WEATHER
No issues tonight.
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FRAMBER VALDEZ
Look for the Angels to once again rest Trout and once again be a good strike out boost for Framber Valdez. They don’t do anything after the Show from Ohtani it feels like and Valdez pitches very well away from home.
CORBIN BURNES
This is a very appealing game between Rodon and Burnes and I don’t think you make a wrong call with either stud but I also dont see how Valdez fails and Gausman should be fine as well. So there’s not much edge to be gained with these two other than Burnes on FanDuel where I think he gets passed over with his high price tag and still finishes as the top scoring pitcher.
KEVIN GAUSMAN
Gausman is coming off extended rest so I would imagine that there could be some limits on how much he does tonight, but he’s going to see a watered down version of the Royals lineup which is not exactly saying much these days. He should be the highest owned pitcher tonight and he should be just fine.
KUTTER CRAWFORD
Crawford went 5 1/3 vs Tampa and got 8 strikeouts with a 31%+ CSW rate in that game. The Rays likely adjust tonight and take less strikes but that is okay because Crawford has shown he can get plenty of whiffs on all his pitches in the big leagues and Tampa without Franco definitely has some whiffs in them.
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Other Pitching Notes …
Nestor Cortes and Martin Perez started the season off hot and have been struggling recently. I would look for both to have a better outing tonight than their recent form, kind of like when the stock market says hey look, I rebounded from a stretch of multiple -3% days with a +1.15% gain!
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CUBS
Alonso, Lindor, Escobar … Happ, Wisdom
Something about Mets vs Cubs really stands out to me as a series which is going to be high scoring and full of drama. Maybe it’s the ghost of Daniel Murphy haunting the Cubs or maybe it’s something else. Just have an entry on this series all weekend for me.
BLUE JAYS
Bichette, Kirk, Gurriel Jr
A great move yesterday by Toronto to fire Charlie Montoya. In my opinion there were two managers who really hold their teams back, Montoyo was one, La Russa is the obvious other. We saw the Phillies go off after firing Joe Girardi and there might be a similar trend here with Toronto. Granted, it doesn’t hurt that they’re playing the Omaha Storm Chasers for four games this weekend either.
SOX vs TWINS
Buxton, Polanco, Robert (CHW)
Another AL Central rivalry in which the road team seems to rake. The weather in Target Field helps the hitters tonight and likely through the weekend, which might get Byron Buxton out of his massive slump, that and Johnny Cueto due for a bad game is also a good element to liking Minnesota a good amount.
Eloy and or Robert also have to be on your radar though.
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CATCHER
- Will Smith
- Alejandro Kirk
- Travis d’Arnaud
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FIRST BASE
- Pete Alonso
- Ty France
- Aledmys Diaz
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SECOND BASE
- Jorge Polanco
- Jose Altuve
- Jeff McNeil
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THIRD BASE
- Patrick Wisdom
- Austin Riley
- Eugenio Suarez
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SHORTSTOP
- Tommy Edman
- Francisco Lindor
- Bo Bichette
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OUTFIELD – Mt. Rushmore
- Ian Happ
- Kyle Tucker
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr
- Juan Yepez
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OUTFIELD – Tier 2
- Brandon Nimmo
- Marcell Ozuna
- Byron Buxton
- Luis Robert
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OUTFIELD – Value
- Riley Greene
- Dylan Carlson
- Jarren Duran
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CORE PLAYS
Pete Alonso
Patrick Wisdom
Lourdes Gurriel Jr
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BETTING PLAYS
Reds/Yankees UNDER 8.5
Mets/Cubs OVER 7.5
Astros ML
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Yesterday I received some horrible personal news. A good friend of mine for a while passed away suddenly and it is a reminder once again of the inevitable element that everything in life will eventually find an ending point. I have a saying – which really isn’t my saying but something I know I have heard plenty – that we shouldn’t be sad that it is over but happy that it happened.
That is a great way to summarize my friendship with my friend John, who was equally sarcastic and wanted to find humor in every moment we were together, be it on the golf course, out drinking a few beers, catching a ball game or just making fun of each others fantasy team(s). He was very laid back and easy to get along with it will take me a while to realize that I won’t be able to text him for a round of Golf or just hear his laugh. He was a great person, a great father, a great friend and the world will definitely miss him.
John has been in a Dynasty Baseball league with me and a bunch of our close friends since 2007, and very recently he had actually joined what he always called ‘my blog’ here at DailyAmbush, even going out and proudly wearing Ambush T-Shirts that he went and bought on his own, so that’s part of why I am sharing this because we have sadly lost a Member once again too soon.
Like the rest of you, when the Chairman would homer and he didn’t use him he would say “Im an idiot, I should never ignore you!” and when the Chairman sucked he would give me a playful ribbing on it as well. So for today, John Rowley – you are the Chairman of The Dongers Club.
RIP my Great Friend.
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