On this Friday, I’m blending a new practice with an old strategy while constructing my Star Fantasy Leagues daily lineup. I have always selected my pitchers first and filled out my roster with offensive players with the remainder of my budget. I wanted to make sure I used pitchers with favorable matchups and did not get stuck using someone bound to get lit up. Today, though, I’ve decided to reverse that process. I’ve still grabbed cost-effective offensive players, but did so before being constrained by my budget. In the end, I liked how it played out, and I was still able to afford some of the best pitchers of the night. To build a team for yourself, head over to SFL and use the promo code “SJN” for a 40% deposit bonus.
(C) Humberto Quintero $5,005 – Quintero has been playing about every other day lately and, assuming he is in the lineup tonight, he should be a good bet to do something. He has hits in each of his last five games, including two home runs and a double. He is also 6-for-16 with a homer and double against tonight’s opposing starter, Kyle Lohse.
(1B) Brandon Belt $5,353 – The Giants first baseman is working on a four-game hitting streak and had a three-run homer last night that proved to be the difference in their win over Milwaukee. In August, Belt is hitting .450.
(2B) Donnie Murphy $3,722 – Murphy has played in just four games this year, but has already been quite productive for the Cubs. After a hitless debut on Sunday, he has proceeded to go 5-for-11 with seven RBI over the last three days, and all of his hits have gone for extra bases. He has three home runs and two doubles, with an OPS of 1.697.
(3B) Brett Lawrie $6,065 – Lawrie has a 10-game hitting streak that includes five extra base hits. He’ll face Oakland’s Jarrod Parker tonight. In his career, he is 1-for-3 against him with a double.
(SS) Stephen Drew $6,212 – Drew has been great for the Red Sox as of late. He has a nine-game hitting streak with two home runs. His biggest came on Wednesday, when he hit a game-winning three-run homer in the ninth inning against the Astros. He is hitting an even .500 in eight August games.
(OF) Darin Ruf $6,260 – In his 26 games with the Phillies this year, Ruf is hitting .303 with five home runs, seven doubles, and a .993 OPS. He also has hits in five of his last six games, with multiple hits in three of his last four.
(OF) Christian Yelich $5,046 – Just because Yelich plays for the Marlins doesn’t mean he doesn’t have any value. During his 16 games in the majors, he is hitting .318 from atop Miami’s lineup, and has hits in each of his last eight games, including five in just the last two.
(OF) Kole Calhoun $3,265 – Calhoun has been a constant in my lineups this week, mostly because of his cost efficiency. He has become a regular for the Angels, and over 11 games is hitting .324 with three home runs, five RBI, and eight runs scored. You’re not going to get much better than that at this price.
(U) Justin Upton $7,969 – With the way I was able to use my money in the rest of my lineup, I was able to have enough left over to spend on Upton, who has returned to being an offensive threat. He has a 12-game hitting streak that includes five home runs. He also has 10 hits in just his last four games. It seems like he’s found his swing again.
(SP) Patrick Corbin $16,698 – Corbin has been one of the best pitchers in the National League all season long. Though his record is only 3-3 over his last nine starts, he’s had quality starts in eight of them. The only one in which he didn’t was against the Mets in early July. He faces that same Mets team tonight, which is averaging less than three runs a game this month. I don’t think he’ll struggle against New York again.
(SP) David Price $16,506 – Price has gone nine innings in four of his last six starts and still went at least seven in his other two. He’s allowed more than two runs in just one start since early July. He’ll face the Dodgers tonight and, while they have been playing great lately, Price has been just as good himself, if not better.
(RP) Joe Nathan $2,840 – Nathan hasn’t pitched since Monday, so he’s ready to go. With his Rangers facing the Astros, he should get a chance to get in the game tonight.
(P) Matt Garza $15,006 – Speaking of that Rangers-Astros game, Garza is on the right side of the starting pitching matchip. So far with Texas, he has gone at least seven innings each time and has a 2.82 ERA. In his last start against Houston, which came in June, he went eight innings, allowing just one run on four hits, while striking out eight.
