We have a full slate of games tonight. Beware the weather in Minnesota and St. Louis, target Rangers, A’s, Phillies, Red Sox, Brewers, Dbacks, Tigers and Angels.
-$100,000 prize pool.
– First place wins $10,000
– Only $3 to enter (FREE with first deposit)
– Top 7,850 finishing positions are paid.
– Starts today at 7:05 PM EST
– Salary Cap Style Drafting. $50,000 to select 10 players: 8 position players and 2 pitchers
– Roster Format: 2 pitchers, 1 C, 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 SS and 3 OF
Pitchers
1. Matt Harvey: Even coming off of the worst outing of his career, The Dark Knight is a strong bet for a win and lots of strikeouts any time he takes the mound. Tonight is no exception as he takes on the struggling Marlins in Miami. What about that scary Stanton guy? Harvey has held him to just one single over 9 AB’s in their few meetings.
2.Cole Hamels: Hamels is 5-1 with a 2.23 ERA over his last 7 starts. Vegas has him as a heavy favorite against Chad Bettis and the Rockies at home (-160).
3. Francisco Liriano: Liriano rebounded in his last start by striking out 12 over 6 stellar innings after surrendering 7 earned runs to the Twins. Plus, he’ll get the benefit of the thick air at Petco Park.
4. Trevor Bauer: Bauer is in the middle of a breakout season, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t benefit from it. He’s gone 7+ innings in each of his last 3 starts, and he’s been good for a strikeout per inning this year. Bauer will be on the road, but Safeco has always been a pitcher friendly environment. It also helps that Taijuan Walker is struggling through his rookie campaign. Saving some money on Bauer to upgrade some of your bats is a great idea today.
Other top plays: Sonny Gray, John Lackey
Catchers
1. Kurt Suzuki: 11/28 with 4 XBH’s vs. Buehrle. Batting 6th. Remember to check the weather!
2. Evan Gattis: El Oso Blanco is back with the vengeance. 8/15 with 6(!) XBH’s over his last 4 games. Rodon has a huge fastball, but he will run into trouble if he tries to challenge Gattis.
Other top plays: Carlos Ruiz
First Basemen
1. Mike Napoli: .886 OPS this month with 7 HR’s. 2/6 with a HR vs. Gallardo
2. Prince Fielder: 1.121 OPS this month with 9 HR’s this month. This game has the highest over/under of the evening (9).
Other top plays: Adrian Gonzalez, Paul Goldschmidt, Lucas Duda
Second Basemen
1. Dustin Pedroia: On fire during his current 8 game hitting streak. 4/9 vs. Gallardo.
2. Jose Altuve: Rodon has nasty stuff, but Altuve systematically dominates lefties.
Other top plays: Chase Utley, Ian Kinsler, Brian Dozier, Jason Kipnis, J. Giavotella
Third Basemen
1. Nolan Arenado: 9/16 with 3 HR’s over his last 4 games. Hamels could get into trouble if he allows runners on in front of Arenado.
2. Josh Donaldson: Might be the hottest hitter on the planet with 4 (!) HR’s over his last 3 games. It’s almost impossible to pitch around him with Joey Bats and E-5 hitting behind him.
Other top plays: Todd Frazier, Adrian Beltre
Shortstops
1. Ian Desmond: Currently riding a 10+ game hitting streak. His extra base pop is finally starting to return (two doubles in his last game).
2. Jung Ho Kang: Also riding a 10+ game hitting streak, showed off his pop with a big fly last game.
Other top plays: Marcus Semien, Xander Bogaerts
Outfielders
1. Bryce Harper and Mike Trout: These guys are no-brainers so I won’t go into much detail, but suffice it to say…they’re both good at baseball.
2. Yoenis Cespedes: 4/11 with 2 HR’s vs. Santiago in their past meetings.
3. Matt Joyce: 5/15 with all 5 hits going for extra bases against Sanchez. Stacking Angels is starting to look tempting.
4. Cameron Maybin: He’s become an every day player for the Braves due to his solid performance. 1.024 OPS vs. Hudson in 25 career AB’s.
Other top plays: Billy Burns, Aaron Hicks, George Springer, Kole Calhoun
Players to avoid
1. Troy Tulowitzki: Just 2/12 vs. Hamels. In a bit of a funk right now over his last 5 games (2/13).
2. Giancarlo Stanton: As mentioned above, just 1/9 vs. Harvey with a single.
3. Joe Mauer: Just 12/59 vs. Buehrle over his career.
