Players Council, was asked whether he was surprised that Williams was on Court 18.dddddddddddd.?Yes, I guess, a little bit, he said. As when [Pete] Sampras played on Court 2 a number of years

Its set up to be another power-filled slate as several homer-prone pitchers face slugging offenses. In fact, its difficult to find pitchers really standing out in a good spot, despite some decent talent scheduled to take the hill. We managed to unearth a couple of diamonds in the rough along with the hitters likely to do the most damage. Its all here, ready for you to check out in Wednesdays daily notes.PitchingEliteMax Scherzers first half is the perfect microcosm of Major League Baseball to date: strikeouts up, homers way up, but runs just a little up. By the numbers, Scherzers matchup facing the New York Mets at Nationals Park should be more of the same. The Mets home run rate versus right-handers is eighth best in the league while their strikeout clip is above average. The Washington Nationals righty is in a great spot to record his fourth straight double-digit whiff effort.Pop quiz: Which team leads the league in weighted on base average (wOBA) versus left-handers? Its none other than the Tampa Bay Rays, wholl face the southpaw slants of David Price in the finale of their set with the Boston Red Sox at Tropicana Field. Price appeared to be back on track until the Texas Rangers shellacked him last time out, sending the lefty to the showers after just 2 1/3 innings, whacking 12 hits leading to six runs. The home team whiffs at a high 23 percent pace versus lefties, so their former hurler and his 9.7 K/9 is in play as a GPP tournament option.The recipe for Danny Salazar is simple: Dont walk many and pitch into the seventh inning, or walk three or more and get an early exit. Hopefully the efficient version shows up when the Cleveland Indians right-hander takes the hill at Turner Field to face the offensively challenged Atlanta Braves. Salazars 10.3 K/9 is impressive, but if hes lasting six innings or fewer, the DFS points are tempered. Take the over on the innings and dont hesitate to use Salazar as your GPP anchor.SolidCarlos Martinez is having a curious first half as his strikeout rate has declined precipitously, despite maintaining velocity and not significantly altering his pitch distribution. The drop is supported by a lower swinging strike percent, so a rebound entails more than just regression. Looking at PitchF/X data, last season his off-speed offerings rated much higher than his fastball -- this season its reversed, as his heater has been very effective. The other oddity is Martinez remains an extreme ground-ball hurler, and that usually results in a higher-than-average batting average on balls in play (BABIP), yet he checks in at a very low 0.246. To date, Martinezs seasonal owners have to be pleased, but they should anticipate an ERA correction over the second half as his BABIP normalizes. Next up for the St. Louis Cardinals righty is the interstate rival Kansas City Royals. There isnt much strikeout upside, but Martinez should be safe enough for cash action.Kyle Hendricks, in contrast, has maintained last seasons spike in strikeouts. In fact, Hendricks swinging strike rate portends to some additional strikeout potential. Hendricks could post a few extra punchouts, as hes taking the hill at the Great American Ballpark to tangle with the Cincinnati Reds and their 23 percent whiff rate against righties. The only downside to Hendricks in DFS is he usually doesnt go deep into games -- which helps explain a 5-6 record despite a 2.76 ERA, backed by one of the best offenses in the game. That said, just about everyone on Wednesdays slate has a wart, so hes in play for both cash and GPP consideration.While his ERA is still unsightly and he doesnt have the wins to show for it, Dallas Keuchel has quietly pitched quite well of late. Over his past seven outings, the Houston Astros southpaw hasnt walked more than two in a game, fanning 42 with only six free passes over those 44 2/3 innings. Those in seasonal leagues may want to check on Keuchels availability -- he looks poised for a solid second half. DFS gamers can take advantage as his price tag is low, reflecting a 5.35 ERA. The only issue is Keuchel is slated to take on the Los Angeles Angels, one of the tougher teams in the league to punch out. Keuchel is, however, a solid option as a less expensive hurler to use in cash formats.The final option in the solid tier is Masahiro Tanaka as the New York Yankees entertain the Rangers. Theres limited upside here as the visitors dont whiff much.StreamersA whopping 20 of the 30 probable starters land in streaming territory. Well highlight the best options. As always, if we miss anyone of interest, please use the comments section or hit me up on Twitter @ToddZola.If you just look at the box score, you may intuit James Shields looked better last time out versus Boston, but the truth is he caught them at the right time and in fact labored to get through five frames. Still, if youre hanging onto the veteran right-hander, a date with the Minnesota Twins is one of the more favorable matchups. Full disclosure: Im using him in the sole league in which I have him -- the National Fantasy Baseball Championship American League-only league -- so wish me luck.Jake Peavy is still owned in just 23 percent of ESPN leagues despite tossing a quality start in five of his past six efforts. Hes in play for this road tilt across the Bay against the Oakland Athletics.Junior Guerra is another hurler with low ownership despite displaying solid skills -- hes available in 84 percent of ESPN leagues. Hes in play as the Los Angeles Dodgers will take on the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. The injury-riddled visitors have summoned Brock Stewart to oppose Guerra.?The rookie right-hander is a risk but hes also in play, especially if youre looking for extra strikeouts as Stewart has fanned well over a hitter an inning as hes progressed through the Dodgers system.Not only is Archie Bradley in play to start in seasonal formats, hes a lower-end GPP candidate for DFS play as the Arizona Diamondbacks welcome Zach Eflin and the rest of the Philadelphia Phillies to Chase Field. Its going to be a long Wednesday night for yours truly, as Daniel Norris also will be active in the aforementioned AL-only NFBC league.Its a risk with the Miami Marlins visiting Comerica Park, as they can do damage versus southpaws, but they also fan at an above-average pace in that scenario.AvoidJameson Taillon has a great future with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but the Seattle Mariners pound righties, so he should be taking a seat for this road affair at Safeco Field.Cody Reed has a great future with the Reds, but the Chicago Cubs pound lefties, so hes not worth using at the Great American Ballpark.Other pitchers to avoid for risk-averse owners include Sean Manaea, Edinson Volquez and Wade Miley.HittingIf the call is to sit Taillon, it loses credibility if Mariners hitters arent highlighted. Leonys Martin, Seth Smith, Robinson Cano, Adam Lind and Kyle Seager are standard fare versus righties, with Ketel Marte and Nelson Cruz strong options, too.Similarly, it is only right to feature the Cubs sticks if Reed is to be avoided, though this isnt all that surprising a call. Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras and Javier Baez lead the way with the platoon edge in a very homer-friendly park.While its true that Eflin surrendered eight of his 10 earned runs against in the first of his three outings, hes fanned only six over those 14 1/3 innings. Look for the Diamondbacks to take advantage of the Phillies righty, with Jake Lamb the chief beneficiary as hell enjoy the platoon edge. Dont be afraid to use righties Paul Goldschmidt, Jean Segura, Yasmany Tomas and Welington Castillo since everyone should be able to put the ball in play.It could be on old-fashioned slugfest at Safeco Field (a phrase rarely used) as the Mariners will oppose Taillon with lefty Miley. The Pirates are one of the best offenses versus southpaws with Jordy Mercer, David Freese, Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Jung Ho Kang and Josh Harrison capable of inflicting damage. Its worth noting Miley will be the third lefty starter opposing the Bucs in four games, so theyre in sync with left-handed offerings.The Yankees offense ranked the highest according to our formula, as Nick Martinez will take the hill in the Bronx. The Rangers right-hander has walked more than hes whiffed, and that doesnt bode well when facing the likes of Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner, Brian McCann and the recently activated Mark Teixeira.Most likely to go yard: Paul Goldschmidt Goldschmidt has no issues handling right-handers, so even without the platoon edge, hes in a great spot to take Eflin deep.Most likely to swipe a bag: Jose AltuveJered Weaver is easy to run against, so look for the speedy Altuve to take advantage. 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The Masters champion and winner of last weeks Australian PGA has a three-round total of 14-under 199 at Royal Melbourne. "Im in a really good position for tomorrow," Scott said. Alex English Jersey . Andreas Johnson had a goal and two assists while Jacob de la Rose also scored for Sweden (2-0-0). Esa Lindell and Rasmus Ristolainen replied for Finland (1-1-0) Lindell opened the scoring for Finland just 41 seconds into the game, but the hosts quickly regained their composure and tied the score less than four minutes later on Wennbergs first of the game. WIMBLEDON -- Venus Williams doesnt mind playing on the smaller stage, as long a level field for both men and women is maintained.The five-time Wimbledon champion contested her second-round match Thursday on Court 18, a modest venue that holds around 800 people.Williams, the No. 8 seed, defeated Maria Sakkari 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, and afterward was asked whether she felt animosity toward the All England Club schedule-makers for designating her match for the smaller court.?Im not so much into disrespect, Williams said. Im willing to play anywhere, anytime. Of course, I was happy to be on the schedule. I think if all players have to play outside, all players should have to play outside. There shouldnt be exceptions or any inequality to it.For me, no problems playing anywhere. Anyone should play anywhere.Persistent pockets of rain have created serious congestion issues. On Tuesday and Wednesday, only 53 of 127 matches were completed, and all 16 second-round womens matches on the schedule were canceled.?Its not the ideal schedule for the women, Williams said. Wed like to see equal amount of matches. We dont want more, just the same amount, thats all.When asked if she could imagine a five-time male champion being on an outside court, Venus said with a smile, I havent seen that in the scheduling yet.After his straight-sets wwin Thursday, Andy Murray, who is on the ATP Players Council, was asked whether he was surprised that Williams was on Court 18.dddddddddddd.?Yes, I guess, a little bit, he said. As when [Pete] Sampras played on Court 2 a number of years ago when hed won a bunch of times.I mean, I think in general they do a pretty good job of trying to put the best matches for the fans, like Dimitrov-Simon, neither of them are top-10 players, but its a close, entertaining match. I guess they take that into consideration, as well, like what the best matches of the day are, rather than it just being the big names that play on the big courts.On Thursday, the outer courts started a half-hour earlier (11 a.m. GMT) than normal in an effort to make up ground.Top 10 seeds Milos Raonic and Marin Cilic were among the top-10 seeds also relegated to smaller courts, but neither carries the clout of Williams.I played many times on outside courts, Williams said. It didnt matter how many titles I had won or what my ranking was at that time. It didnt make a difference whether I played on an outside court or a center court.Like I said, I dont mind where I play. Its just as long as everyone plays on the outside courts. ' ' '