Beat the Streak Report: Tuesday, April 20
Tuesday’s recommended picks
Joey Votto, 1B, Reds
.455 AVG (5-for-11) lifetime vs. Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley
Chipper Jones, 3B, Braves
.462 AVG (6-for-13) lifetime vs. Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick
Garrett Atkins, 1B, Orioles
.714 AVG (5-for-7) lifetime vs. Mariners starter Jason Vargas
BTS all-time leader: Michael Karatzia, 49
MLB all-time leader: Joe DiMaggio, 56
Yesterday’s results
A hefty 17.2 percent of fans placed their fortunes in the hands of Ichiro Suzuki, and the perennial BTS favorite came through with two hits to keep several thousand streaks alive.
The second-most popular selection, Albert Pujols, also proved to be a winning pick, as he rebounded from the previous day’s hitless performance with a 1-for-4 effort.
The day’s biggest streak breaker turned out to be Dustin Pedroia. The Boston second baseman has put up big numbers in the early going, but his 0-for-3 line yesterday ended the streaks of 7.2 percent of the fans.
That left us with 144 users tied for the top spot, at 16 games.
Yesterday’s Top 5 most selected players
1. Ichiro Suzuki (SEA): 17.2%, 2-for-4
2. Albert Pujols (STL): 9.4%, 1-for-4
3. Dustin Pedroia (BOS): 7.2%, 0-for-3
4. Magglio Ordonez (DET): 5.3%, 2-for-4
5. Franklin Gutierrez (SEA): 5.2%, 2-for-2
Beat the Streak Report 
okay now, Im use to logging on in the early afternoon and seeing many replies, but i see nothing so far for today. where is everyone?! LOL
Looking at Ichirio – 2 hits last night and tonight he faces a hittable Hernandez and O’s Bullpen
Games dont lock till 7ET, we’ll end up with alot more posts later. I’m liking a Dodger ( vs homer), Brewer (vs PIt) or Ichiro again.
M
im taking either mauer or Ichiro. havent decided yet
Waffling ever so slightly between HanRam and Ichiro. Almost makes me wish the picks locked at noon so I could stop caring. LOL.
Good luck to everyone today.
Mauer, Furcal, Kemp, DeJesus, Gutierrez, among others, look good. Lots of tempting options today.
I will probably end up with Kemp unless I start debating myself again.
ive got furcal getting a hit against homer bailey
I counted today (might not be accurate) but I counted that 74 of the people tied for the lead, are picking Ichiro tonight to get a hit. Out of about 142 or so. I got Pujols.
That was actually for yesterday sorry I lost my mind there.
The game just got a little harder! Orioles optioned hurler Brad Bergesein to their minor league affiliate. I always watched for him to pitch (like Jason Marquis) he gives up a lot of hits. I am not going to second guess myself by taking Furcal. I’m sticking with the Little Man from the Far East – ICHIRIO.
Drag, I swear u read my mind before you make your posts. Good luck to Ichi, I’m sticking with my original pick Furcal.
Oh well at least I got two picks in against Berg.
A lot of Ichiro today. I can see him getting 25-30% for today.
Tomorrows pick looks very tough. Many number 1 starters going, and I don’t see any great matchups. I have 16, and am confident tonight, gonna be some broken steaks tomorrow.
Here are the 15 most picked for the Top2500.
Player, Times Picked, Top2500 Percentage
Ichiro Suzuki, 284, 11.36%
Joe Mauer, 258, 10.32%
Ryan Braun, 194, 7.76%
Hanley Ramirez, 172, 6.88% (my pick too)
Derek Jeter, 134, 5.36%
Martin Prado, 110, 4.4%
Matt Kemp, 108, 4.32%
Rafael Furcal, 90, 3.6%
Miguel Cabrera, 79, 3.16%
Casey McGehee, 61, 2.44%
Brian McCann, 59, 2.36%
Vladimir Guerrero, 59, 2.36%
Chase Utley, 52, 2.08%
Chipper Jones, 44, 1.76%
No Selection, 44, 1.76%
I love first at-bat hits And Furcal takes me to 17. Thank you. Good luck to those waiting.
ditto to what 00liber said, except enter HanRam and 16 (smh at Todd Helton’s day off). Good luck to everyone waiting…
ok now i haven’t played baseball for about 10 years or so but 7 SB and its the top of the 4th???? Is it that much easier to steal off a knuckleballer?? Cause Victor has a good enough arm that he should be able to pick em off.
Mcgehee also got a 1st at bat hit for me. Am i seeing the results page right? Garrett Atkins is 6th most selected today? No wonder no one wins this contest! (Watch him go 4-4 now and Ichiro, Mauer, and Jeter all go hitless)
WTG Hanley. Good luck to those still waiting.
Joe Mauer, 258, 10.32%
Mauer is 0-for-4 after the seventh inning and unless the twins bat around in the eighth or cleveland ties the game, he wont be batting again
and Liber, it is easy to steal on a knuckleball, when its not thrown at more than 60 miles an hour. now its NINE stolen bases
Ichirio again Domo Arigato!
Mauer does an 0-4 and takes down alot of players.
I have my MVP List that means do not pick M auer, V otto or P ujlos = MVP. Also, guys develop a list of pitchers never to go against (easy ones would be guys like Halladay, Verlander, Sabathia but also stay away from guys like
Wakefield and that crazy knuckleball of his – you never know and neither does he really how he will do on any given day with that pitch. He could be as great a CC Sabathia or as bad as Jason Marquis. Do not risk your streak on him – move to another game.
Wednesday – Ichirio is 28 for 66 lifetime v. O’s Milwood.
Others to watch on Wed: Hanley R., Troy Tulowtizki, Torii Hunter, Furcal and maybe Jeter and Pablo Sandoval too.
Stay away from the Cubs as they are in a terrible hitting slump.
@dragbunt:
I love the Ichiro pick, but I hate the possibility of rain.
dmansmi – Do you mean weather in Seattle on Wed? Safeco Field has a retractable roof? I’m hoping for rain in NY so the Mets don’t beat the Cubs again lol.
Milwood of O’s has a terrible record at Safeco Field.
Check out the report on Milwood on the Schedule page.
@dragbunt: I don’t know why I didn’t realize that about Seattle. It makes good sense considering how much it rains there…. and I guess I should hope for that same thing you’re hoping for your Cubbies for my Royals in Toronto. Although, we do have Greinke pitching.
Top2500 totals are in for today.
661 streaks ended, with Mauer & Jeter account for 392 of them. Will post the next day’s Top2500 picks when I get home from work.
Wednesday Picks LOCK at 12:32 Eastern Time.
Make sure you get your picks in
Suzuki 30, HRamirez 10, Mauer 7, Matsui 7, Furcal 6
haha goes to show everything that has happened in the past doesnt mean its goes to happen in the future. I took Lyle Overbay for ***** n giggles because he was 7 for 13 vs Greinke in his career.. so far 0 for 2.. gotta love beat the streak!
111 at still perfect at 17 games.
looks like the majority of those took Ichiiro
Backrubs, yes there are quite a few with Ichiro but out of the 111 there are 28 different players selected.
Looks like the blog update guy called in sick on Wednesday.
josephcarlmoratto – Your luck with Mauer is not unusual. His nickname should be the “Streak Stopper.” Maybe he will come through for you today.
I went with ‘The Man from Japan” today = Ichirio
darwi – Your error today was that you chose to play against KC Ace Grienke, chose Overbay who is now batting .119. The lure was the 7 – 13 lifetime avg of Overbay over Grienke was too tempting to pass up and Overbay came up short 0 – 4 with 3 k’s. I saw Overbay hitting 7 -13 over Grienke and passed because it’s Grienke and Overbay’s current average was about .135(huge red flag).
Good Luck to all today.
Went with Lind. Don’t really know why outside of I wanted to pick a guy during the day game if I’m able to watch it. He did get a hit but i have to get out of the habit if i want a chance at ever winning lol.
Third time I’ve picked Joe Mauer this season and each time he didn’t get a single hit. He went 0-3, 0-4, and 0-4.
Hopefully he will get a hit today, because I picked him again.
Got Mauer today. Good luck to everyone with their streaks still going.
Thursday looks tough – any ideas out there?
Prado of Braves?
Here are today’s Top2500 picks.
Player, Times Picked, Top2500 Percentage
Ichiro Suzuki, 404, 16.16% (my pick too)
Joe Mauer, 236, 9.44%
Hanley Ramirez, 185, 7.4%
Rafael Furcal, 123, 4.92%
Derek Jeter, 104, 4.16%
Hideki Matsui, 102, 4.08%
Carl Crawford, 101, 4.04%
Albert Pujols, 97, 3.88%
Matt Kemp, 85, 3.4%
Pablo Sandoval, 61, 2.44%
Troy Tulowitzki, 58, 2.32%
Ryan Braun, 49, 1.96%
No Selection, 45, 1.8%
Ivan Rodriguez, 44, 1.76%
Chase Utley, 40, 1.6%
Josh Willingham, 40, 1.6%
Will post today’s results and tomorrow’s picks around 5:30PM Eastern tomorrow night.
BTW: today’s early game + “no selections” resulted in 2 pages of streak enders (53 BTS players). Today’s picks, posted above, account for 70.96% (1,174 picks) of the Top2500.
Early game time today probably reason for some of the “no selections”, but the count is about the same from day to day. Go figure, takes you a week+ to get on the top 2500 and you forget to make a selection? One of the “no selections” was in 1st, another in 2nd, & another in 5th !!!
Will post today’s results and tomorrow’s picks around 5:30PM Eastern tomorrow night.
BTW: today’s early game + “no selections” resulted in 2 pages of streak enders (53 BTS players). Today’s picks, posted above, account for 70.96% (1,174 picks) of the Top2500.
Early game time today probably reason for some of the “no selections”, but the count is about the same from day to day. Go figure, takes you a week+ to get on the top 2500 and you forget to make a selection? One of the “no selections” was in 1st, another in 2nd, & another in 5th !!!
Will post today’s results and tomorrow’s picks around 5:30PM Eastern tomorrow night.
BTW: today’s early game + “no selections” resulted in 2 pages of streak enders (53 BTS players). Today’s picks, posted above, account for 70.96% (1,174 picks) of the Top2500.
Early game time today probably reason for some of the “no selections”, but the count is about the same from day to day. Go figure, takes you a week+ to get on the top 2500 and you forget to make a selection? One of the “no selections” was in 1st, another in 2nd, & another in 5th !!!
I went with Furcal against Homer Bailey yesterday and he came thru for me. After the selection s were locked out, I questioned my pick since I noticed in my Fancy League he was a Free Agent. I almost went with Mauer, glad I didn’t. Furcal put me at 11 since I got busted on day #1 with Big Poppy and 4 days later I missed again with Johnny Demon! I should know better than to pick someone that goes from the RedSox to the Yankees. lol
To lavolpevb: That “no selection” always looks nice!
To dragbunt: I also have prado at the moment. But some guys to look at are Braun, Mcgehee, Hanley, M.Young, Matsui and Polanco.
Afternoon guys, good to see the regulars today considering the MLB blogger took a personal day. Going with “the beast from the East” Ichiro tonight. Leaning to one of the 1-5 brewers for tomorow. Good luck to all tonight.
i took tulowitski tonight and im taking rickie weeks tomorrow against the pirates pitching staff. mccutchen hasnt looked good at all to start the season so the brewers hitters should all get at least 5 ab bats tomorrow
I second guessed my Furcal pick (dang… already 1-2) and went with Crawford. Hope he pulls through tonight. Good luck everyone.
Polanco left the game from getting hit by pitch. Sorry to those who picked him tonight. he could be out a while.
dragbunt104- I love the MVP tidbit.
The top of the order tomorrow in a day game with the Brewers v. Pirates is very tempting.
Weeks and Braun are hot!
How about Pedroia who is 2 -2 lifetime v. Lefty CJ Wilson on TX, game in Boston, breeze blowing out toward the green monster. Sounds positive as does Prado v. Moyer who gives up a lot of hits.
Wow, Joe Mauer get’s finally get’s a hit in the 8th inning !
Close one….
am looking at utley tomorrow 9-for-23 against D Lowe
helton 12-for 27 against Livan Hernandez, however Helton did not start the game tonite
ichiro 0-for-3 with a walk after seven. Seattle 4-1
how many more streaks just ended on this?
Ichiro grounds out top 7th. Unless M’s bat around in next 5 outs or O’s tie/take the lead, Ichiro is taking 400 of the Top2500 down & me too unfortunately. I have less distance to fall, but it doesn’t ease the pain any. Sir Albert is taking about 100 with him as Hanley did to 185 leaders earlier. Hideki is the next largest potential streak killer with 102 top 2500 picks. 😦
Horrible way for Phil Hughes to lose a no hitter in the 8th inning.
I feel for all those in our group who just ended their streak thanks to Ichiro. 😦
Ichiro was a big part, but 1,042 Top2500 lost streaks today thanks to a few other 0-fers: Hanley, Hideki, and Albert were among the largest streak killers.
Correction as I check back at the scoreboard, Tigers tied it in top of 9th, no outs. Hideki may have another shot tonight. Back to the drawing board for many. But this won’t be the last bad day for BTS leaders; history seems to repeat.
Hello all,
How can you tell for sure if a guy you pick is going to be playing? For example… I took Ivan Rodriguez but he didn’t start. Of course with my luck he pinched hit, got a sac fly and finished 0 for 0 but my streak ends.
So should I have known that it was going to be an off day for him?? Somewhere I can check? Do catchers play a certain number of days or only with certain pitchers?
If he finishes 0 – 0 your streak won’t end.
Joseph, read the rules, the streak ends. Sac flys count as at-bats in the BTS contest.
That’s what I thought but apparently that only applies if his at-bats were walks. If he hits a sac fly it’s not recorded as an at bat.
This is his line:
b-Rodriguez, I, PH 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .444
But my streak is at 0.
Yes… crappy way to lose… so should I have known it was a day off for him or do people generally stay away from catchers?
Neil, how to tell for sure your guy is playing. Unless you can find some source that posts the day’s roster an hour or sooner before the first game starts for the day; you have to hope for the best. However, if you wanted to restrict your picks, MLB always posts the team’s lineup about an hour or so before the game starts. But you’d have to pick the first from the first game(s) of the day only. And that doesn’t mean the manager can’t change his mind 5-10 mins prior to first pitch.
Sometimes the local newspaper’s, on line, may know ahead of time that a certain player will be rested. This info usually comes from post-game interviews or local reporters. I think a very large percentage of BTS players over the years have picked a pinch-hitter by mistake, when that happened to me, I gotta say I was praying for a walk or hit-by-pitch because most pinch-hitters don’t come up to sac-bunt.
I mispoke. Sac-flys don’t count as at-bats, but they do count towards ending a streak in the BTS.
I saw someone post on here in one of the earlier blogs to stay away from catchers.
Makes sense. They don’t always play the full game so they don’t get all their at bats. Also many catchers aren’t great hitters save for a few like Mauer and Posada.
Sac-flys don’t count as at-bats, but they do count towards ending a streak in the BTS.
OK I will say it now. BTS people, this is not right. IF it shows 0-for-0 in the official game box, then no streak should be stopped. BTS, you need to change that stupid rule right now
It’s actually an official Major League rule though.
Rule 10.23 (B)CONSECUTIVE-GAME HITTING STREAKS.
A consecutive-game hitting streak shall not be terminated if all of a batter?s plate appearances (one or more) in a game result in a base on balls, hit batsman, defensive interference or obstruction or a sacrifice bunt. The streak shall terminate if the player has a sacrifice fly and no hit.
——–Unfortunately that rule won’t be changed. I will say that they shouldn’t lock all players before the 1st game of the day though.
BTS NEWS UPDATE
Tsunami Sweeps leader board, many bloggers streaks swept to zero.
Time to start over – Ryan Braun today in a day game v. Pittsburg. He is hitting well 3 – 4 yesterday.
Note on catchers or other part-time players: Take a look at the total at bats that a player has before you make your selections v. at bats of his teammates. You can get a feel of who plays daily or only part time and make your selection accordingly. Catchers are tough picks, usually slow afoot, bat down in the order etc. Exceptions are Posada or Mauer.
Martin Prado today?
I’m off Hanley this year, his walks are up and may start approaching Pujols-ian territory this year… tho Felipe Paulino is still tantalizing.
bobby – Prado hitless yesterday – back to zero. Be wary. Helton & Braun look good today.
Scott Podsednik for tomorrow perhaps – Pavano pitching.
My crash & burn list for this year – Renteria (killed me at 12), Pedroia, Prado & H. Ramirez.
jagx – I do think that picks MUST be locked in or else people will be changing picks when theirs goes hitless and/or will just copy the leaders. Rule keeps us all honest. 🙂 Any thoughts?
Ya I think I’m switching to Braun. Helton scares me due to heavy bb’s.
Martin Prado note: has a hit in all but 2 games, Doc’s gem yesterday, and Ubaldo’s no-hitter… safe to say he beats up on mediocre pitching, but thanx for the advice, I think braun might be the superior play today.
Well back to 0. Damn Ichiro.
Picks need to lock before first game. Not s fan of catchers either.
The end of something is always the begining of something better. Going Braun to start me back up. Good luck to all.
Well the way i’ve seen for espn when it comes to like fantasy football is that they lock a player into your line up once that player plays. I don’t see why if there’s a 1 pm game and a 7 pm game, the people who picked at 1 pm stay locked at 1 pm but the people had guys in night time games (say at 7 pm) can still change their picks to anyone else who has a game at 7 or later. It would solve the whole 0-1 pinch hitter problem. Then again i guess they don’t want to make it easier on us.
Blog guy must be on vacation…
Well Mauer isn’t starting today in the day game against Cleveland. I have Braun today and going with you guys to get back to 1.
Well Braun just homered so a bunch of us are back at one. Happy playing LOL!!!!
Happy Days are here again!
Braun goes yard!
The posts on specific players or general comments do help and keep them coming. I would have bypassed the Pirates day game today except for the comment I read that was posted yesterday about the Brewers hitting Pirates McCutchensen – a tip of my Cub cap to schenk015 for that advice.
too good Ryan “Le” Braun!.. took him on the hr bts too!
Vinny, managers now a days like to give a regular a day off after a night game, that is why Mauer isnt in the starting lineup. Im back to zero again, and i took Utley
Just Looked at the leaderboard. there are 53 people who are still perfect and at 18 games
“haha goes to show everything that has happened in the past doesnt mean its goes to happen in the future. I took Lyle Overbay for ***** n giggles because he was 7 for 13 vs Greinke in his career.. so far 0 for 2.. gotta love beat the streak!”
That is because Greinke was horrible at the beginning of his career.
There was one year where he had a 6.25 ERA for the entire season!
Nice job to those who picked Ryan Braun today. He is currently 3 for 4. Edmonds would have been a great pick 4 for 6 so far. Brewers punished the Pirates 20 to 0.
Yay for Braun getting 3 hits today!
After I initially went 5-0 at the start of BTS, I haven’t gotten to 2 day streak. I am now at 2-0.
I find it easier to pick morning games. This way, I don’t have to wait to until the night for results.
Today’s top 12 picks of the Top2500. Will post tomorrow’s pick after games lock tomorrow.
Player, Times Picked, Top2500 Percentage
Ryan Braun, 499, 19.96%
Martin Prado, 245, 9.8%
Chase Utley, 211, 8.44%
Hanley Ramirez, 174, 6.96%
Todd Helton, 134, 5.36%
Derek Jeter, 130, 5.2%
Joe Mauer, 103, 4.12%
Dustin Pedroia, 72, 2.88% (my pick also)
Torii Hunter, 66, 2.64%
No Selection, 50, 2.0%
Casey McGehee, 49, 1.96%
Miguel Cabrera, 46%, 1.84%
Yesterday’s disaster terminated 1,042 Top2500 streaks. But for all of us that start anew today, we know we will be ahead of those that fall today.
Good thing I picked A-Rod instead of Derek Jeter today.
btle – At times last year I picked an early game instead of a better choice that was late evening – be careful.
I was locked and loaded for tomorrow but then the Nats changed from Jason Marquis to a new pitcher, Luis Atilano, recalled from Triple A Syracuse. The schedule by line on Atilano says that this would be he major league debut but a couple of the LAD show at bats against him? LAD could unload on him big time.
Cano gets a hit in his last at bat to keep my streak alive!
I also had Utley today, no worries necessary there in starting from scratch once again.
I’m more ticked at throwing away my survivor streak on what I knew was a terrible choice… second guessing ftw.
dragbunt104- At this point I’m so low in the streak that I figured I could take chances now and so I don’t research a lot right now. For the past morning games, I picked good hitters against so-so pitchers.
Thanks for info about Marquis. I looked for him and now I know why I couldn’t find him. I see that he has been placed on the 15 DL.
Luis Atilano sounds like he may be a good pick to hit against. I’m just wary about picking guys that have just been brought up. They have a lot to prove and put their all in the first appearance. I feel like it’s safer to pick them after they’ve pitched a few more games in the ML.
infernodragon02@msn.com – This game is very much luck.
U good pick a so so choice and he could get a hit.
U could pick a sure bet and he could not get a hit.
Look how many went down with Ichiro yesterday. He seemed like a sure choice.
Last two guys I have had (Mauer, Cano) have gotten their first and only hit in their last at bat. Very lucky.
Friday April 23
Prado or Podsednik?
its nice to see my advice on the brewers against mccutchen helped someone. i thought they would have a good game but i wasnt expecting a 25 hit game. luckily weeks went 3-7 so my streak moved up to 4 games. im going with ryan sweeney to get a hit against westbrook tomorrow. hes been hot this year except for this last series against the yankees but westbrook is a much easier man to face than the guys hes had to hit the last few days. atlanta kansas city and oakland looked like good teams to take a hitter from for tomorrow
him-hawing between furcal and prado for tomorrow, simply can’t buy into podsednik.
Am going with Podsednik tomorrow because I’m so low in the streak right now I’m willing to take the chance. That and because Pavano is pitching. KC got to him once and I think they could again……
More of a typical BTS day, with one game remaining, 490 Top2500 streaks ended today, roughly 20%. With the remaining game, Torii (66) can push the percentage up a bit. Otherwise, only 6 other streaks are in jeopardy with other players in that game. Today’s Top2500 consisted of 127 different players picked.
Wierd Stat of the Day:
Scott Podsednik batting .143 in night games?
I know there is apprehension about picking a guy against a young pitcher in his first major league start, and that’s understandable.
Some information for the curious on Luis Atilano, he has an extremely low k rate (4.8/9), over a hit per inning (9.7/9), and an excellent bb rate (1.9/9). All ingredients for an arm worth picking on at the major league.
Throw in Rafi’s hot start at the plate, and the dodgers propensity for turning over their lineup, and I got Furcal as the pick of the day today.
That is weird. Also some rain in the forecast – doesn’t look like enough to call the game, but I generally don’t like games in bad weather. Going with Jeter. 🙂 What this guy hit for the cycle now LOL…
Why do the leaders have 19 game hit streaks, when no team or player has played 19 games this year?
funny that they stop posting blogs when its actually active.
Lots of good match ups with Prado, Ichiro, Mauer, Jeter, Utley and the dodgers! At the moment i have Ichiro.
I have voted for the All-Star game 100 times exactly with 4 e-mail accounts…..so far
Finally got by the 4 straight and now at 5 straight. Got lucky with Sandoval when he got a HR last at bats on 4-21 and picked Polanco yesterday who did not play… I worked on three players today… Prado, Mauer and Cuddyer… All three look good to me, finally went with Mauer….Meche has a 357 opponents batting avg of 357 and an era of 11.57…. Since Mauer did not play yesterday that made a bit easier to go with him over Cuddyer
LOL everyone……
spear716 – The Yankees and Red Sox played on Easter Sunday (April 4th) – that was the only game and was played at night. If you count the 4th through the 22nd, you’ll get 19 games……
yeah but no teams wins and losses add up to 19 games.
spear716 – Voting 100 times in All-Star balloting? Are you from Chicago?
raining a bit in Chicago – Game should be OK to go. Will it go 9 innings? How many times will the Beast from the East bat?
I like Prado today.
Spear716: “yeah but no teams wins and losses add up to 19 games.”
19 individual days of baseball have been played. The top dogs picked successfully in all 19.
Today’s most Top2500 picks follow. There were 138 different players picked today.
Player, Times Picked, Top2500 Percentage
Ichiro Suzuki, 407, 16.28%
Joe Mauer, 397, 15.88%
Derek Jeter, 210, 8.4%
Michael Cuddyer, 181, 7.24%
Martin Prado, 120, 4.8%
Chase Utley, 96, 3.84%
Justin Morneau, 78, 3.12%
Dustin Pedroia, 75, 3%
James Loney, 61, 2.44%
Matt Kemp, 51, 2.04%
Rafael Furcal, 46, 1.84%
Miguel Cabrera, 41, 1.64%
…
No Selection, 31, 1.24%
Yesterday resulted in 557 Top2500 streak enders with Helton, Jeter, Pedroia & Hunter doing the most damage. The #1 leaders are dwindling down with only 39 remaining perfect.
Saturday – Who looks good?
Jose Guillen v. Twins Blackburn
Ichirio v. Chi Sox Freddy Garcia
Ramirez v. Cook – weather in Colorado?
Hope the blog guy is OK – That news from Tuesday is pretty tired.
WOW – Furcal is an 0-fer and Podsednik is now 0 – 4!
Jeter just got a hit.
3 game hit streak now.
Thanks dragbunt for pointing out the .143 stat. My ******** streak is now at 2.
**** Florida/Colorado is a doubleheader for tomorrow!!! **** I’m with you on the blog guy. 🙂
Unless Utley comes up again; made last out in 7th and team losing by 4, he takes out 6 first-place BTS players. Another 4 1st place players dropped tonite too. One slid to second due to Col/Fla rainout.
atlanta hitters look good for tomorrow against niese as do the dodger hitters against stammen. i have james loney for tomorrow to get me to a W6
HEY LOOK HERE, last year the rules were changed that if you picked a player in a double header in order for your streak to continue, that player must get a hit in both games.
DOUBLE HEADERS ARE POSION! Know the rules. Stay away from Colorado game today. Your player, if he plays in both games, must get a hit in both games to advance your streak ONE game.
Hey Naberg – Watch your language – there are lady bloggers too. 🙂 🙂 You are p*****g off the censor.
Good Morning from Boston
Sorry for you all that have pick Pedroia & Youk recently… Our team is in a tailspin… I have only picked Pedroia one time and he let me down and for Youk he was my first game choice, other than that I have not picked any Sox….Going with Eithier vs Nationals today… Good Luck everybody
LOL dragbunt – I swear I didn’t say anything bad!!!!!!! I was typing asterisks to alert everyone about the doubleheader and it somehow posted that way. 🙂 Was considering McGehee today but rain is in the forecast. I like Ethier as well. Good luck everyone!!!
No worries about the rain; Miller Park haas a roof. I had picked McGehee but like the matchup of Marlon Byrd vs. Doug Davis better. Also might consider Chipper Jones who looks good vs. Niese and always does well on his birthday.
Sorry about the late post – Went with Ichirio – Rain should hold off until after the game. Hopefully, the real Freddy Garcia will not show up for ChiSox.
josephcarlmaratto – Please make a post of your choices for us before the days games lock in. We appreciate advice from everyone. Did you join the bloggers group at tht BTS site? Have over 20 members now.
I went with chipper, he’s been good against lefties so far. Would have went with prado, don’t think he’s in the line up though.
That double header rule is so stupid in this game since in real life if a player gets a hit in both games of a double header his hitting streak goes up TWO games. They should make it like that in this game but they won’t. I have Ethier today as well as he is on a roll and looks good against Nationals.
Today’s Top2500 riding Ichiro for 2 days in a row. Here are their top picks for the day, 138 different players picked overall.
Ichiro Suzuki, 499, 19.96%
Ryan Braun, 144, 5.76%
Hanley Ramirez, 143, 5.72%
Andre Ethier, 137, 5.48%
Robinson Cano, 130, 5.2%
Chase Utley, 128, 5.12%
Marlon Byrd, 110, 4.4%
Joe Mauer, 95, 3.8%
Matt Kemp, 93, 3.72%
No Selection, 74, 2.96%
Rafael Furcal, 66, 2.64%
Dustin Pedroia, 58, 2.32%
Placido Polanco, 53, 2.12%
Franklin Gutierrez, 52, 2.08%
Yesterday ended 488 streaks, lead by Utley, Pedroia, Kemp & Furcal. Only 27 #1 BTS players remain perfect.
Side note: about 175 picks from the doubleheader today. Plenty of people didn’t read the rules or are feeling really lucky today, including 2 #1 BTS leaders. The ‘No Selections’ were quite high today, one done by a #2 BTS leader!
Chipper Jones pulled early going 0-fer with 2 ABs, taking 23 BTS players with him, Pado comes in maybe only getting 2 ABs and accounts for 24 BTS players.
yea sucks for me. Forgot about his string of injuries before. Sad that it happened on his bday though.
I got Gutierrez today, going to be interesting to watch cause couple leaders have Ichiro today.
Well I’m back at a 3 game streak as Ethier already got his hit and the leader is at 21 as Prado got a hit in his first AB of the game against the Mets.
up to a 6 game streak with ethier’s hit today. i was thinking of taking chipper today but im very happy i stayed away from him.
I’ma have a 4 game hit streak if Cano get’s a hit this afternoon.
Ichiro 0-2… need him for 17!
I broke one of my rules today and it worked out. Thank you Prado for being such a good hitter. I never take a player in a day game after a night game (except on sunday), because I’m always afraid my player wont start. Then he may pinch hit and only get 1 ab. I would hate to lose my streak with only 1 AB. With the threat of rain in Washington, and many other cities, I didn’t like any match-up. I went with Prado, even though he was 0-6 career off Niese, and it worked out. Thank you Chipper for coming out. Could be a few rainouts/rain shortened games today and tomorrow, do your research. 21 in a row, yessir.
Nice job albundy. I was feeling bad for those who picked Chipper, Prado and McCain (1AB – pop out to Reyes), but it worked out for a few of you guys.
Cano 3-4 so far !
4 game hit streak now.
I know of at least 499 ppl hoping the WSox/Mariners game goes into extra innings. Ichiro 0-4. 2-2 score in the 9th.
Ha, Seattle loses and Ichiro go’s 0-4.
Yepper, today Ichiro ended more Top2500 streaks by himself than all the 0-fers did yesterday. Not over yet, still 1200 streaks on the line with the remaining unfinished-games.
Urrggghhh… 16 back to ZERO! Knew I should have picked Jeter.
whos everyone looking at for tomorrow. right now i dont see anyone who i feel really good about picking. im thinking of taking chase headley against homer bailey but to me thats not a safe pick
i dont know if anyone has tried making picks based off this stat but since ive started using it ive had a w6 and hopefully tomorrow it becomes a w7. instead of putting emphasis on a player’s avg. ive been looking at what percentage of games theyve played without a hit. i think anyone who goes hitless in less than 20% of their games is a safe pick and so far its been working for me. if anyone else tries it let me know whether you think its helpful or not
Do not pick Miguel Cabrera (sunday, or for awhile) with Guillen out ,he will not get pitched to. Ron Washington already said ” he’s not beating us”
I feel confident about my choice tomorrow. I didn’t take a Texas player, but Porcello is struggling, and he doesn’t strikeout alot of hitters (meaning balls will be put in play) Guererro, Andrus, and Young look like decent plays Sunday.
Also Headley and Gonzalez from S.D
I’m not sure who I’m going 2 pick for 2morrow, either.
How about Justin Morneau v. KC and Bannister?
Schenk – I’m going with Jorge tomorrow. He sat out today, and hits Kasmir well. Also going with a NYY win tomorrow since I doubt Kasmir lasts more than 6 innings.
albundy – check out the comments from Cantu (FLA) today on MLB.com about hitting in Colorado. May be a good pick for tomorrow. Only concern is the doubleheader today, but the games doesn’t start until 5:05EST tomorrow. GOOD LUCK and CONGRATS on 21.
“That double header rule is so stupid in this game since in real life if a player gets a hit in both games of a double header his hitting streak goes up TWO games. They should make it like that in this game but they won’t. I have Ethier today as well as he is on a roll and looks good against Nationals.”
Well, I believe the rule is trying to counteract the old rule that allowed a player to get a hit in either game and still have your streak extend 1 game.
So if your pick went 0 for 4 in Game 1, but 1 for 4 in Game 2, your streak still was extended 1 game.
Under the new rule, I know many players on the front of the leaderboard still picked Chipper Jones in a doubleheader when he was hitting close to .400 one year in late May.
I hope someone picked DeJesus with me, lol.
ive decided to take utley for tomorrow instead of headley. the phillies have been quiet offensively lately compared to their first 2 weeks so im feeling a big offensive game by them tomorrow agianst rodrigo lopez
ryan braun, justin morneau, hanley ramirez, chase utley are all looking good for tomorrow
I also got lucky with Prado coming into the game and going 1-for-2
deb – HUGE Yankee fan here and I totally agree but be wary of one thing – Posada hitting only .286 in the past week. Only started playing last year so I’m getting it now on not picking catchers. Am undecided at the moment but am leaning towards Morneau. I would even consider Matsui since Vazquez gets the ball tomorrow. With the ERA matchup, could be a big hitting game (hopefully for Posada, too!.) GOOD LUCK to you and everyone!
does anyone know what roughly what the total number of people that play BTS is?
I am guessing around 20,000 but wonder if anyone knows a more exact number.
Picking Ichiro today. Kind of nervous he hasn’t been hitting to well lately. But hopefully he can get me to 9 games in a row.
Weather forecasts changed in favor of MLB for most of the games that, yesterday, showed T-Storms and rain. Still time to reconsider picks that one opted against due to weather forecasts.
Observation for Sunday April 25
Ichirio?
1. Rain is looming
2. Hitless on Saturday
3. Career average of .167 v. Chi Sox starter John Danks.
4. Danks is a lefty – given up 12 hits in 21 innings.
5. Remember it’s 2010 not 2009 – Ichirio’s stats from 2009 are a history lesson. How much can you lean on them now?
I’m going with Justin Morneau.
My pick today is Matt Kemp… Hitting 750 against Olsen plus Olsen has a era of 11:74 and opp hitting 353 against him Also Kemp did not get a hit yesterday and I can’t see him going hitless 2 days in a row… Good Luck to all
What do you guys think about Polanco for today as that is who I have. I’m about to look at the number over the last 7 days to see if he is worth taking.
Vinny,
Polanceo had an 0-fer on Sat.
v.
Lopez is hittable
Do you feel lucky?
I feel lucky Drag as Polanco hasn’t had O fer games in a row all year so I do feel lucky and he is hitting righties good.
merchy41 no way its 20000 only. Right now you need a streak of 8 just to crack the top 10000. My guess around 100000. Does anyone know?
Doubleheader yesterday sent nearly 200 Top2500 players back to zero. I can’t think of any good reason to pick a player in a doubleheader, no advantages with current rules. The player must get a hit in each game played; if you’re lucky, he will, or maybe he plays in only one of the games and gets a hit. Many times, players will play one game and pinch hit in the other. If BTS changes any rules for doubleheaders, I’d like to see that the streak increments 2 if player hit in both games; that would allow one to gamble their streak to jump ahead an extra game.
I like my pick of Polanco as he is hitting .385 during the day and .372 on the road so he looks like he will be getting a hit today.
Thanks lavolpevb for the advice on Ichiro, changed to Damon with 3 minutes before picks lock… hope its the right choice.
meant to say thanks to dragbunt
“My pick today is Matt Kemp… Hitting 750 against Olsen plus Olsen has a era of 11:74 and opp hitting 353 against him Also Kemp did not get a hit yesterday and I can’t see him going hitless 2 days in a row… Good Luck to all”
I hope this would not have changed your pick, but Kemp was 2 for 5 yesterday.
“merchy41 no way its 20000 only. Right now you need a streak of 8 just to crack the top 10000. My guess around 100000. Does anyone know?”
Well, a basic analysis on the blog entry from April 8th, showed that there should be at least 131,579 people in the contest.
But the analysis took the lowest possible approach, so it is probably more than that.
I went with Kelly Johnson today of the Diamondbacks.
Kendrick has given up tons of hits lately, outside of that last start.
Stephen Drew seems to have cooled off, so Kelly Johnson is next in line.
He has been hitting leadoff with a current batting average of .321, which helps support that he is not about to flameout and dive into a tailspin.
Nardberg – 6 of my then 16 in a row (ended yesterday with Ichiro) were Yankee players. Had Jeter picked yesterday, but changed it… . Today, I had planned on Jorge as previously stated, but changed it at the last minute to Kemp (LAD). My streak is back at ZERO so no real damage can be done. I’m curious though – – as another huge Yankee fan, do you pick any Boston players or Boston for the Win on MLB Survivor? GOOD LUCK TODAY!!
Love 1st inning hits. Congrats to ALBUNDY and Dodger_Blue on 22 hits!!
deb – sorry about your streak!!! Am currently at 3 after getting to 12 so I feel you pain lol……I did go with Morneau. Good luck with Kemp!! As for my superstitions, except for the first day this year, I do not pick Yankees when they’re in Boston (as I do not want to jinx them and have them go hitless in Fenway lol) and I’m not picking any Boston players since the team in struggling and Pedroia burned my streak about a week ago. Be careful, though, danpranka in this blog is a big Boston fan LOL!!!!! 🙂
The real number of people playing BTS can fool you. There are many casual players that play for short periods of time that are included in the overall total. Serious players could be best tabulated after about 6 or 7 weeks into the season when with those having streaks say 8 games are shown.
Per the blog “stat man” champion_88 it takes an 8 game streak to have a position in the standings that shows a number under 10,000. So – as of now just over 10,000 “serious” players are in BTS – let’s say 11,000.
e.g. My streak of 12 games gives me a rank of 1,420 as of Sunday. Last year it took a 15 game streak at the end of the season to be in the top 10,000.
Good luck to all today.
i agree with dragbunt about the amount a people who play this game seriously. i do though believe that this year we can expect more people to play this game just because the cash prize is higher than it was last year
nardberg – Morneau looks like a good pick. Good luck with it today. I was just curious if any die-hard Yankee fans separate “real” loyalty from “fantasy” playing. I actually picked Youk once, so I try to separate the rivalry in terms of fantasy play.
i know teixeira hits kazmir well but im surprised that 7.2% of people would take him today when hes only hitting .123 this year
I picked Justin Morneau then changed my pick late last night to Derek Jeter and Justin Morneau just hit a home run in the 2nd inning.
Hopefully Derek Jeter will get a hit this afternoon tho.
I’m a die-hard Yankees fan, so I will never pick any of the Red Sox to get a hit or a win.
Morneau says, “I’m not gonna even bother. I’m just gonna kill it to excess and get it over with.”
What’s this, two stress-free days in a row? What’s going on here?
I have to say that Tex is a really strange pick. I can’t imagine why anyone in their right mind would lay a streak on a .123, no matter how good the past stats are.
Top2500 most picked for today; 158 different players picked overall.
Player, Times Picked, Top2500 Percentage
Justin Morneau, 235, 9.4%
Matt Kemp, 202, 8.08%
Michael Bourn, 125, 5%
Mark Teixeira, 113, 4.52%
Derek Jeter, 109, 4.36%
Chase Utley, 104, 4.16%
Jorge Posada, 95, 3.8%
Ryan Braun, 87, 3.48%
Rafael Furcal, 78, 3.12%
Joe Mauer, 76, 3.04%
Michael Cuddyer, 73, 2.92%
Lance Berkman, 69, 2.76%
Albert Pujols, 63, 2.52%
No Selection, 63, 2.52%
Yesterday saw 1,082 Top2500 streaks come to an end with Ichiro, Hanley & Utley doing the most damage. #1 BTS leaders are down to a single page now. Tomorrow’s picks will be posted after picks are locked.
“The real number of people playing BTS can fool you. There are many casual players that play for short periods of time that are included in the overall total. Serious players could be best tabulated after about 6 or 7 weeks into the season when with those having streaks say 8 games are shown.
Per the blog “stat man” champion_88 it takes an 8 game streak to have a position in the standings that shows a number under 10,000. So – as of now just over 10,000 “serious” players are in BTS – let’s say 11,000.”
I agree about the casual players, but there were around 131,579 players in place at the first week of the season.
I do wish MLB would trump the other 2 contests a little more though.
Champion 88….. Thanks for the heads up on Kemp… don’t know where I made the error… but he got a hit so all is well…Deb 23 yes I am a big Red Sox fan but am staying away from them for now… have picked Jeter twice so I have no hard feelings against the Yanks… Here to reach 57.. This is my third year best to date is 22…
“I was just curious if any die-hard Yankee fans separate “real” loyalty from “fantasy” playing.”
I have noticed that the contests have caused me to transform from a Mets fan to an MLB fan.
There have been times over the past couple years that other teams were favored to win over the Mets and I still picked them, figuring that if they were going to lose anyway, why not earn a win from it?
Over time, I have become a fan of good, smart baseball, rather than following one team in particular.
As long as that team is not the Yankees.
So now, I try to cover everyone, instead of just the Mets.
But I always feel that extra bit of joy, when I can pick a Mets’ hitter to get a hit or the Mets to win!
To lend some credence to the top pick on the BTS leaderboard, I have the Yankee game on behind me and the announcer mentioned that Teixeira has been hitting the ball deeper and deeper lately and that he is on the cusp of breaking out, so he may be someone to watch and start using if and when he gets a hit in 2 or 3 consecutive games.
Also, I wanted to suggest an idea to the community here, given that we do have resident fans of teams here.
Would it be a good idea to try and get 1 or 2 experts from each team to pool on here and give their pick from their team for the day, based on their fan knowledge of watching the broadcasts, etc.?
Like they could give their pick and confidence level per day and then that could narrow our options considerably, while also not decreasing the quality of our selections.
Which teams are already represented amongst the regulars here though?
yay, Kelly Johnson just homered in his 3rd AB in the bottom of the 5th Inning!
The Tigers are my team and Ive become a regular. this is my first season playing.
im a tigers fan as well but live just north of philly so i dont get to see many tigers games but i can help with suggesting which phillies to take each day. Utley’s single in the 6th just brought my streak to 7 games. I’ll post again later on my top picks for tomorrow
Damon got a hit in first at bat to get my streak to 9. Tigers lose though.
it looks like those that took teixeira are in trouble 0-2 in the 8th inning with a small chance of getting up again
deb – I definitely don’t separate my loyalty from the fantasy playing. Other than 4/4 when the Yankee-Boston game was the only one, I never pick a Yankee when they’re in Fenway. 🙂 I took the opposite approach by picking Red Sox players – figure I’d use ’em as cheap pieces of meat to further my cause LOL!!!! But I have no intention of picking any of them in the near future. Too many struggles.
That being said……my current streak = 4; current streak without a new report = 5. 🙂
Any thoughts on tomorrow? Looks like maybe Prado or Gutierrez……..
Good Idea on posting “inside” information on your home city team(s). I will help out with Chicago. I’m a Cubs fan but also keep an eye on the White Sox for BTS purposes.
Derrek Lee of Cubs is worth a look v. Lannan of Nats BUT…
Monday – April 26
Brewers at home v. Pirates
The Brew Crew demolished the Pirates in Pitt last week. for a few years now, the Brewers have dominated the Pirates.
Zack Duke for Pitt v. Ryan Braun who is 5-12 (.417) v. Duke a lefty. Braun is my pick for Monday. True, Braun is hitting only .235 at home this year but I think that Pirate pitching will warm up hitting this week. Braun was 7 for 11 last week v. Pirates.
im thinking for tomorrow we should all stay away from the phillies. jonathan sanchez has been great this year and im not sure if even the phillies great hitters could get him off his A game.
my pick for tomorrow is adam laroche. since going hitless in his 1st 3 game this season hes got a hit in 10 of the last 11 with a .359 avg. hes also facing hammel who has been giving up alot of hits during his outings.
I’m back to 0, damnet
LOL @ nardberg, but I’m with you on that one. I’d like to pick Kemp (LAD) again tomorrow against the Mets if the rain stops. Bad weather is in the forecast for Cubbie-ville tomorrow and Tuesday.
I’m a huge Yankee fan and watch whenever I can. I can help you guys out as much as I can with the Yankees. The only thing I will say is stay away from Tex until May. He is always bad the first month of the season but picks it up in May. Stay clear until than. Jeter, Cano and ARod and the three hottest on the Yanks now but Jeter has been cooling off lately. The only thing I would like to ask is for a lot of help as I have been playing since the beginning of BTS in 2001 and haven’t gotten higher than a 15 game streak in that time. So any help would be great from you guys. Tomorrow I have Ichiro so should I stay away or is he a good choice?
Cubs plays Nats in a night game at Wrigley Field on Monday April 26. deb23 is correct weather will be “raw” temp in 40’s with some rain. Not a hitters day by any means. I am staying away and suggest you do too.
so i noticed there are a couple of people on the first page of standings who streak didn’t get reset for polanco, while all other picks of polanco did?? Anyone know why?
its actually all people on first page. jeter, keppinger!!!
so we have someone giving advice on the cubs white sox tigers phillies and yankees. now we just need people for the other 25 teams that are out there. vinny ichiro seems like a good choice for tomorrow but im staying away from him this year because it seems like hes going hitless every other day eventhough i know thats not true. i guess i just dont feel comfortable taking players that everyone thinks of as being sure picks
It looks like those that picked Jeter, Keppinger, and Polanco did reset to zero. Make sure you are looking at the “current streak” column verses the “longest streak” column. It appears they just did not drop down much in the ranks column. I was recently at 211 and only dropped to 225 after Ichiro ended my streak at 16. Back up to 1 and currently listed at 265. Not sure how the ranking part of this works or if it even matters.
the ranking is based on your longest streak so if your longest streak is 16 games and your ranked 265 that means 264 people have had a streak of 17 games or longer this season
Steer clear of the Dodgers-Mets game tonight as it will likely be rained out as it’s raining in NY right now. It may stop by game time but we will see. I can give updates on the Mets but I don’t watch them that much so I won’t.
Decided to go with Gutierrez. Prado burned me once so I’m a little fearful going with him again. Don’t let my decisions sway yours!!! 🙂 GOOD LUCK to everyone. As a native NY’er, can totally agree with staying away from that game. Even in late April, weather can still be cold and nasty.
Thanks for the clarification Schenk015. That’s pretty useful.
Hi from Boston…. almost failed to select today….I had 4 players on my radar today. Gutierrer, Michael Young, Prado & Chipper Jones… came down to Jones & Prado and finally went with Chipper…. Prado on a 4 game streak and Jones hitless in last two games and is 5-10 against Lohse…on 8 hoping for 9
Tonight’s Top2500 picks. A total of 130 different players picked overall.
Player, Times Picked, Top2500 Pct
Ryan Braun, 374, 14.96%
Franklin Gutierrez, 316, 12.64%
Ichiro Suzuki, 217, 8.68%
Kelly Johnson, 196, 7.84%
Martin Prado, 156, 6.24%
Michael Young, 134, 5.36%
Miguel Cabrera, 95, 3.8%
Albert Pujols, 88, 3.52%
Chipper Jones, 85, 3.4%
No Selection, 56, 2.24%
Matt Kemp, 44, 1.76% (rain out)
Shin-Soo Choo, 44, 1.76%
752 Top2500 streaks came to an end yesterday with Teixera, Jeter, Braun, & Furcal leading the way.
The NYM/ATL rain-shortened game cost Chipper & Heyward fans their streaks.
Note. First time this season the 1st Page of Leaders shows 3 different positions: 1st, 2nd & 3rd.
Lavol, you should post this info on the new blog that was posted today.