Happy Opening Day. Week 1 runs from March 31 through April 10. It will pit my Explosive Renteria’s against Charlie’s Big Time Timmy Jim’s. Brandonwood’s Purple Tigers take on Flynner’s Action Jacksons. BobbyJ’s Rupert Mundy’s will battle Emerson and his Wuertz Case Scenarios. Jacob’s Tacoby Bellsburys will face Walter’s Haveyouseenmywieners. Trambo’s Carry on Heyward Sons are up against Dr. Dunk’s Gangtsas. And Lobster’s Lobsters will contend with Thriller’s Let Timmy Smokes.
Let me preface my preview by saying that it is way too early in the year to get an accurate gauge of things. Mike Stanton might be a bust, or he might be the real deal. It’s too early to tell. And anybody can have a good week. Magglio Ordonez might hit a couple of balls out of the park this week and actually contribute in a category other than average. If I actually knew what was going to happen, I can assure you that I would play the lottery with confidence. I can’t tell what’s going to happen though. I can just guess.
Here is a preview of the matchups:
| Pos. | Explosive Renteria | Big Time Timmy Jim |
| C | Wieters | Soto |
| 1b | Fielder | A. Gonzales |
| 2b | Pedroia | Phillips |
| 3b | Bautista | M. Young |
| SS | S. Drew/Aviles* | Alexei Ramirez |
| OF | Cargo | J. Upton |
| OF | Pence | B.J. Upton |
| OF | Abreu | A. Torres |
| UTIL | Lind | Vlad |
| UTIL | Snider | D. Lee |
| SP | Johnson | Halladay |
| SP | Scherzer | Billingsley |
| SP | Marcum | Garza |
| RP | Marmol | Perez |
| RP | Storen | Cordero |
| P | Hellickson | Shields |
| P | Sanchez | Kuo |
| P | Chacin | Edwin Jackson |
Let me start off by saying that I was warned about playing the Drew brothers (Stephen and J.D.). They are fragile. It looks like Stephen, my SS, may go on the DL soon, so I picked up Mike Aviles to fill in beginning on April 4. I won’t get anything for the first four days from SS. Grow a pair Stephen. Toughen up.
This makes it even more important that my other position players get off to a good start. By the looks of things, I think Charlie will win steals. Average and OPS will be close I think. I think I’ll take HRs and hopefully RBIs, but who knows. Hitting should be close.
If Scherzer can be the guy he was the second half of last year, I think I can win the pitching battle. I like my bottom 3 better than his.
| Pos. | Purple Tigers | Action Jacksons |
| C | Posada | Mauer |
| 1b | Butler | Votto |
| 2b | Cano | N. Walker |
| 3b | Zimmerman | Beltre |
| SS | Reyes | Furcal |
| OF | Bruce | Heyward |
| OF | D. Young | Stanton |
| OF | Cuddyer | Stubbs |
| UTIL | Huff | Roberts |
| UTIL | Figgins | Ibanez |
| SP | Kershaw | Carpenter |
| SP | Ubaldo | Lewis |
| SP | Nolasco | Bumgardner |
| RP | N. Feliz | Soria |
| RP | Putz | Valverde |
| P | Vazquez | Kuroda |
| P | Zambrano | Volquez |
| P | A. Sanchez | Floyd |
Both teams have some early question marks with their pitching, but I like Brandonwood’s top 2 much more than Flynner’s. If Volqeuz can return to his pre-Tommy John form, he’ll be money in the back half of Flynner’s rotation, though.
Both teams have speedsters in their UTIL spots, so SBs should be interesting. I think the Action Jacksons have more star power at the plate, but the Tigers are solid everywhere on the field. I give the advantage to Flynner at the dish under the assumption that his young guns (Stanton and Heyward) produce according to their upside.
| Pos. | Rupert Mundy | Wuertz Case Scenario |
| C | Posey | VMart |
| 1b | Pujols | Morneau |
| 2b | A. Hill | Espinosa* |
| 3b | Aramis Ramirez | Alvarez |
| SS | Rollins | Tulo |
| OF | Rasmus | Kemp |
| OF | Hunter | Markakis |
| OF | Jackson | Beltran |
| UTIL | Teixeira | Carlos Lee |
| UTIL | Scott | Span |
| SP | King Felix | Hamels |
| SP | Price | Hudson |
| SP | Dempster | CJ Wilson |
| RP | Bailey (DL) | Bell |
| RP | Gregg | Thornton |
| P | Hughes | AJ Burnette |
| P | Axford | Tim Stauffer* |
| P | Aardsma (DL) | E. Santana |
Emerson has revamped his staff with additions of Stauffer and Santana and he’s picked up a rookie sleeper to play 2b. Looking at the matchup, I like BobbyJ’s chances. He’ll put up solid numbers despite starting two players on the DL. Emerson should put up some good numbers, but Tulo is a notorious slow starter and may not give him the Tulo edge right off the bat.
| Pos. | Tacoby Bellsbury | Haveyouseenmywiener |
| C | Napoli | Montero |
| 1b | Dunn | LaRoche |
| 2b | Kinsler | Weeks |
| 3b | Longo | Headley |
| SS | Castro | Desmond |
| OF | Ellsbury | Crawford |
| OF | Manny | Bourn |
| OF | Damon | Pierre |
| UTIL | Holliday | McGehee |
| UTIL | Victorino | Matsui |
| SP | Weaver | Lee |
| SP | Hudson | CC |
| SP | Zimmerman | Wolf |
| RP | Pap | Venters |
| RP | Bard | Rivera |
| P |
| Oswalt |
| P |
| Lyon |
| P |
| Johan Santana |
Like I said, Walter has never played fantasy baseball before. He’s starting Johan, who won’t pitch until July at the earliest, thus letting Jacob off the hook for not putting in 3 Pitchers. Walter should win the counting numbers on the mound.
Walter also left Youkilis on his bench in favor of Matsui. Wow. Nevertheless, he’s going up against the oldest outfield in the league. By far. One thing is certain, Walter will win steals despite playing against Jacoby Ellsbury.
| Pos. | Carry On Heyward Son | Gangstas |
| C | Santana | Suzuki |
| 1b | Pena | Konerko |
| 2b | Nishioka | Beckham |
| 3b | Wright | Prado |
| SS | A. Cabrera | Hanley |
| OF | Hamilton | Cruz |
| OF | McCutcheon | Choo |
| OF | Granderson | Ichiro |
| UTIL | Swisher | C. Young |
| UTIL | Thome | A. Jones |
| SP | Lester | Verlander |
| SP | Liriano | Hanson |
| SP | Gallardo | Gonzales |
| RP | K Rod | Francisco (DL) |
| RP | Broxton | Kimbrel |
| P | Anderson | Wandy |
| P | Myers | Nathan |
| P | Rodney | Beckett |
Trambo opts for an extra closer to try and sure up his saves. Francisco is on the DL and Jurrjens is on Dr. Dunk’s bench. Trambo’s top 3 pitchers are as good as anyone’s. Advantage on the hill goes to Trambo.
I love Ganstas’ lineup. He is solid 1-10, Kurt Suzuki notwithstanding. But Suzuki is a decent Catcher. I like Dunk at the plate.
This may be the best numbers matchup of the week.
| Pos. | The Lobster | Let Timmy Smoke |
| C | McCann | Buck |
| 1b | M. Cabrera | Howard |
| 2b | Uggla | K. Johnson |
| 3b | A Rod | Sandoval |
| SS | Andrus | Jeter |
| OF | Ethier | Braun |
| OF | Pagan | Werth |
| OF | Magglio | Gardner |
| UTIL | C. Ruiz | Reynolds |
| UTIL | Infante* | Rolen |
| SP | Cain | Lincecum |
| SP | Bucholtz | Haren |
| SP | Beurhle | Lilly |
| RP | Soriano | Street |
| RP | Franklin | Chapman |
| P | Garcia | Cahill |
| P | Arroyo | Romero |
| P | Nunez | Kennedy |
Rather than dropping Helton, Lobster opted to drop a good young bat in Mitch Moreland for Omar Infante. Picking up Infante was a good call. Dropping Moreland was not his best option on a team full of droppable options. Lobster has a good infield, but I’m not impressed after that. That said, Thriller’s infield has a lot of question marks. His outfield, though is really good. The addition of Rolen to his final UTIL spot is questionable. I think Thriller’s outfield and his pitching (which will be sneaky good) will carry him to the W this week.
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