This wasn’t the ideal Star Fantasy Leagues daily lineup that I was hoping for. I had a few offensive players in mind who have been on a good run lately that I wanted to add to my team today. But they had off days. That’s the way fantasy sports work, though. Through injuries, slumps, and days off, you need to adjust. So I did. And that meant using a little more money on pitching than I did earlier this week. I’m okay with it. We’ll just have to see how it plays out. To submit a team for yourself, log in to SFL and use the promo code “SJN” for a 40% deposit bonus.
(C) A.J. Ellis $5,315 – Ellis isn’t swinging the hottest bat, but does have at least one hit and a run in two of the last three games. While a small sample size, he also had success in his one game against Mets starter Dillon Gee, whom he’ll face tonight. He was 1-for-2 with a double and a stolen base.
(1B) Brandon Belt $6,037 – Belt has hits in eight straight games and he’s hitting .417 this month. He will face Jordan Zimmermann tonight and he is 2-for-4 against him in his career.
(2B) Scooter Gennett $4,289 – Basically, this comes down to just have a guy named “Scooter” on my team. Well, that’s not really the truth, but it’s not a bad thing, either. He has a six-game hitting streak that includes three home runs, two of them coming last night.
(3B) Adrian Beltre $8,648 – Beltre went hitless last night, but was 5-for-8 in his previous two games. He’s, once again, putting together a well-rounded season with a .322 average, 25 home runs, and 72 RBI.
(SS) Ian Desmond $6,502 – Desmond is my pick of the day. He is 9-for-15 over his last four games with at least two hits in each. And he owns Tim Lincecum. In 11 career at bats against him, he has nine hits. That’s a .818 average. He’s sure to do something good today.
(OF) Josh Reddick $6,467 – Reddick was the man of the weekend with five home runs on Friday and Saturday. He hasn’t hit any in the three games since, but has reached base seven times and scored in each game. Maybe he’ll get his power stroke back tonight.
(OF) Alfonso Soriano $6,288 – Soriano enjoyed a nice night on Tuesday against the Angels with three hits in six at bats. Two of those hits were homers and he had six RBI. He has five home runs in his 16 games since joining the Yankees.
(OF) Leonys Martin $5,659 – Martin has hits in seven straight games as the Rangers’ leadoff man. Over the first two weeks of August, he is hitting .280 with seven steals and six runs scored.
(U) Jayson Werth $7,824 – Werth is working on a five-game hitting streak, during which he is hitting .526. He’s also scored eight times in that stretch.
(SP) David Price $15,307 – Price has remained dominant, going at least seven innings in each of his last eight starts. He’s allowed more than two runs just once during that time. This will actually be his first career appearance against the Mariners, which may bode especially well for him.
(SP) Francisco Liriano $14,449 – Liriano is coming off his worst performance of the season by far. He allowed 10 runs on 12 hits in just 2 1/3 innings in Colorado on Friday. Going into that game, he had a 2.02 ERA on the season. I expect him to bounce back tonight, even against the Cardinals.
(RP) Mark Melancon $1,775 – This is how confident I am in Liriano. I believe he’ll pitch so well that his closer will come into the game to finish it off. And, like Liriano, he’ll put his last outing behind him (Melancon blew the save chance last night) and turn in a strong performance.
(P) Jon Lester $11,218 – Lester took the loss on Thursday, but still pitched well. He went seven innings in Kansas City and gave up one earned run on just five hits. He faces Toronto tonight. In his career against the Blue Jays, he is 14-7 with a 3.67 ERA.
