Lucid's Best Bets - Premium MLB Betting Picks for 9/16/2021

Happy Thursday, RotoBallers! The weekend is almost here. John 'LucidMedia' Brubaker here, filling in for Tommy Bell for the rest of the season. I'm privileged to be able to do this for you guys and am extremely excited to help you crush the sportsbooks in this final push of the MLB season. If you need […]

Will Nyheim Hines Hold Jonathan Taylor Down in Fantasy?

Fresh off his new three-year, $18.6M extension, Nyheim Hines got nine carries and eight targets on 47% of the snaps in Week 1 vs. the Seattle Seahawks. Second-year running back Jonathan Taylor played on 54% of the snaps, handling 17 carries while seeing seven targets from Carson Wentz. Together, Taylor and Hines had a target […]

Believing in Jameis Winston Again

Well, that was a pretty wild Week 1, wasn’t it? We saw underdogs go 9-7 against favorites with several high-profile teams that made the playoffs a season ago getting knocked off in Week 1. One of the most notable upsets of the week was the New Orleans Saints’ 38-3 drubbing of the Green Bay Packers, […]

MLB DFS Cheat Sheet, Stacks & Avoids for 9/16/21 (Premium Content)

  MLB DFS Premium Cheatsheet for 9/16 All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard.   With some weird slates today and games all chopped up on both sites, I am going to break down pitchers and stacks instead of having our traditional cheat sheet, which will return tomorrow. Top Pitching Options […]

Gio Urshela Belts Two-Run Homer In Victory

New York Yankees third baseman/shortstop Gio Urshela went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in Wednesday's 4-3 win over the Orioles. Urshela belted a two-run homer in the third inning on a ball that left his bat at 102.6 MPH. After a quiet start to September, Urshela appears to be trending in the […]

Jed Lowrie Hits The Bench Thursday

Oakland Athletics second baseman/designated hitter Jed Lowrie is not in the lineup for Thursday's matchup against the Kansas City Royals. Lowrie is slashing .246/.321/.400 this year with 14 HRs, 68 RBI, and 55 runs over 131 games. However, he has just a .686 OPS off of lefties this season, so with left-hander Daniel Lynch on […]

Joey Logano An Intriguing Possibility At Bristol

Joey Logano, like Denny Hamlin, could lead a lot of laps at Bristol. He could win or he could falter quickly. That is the nature of the beast with the short 0.533-mile track. Laps are typically 15 seconds or less. Things happen quickly. Logano has three top-ten finishes over his last six appearances at the […]

Fantasy Football Warning Signals for Week 2

Week 1 is in the rearview mirror. We learned a lot from one slate of games, but it’s important to remain patient and not jump off the deep end. We saw a few players that did better than expected. On the contrary, we saw some household names face plant on our fantasy lineups.  Paying attention […]

Snap Count and Usage Analysis from Week 1

NFL snaps are not the be-all-end-all for fantasy production but they paint a clear picture with necessary context. Every snap is an opportunity for a player to make his presence felt and if their snaps go up or down, you get an idea of what the team thinks of their skill-set. A running back can […]

Offensive Outliers From Week 1 - Coaching Matters

This series enters the second season of where I dive into offensive areas that will improve or decline based on coaching in order to glean insight as to fantasy football value. In Week 1, we saw performances such as Jameis Winston throwing for five touchdowns, Joe Mixon carrying the ball 29 times for 121 rushing yards, and the Cowboys wide […]

Fantasy Football Risers and Fallers - Week 2

Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season is officially in the books. We finally have real data to dissect. Overreactions will undoubtedly be made, but there's also a lot of good information we can use to help make decisions as we head into Week 2 and beyond. In this weekly column, we'll be looking at […]

Tape Tells All: The Houston Texans Week 1 Performance

Welcome to a new season of Tape Tells All, the weekly series where I look at film for something that happened in the NFL this week. Usually, I focus on one player. This week, I'm focusing on a whole team, because that team did some very surprising things. Let's talk about the Houston Texans and […]

Denny Hamlin A Mixed Bag At Bristol Of Late

Denny Hamlin has quite the race sheet when it comes to Bristol. There is a chance he could win the race or finish out of the top-15 with ease. Last year, he led 131 laps in the early race but car problems knocked him down to 17th. The summer race featured even worse car trouble […]

Jacob Stallings Not In Thursday's Lineup

Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Jacob Stallings is not in the starting lineup Thursday to take on the Cincinnati Reds, according to MLB.com. Stallings is slashing .242/.330/.371 with eight home runs over 107 games. His value is mostly limited to NL-only and OBP leagues, with less than ideal power and batting average. Michael Perez will catch and […]

Martin Truex Jr. Somewhat Risky At Bristol

Martin Truex Jr. starts from the pole on Saturday night at the Bass Pro Shops Night Race from Bristol. The expectation is that he will not lead all that many laps. Aside from the dirt race, Truex Jr. has not finished in the top ten on the track since an eighth in 2017. There have […]

Tony Kemp Stuffs The Stat Sheet Versus Royals

Oakland Athletics second baseman/outfielder Tony Kemp went 2-for-5 with two runs scored, an RBI, and a stolen base in a win over the Royals on Wednesday. Kemp has been a solid player for the A's with a .269/.374/.406 slash line, but he has less value in fantasy as he's been splitting time between second base […]

Aroldis Chapman Picks Up 27th Save

New York Yankees relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman notched his 27th save of the year in Wednesday's victory over the Orioles. It was one of Chapman's easiest innings of the year, as he needed just eight pitches, seven of which went for strikes en route to a pair of punchouts. The hard-throwing lefty has been excellent […]

Tyler Naquin Out Of Lineup For Fourth Straight Game

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Tyler Naquin (ribs) is not in the starting lineup for a fourth straight game after exiting Saturday's game early with bruised ribs. He is still day-to-day at this point. Naquin is having a nice year offensively, slashing .270/.333/.477 with 19 HRs, 70 RBI, 52 runs, and five stolen bases over 127 games. […]

Josh Harrison Drives In Three In Win At Kansas City

Oakland Athletics second baseman Josh Harrison went 2-for-5 with three RBI, a run scored, and a walk in a win over the Royals on Wednesday. Harrison is batting .308 since August 29 which coincides with his promotion to the leadoff spot in the A's batting order. As a result, he's seen his fantasy value increase […]

Nestor Cortes Jr. Strikes Out Career-High 11 Batters

New York Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes Jr. turned in one of the best performances of his career Wednesday against the Orioles. Cortes limited Baltimore to one run on three hits over 6 1/3 innings while striking out a career-high 11 batters. The lefty issued just two walks. Cortes' previous high for punchouts was seven, […]

Andrew Knapp Scores Winning Run Versus Cubs On Wednesday

Philadelphia Phillies catcher Andrew Knapp went 2-for-4 with a run scored in a win over the Cubs on Wednesday. Knapp scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the ninth to secure a walk-off win for the Phillies. The veteran backstop has been seeing more playing time lately as J.T. Realmuto (shoulder) has been […]

Garrett Hampson Absent From Thursday's Lineup

Colorado Rockies outfielder Garrett Hampson is penciled in on the bench for Thursday's matchup against the Atlanta Braves, according to MLB.com. Hampson is slashing .243/.298/.400 this season with 11 HRs and 17 SBs over 135 games. However, he has just a .636 OPS against righties this season, so with righty Ian Anderson on the mound, […]

C.J. Cron Hits The Bench Thursday

Colorado Rockies first baseman C.J. Cron is not in the starting lineup for Thursday's game against the Atlanta Braves, according to MLB.com. Cron is hitless in his last eight at-bats and will get a chance to rest. He's having a great season with the bat, slashing .269/.367/.525 with 27 HRs, 82 RBI, and 60 runs. […]

Freddy Galvis Drives In Two In Win Over Cubs

Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Freddy Galvis went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored in a win over the Cubs on Wednesday. Galvis has been a solid addition since the Phillies acquired his services on August 25. In that span, he's produced a solid .319 wOBA with 11 runs and 11 RBI across just […]

Charlie Blackmon Not In Thursday's Lineup

Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon will take a seat on the bench for Thursday's game against the Atlanta Braves, according to MLB.com. Blackmon has been in a bit of a slump in his last seven games, going 3-for-25 with one extra-base hit. This season hasn't been kind to him as a whole, with him producing […]

Willie Calhoun Returns With A Bang

Texas Rangers outfielder Willie Calhoun was activated from the injured list prior to Wednesday's game against the Houston Astros. He went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored in the 7-2 loss. Calhoun fractured his forearm in late June and was sidelined up until Wednesday. He is slashing .258 with five home runs and […]

Seahawks Defense Should Be Faded In Week 2

The Seattle Seahawks defense had a solid outing in Week 1, but they are still not a top option for Week 2 against the Tennessee Titans. The team generated just one turnover, and it was on a botched snap by the Indianapolis Colts. They gave up over 110 yards on the ground and they allowed […]

Kohei Arihara Crushed By Astros

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Kohei Arihara did not pitch well during Wednesday's game against the Houston Astros. He went four innings, eight hits allowed, six earned runs, and one strikeout in the 7-2 loss. Arihara gave up too early home runs and never settled into a groove. He'll take a rough 6.64 ERA and 1.43 […]

Brandon Marsh Has Three-Hit Game Wednesday

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Brandon Marsh collected three hits during Wednesday's 3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox. He singled twice and hit a solo home run in the eighth inning that was ultimately the winning run. Marsh had been scuffling in September, slashing .194/.237/.278 over 11 games prior to Wednesday night. He's now hitting […]