Posted by Rob McQuown on Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 11:13 am

Wow, 3 straight posts on the Phillies… you’d think they’d won the last World Series and were rollicking over their division again this year. Finally getting back after the break, we assumed you had plenty of at-the-break suggested move articles around the web, and besides, very few of the weak link pitchers have gone since the break. That should all change today, making some good matchup options…

Starting Pitchers:

- Zach Duke at home against San Francisco is a good play.  Even if Duke doesn’t strike guys out, he’s been a good pitcher almost every year of his career.  The Giants can’t hit, and especially can’t hit lefties (.292 team OBP!)  Of course, when Duke is bad, he’s very-very bad, so hold on tight if you start him.

- The righty version of Zach Duke, with an even more bizarre K:BB ratio of 48:12 in 115.1 IP, is Joel Pineiro.  He’s also at home, facing a weak offensive team which struggles against RHP (Arizona).

- Two other pitchers without top-notch “stuff” are good plays today, if you really need to load up on SP stats – Jason Marquis at San Diego, and J.A. Happ away from Philly (Florida).  One would assume that the Fish hit lefties well, given their very-RH offense, but they actually hit righties harder for some reason – something to look into sometime.

- Batters have hit just .189/.218/.321 off him since Jose Contreras returned from his banishment to the minors.   Probably worth grabbing and keeping. The O’s have some weapons, but have been surprisingly ineffective on offense so far, so even using him today is a good play.

An aside on Contreras: I’ve touted this guy on BDD, Heater, and THT all season long, and managed to let myself get sniped on him in my STATS, Inc. Alumni league, by the team which is running away with first place, nonetheless.  Doh!  That first overall pick made a HUGE difference this year… wow!  I “reached” – according to most sources – and took Teixeira at pick 9, and can’t complain about his 57/66 R/RBI, .383 OBP and .546 SLG (we use OBP/SLG instead of AVG/HR).  It’s been one of those seasons in that league, for me.  Not doing badly, but getting beaten by superior timing and decision-making.

Batters:

- of Nyjer Morgan rates to be a great SB play today.  Cubs don’t have a good-throwing catcher available, and (aside from my blatant Cubs fandom) there’s really no reason to expect Kevin Hart to be effective.  Riggleman should run more than his predecessor – the only question is whether the game will be close enough to warrant trying.

- of Michael Cuddyer may hit (much) better at home, but he’s facing a LHP in Texas, and that’s good enough for a strong recommendation here.

- c A.J. Pierzynski at home against erratic Guthrie is a good play.

- DH Travis Hafner might not play today, as he’s being handled with kid gloves, but he’s hit lefties well in his career, and Erik Bedard is weaker against them.  It’s an early game, so lineups should be up soon.

- of Franklin Gutierrez is a nice power/speed player who’s starting to emerge somewhat, though Seattle will always suppress his fantasy numbers.  Well, he’s at Cleveland today against soft-tossing lefty Laffey, and should get top consideration for a pickup.

-2b/of Skip Schumaker is facing Petit, which should be good for some hitting. Unfortunately, he has almost no power, as Petit is wont to allow lots of HR.

- Skippy’s teammate of Colby Rasmus, however, DOES have plenty of power vs RHP, and that makes him a great pickup if you can slot in another OF.

- 3b Pedro Feliz is facing another LHP.  No-brainer if you need a 3b.

-  Some safe, but uninspiring plays: ss Yunel Escobar, of Kosuke Fukudome, Aaron Rowand, Mike Fontenot, Martin Prado.