2013 Fantasy Baseball, The Daily Fix: June 13, 2013
It’s been a down time for yours truly playing the daily games. Sudden injuries and ineffective starts have put me in a down streak. It’s times like these that test our mettle. There are two things that will keep you going in a cold streak. First, pick a strategy and stick with it. Good strategies give you the best chance to win even when luck isn’t on your side. Secondly, make sure you manage your wagering. Don’t put too much money down when you’ve lost a few times in a row. It can disappear in a hurry.
Therefore, I’m playing in a Double Up! contest. They range anywhere from a dollar to ten dollars, but each works the same way. If you finish in the top half you get almost twice as much as you put in. Naturally, DraftKings gets their cut because they have to pay their employees, the light bill, and make a little for their trouble. That being said, they are very generous to those that start playing as they will give you a deposit bonus you can access here.
DraftKings also has an exclusive contest for Fix readers this Friday. There are 50 slots available for just a $5 entry fee. The top two finishers get free entries into Friday’s Punch Out Contest. Entries for that contest are usually $200, and they pay out is a whopping $100,000. Those who finish 3-10 will win $10, and those who finish 11-20 will win $5. Click here to join the contest.
Before we introduce the daily lineup, we should talk about what you are seeing. The first one is the lineup I will be using in the contest. So, the salary amounts come under the 50,000 limit ($500 under to be exact). The second one is a suggestion for an alternative at each position. It is not meant to be an alternative lineup as the salaries would go over $50,000. If you choose some of those guys you will have to mix and match on your own.
My Lineup
| Player | Opposing SP | Salary | Notes | |
| Catcher | Russell Martin | Matt Cain | 3,400 | This seems like stealing at this price. |
| First Base | Ryan Howard | Kevin Correia | 4,600 | Watch as Kevin Correai does the steady descent to oblivion. |
| Second Base | Neil Walker | Matt Cain | 3,500 | It’s not a steal like Martin, but he’s a solid play at this price. |
| Third Base | Pedro Alvarez | Matt Cain | 3,800 | He’s hitting .300 in June with four home runs. |
| Shortstop | Elvis Andrus | Mark Buerhle | 4,600 | The shortstop pickings are slim, so go with a proven commodity. |
| Outfield | David Murphy | Mark Buerhle | 4,200 | Mark Buerhle is very hittable and they are playing in Arlington. |
| Outfield | Starling Marte | Matt Cain | 4,200 | He is on a bit of cold streak but the other plays are too expensive. |
| Outfield | Delmon Young | Kevin Correia | 3,800 | Call this a hunch based on Correia’s impending suckage. |
| Pitcher | A.J. Burnett | SF Giants | 9,000 | He’s been solid all season and he’s in a winnable game. |
| Pitcher | Ervin Santana | TB Rays | 8,400 | His team likely won’t score runs, but he’ll give you some solid points. |
Some Reasonable Alternatives
| Player | Opposing SP | Salary | Notes | |
| Catcher | A.J. Pierzynski | Mark Buerhle | 4,100 | Buerhle lives around the plate and Pierzynski makes good contact. |
| First Base | Garrett Jones | Matt Cain | 3,400 | I’m not in love with it but if you need to spend more elsewhere….. |
| Second Base | Jurickson Profar | Mark Buerhle | 4,000 | He’s is also a very good option at short if you want to save the cash. |
| Third Base | Michael Young | Kevin Correia | 4,000 | He’s usually good for at least a hit and this pitcher sucks. |
| Shortstop | Jimmy Rollins | Kevin Correia | 4,000 | Like Profar, he is a cheaper option than Andrus. |
| Outfield | Domonic Brown | Kevin Correia | 5,000 | As hot as he’s been, I can understand wanting to bite the bullet. |
| Outfield | Jacoby Ellsbury | TBD | 5,600 | He’s hitting .417 in June with six stolen bases. |
| Outfield | Andrew McCutchen | Matt Cain | 4,800 | He’s hitting over .300 since April. He also quietly has stolen 15 bases. |
| Pitcher | Cliff Lee | SF Giants | 11,000 | He’s a little more pricey, but this guy is a WHIP machine. |
| Pitcher | Yu Darvish | Toronto Blue Jays | 13,000 | If you want to blow your wad you can collect some big time Ks. |
Coming Up
With my recent report on closers, my total run series has reached its end for now. We’ll likely revisit that later on in the summer, but for now we will be moving to a new series. The new series will take a look at plate discipline at each position to see if the popular choices really fall in the top half of their position in terms of plate discipline.
Sometimes, you can predict a hot streak or a cold streak by looking at how a player is performing in comparison with those raw numbers. A lot of utilizes pitch f/x data. Teams are using this stuff in greater numbers, so we might as well join the revolution.
The Author
