Welcome to another edition of Diamond Picks. Tonight’s slate appears to be one where we can distribute a good chunk of salary towards higher-priced bats. There a couple of arms that profile well to fill out the lineup cards, and they shouldn’t necessarily break the bank. No time like the present to jump into lineup construction. As always, best of luck with these suggestions!
PITCHER
Kenta Maeda tops my pitchers’ list tonight. Maeda profiles nicely in the matchup versus the Milwaukee Brewers. He has looked very good this year for the Twinkies after being a solid contributor for the Dodgers in the years prior. In three starts this year, he has pitched to a 2.65 ERA while striking out 16 and walking just three in 17 innings of work. As for the Brew-Crew, they have stumbled out of the gate in the early going. They rank 25th in runs scored with 60 and are slugging .371 which puts them at 24th.
Nate Pearson of the Toronto(Buffalo) Blue Jays is a nice sp2 for tonight’s card. This will be Pearson’s third start. He has looked solid striking out 10 batters in 10 innings of work. Although Pearson will need to work on his control, his fastball has looked to be in great form as his fastball has sat anywhere in the mid to high 90’s. The Jays will look to make it two straight victories over the Miami Marlins who have overachieved so far in the early going.
INFIELD
J.T. Realmuto(C) of the Philadelphia Phillies is off to a fine start smashing five homers in just 10 games. The Phillies will be matched up against Wade LeBlanc and the Baltimore Orioles. LeBlanc was tagged last time out by the upstart Marlins. He gave up six runs in 3.1 innings of work.
Don’t hesitate to add other right-handed bats from Philadelphia’s lineup such as shortstop Jean Segura.
Fernando Tatis(SS) has everyone raving right now and for good reason. The San Diego Padre middle-infielder is among the league leaders in several offensive categories. He trails only Aaron Judge(9) for the league lead in home runs by one. Tatis is running hot and is almost match up proof right now. The Dodger will send Julio Urias to mound. He is pitching to the tune of a 2.40 ERA in three starts.
OUTFIELD
Nelson Cruz(MIN) continues to mash in the late stages of his career. Cruz is in a good spot tonight as he will counter against Brewer’s left-handed starter, Eric Lauer. Cruz is seeing southpaws really well yet again this year as he has gone 5-for-12 with two dingers and six RBI heading into last night’s action. Last season, in 63 games where Cruz faced a left-hander, he cleared the fence 16 times while hitting .322.
Byron Buxton(MIN) is a nice play for filling out your outfield. Buxton is electric on the base paths and has shown some good pop in the early going. Before last night’s contests, he logged eight runs driven in and went deep three times. Look for the Twins to jump out a fast start as the Brewers feature one of the better bullpens in all of baseball.
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