The DraftKings gods are out to get me. Â I found a way to get both Sale and Scherzer into my lineup yesterday. Â You would think this wouldn’t allow me to take anyone good, but I still had players like Morrison, Betts, Bogaerts, and Baez in my lineup. Â Not the best players this year but players that can make noise at any point. Â Anyway, my lineup put a solid 65 points so you would think I’m going to win money with the two monsters on the mound. Â Wrong. Sale gets lit up and only goes 5 innings. Scherzer hits a home run then leaves the game with neck spasms. I can’t catch a break.
We have a full slate of games today, let’s forget last night and dive right into it.
Low-Scoring Plays
Tampa Bay Rays @ Houston Astros – Last night the Astros ran into Chris Archer. Â Well tonight the Astros are sending their Chris Archer to the mound with Dallas Keuchel. Â Dallas Keuchel has owned the Rays as he has held them to a batting average of .225. Â The Rays have never hit a home run off of Kuechel in 89 at bats. Â On top of 0 home runs the Rays only have 3 RBI’s against him. Â Keuchel should have a big day today as the Rays used all of their mojo last night.
Targets: Keuchel, Altuve, Correa
Kansas City Royals @ Baltimore Orioles – Vargas gets the call for the Royals who came out and owned the Red Sox in his last outing. The Red Sox have a better lineup than Baltimore so Vargas should have a big day in this one. Â The Royals are hot and Vargas will field off of the energy. Â The Orioles have hit .255 off of Vargas with 1 home run in 119 at bats. The Royals and Vargas should have a huge day.
Targets: Vargas, Moustakas
Minnesota Twins @ San Diego Padres – Ervin Santana started off this year hot as he has tailed off a little bit this season. Â Look for him to have a big day against the Padres who are not a good ball club at all. Â Santana is the 3rd most expensive pitcher which is a great play. Â He averages 18 points per game, and strikes out good amount of batters. Â He hasn’t been great of late, but I love the play today.
Targets: Santana, Sano
High-Scoring Plays
New York Mets @ Colorado Rockies – The Mets are sending Chris Flexen to the mound who is a young prospect making his second career start. Â In his first outing he went 5 innings allowing 5 runs over that span. Â Going to Colorado facing the Rockies will not be an easy task, and the Rockies should light him up. Â I would stack as many Rockies as possible as they should have a huge game against this young kid. Â The Rockies have too much fire power for Flexen to work his way around this lineup.
Targets: Arenado, Story, Blackmond
Cleveland Indians @ Boston Red Sox –Â This game last night was the craziest game, and the game of the year so far. Â Â Today Porcello takes the mound who is not having a great year. Â Look for Cleveland to have a big game today. Â They hung up 5 quick runs on Sale yesterday, so they should be able to hang up more on Porcello. Â The Red Sox were able to score yesterday as well which is surprising. Â Nunez is playing out of his mind and was a great pickup by Boston. Â I like the Indians more in this one but the Red Sox prices have all fallen so it’ll be a good play if you take them.
Targets: Encarnacion, Lindor, Ramirez
Washington Nationals @ Miami Marlins – Scherzer goes down, Strasburg is down, the Nationals could be in trouble. Luckily they have a great lineup that can keep them afloat. Â The Marlins came back in this game yesterday after being down 6 to beat the Nationals 7-6. Â Look for the Nationals to come out firing on all cylinders. Â They can’t become a complacent team. Â They may have the Division already won but they at least to win a play off series this year. Â Look for the Nats to bounce back after that embarrassing loss last night and win this one big.
Targets: Harper, Murphy
Undervalued Plays
Tanaka – NYY – SP –Â Tanaka has been pitching better lately, which isn’t saying much because he couldn’t pitch much worse. Â However the Tigers don’t have a great lineup and he is pitching at home so he should have a big day. Â I like Vargas as a better play, who is also cheaper, but the at the very least Tanaka should pick up the win in this one.
Morrison – TB – 1B –Â Morrison had a double digit point performance last night, and is always a great play. Â He is facing Keuchel tonight which could be up in the air but if any of the Rays are going to get to Keuchel it will be Morrison.
Bogaerts – BOS – SS –Â Bogaerts has slumped a little this second half as it is rumored he has an injury to his hand. Â Bogaerts is not playing to his potential at all and is one of the reason the Red Sox aren’t causing in first place right now. Â They have the best ERA in the AL, they just need to score runs. Â Bogaerts always shows potential to be a star so getting him for $3200 is a great play.
Betts – BOS – OF –Â Betts is another player whose price has fallen. Â At one point this year he was the most expensive outfielder. Â Unlike Bogaerts I don’t think Betts is having a terrible year. Â Sure some games aren’t that great but he is still producing RBI’s and lighting the fire for the Red Sox offense. Â Betts should be a lock in your lineup until his price goes above $4800.
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Featured Image Credit: By Arturo Pardavila III from Hoboken, NJ, USA (Lester vs. Tanaka) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
