run, which was his third in five games.
(U) Paul Goldschmidt $8,953 – The Arizona first baseman has had an interesting few days. He had a home run on both Friday and Saturday, then followed that up with just a single on Sunday. Then last night, he reached base with three walks and scored two runs. It all adds up to points.
(SP) Matt Harvey $19,515 – Harvey remains the N.L. strikeout leader, averaging nearly eight per start. In his last start against Colorado, he allowed one run on three hits over six innings while striking out nine. There’s no reason to think a similar outing is out of the question.
(SP) Madison Bumgarner $17,701 – Bumgarner has gone exactly seven innings in eight of his last nine starts, and went eight in the other. He’s also averaging nearly a strikeout an inning. He’ll face the Brewers tonight and, in five career starts against them, he’s 3-1 with a 1.25 ERA.
(RP) Koji Uehara $2,014 – Uehara got the night off on Tuesday thanks to a 15-10 Red Sox win, so he’ll be ready to go tonight as Boston looks to win their series in Houston.
(P) Hector Santiago $9,225 – Santiago was very good in his last start on Friday against Detroit, going seven innings, giving up just two runs on six hits and striking out seven. And that was against a good offense. He’ll face the Yankees tonight, who have managed just three runs in the first two games of their series.
