Who’s On First? (8/3/20-8/9/20)

August 2, 2020

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

Starting Pitchers for 8/3/20-8/9/20

	Mon, Aug 3	Tue, Aug 4	Wed, Aug 5	Thu, Aug 6	Fri, Aug 7	Sat, Aug 8	Sun, Aug 9
BAL	OFF	OFF	John Means*	OFF	Alex Cobb	Wade LeBlanc*	Tommy Milone*
BOS	OFF	Nathan Eovaldi	Martin Perez*	OFF	Ryan Weber	Zack Godley	BULLPEN
NYY	Gerrit Cole	J.A. Happ*	Jordan Montgomery*	Masahiro Tanaka	James Paxton*	Gerrit Cole/TBD	J.A. Happ*
TBR	OFF	Charlie Morton	Ryan Yarbrough*	OFF	Blake Snell*	T. Glasnow/Y. Chirinos	Charlie Morton
TOR	OFF	Matt Shoemaker	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Matt Shoemaker
CHW	Carlos Rodon*	Lucas Giolito	Dallas Keuchel*	Gio Gonzalez*	Dylan Cease	Carlos Rodon*	Lucas Giolito
CLE	Zach Plesac	Shane Bieber	Mike Clevinger	Carlos Carrasco	Aaron Civale	Zach Plesac	Shane Bieber
DET	OFF	Matthew Boyd*	I. Nova/TBD	Spencer Turnbull	Michael Fulmer	Daniel Norris*	Matthew Boyd*
KCR	Danny Duffy*	Brady Singer	Kris Bubic*	TBD	Jakob Junis	Danny Duffy*	Brady Singer
MIN	Rich Hill*	Jose Berrios	Randy Dobnak	Kenta Maeda	Homer Bailey	Rich Hill*	Jose Berrios
HOU	OFF	Framber Valdez*	Cristian Javier	Lance McCullers Jr.	Zack Greinke	Josh James	Framber Valdez*
LAA	OFF	Andrew Heaney*	Dylan Bundy	Matt Andriese	Griffin Canning	TBD	Shohei Ohtani
OAK	Frankie Montas	Jesus Luzardo*	Sean Manaea*	Mike Fiers	Chris Bassitt	Frankie Montas	Jesus Luzardo*
SEA	Justus Sheffield*	Justin Dunn	Marco Gonzales*	Taijuan Walker	Yusei Kikuchi*	Kendall Graveman	Justus Sheffield*
TEX	OFF	Kyle Gibson	Lance Lynn	Mike Minor*	Jordan Lyles	Kolby Allard*	Kyle Gibson
ATL	Mike Soroka	Max Fried*	Sean Newcomb*	Touki Toussaint	Kyle Wright	Mike Soroka	Max Fried*
MIA	OFF	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
NYM	Jacob deGrom	Steven Matz*	Rick Porcello	OFF	Michael Wacha	David Peterson*	Jacob deGrom
PHI	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
WSN	OFF	Max Scherzer	Stephen Strasburg	OFF	Patrick Corbin*	Anibal Sanchez	Austin Voth
CHC	Alec Mills	Kyle Hendricks	Yu Darvish	Tyler Chatwood	Jon Lester*	Alec Mills	Kyle Hendricks
CIN	Trevor Bauer	Sonny Gray	Tyler Mahle	Luis Castillo	Anthony DeSclafani	Trevor Bauer	Sonny Gray
MIL	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
PIT	Derek Holland*	Joe Musgrove	Trevor Williams	Mitch Keller	Steven Brault*	Derek Holland*	Joe Musgrove
STL	OFF	TBD	TBD/TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
ARI	OFF	Madison Bumgarner*	Robbie Ray*	Zac Gallen	Luke Weaver	Merrill Kelly	Madison Bumgarner*
COL	German Marquez	Jeff Hoffman	Jon Gray	Kyle Freeland*	Antonio Senzatela	German Marquez	Jeff Hoffman
LAD	Walker Buehler	Dustin May	Ross Stripling	OFF	Julio Urias*	Clayton Kerhsaw*	Walker Buehler
SDP	Chris Paddack	Dinelson Lamet	Garrett Richards	OFF	Joey Lucchesi*	Zach Davies	Chris Paddack
SFG	Johnny Cueto	Kevin Gausman	Logan Webb	Drew Smyly*	Jeff Samardzija	Johnny Cueto	Kevin Gausman

*Left-Handed
Blue= 2-Start
Red= TBD
Yellow= Bullpen Game

Schedule for 8/3/20-8/9/20

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
	8/3	8/4	8/5	8/6	8/7	8/8	8/9
BAL	OFF	MIA	MIA	MIA	@WSN	@WSN	@WSN
BOS	OFF	@TBR	@TBR	OFF	TOR	TOR	TOR
NYY	PHI	PHI	@PHI	@PHI	@TBR	@TBR-2	@TBR
TBR	OFF	BOS	BOS	OFF	NYY	NYY-2	NYY
TOR	OFF	@ATL	@ATL	@ATL	@BOS	@BOS	@BOS
CHW	@MIL	@MIL	MIL	MIL	CLE	CLE	CLE
CLE	@CIN	@CIN	CIN	CIN	@CHW	@CHW	@CHW
DET	OFF	STL	@STL-2	@STL	@PIT	@PIT	@PIT
KCR	@CHC	@CHC	CHC	CHC	MIN	MIN	MIN
MIN	PIT	PIT	@PIT	@PIT	@KCR	@KCR	@KCR
HOU	OFF	@ARI	@ARI	@ARI	@OAK	@OAK	@OAK
LAA	OFF	@SEA	@SEA	@SEA	@TEX	@TEX	@TEX
OAK	@SEA	TEX	TEX	TEX	HOU	HOU	HOU
SEA	OAK	LAA	LAA	LAA	COL	COL	COL
TEX	OFF	@OAK	@OAK	@OAK	LAA	LAA	LAA
ATL	NYM	TOR	TOR	TOR	@PHI	@PHI	@PHI
MIA	OFF	@BAL	@BAL	@BAL	@NYM	@NYM	@NYM
NYM	@ATL	@WSN	@WSN	OFF	MIA	MIA	MIA
PHI	@NYY	@NYY	NYY	NYY	ATL	ATL	ATL
WSN	OFF	NYM	NYM	OFF	BAL	BAL	BAL
CHC	KCR	KCR	@KCR	@KCR	@STL	@STL	@STL
CIN	CLE	CLE	@CLE	@CLE	@MIL	@MIL	@MIL
MIL	CHW	CHW	@CHW	@CHW	CIN	CIN	CIN
PIT	@MIN	@MIN	MIN	MIN	DET	DET	DET
STL	OFF	@DET	DET-2	DET	CHC	CHC	CHC
ARI	OFF	HOU	HOU	HOU	@SDP	@SDP	@SDP
COL	SFG	SFG	SFG	SFG	@SEA	@SEA	@SEA
LAD	@SDP	@SDP	@SDP	OFF	SFG	SFG	SFG
SDP	LAD	LAD	LAD	OFF	ARI	ARI	ARI
SFG	@COL	@COL	@COL	@COL	@LAD	@LAD	@LAD

Yellow= Double Headers

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