Today was a tough one to pick. There's a lot of scary, unfavorable, and/or crazy picks to be made. Due to watching the last few episodes of Season 4 of Weeds, so I can get back to Season 5 which we're now 2 weeks into, I'm keeping this opening short...
Matt Palmer (R), LAA (35% Owned) @ Tim Lincecum (R), SF
Palmer's been good. Better than you realize. He's really handled poor hitting teams incredibly, which just so happens to be exactly what the San Francisco Giants are. One of just three teams (along with San Diego and Oakland) with a team OPS of under .700. Apparently the recession has hit the West Coast really hard, as they seemingly cannot afford anyone who can hit a baseball. If that wasn't enough, San Francisco actually lays claim to the league's worst OPS (.696) vs RHP, which Palmer also happens to be. Coming off of back-to-back Quality Starts, I like Palmer to notch another tomorrow against Los Gigantes. He's a +140 underdog, due to facing Lincecum, but with a Total Run Line of 7.5, I like my chances.
Garrett Olson (L), SEA (1% Owned) @ Chad Gaudin (R), SD
Looking a bit deeper? The 29th ranked OPS in Major League Baseball (.665) vs LHP is owned by the San Diego Padres. After picking with them and Kevin Correia today, I'm going against them, and with the Seattle Mariners and Garrett Olson tomorrow. This is the beauty of Major League Baseball, folks. Oh yeah, and the Padres also have the worst Home OPS (.657) in the entire MLB as well. Olson's just a +110 underdog, and the Total Run Line is set at 8, so this looks to be our best option tomorrow.
Other options I entertained included Trevor Cahill, Chad Gaudin, and Todd Wellemeyer.
Until tomorrow...
Kuroda is only owned in 40% and has a great matchup against Oakland.
Yes, Kuroda was the guy I was originally set on until I saw he was owned in 77% of Plus Leagues. I'm always getting shafted here.