What to look for on April 4th 2016!

Yankees-Astros Postponed

Carlos Correa will need to wait to start his 2016 season.  Adjust lineups accordingly.  The teams will play tomorrow instead.

In other Astros news Gregerson is the "primary closer" for Houston to start the season.  Ken Giles may see saves and his stats are good enough that warrant holding onto him.

Players with Great Batter v. Pitcher Outlook

I look for batters with favorable statistics in at least twenty at bats against the other team's starting pitcher.  This factors in for at least the batters first two at bats, and in some cases three.  The matchups are ones to target for today.

Chris Davis - 

Against Ervin Santana Davis has 5 hits in 28 at-bats.  While the average is not that great its worth pointing out that all of those hits have gone for extra bases, and three of them have been Home Runs.  Davis is at home in the hitter friendly Camden Yards.  Davis also has three walks against Santana giving him a serviceable OBP.

I would bet on 1 HR, 1 BB, and 2 Ks today for Davis.

Bryce Harper-

.435 average, .519 OBP, 3 HRs for the reigning MVP against Teheran.  I would bet he kicks off the defense of his MVP award with a very nice game today.  

Carlos Santana-

Santana has a .400+ OBP against David Price, and 4 of his 9 hits have gone for extra bases.  Look for Santana to walk a lot today, maybe not get a hit, but I would bet on at least one walk.

Ryan Braun/Carlos Gonzalez/Billy Butler

These three are all facing aces that they hit very well.  Bumgarner, Greinke, Sale respectively.  I think all will turn in respectable games, and it may even be worth buying into Butler's .357 average against Sale.  I am a bit more skeptical of Braun who has 7 hits in 23 at-bats against Bumgarner.  The hesitance comes from Braun's 7 strikeouts and zero walks.  Braun has homers in his last three spring training games so maybe he continues the success against Mad-Bum.  Lucroy behind him might help out.  Cargo hits well against Greinke, but Cargo is on the road and he only hits .250 away from Coors field.  Cargo is 9/25 on Greinke with only 4 strikeouts.  He has 3 HRs as well.  This means he is sporting a .500 BABIP against Greinke.  I do not think this will bode well for him and think he may not be the best option today.

Best Park to Hit in Today

Phillies vs. Reds.  The wind is blowing out of the ballpark today at 17mph.  This could lift some balls out of the park today.  With Hellickson and Iglesias pitching I think we may see a lot of Home Runs out in Cincinatti.

Best Pitchers Today

Kershaw and Scherzer.  Bad lineups going against them.  Great pitchers, enough said.

Pitcher Most Likely to Get Rocked

Julio Teheran is facing a Nationals Lineup with the reigning MVP.  The wind is blowing out at 10 MPH, and the Nationals as a team bat .302 against Teheran.  The Nationals have 8 Home Runs against him and 21 XBHs.  I do not like his chances today.