2014 Fantasy BaseballFront Office

2014 Fantasy Baseball: The Daily Double Switch for August 6th

Good morning everyone! Welcome to another edition of “The Daily Double Switch,” the only article on the web that will you guarantee you a pocket full of sunshine. If you’re looking for a place to cash in on that sunshine, test out DraftKings tonight. There are thousands of dollars to be had and surely you’d like your fair share.

Weather

There are some brief chances of rain in Washington, New York and Pittsburgh, but I don’t think any of it will hold up a game long enough to look at a postponement; feel free to roster these guys.

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Positional Breakdown

Starting Pitchers

Unfortunately, the day slate of four games just about wipes every suitable pitcher off the table. Sonny Gray, Chris Sale and Julio Teheran all take the ball during the daylight and leave us with a mess of arms for the nightcap, headlined by, well, no one really. Jake Arrieta gets a start tonight, which is normally good news for DFS players, but he’ll be squaring off with the Rockies in Coors Field. Tread lightly, although Arrieta is a monster, Coors Field is the ultimate voodoo curse for pitchers, with the obvious exception of Clayton Kershaw. Aside from Arrieta, you could test your hand with Mat Latos at home against the Cleveland Indians. Latos has seen a large dip in his K/9, but has pitched to the tune of a 3.07 ERA and isn’t allowing the long ball to hurt him. On a night with so few options, he might be one name you see a lot. Tonight also brings us Doug Fister. Fister gets a matchup with the New York Mets at home in Washington. Once again, Fister appears to be a quality start machine, but the lack of strikeouts is apparent. The name of the game in DFS is strikeouts, try to find some tonight.

Catcher

With the lack of pitching tonight, there should be a surplus of hitting options available, and there are, just not really at the catching spot. Yes, the Astros surge has slowed and they probably won’t find themselves on the cover of Sports Illustrated for a while longer, but I do like Jason Castro tonight. Castro really slowed this season and he hasn’t been the consistent play against right-handed pitching like I might have expected earlier in the season, but I’m testing it out tonight. Castro gets a matchup with right-hander David Buchanan, and he’s starting to show some pop again. He has three homeruns in his last ten games and historically has been much better against right-handed guys, look out baseball!

First Baseman

Victor Martinez just really never slowed down this year, and I don’t expect it to happen tonight. V-Mart has been great from both sides of the plate this season, but he’s hitting an incredible .371 from the right hand batter’s box against left-handed pitchers. Yes, .371 with a .343 ISO. Hey tonight, V-Mart is facing a left-handed pitcher, and he’s playing in Yankee Stadium. Dude, don’t over think this, the guy is a freak right now. Three straight multi-hit games will likely become four tonight.

Second Baseman

Sorry guys, I’m always on the Dee Gordon train, and I’m going to be again tonight. He’s so small and fast, it’s just really fun to pick him. Dee, son of Flash, is having a solid year atop the Dodger’s lineup and should be in a good spot to succeed tonight against Matt Shoemaker. Stolen bases are 5 points at DraftKings and Dee is capable of swiping like 14 bases a game. He’s sporting a solid .341 OBP against right-handers this year. Use him, and watch him run, fast.

Third Baseman

Do you guys like revenge? Now I’m not sure if Joe Kelly and Matt Carpenter got along, but for the sake of the next few sentences, let’s assume they didn’t. Matt hates Joe Kelly, his former teammate, and the arm he’s going to be facing tonight. Joe Kelly hates Matt Carpenter and really wants to get him out, but won’t do so. When you dream of a guy getting on base, some of you might dream about Barry Bonds or Babe Ruth, but tonight, I dream of Matt Carpenter. Carpenter is sporting a .378 OBP against right-handed hurlers this year, and could have some fun tonight at home against his former teammate, plus, let’s face it, Kelly has been bad.

Shortstop

Remember the days of Troy Tulowitzki? Sadly, he’s injured, so I yet again can’t just put his name and drop the mic. Today, I’m going to do it, I’m going to let my homerism shine and recommend Javier Baez. If you’re a baseball fan, you’ve probably heard the name, and last night, you saw the face. So Baez had a rough go his first five at-bats, but made loyal fans proud with his first hit, a towering game-winning homerun to right-center field at Coors Field. He fans a lot, but the guy has a ton of raw power, and homeruns are tough to come by in the middle infield. If you’re looking to make a splash in a GPP, test your luck with Javy, Double Dongs are his friends.

Outfield

This one is the easiest of all the positions for me today. Giancarlo Stanton. Now I’d like to drop the mic and walk off, but let me just pull some numbers out of a hat for you. Stanton will be facing left-hander Jeff Locke tonight at PNC Park. He’s posted a .388 average, .490 OBP and a .325 ISO against southpaws this year. Stop contemplating it and just do it, you won’t regret it.

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