Who’s On First? (8/3/20-8/9/20)

This article is going to be a weekly planner/FAAB piece. It will come out each Sunday morning for those of you looking for ideas for that night’s pick-up. I encourage you to also read the What’s on Second article which has more players and things to consider for the not too distant future.

Things to Consider
The Marlins and Cardinals are dealing with COVID outbreaks and will miss an undetermined amount of games.

The rotations for the Phillies, Brewers, Blue Jays, Marlins, and Cardinals have not been reset yet and are difficult to predict at the moment of writing this.

The Orioles, Red Sox, and Nationals only play five games in Week 2.

The Giants play four games in Colorado.

The Astros, Angels, Blue Jays and Giants play all of their games on the road this week.

The Padres play all of their games at home this week.

All Double Headers are now 7 innings long.

 

Pickups to Consider By Position
Catchers:
Austin Nola– Nola now has catcher eligibility and is hitting now that he is healthy.

 

Corner Infielders:
Evan Longoria– Longoria is a boring name, but he is back from the IL and gets a Colorado series.

Wilmer Flores– Flores is hitting in the middle of the Giants lineup and gets that Colorado series.

 

Middle Infielders:
Nick Madrigal– Made his Major League debut and should provide some average and a little speed in a good lineup.

Donovan Solano- They call him Donnie Bats in SF and is getting every day at bats with a Colorado series to start the week.

Willy Adames– Adames hit 3rd in the lineup yesterday and is a former top prospect with pop and speed. One of the few Rays that isn’t going to platoon.

 

Outfielders:
Bradley Zimmer– Zimmer is getting a good amount of play in the Indians outfield. He is a former top prospect with pop, speed, the ability to walk and good defensively. I have been a huge fan and prospect fatigue has taken him off of everyone’s radar.

Nick Markakis– He’s back!

Edward Oliveras- Oliveras is getting more and more playing time and has some pop and good speed.

Alex Dickerson– Dickerson is hitting at the top of the Giants order and gets that Colorado series this week.

 

Starting Pitchers:
Homer Bailey– Next start lines up against the Royals.

Cristian Javier– Impressive in his first start and the minors. With Verlander gone, he has a spot in the rotation long term and has a decent matchup in Arizona this week.

Daniel Ponce De Leon- Gets the Tigers depending on what happens with the COVID issues. If it lines up correctly, he will get a two-step against the Pirates and the White Sox next week.

Daniel Norris– Gets the Pirates in Pittsburgh.

 

Relievers:
Trevor Rosenthal– I think the closer role in KC is likely a committee moving forward, but Rosenthal has experience with manager Mike Matheny and got the most recent save.

Jesse Chavez and Jonathan Hernandez– With Jose Leclerc done for the season, the Rangers need a new closer. Hernandez seems like the logical next man up, but I think this is another committee situation.

Dellin Betances- Betances got blown up the other night and then Seth Lugo lost the game. The Mets are clearly looking for a closer other than Diaz and I think they would prefer Betances be it and have Lugo be a multi-inning guy.

James Karinchak– Brad Hand’s days are numbered in Cleveland and when he wasn’t available, Karinchak got the save.

Ryan Pressly– Roberto Osuna left last night’s game with an injury and Pressly was the guy the Astros were going to go with when Osuna wasn’t ready to start the season. Cy Sneed could be in line as well if Pressly isn’t ready considering Pressly just came off the IL.

Rowan Wick– Wick got the save last night and it seems the trust in Kimbrel is rightfully gone.

 

Two-Start Pitchers Worth Considering
Zach Plesac at CIN, at CHW
Matt Shoemaker at ATL, at TB
Framber Valdez at ARI, at OAK
Kyle Gibson at OAK, vs LAA
Alec Mills vs KC, at STL
Jeff Hoffman vs SF, at SEA

 

Starting Pitching Schedule

 

Yellow= Double Headers

 

HUGE Thanks to Jason Martinez for allowing me to use his schedules and starting pitching matchups from Roster Resource!!!