We tell you who to sit and who to start in setting your hitting line-ups each week. For the top hitters for the week, we focus on questionable hitters that may or may not normally start for you that have favorable schedules this week. We won't bother listing hitters like Pujols, Hanley, or A-Rod in this article, because you always start them, regardless of schedule. Likewise, we won't list lousy hitters in the bottom section, because you'd obviously bench a hitter like David Eckstein playing in PETCO all week without our having to tell you to do so. For the bottom hitters, we focus on the average and better than average (but not star) hitters that you would normally start but have poor schedules this week. Top platoon starts are mostly RHBs playing many LHPs in the upcoming week. Bottom platoon starts are mostly LHBs facing a heavy LHP schedule. Top SB starts play against teams that allow many SBs, and vice versa.

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Top Hitting Starts (#1 being the best)

1. Adrian Beltre 3B BOS (1 @NYY, 3 @TOR, 3 @TEX) Of course Beltre has murdered everyone this season, but having extra games against lefties helps. Oh, and hitting .356 since the break with a 1.068 OPS doesn't discourage us either.
2. Lance Berkman 1B NYY (1 BOS, 2 @TEX, 4 @KAN) Veteran guys like Berkman who control the plate often have the advantage over pitchers when switching leagues. It helps that he can turn around against the three tough lefties to start the week (Lester, C.J. Wilson and Cliff Lee), then four games against Kansas City probably missing Zach Greinke.
3. Chone Figgins 2B/3B SEA (3 OAK, 3 CLE) You may not have noticed, but Figgy has batted over .400 the past couple of weeks and is running again. He can be slotted back into lineups with confidence now.

Top Platoon Starts (#1 being the best) 

1. Jeff Francoeur OF NYM (3 COL, 3 PHI) with a single lefty, it should be a full week of work for Francoeur after a sit down meeting with Jerry Manuel, followed by the announcement that Francoeur would not be in a straight platoon and that the team would try to find ways to get him at-bats. This can't help you if you are a Mets fan, but you can't mind if you need to play Francoeur.
2. Mike Sweeney 1B PHI (3 LAD, 3 @NYM) And the race is on.  Will Sweeney hit the DL before Ryan Howard gets off it?  Sweeney can hit and hit with a little power. You don't want to spend anything because this comes to an end when Howard is back.  But for a one week fill-in it could be good.
3. Blake Dewitt  2B CHC (4 @SFG, 3 @STL) Jeff Baker got a game and a home run, but this is mainly Dewitt's job. 
4. Jason Michaels OF HOU (3 ATL, 3 PIT) The kids on Houston are playing better after the trade's off the beloved Oswalt and Berkman and Michaels has been hitting .350 since the break with a little bit of pop. Despite being a righty in a week where the Astros only draw a single lefty, Michaels still is finding a way into the lineup almost every day. This is an NL only play, of course.

Top Stolen Base Starts (#1 being the best)

1. Michael Bourn OF HOU  (3 ATL, 3 PIT) He's showing signs of life with three hits Sunday and three stolen bases in the last four games. Astros face five right-handers and Bourn is playing with energy.  
2. Scott Podsednik OF LAD (3 @PHI, 3 @ATL) Two thefts Sunday and four on the week, so we're going to ride him yet again.
3. Juan Pierre OF CHW (1 @BAL, 3 @TOR, 3 @TEX) We're guessing the league leader tests rookie J.P. Arenciba and he's not only running, but actually hitting too, .369 over the past couple of weeks. Seven game week helps.
4. Coco Crisp OF OAK (3 @SEA, 3 @MIN) Nine stolen bases since the all-star break. 'nuff said?

Bottom Hitting Starts (#1 being the worst)

1. David Murphy OF TEX (2 NYY, 3 BOS) There is no saying "lucky number 5" and the Rangers are the sole MLB club with only five games this week.  You need to generally avoid anyone except the big boys.
2. Curtis Granderson OF NYY (1 BOS, 2 @TEX, 4 @KAN) The talented bomber CF continues to be puzzled by left-handed pitching and the Yankees are scheduled to face 3. Despite some recent renewed power, you should use other alternative if you have.
3. Ryan Doumit C PIT (3 @SDG, 3 @HOU) A short week, PetCo and the installation of Chris Snyder as the primary backstop makes for a shakey week for Doumit coming off the DL.
4. Vernon Wells OF TOR (3 BOS, 3 @LAA) Wells dislocated a toe making a fine grab in Brendan Morrow's wonderful 1 hit 17 K effort. 
5. Stephen Drew SS ARI (4 @MIL, 3 @WAS) Drew has shown signs of life recently but is ver poor against lefites (he draws four this week) and on the road ( .247 with a .678 OPS). We're bullish on Drew from here on out, just not this week. 

Bottom Platoon Starts (#1 being the worst)

1. Omar Infante SS ATL (3 @HOU, 3 LAD) Despite his fine season, Infante has only six matches this week and an odd reverse split against lefties (against whom he has shown zero power) with Prado out and three lefties going it looks like a good match-up, but in fact is questionable.
2. Ruben Tejada 2B/SS NYM (3 COL, 3 PHI) The good news is that he was recalled and may now be the starter. The bad news is that he still hasn't shown he can hit a lick on the major league level. Too soon, too soon for the talented 20-year old.
3. Ronnie Belliard 2B LAD (3 @PHI, 3 @ATL) Although we had a Belliard siting and for good measure a stolen base on Sunday, Rafael Furcal is expect back on Tuesday, pushing Belliard back to his fill-in role.
4. A.J. Ellis C LAD (3 @PHI, 3 @ATL) He's not really a serious prospect, and we would expect manager Joe Torre to stick largely with the veteran Ausmus... no, you don't want him either).

 Bottom Stolen Base Starts (#1 being the worst)

1. Andrew McCutchen OF PIT (3 @SDG, 3 @HOU) He's still banged up, he has only one steal since the break and he gets PetCo and Torrealba followed by a not-so-easy match in Houston with Jason Castro. We can't see him running much.
2. Michael Brantley OF CLE (3 BAL, 3 SEA) Brantley was recalled and we guess he will play, but there's no way to steal first and that's been his problem. We'd rather fly straight to Crowe.
3. Matt Kemp OF LAD (3 @PHI, 3 @ATL) We look at his seasonal numbers and we like (18 home runs, 16 steals 60+ runs and RBI) and then we seem him disappear for weeks at a time and be a regular feature in the attitude/dog house reports. You paid for him and you have to play him but often times the first thing to stop is the running game.
4. Everth Cabrera SS SDG (3 PIT, 3 @SFG) Not playing, not running, not hitting. It's a trifecta. Posey and now Snyder (vs. the poor run defense of Doumit)  would not be a good match anyway. But remember the diminutive speedster for next season.