Fantasy Baseball

2013 Fantasy Baseball Daily Fix: May 5th 2013

Daily Fantasy Baseball Fix

 

Today I will be playing the Daily Dollar (great for beginners!): Don’t forget to claim your Deposit Bonus!

Before I get into my @DraftKings team of the day, here are some weather notes for tomorrow’s games.

Potential rain concerns: CHW @ KC (30% chance of rain), NYM @ ATL (20-30% chance of rain)

Wind Conditions of note;

WSH @ PIT – wind blowing in from left field at 14 miles per hour, could depress right handed hitter HR.

CIN @ CHC – wind blowing in from dead center field at 12 miles per hour

MIA @ PHI – wind blowing in from right field at 11 miles per hour, could depress left handed hitter HR.

ARI @ SD – Wind blowing straight out at 17 miles per hour which could increase home runs and offense in general

LAD @ SF – Wind blowing out from the SSW at 20 miles per hour, could help right handed hitters. Note* it was windy last night as well, and Guillermo Quiroz hit this walk off bomb , well, line drive that was carried by the wind over the fence.

Team:

Pitcher: Justin Verlander | $13,000 @ HOU: Is there anything that needs to be said other than the fact that it’s Justin Verlander and he’s facing the crummy Astros?

Pitcher: Kevin Slowey | $8,400 @ PHI: Slowey has been simply phenomenal so far this season. He sports a 2.15 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP on the year, to go along with a meager 29 strikeouts, albeit 14 of them have come in his last two starts. He’s never going to get any run support, as his 0-2 record shows, but wins are not worth an inordinate amount of points in daily fantasy. Most important, is innings. Slowey went eight strong innings against the Mets the last time out, yielding four hits, one earned run, while striking out eight and walking none. The Phillies have been atrocious lately and they are a great source of strikeouts. Just ask Jose Fernandez who got back on track last night with a seven inning, one hit, nine strikeout, and zero walk performance against these same Phillies.

Other pitching options: Unfortunately there are not as many good options as one might think with so many top of the rotation pitchers going tomorrow. Darvish and Lester face each other in Texas with 12 mph wind blowing out to right field, Latos has been good but he was pulled from his last start with a hip injury, so there’s risk there. And finally, Hyun-Jin Ryu has been magnificent but the wind will be ferocious tomorrow (and he’s a fly-ball pitcher). The real wild cards and hail-mary plays are: Jose Quintana ($7,700) @ KC, Jerome Williams vs. Baltimore ($5,000) and if you’re feeling lucky, Daniel Straily ($6,500) @ NYY.

Catcher: Ryan Doumit | $3,300 vs. CLE: This is a bit of a safety pick and a salary saving pick. Many catchers unexpectedly sit the most on Sunday’s, more than any other day because most managers like to give guys a rest on a day game following a night game. Doumit DH’s now, so that’s not an issue with him. He’s also 3-8 career against Cleveland righty Corey Kluber, who coincidentally has bad numbers against most of the Twins, making Doumit a pretty nice flier here.

Other options: Since I feel like most people try to save money on ace pitcher day at the catcher position, here are some guys who are likely to get a spot start.

 Guillermo Quiroz | $2,000 vs. LAD: The Giants went into extra innings last night, and as I mentioned earlier, Quiroz delivered the walk-off HR. The Giants play a day game tomorrow, and they faced left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu. Since the HR is likely fresh in the mind of the manager, I see Buster Posey getting a day off from catching, sliding over to first base, which allows for Quiroz to start.

Geovany Soto | $3,900 vs. BOS: Soto has an inexplicably high price tag, but he should get the start against southpaw Jon Lester. Fellow backstop A.J. Pierzynski has been dealing with an oblique injury and will probably get a rest against Lester, who unsurprisingly, he has struggled mightily against in his career, going 4-13 with zero walks (.286 OBP).

First Base: Jason Giambi | $3,200 @ MIN: The Giambino has a .500 OBP in 6 career plate appearances against Minnesota starter Mike Pelfrey. With Pelfrey prone to the long ball, Giambi is a nice hail-mary choice for fantasy players trying to save money at first base.

Other options:

Paul Konerko | $4,400 @ KC: Konerko has largely been a disappointment this season, but Wade Davis, who Konerko has hit well against in his career, (.308/.400/.482) (2 doubles) in 13 at-bats, is toeing the rubber for KC Sunday.

Jeff Baker | $2,000 vs. BOS: Baker is a bit of a wildcard because he’s not guaranteed to start, but if Ron Washington is smart, he’ll use Baker. Baker is 6-7 lifetime against Red Sox starting pitcher Jon Lester.

Greg Dobbs | $3,200 @ PHI: Dobbs hits very well against Halladay lifetime. In 21 career at-bats, Dobbs hits .429/.455/.714 in his career against the scuffling Halladay.

Second Base: Howie Kendrick | $3,700 vs. BAL: Kendrick is 4-7 against Orioles starting pitcher Jason Hammel in his career. He also has a walk against him. The wind in Los Angeles will also be blowing out toward LF at 13 miles per hour.

Third Base: Miguel Cabrera | $5,500 @ HOU: Like his teammate Verlander, there is no price I wouldn’t pay to have Miguel Cabrera on my daily fantasy roster today. Cabrera was excellent yesterday; he went 4-4 with 2 HR, 6 RBI, a walk, and 3 runs scored. He gets to tee off against Phillip Humber today, whom he’s 2-6 against with 2 HR.

Shortstop: Jhonny Peralta | $3,000 @ HOU: The winner yesterday in the daily fantasy night-game challenge won because he had all Tigers on his team. They put up 17 runs. I’m trying a much less exaggerated version of that today, as Peralta has a .333 average in 6 career AB vs. Humber.

Other options:

Brendan Ryan | $2,700 @ TOR: Ryan hits ,429 in seven career at-bats vs. Brandon Morrow. Morrow has really stunk as of late, so it’s a good combination to target given Ryan’s low salary.

Outfield: Nolan Reimold | $3,300 @ LAA:  Reimold hit a home run last night, bringing his season total to four (in part-time play). Reimold’s been a disappointment in the batting average department, but his 10 walks gives reason for optimism. In four career at-bats vs. Angels starter Jerome Williams, Reimold is 3-4 with a home run and a double.

Outfield: Michael Saunders | $3,700 @ TOR: Perhaps I’m a day too late on including Saunders in my starting lineup, as Saunders hit two home runs yesterday in Seattle’s 8-1 drubbing of the scuffling Blue Jays, but Saunders has owned Brandon Morrow in his career in a small sample size. He’s 3-5 with 2 doubles against Morrow lifetime.

Outfield: Jeff Francouer | $3,700 vs. CWS: Yes, I’m fully aware that we don’t get points for outfield assists in daily fantasy, however, Francouer, as bad as he is, hits an impressive 5-6 lifetime against Chicago lefty Jose Quintana. More impressive than his 5 hits however, are his 3 walks against Quintana, giving him an OBP of .889 off the young left-hander.

There are many other great outfield options like the Pirates’ Starling Marte ($4,300), Brewers OF Carlos Gomez ($4,000) and Nationals OF Jayson Werth ($4,000). However, they are slightly above the price range you need if you have built your team with a core around Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera.

News and Notes from around the MLB Saturday:

Los Angeles Dodgers call-up Dee Gordon (SS) who goes 2-4 with a triple and 2 stolen bases. He will likely emerge as the winner of the shortstop job, seeing as Hanley Ramirez landed back on the DL with a hamstring issue that skipper Don Mattingly said is “serious” and he compared it to the severity of Matt Kemp’s from last year. Gordon is widely available in nearly every format. (1.2% owned in ESPN leagues).

The Cincinnati Reds young pitching prospect Tony Cingrani got knocked around against the Cubs. He gave up two home runs (both to Alfonso Soriano) and walked five while striking out just two. It looks like the sell high window has closed.

He avoided the loss because Dale Sveum decided that Jeff Samardzjia hadn’t reached the Cubs walk quota on the day. So naturally he brought in Carlos Marmol who proceeded to do Carlos Marmol things. Those “things” would include not recording an out, giving up three runs, and walking two batters. Ahh, the Cubs and their bullpen; fantasy owners of Kevin Gregg need not worry though, as Marmol did all of this in the 8th inning. The Reds ended up winning 6-4.

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey got obliterated Saturday by the Mariners in Toronto. As I mentioned above when I was picking my daily team, OF Michael Saunders went yard twice against Dickey. Dickey’s fantasy owners are pretty much stuck with him at this point – as if it wasn’t clear after the two Saunders HR – a HR to light hitting second baseman Dustin Ackley. Ackley is only hitting .255/.290/.314 even after the home run, so he isn’t a buy-low target yet – or even worth a waiver wire add – except for AL-Only.

And finally, Cleveland Indians pitcher Scott Kazmir made my day by hurling seven excellent innings of two-run baseball against the Minnesota Twins. He struck out seven and walked just one. The blemish that signals caution still, is that he did give up a home run to “slugger” Aaron Hicks who is hitting .123/.242/.198 on the season. Yikes. Nevertheless, Kazmir becomes interesting as a streamer option even in 12-team mixed leagues. Caveat; I’m a diehard Rays fan and Kazmir will always have a special place in my heart.

Good luck in your @DraftKings Daily Fantasy challenges! Ask me your questions on twitter- @JoshKay_Fantasy

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