Today brings to an end my first few weekdays of employing my strikeout-first strategy in putting together my Star Fantasy Leagues daily lineup. I’ve been spending more money on pitching than I generally had been, with the intent on using the pitchers who will pick up a lot of points with strikeouts. All in all, I’m very encouraged by the results. The difficulty is getting good offensive value with less money to spend. I feel good about what I’ve found tonight and here’s what I’ve put together. To try a team for yourself, head on over to SFL and use the promo code “SJN” for a 40% deposit bonus.
(C) Jarrod Saltalamacchia $4,743 – Saltalamacchia got the night off yesterday after catching a 15-inning marathon on Wednesday. He has two hits in each of his last two starts and is 1-for-1 with a walk in his career against tonight’s opposing starter, Randall Delgado.
(1B) Freddie Freeman $8,041 – Freeman is working on a pretty incredible week. He has at least one hit in every game since the weekend and is 8-for-12 with two walks in his last three games, and has two home runs, six RBI, and seven runs.
(2B) Dustin Pedroia $7,636 – Pedroia has been slumping for a while, but seems to be on the verge of breaking out. He has five hits, seven RBI, and five runs over his last three games. Like Saltalamacchia, he has also been very successful against Delgado, with two hits in two at bats.
(3B) Chris Johnson $5,830 – Johnson continues to rake with multiple hits in his last seven games. There hasn’t been much power there, but he does pick up the occasional RBI and scores the occasional run.
(SS) Jed Lowrie $6,100 – The Oakland shortstop is working on a seven-game hitting streak and has gotten his average back up to almost .300. He has four multi-hit games during that streak with six RBI and four runs.
(OF) Justin Upton $6,910 – It’s only been three months, but it appears the Justin Upton of April could be back. He has hits in six straight games and is 7-for-14 in his last three. He’s also coming off a two home run, five RBI performance last night.
(OF) Jason Heyward $6,400 – Another disappointing Braves outfielder has showed some signs of life lately. Heyward has hits in four of his last five games and has three homers over the last week. He’s also scored eight times in the last three games.
(OF) Josh Hamilton $5,870 – In the six games since Albert Pujols went down, Hamilton is just 6-for-24, but he has made the most of the hits he has had. He has two home runs and nine RBI mixed in. While not great, he always has the potential for a big night and he comes at a good price.
(U) Leonys Martin $4,792 – I like being able to use a leadoff hitter for a good team, especially one who comes so inexpensively. He hasn’t exactly been tearing things up lately, but still has six hits in 20 at bats over the last four games.
(SP) Madison Bumgarner $16,798 – Bumgarner has been excellent as of late. He has made quality starts in each of his last eight outings and went exactly seven innings in each of them, except for his last one when he went eight. He is also averaging seven strikeouts in those games.
(SP) Jose Fernandez $15,966 – Speaking of excellent recently, it’s hard to do better than Fernandez. He hasn’t given up more than three runs in a start since May and has allowed more than five hits just once in his last 15 starts, and even then he only surrendered 6. He’s also coming off a 13-strikeout performance and has a 9.33 K/9 rate on the season.
(RP) Jim Henderson $1,959 – Since reclaiming the closer’s role, Henderson is a perfect 4-for-4 in save chances, giving up just one hit and three walks. He even earned the save in both games of a doubleheader on Tuesday. He hasn’t pitched since, so he’ll be ready to go tonight.
(P) Hector Santiago $8,757 – Santiago hasn’t won since June 21st, but that’s hardly any fault of his own. The White Sox have scored a combined nine runs in his last five starts, he has a 2.78 ERA in those, and had at least six strikeouts in four of them. In his last start against Detroit a week-and-a-half ago, he gave up just three earned runs in six innings and picked up six Ks. A similar start to that will be just fine for me.
