MLB daily notes: Friday's slate full of aces

— -- In an effort to serve daily fantasy players and season-long fantasy players who use daily lineup settings, we present notes each day of the season. It's a daily version of our Fantasy Forecaster, in which we project the best pitcher game scores as well as the best team hitting matchups based upon a number of factors.

Elite Aces are wild on this loaded Friday slate. This is a rare occasion where Clayton Kershaw doesn't get top billing as Chris Sale's match-up is more favorable. The Chicago White Sox lanky lefty kicks off a weekend set in Tropicana field, which means he enjoys a huge park upgrade while facing a squad with one of the league's poorest weighted on base (wOBA) marks in the Tampa Bay Rays. The issue with Kershaw isn't the opponent though the San Francisco Giants sport one of the game's best runs per game average so far but rather his mound foe as fellow ace Madison Bumgarner gets the call. The affair will be played at Dodger Stadium which does aid the home team southpaw but not enough to surpass Sale.

Pitching

Solid

Zack Greinke owners, this is the start you've been waiting for as the Arizona Diamondbacks travel to San Diego for a weekend series in Petco Park. Take out their three game visit to Colorado and the Padres are averaging about a run a game. Greinke's surface stats (9.90 ERA, 2.00 WHIP) are poor but fanning ten in ten frames, albeit with four walks is something to hang your hat on. It will take more than one strong effort for Greinke's ERA to drop where it should be but this effort will be a step in the right direction. Garrett Richards may have been saddled with the loss in both of his outings so far but if he continues to fan batters at an elevated clip...10.0 K/9 thus far but that will fall...while continuing to exhibit decent control the wins will follow. Friday's contest may be on the road but on the other hand, the Los Angeles Angels are visiting the Minnesota Twins which means Richards takes on the squad leading the league in strikeouts. The righty may actually improve that impressive strikeout rate.

Other than the obvious health concerns, fewer walks and more innings, which are usually linked, are all that blocks Martinez from taking the next step, with the ceiling of a fantasy ace. His first start was mediocre which actually helps keep his DFS price down. Look for a better effort this time as the St. Louis Cardinals host their National Central foes, the Cincinnati Reds. Wei-Yin Chen had a rather inauspicious start to his Miami Marlins career but with the Atlanta Braves traveling to South Beach, the former Orioles' southpaw is in a great spot to get things swimming in the right direction. However, of some concern is Chen had this start pushed back after taking a comebacker off the elbow in his opener. Assuming he's fine, Chen squares off against an offense that's near the bottom in wOBA while fanning at a healthy clip.

Streamers

Hot Spots

The secret is out; Kyle Hendricks is pretty good as evidenced by 73 percent ownership in ESPN leagues. But that still leaves the chance for many to grab the righty before the Chicago Cubs welcome the Colorado Rockies into Wrigley Field for a Friday matinee affair. Where Rich Hill settles is still anyone's guess but his owners breathed a sigh of relief after his six-inning, ten-whiff, one walk effort last time out, which followed an opening day stinker and a rough spring. Hill draws the Kansas City Royals who are fanning about 50 percent more than they did last season when they were the toughest team in the league to punch out. With the contest in O. Co. Coliseum, runs should be sparse making Hill not only a streaming option but also a candidate for DFS GPP action. It's a bit unfortunate that Jeff Locke draws Jimmy Nelson, but nevertheless, the Pittsburgh Pirates should be favored over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers. Don't count on a ton of whiffs but a low run total with a chance at a win renders Locke an attractive spot starter. Speaking of Nelson, he's not a bad contrarian option in DFS tournament play. The Brewers' right-handers ownership should be low as the Bucs don't fan much, but Nelson is missing more bats, whiffing 12 in his initial 13 1/3rd 2016 innings.

Cold Streams

Anthony DeSclafani is making progress but he's still not ready to return which means Tim Melville gets to be knocked around another game. Look for the St. Louis Cardinals to continue their sweet-swinging, putting Melville on the fantasy bench. The good news is Chad Bettis gets a start outside of Coors Field. The bad news is it's in Wrigley Field against the potent Chicago Cubs attack. No thanks.

It's hard to gauge which Mike Pelfrey will show up. With a date against the free-swinging Houston Astros in hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park, the safe play is to protect yourself from the bad version.

The Atlanta Braves possess a treasure trove of promising young arms. Williams Perez is not one of them.

Hitting

Call it Nadia Comaneci Day, or maybe Bo Derek Day as there are four perfect tens with respect to offenses on the Friday slate. The Chicago Cubs should be in for a productive afternoon, though not an option on most DFS sites since they're the only game not under the lights.

The top DFS option resided in Houston as the Astros are in a very favorable spot against Mike Pelfrey and the Detroit Tigers. The hosts are susceptible to strikeout pitchers thus Pelfrey need not apply. Don't sweat platoon implications, everyone wearing a Houston uniform will be a problem for Pelfrey.

The third squad checking in with a ten is the St. Louis Cardinals as they face Cincinnati Reds fill-in starter Tim Melville. The Reds' rookie only surrendered one run in four stanzas against the Pittsburgh Pirates, coming on a long ball but he allowed eight other baserunners. The Redbirds will make him pay this time.

The Miami Marlins close out the quartet of tens as they face Williams Perez, he of the lowest projected Game Score on the ledger. Everyone is in play with Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich front and center.

Most likely to hit a home run: So many choices, hard to narrow it down to one. Let's go with George Springer putting one into the Crawford Boxes in Minute Maid Park.

Most likely to steal a base: Jon Lester and his 44 steals allowed garnered a lot of attention but Jimmy Nelson's surrendering 24 is very high too. Runs should be at a premium when the Bucs and Brewers lock up (see what I did there?) so how about Gregory Polanco trying to make something happen from the five-hole with a pilfer.