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2013 Fantasy Baseball Daily Fix: June 9th 2013

Daily Fantasy Baseball Fix

Today I will be playing the Daily Dollar (great for beginners) If you are new to @DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball, you can claim your Deposit Bonus here!

Before I get into my @DraftKings team of the day, here are some weather notes for tomorrow’s games. –Note rain percentages aren’t definitive and are best used as a reminder to check the weather status again on game-day before selecting a player from that game.

Potential rain concerns:

OAK @ CWS: 30-40% chance of isolated thunderstorms and scattered showers

STL @ CIN: 30-40% chance of scattered thunderstorms

PHI @ MIL: 50% chance of scattered thunderstorms

Since the Cardinals and Reds game is a divisional matchup, that game has the highest chance of postponement out of the three games. On Sundays, MLB likes to try and play these games that are the last one in the current series between non-divisional teams because re-scheduling can be a pain in the butt.

Here is my team:

Pitcher: Jordan Zimmerman | $9,700 vs. Minnesota: Zimmerman has been absolutely sensational this season. He’s really fulfilling my lofty expectations for him when I ranked him as my #7 overall starting pitcher in the preseason. While his 15.5% strikeout rate right now is the lowest of his career, he also is sporting the highest groundball rate (51%) and lowest walk rate (3.2%) of his career as well. He’s a great choice against the light-hitting Twinkies.

Pitcher: Mike Minor | $9,200 @ LAD: Despite my minor skepticism coming into the season, Minor has been phenomenal in 2013. Currently sporting a 2.52 ERA with a 23% strikeout rate and a 4.6% walk rate (which is elite any way you spin it), Minor is a shoe-in for a quality start at worst, against the paltry Dodgers. When Nick Punto is batting second and Scott Van Slyke batting in the number five slot, that usually adds up to an easy breezy start for the opposing pitcher.

Catcher: Humberto Quintero | $2,400 @ MIL: Ok, don’t laugh. Erik Kratz, the Phillies only other catcher (Ruiz is on the DL) injured his knee in Saturday’s game. Furthermore, Quintero is 5-13 in his career against Brewers starter Kyle Lohse.

Other Option: Matt Wieters | $3,200 @ TB: As a reader pointed out to me yesterday, Wieters’ actually has that impressive .283/.361/.528 slash line against left handed pitchers. Wieters hits an incredible 6-11 against Matt Moore with two home runs. However, the reason I’m not starting him is because he sat the last time Moore faced the Orioles on a Sunday (earlier this year). Showalter likes to give Wieters the day off in a day game following a night game.

First Base: Adam Lind | $4,100 vs. TEX: First of all I’d like to preface this by warning everyone that I am probably the biggest Adam Lind apologist on the planet. I’ve dropped him and picked him up about 50 times since his breakout 2009 season. Although it seems like planetary evolutions ago, Lind’s skills haven’t deteriorated (at least in my delusional mind); it’s just been a matter of health (or lack thereof). Lind went 4-7 yesterday, upping his batting average to .331 on the season. He’s also hitting for extra base power, which he has plenty of when healthy. Justin Grimm was lit up like a Christmas tree in his last start against the Red Sox, so the white-hot Lind should be able to capitalize.

Second Base: Nick Punto | $2,700 vs. ATL: Punto is mostly a platoon player at this point in his career. His K% and BB% sit at an excellent 12.8% and 10.6% respectively (nearly walking as much as he strikes out). He currently slashes .375/.444/.425 against left handed pitching this year. And yes, while that slugging percentage leaves much to be desired, he’s a great cheap option that will allow me to use Mike Trout.

Other option: Robinson Cano | $4,500 @ SEA: For unexplainable reasons, Cano only costs $4,500 which is less than Josh Rutledge, who is currently in the minor leagues. Cano hits .376/.438/.558 against Felix Hernandez in 43 career at-bats.

Shortstop: Stephen Drew | $3,900 vs. LAA: Drew is 3-7 in his career vs. Joe Blanton. Blanton has really struggled this year despite his seemingly always good strikeout and walk rates. He’s just far too hittable right now.

Other option: Everth Cabrera | $4,400 @ COL: Cabrera has been an absolute stud this season, currently sitting as the #1 most valuable shortstop on ESPN’s player rater. Cabrera is 21-43 over his last nine games, with 9 stolen bases during that stretch. He’s been absolutely amazing this season as he leads the league with 28 stolen bases.

Third Base: Evan Longoria | $4,300 vs. BAL: Longoria has crushed Chris Tillman in his career, hitting a robust .444/.524/.1000 against him in 18 career at-bats. He also has stolen a base against Tillman and has only struck out twice (against three walks).

Outfield: Mike Trout | $6,600 @ BOS: Trout has an incredible stat line against Ryan “Dumpster” Dempster (I’ve always called him that). Trout hits a robust .429/.556/.1286 against Dempster in seven at-bats. Yes it’s a small sample size, but he has a double, a triple, a home run, two walks, only one strikeout and a stolen base against him in that time. He’s a must start.

Outfield: B.J. Upton | $3,400 @ LAD and Jason Heyward | $3,400 @ LAD: The best way for both Upton and Heyward to fully get back on track is to face Matt Magill. Magill walked nine in his last start in Coors Field. He gave up five earned runs on six hits in addition to those nine walks. He was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque to start for the injured Ted Lilly. The Braves should have a field day.

Saturday News and Notes:

Baltimore rookie Kevin Gausman got obliterated by the Rays yesterday. Unfortunately this now means the young righty is droppable in all mixed-league formats. His exceptional upside is mitigated now by the incredible blowup potential; as exhibited by his eight hit, seven earned run performance yesterday.

Owners in quality start leagues are probably pretty annoyed at the fact that in the Mets vs. Marlins 20 inning marathon, both Kevin Slowey and Shaun Marcum pitched exceptionally well in relief efforts. Originally slated to start today, Marcum ended up pitching eight innings of relief in the marathon game, striking out seven, walking none, but allowing five hits and one earned run, which saddled him with the loss. Similarly, Slowey of the Marlins pitched incredibly in relief, as he earned a win while pitching seven innings of relief, allowing eight hits, and striking out eight. Obviously now his start will not happen on Tuesday.

 Rajai Davis supplied the winning hit in the Blue Jays vs. Rangers marathon that lasted 18 innings. Nelson Cruz was a fantasy goat, going 0-6 with one walk. Jeff Baker homered, and as the fill-in for the injured Mitch Moreland, is pretty intriguing especially against left handed pitchers. Not surprisingly, his home run came off lefty Mark Buehrle.

Gio Gonzalez struggled again, walking four and striking out seven, while allowing five hits and three earned runs in six innings. While that may not sound like a bad line, it underlines the fact that Gio has really struggled with walks again this season after making impressive progress last year. The Nationals ended up outlasting the Twins 4-3 in 11 innings in what ended up being the third game of the day to go to extra innings.

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1 Comment

  1. November 20, 2013 at 4:40 am

    Your mode of explaining the whole thing in this post is truly good, all be able to effortlessly know it, Thanks a lot.