RADIO
Well, it’s the second half of the season, and I’ve officially moved on from my “I want to cash” ways. Screw getting three times what I put in, I want to win some triple digit cash payouts! I’m still working on how exactly I should go about doing that, but I think a lot of it has to do with hedging your lineups. For example, I might stack the Orioles and Pirates in one lineup, and the Orioles and the Tigers in another. I might not always go that exaggerated, but I go with what I’m very confident in and give myself options when I’m unsure. The downside to this approach is that you’re betting against yourself in the process, but I feel like I’m getting closer and closer to a big payout. One of these days…
Anyways, we have another weird slate on Thursday, July 23rd. Four games will start before the normal 7:05 time. While seven games will start at or after that time. I’ll preview these games as if you were to play an all-day contest, so use this advice as you will. Best of luck, and be sure to tweet me @bellroto with any suggestions on how to take down a big tournament for a massive payout.
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Offenses to Target for FanDuel DFS
New York Yankees (vs. Ubaldo Jimenez, RHP)
Of the eight teams playing early, this is the only team I can see as an obvious stack. The top of the Yanks’ lineup is made to face righties. Take your pick from the expensive quartet of Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury, Mark Teixeira, and Brian McCann. Find the one your least confident in, and maybe sub in Stephen Drew as a flier. That’s a pretty formidable stack. You won’t be able to use it with Clayton Kershaw as your pitcher, but it’s a good alternative to try to fade him.
Jimenez has been very middle-of-the-road this year. He’s had a handful of starts that went seven or more innings and left hitters with plenty of Ks. But there have been just as many starts that have been plagued with hits and walks that didn’t get past five innings. Jimenez has had two subpar outings in a row, so it will be interesting to see if he comes back strong and foils this plan of ours.
Los Angeles Dodgers (vs. Bartolo Colon, RHP)
This is the late slate stack that hits you right in the face. It’s going to be highly owned, consisting of the regular Adrian Gonzalez, Joc Pederson, Justin Turner, and Andre Ethier. That being said, it seems like the safest stack of the night to me. The Dodgers crush righties (.334 wOBA vs righties is second best in the league), and Bartolo Colon is one of the more hittable righties in the league. For more “sneaky” stacks, check the honorable mentions below.
Honorable Mentions: Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers
DFS Starting Pitchers to Target for FanDuel
Clayton Kershaw (SP, LOS) - $13,000
Yeah, that’s Max Scherzer-like dough you have to shell out for Kershaw. But hey, did you see his last outing? And hey, have you seen the Mets’ offense lately? This is a match made in heaven for the lefty. David Price is another solid option in cash games, but he hasn’t been nearly as automatic as years past. Not to mention the Mariners’ bats are starting to heat up (cough, cough, Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano). If you’re not going with Kershaw in your cash games, let me know so that I can find you and play against you Thursday.
Trevor Bauer (SP, CLE) - $8,400
Picking which tournament play I liked better between Bauer and Garrett Richards was tough. Although I think Richards has the better potential for a huge score, I went with Bauer simply because I think he’ll be more under-owned. Richards is coming off a filthy complete-game shutout, and his stock couldn’t be higher. Bauer on the other had pitched just four innings, allowing seven hits and five runs, last Friday. Bauer gets the matchup boost though, as he plays the White Sox who are 25th in the MLB in wOBA vs. righties.
This is the time to buy into Bauer if there was one, because he command seems to be finally coming around. Bauer had a four-ish BB/9 rate regularly last season and early this season with some outings as high as 12 BB/9. Disregarding his last outing (when he only walked two), Bauer walked just two batters in 21.1 innings. If the command proves to be better, this is a very dangerous strikeout pitcher against a strikeout-prone team.
DFS Infielders to Consider for FanDuel
Yasmani Grandal (C, LOS) - $3,300
Grandal has been hitting the cover off the ball, and he’s not letting these minor injuries get in his way. He was able to get a hit in two of the three pinch-hit appearances while he was resting his jaw, and he picked up right where he left off last night with two hits and a walk. Grandal usually doesn’t catch for Kershaw, but A.J. Ellis is hurt. If he is catching, I love Grandal against the righty Colon. If not, you can go cheap with the hot-hitting Yan Gomes.
Adam Lind (1B, MIL) - $4,000
After a four-hit, four-RBI day, I think it’s safe to say that Adam Lind is seeing the ball well. He has the chance to make another righty a victim of the home run ball Thursday when he faces Zack Godley, who’s making his first MLB start ever. Chase Field is no Miller Park, but it shouldn’t matter based on the way Lind is swinging his toothpick around.
Neil Walker (2B, PIT) - $3,000
Outside of the boom or bust pick in Stephen Drew, the second base spot is pretty barren Tuesday. I love the idea of paying up for Jose Altuve against a righty, but with a limited salary Neil Walker could be a fine pick. He’s hitting the ball hard consistently lately, and he has at least a hit in nine of his last 10 games. The mediocre righty in Doug Fister doesn’t exactly scare me off.
Justin Turner (3B, LOS) - $3,400
This guy is absolutely mashing right now. Turner has 12 hits in his last 22 Abs, and he gets his favorite handedness in Bartolo Colon Thursday. Expect the third basemen to continue stroking the ball from the middle of this Dodgers lineup after a rest yesterday.
Erick Aybar (SS, LAA) - $2,700
If you want to go cheap at shortstop, this is the way to do it. Aybar is about as safe as it gets as a switch-hitter in a great Angels lineup. Although Ervin Santana is making a case that he’s a solid pitcher after his 80-game suspension, he is more of the four-inning guy then the eight-inning guy at this point in his career.
DFS Outfielders to Consider for FanDuel
Michael Brantley (OF, CLE) - $3,500
It seems like the All Star Break was all that Brantley needed to find his swing. He has nine hits in five games since the break, including two homers. He gets a righty who has shown some brilliance in Jeff Samardzija, but I’ll take a red hot Brantley against any righty for this price.
Michael Taylor (OF, WAS) - $2,200
A leadoff man at the minimum price is always worth a look (Gregory Polanco is still cheap). Taylor had a great day yesterday, collecting two hits, three RBI, and a stolen base. While he’s filling in for Denard Span he makes for a great value play for games just like the one Wednesday.
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