Fantasy Baseball Preview: April 3, 2014
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
If you watched some baseball Wednesday, chances are good that you saw some good pitching. But we’ve already looked back, let’s look at Thursday’s fantasy baseball preview to see who has a good outlook for today’s games.
Today’s Favorable Matchups
- Pitchers
1. Zack Wheeler vs. Washington Nationals
Wheeler is definitely a young guy to keep an eye on this year, and he’s got good success against most of Washington’s top guns. He will have to stay away from Jayson Werth and Ian Desmond, who both have reasonable numbers against Wheeler in limited at-bats. Denard Span has better than reasonable numbers, and can wreak havoc on the bases once there.
Still, Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman are a collective 3-for-15 against Wheeler, while Adam LaRoche hasn’t even managed that success against him.
2. Phil Hughes at Chicago White Sox
Another guy that I really want to watch this year. Was his rocky stay in New York due to pitching in the tough AL East, or something more?
We should get a sneak preview of that on Thursday. Nobody currently on the White Sox has a career average above .200 against Hughes, while none have hit a homer, or even produced an RBI. I won’t predict a shutout but with a high in the low-40’s predicted in Chicago on Thursday, the conditions are made for a pitcher. That is, assuming the game is played.
- Hitters
1. Joe Mauer/Josh Willingham at Chicago White Sox (Jose Quintana)
The conditions are made for a pitcher, but this is hard to ignore.
- Mauer vs. Quintana: 6/12 (.500 average), 2 HR, 4 RBI.
- Willingham vs. Quintana: 6/13 (.462 average), 2 HR, 5 RBI.
Quintana’s a guy I generally like to stream, but I would not recommend that strategy today.
2. Paul Goldschmidt vs. San Francisco Giants (Tim Lincecum)
Personal story: Clave and I got on the Goldschmidt bandwagon fairly early. This site debuted just after the 2011 season and when we were going over 2012’s projections, we both went high on the guy. Who was there first? I’d have to say me. Why? Because I’m a Giants fan and got a first-hand account of how scary he is.
Sometimes a hitter just sees a pitcher well. That is not the case here.
Other times he sees him well enough to say he “owns” him. That is not the case here.
It’s quite possible that Goldschmidt has a voodoo curse on Lincecum. Even as Lincecum has struggled, nobody has had the success against him that Goldschmidt has had.
- 10/20 (.500 average), 5 HR, 11 RBI.
One homer in every four at-bats. That translates to 137.5 bombs over 550 at-bats. I’ll let you decide whether to round up or down. I’m guessing he spent all night hoping that Lincecum would be able to make the start.
Even if he doesn’t, Goldschmidt is also hitting incredibly well this season, though he’s yet to go yard. Don’t be surprised if that changes today.