Pitching Locks of the Day:

Wei-Yin Chen, MIA ($7900): Chen comes into tonight’s game fresh off a 1-hit start versus the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Tonight he is facing one of the lowest scoring teams in baseball, the Minnesota Twins.  Chen should be in line for a very effective outing and does have the ability to strike out batters as well.  He posted a game with 12Ks less the a month ago where he was also very efficient, throwing only 98 pitches through 6.1 innings.  Chen has also posted much better numbers on the road, albeit a smaller sample size.  One the road he is 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA with hitters only batting .205 through 4 starts, compared to at home where he is 1-1 with a 5.01 ERA with hitters only batting .284 through 7 starts.  We think Chen will be a cost effective pitcher at Target Field and will go well with our next pick.

Yu Darvish, TEX ($11 000 salary):  Of the top tier salary pitchers, we believe Darvish will offer the best points per dollar.  He has a very favourable matchup against the Houston Astros, the team with the most strikeouts in the MLB.  Texas is also on fire as of late so we think he will be able to use that momentum and turn it into a quality start.  Even though he is just coming off tommy john, we expect the right hander to go at least 6 innings.  Pair that with Houston’s strikeout rate and 10Ks is a very real possibility for Darvish.  Use him with confidence.

Notable Mentions: Madison Bumgarner  vs BOS ($11 600), Jaime Garcia @ Reds ($6 700)

Batter Picks:

Jurickson Profar 2B, TEX ($4000): This pick is a little tricky due to the fact that he may be a gametime decision for Texas’ lineup.  If he is indeed in the lineup, he makes for a great moderately priced bat.  He has been hot ever since being called up from the minors.  He has a .380 AVG and 1.092 OPS in 11 games this season.  He was moved over to first base yesterday so it is clear that Texas wants his bat to stay in the lineup.  If he is in starting lineup he is a lock.  Check close to game time and use him if he’s in.

Alex Rodriguez 1B/3B, NYY ($3600): A Rod has been hot over the last ten games.  He’s hitting .268 with 2 HRs and 6 RBI over that span.  He faces off tonight against Jered Weaver, who every baseball fan knows throws that ball very softly.  Weaver’s fastball average around 83 mph, which is in the bottom of the league in fastball average velocity.  With A Rod slowing down, he still has a pretty potent bat.  He should be able to get around on Weaver’s fastball and it wouldn’t be surprising for him to put one out of Yankee Stadium.  He has a relatively cheap salary which can help when looking for other premier players.  We like him and you should too.