RADIO
If it weren’t for Jon Lester’s gem of a start yesterday afternoon, Justin Verlander and company might have grabbed me my first GPP takedown. I still came out near the top, finishing with one lineup tripling my money and one lineup multiplying my investment by seven. So, it was a good day overall.
Thursday, July 30th is another split slate with only two games being played before our normal start time. Unfortunately, that means most contests will be without the automatic play of Max Scherzer against the Marlins. It also nullifies a great matchup for strikeout pro Andrew Cashner against the Mets. The good news is, however, that it makes the slate more competitive for us real DFSers. Let’s figure out how to handle the games that start at 7:05 or later.
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Offenses to Target for FanDuel DFS
Pittsburgh Pirates (vs. David Holmberg, LHP)
I think it’s pretty safe to say that the Pirates are happy to face David Holmberg instead of the recently traded Johnny Cueto. Whether Holmberg is the filler for the rest of the season or not is not clear, but his minor league numbers point to a type of pitcher with a 4ish ERA. The Pirates lineup can be pretty dynamic against bad righties, but it has potential against bad lefties too.
The obvious selections would be Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte. However, Jung-Ho Kang has made himself into a must-play in DFS recently. Meanwhile Aramis Ramirez could be a sleeper and Francisco Cervelli has been hot lately (as long as he’s in the lineup). Of course, this all could be out the window if the Reds are planning a bullpen day, but overall the Pirates hitters seem like a great target with a park boost and a seemingly great pitching matchup.
Toronto Blue Jays (vs. Danny Duffy, LHP)
I’ve gone into detail time and time again about the Blue Jays’ success against lefties. Hell, everyone in this industry has. And now they go ahead and add Troy Tulowitzki to the top of their lineup. If you have the guts to go cheap with your pitcher, a stack of Tulo, Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, and either Edwin Encarnacion or Chris Colabello is too good to be true. Duffy has pitched better as of late, but no lefty is safe when they visit the new-look jays at the Rogers Centre.
Honorable Mentions: Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Indians
DFS Starting Pitchers to Target for FanDuel
Chris Sale (SP, CWS) – $11,800
Sale is the most expensive pitcher on the board by nearly 1.5 thousand bucks, but he seems totally worth it in this situation. Lefty Jose Quintana stifled the Red Sox for the most part on Wedensday, and he’s no Chris Sale. The ace of the staff has incredible stuff and should be able to easily double the three strikeouts that Quintana collected. Another valuable reason to use Sale in cash games is that his run support should be solid on Thursday. Steven Wright is no match for the red hot White Sox offense right now. The strikeout potential along with the near-guaranteed four points is enough for me to call Sale the safest play of the night.
Carlos Carrasco (SP, CLE) - $9,200
If Mike Trout is sidelined for another game, Scott Kazmir just might edge out Carrasco for my favorite tournament play. I’m not sure how that will play out, however, so the Indian’s pitcher is my go-to for now. The A’s are simply quiet on the offensive side of the ball, especially with the loss of Ben Zobrist. Sure, Billy Burns gets on once or twice a game. Billy Butler and Steven Vogt might hit solo homers every once in a while. Overall, the A’s offense doesn’t scare me.
Carrasco hasn’t been dazzling at all this year, sporting a mid-four ERA in 20 games played. However, he’s shown signs of brilliance with awesome strikeout ability. Carrasco is due for a regression game (positive regression that is), and he just might put up numbers similar to his near no-no at the beginning of the month.
DFS Infielders to Target for FanDuel
Yan Gomes (C, CLE) - $2,200
I know that Yan Gomes is not the greatest hitting catcher in the world in 2015, but he’s certainly not among the worst either. Minimum price is way too low for a guy who has 10 hits and eight RBI in his past 10 games. He could be in the middle of a huge day for the Indians hitters against Chris Bassitt on Thursday.
Eric Hosmer (1B, KAN) - $3,500
I’m going to have a lot of exposure to the two teams playing in Canada tomorrow. Hosmer is just one of the Royals players who have been red hot lately. He eight hits and six RBI in his past three games and faces a homer-prone righty in Marco Estrada.
Jason Kipnis (2B, CLE) - $3,700
Speaking of “red hot,” Kipnis has three hits in each of his past three games. He has become the catalyst for the Indians offense this season, and he needs to be owned against mediocre righties as long as you have the money to spend.
Miguel Sano (3B, MIN) - $2,700
Using bargain bin players is going to be difficult with all of the great hitters’ matchups on the board for Thursday. However, Sano’s price is still relatively low, and he’s showing signs of improvement lately. His multi-hit game today extended his hitting streak to five games, and he gets a hittable lefty in J.A. Happ in a stadium not named Safeco.
Francisco Lindor (SS, CLE) - $2,700
If you don’t have the money for Tulo or Kang, Lindor is your next best option. He has been a multi-hit machine as of late, and he two benefits from good hitters around him. Lindor has three homers and nine RBI in his last eight games.
DFS Outfielders to Target for FanDuel
I’ve already mentioned a bunch of players above that will cost a good amount of bankroll. Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot that I like from the outfielder bargain bin without knowing of starting lineups. So, my advice to you is to do your own research and find some bargain bin picks for your outfield. Maybe you can occupy one space with a Michael Brantley, Starling Marte, or Melky Cabrera. Then, with your other two spots, look for cheap players with good lefty/righty splits that have a lineup boost. For example, Michael Bourn could be a player who moves up in the lineup after recent success or because of days off (wow I guess I’m all over the Indians today, huh?).
Do you catch my drift? The cheap pitchers are dreadful, so you’re going to have to save money somewhere. Using lineup shifts to your advantage can be a great way to balance out your team, especially in cash games. Sorry if I made you work a little bit for your advice Thursday. Seeya tomorrow!
Good luck with your FanDuel and DFS lineups RotoBallers!
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