Today I’m playing in the $2 10x booster, a $5 Double Up, a $1 Triple Up, the Daily Dollar, The Quarter Arcade and the Daily Freeroll. This is my usual mix of contests. Don’t forget to get your deposit bonus here.

Starting Pitching Options

Luxury picks: Mat Latos, $10,200 (@ SD); Zack Greinke, $10,000 (NYY)

Reasonable and reliable pick: Anibal Sanchez, $8,900 (WAS)

Cheapest guy I can pick: Alex Wood, $5,800 (COL)

As I’ve mentioned a ton this year, I prefer to spend more on pitching. Good pitching is far easier to pick on a specific day than hitting is, so I want to spend my money in the two spots where I can be most certain about what the return will be for my investment. But Braves call-up Alex Wood is making it difficult to stick to that strategy today.

In his 24 minor league starts between A, AA and AAA, Wood had a 1.73 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 25.2 K% and 6.8% BB%. It would be hard to ask for more from the kid. And in 26.1 major league innings this year (two starts plus bullpen work), he has a 3.42 ERA, 27.9% K%, and 9% BB%. When you thrown in the fact that he’s facing the Rockies who have the third worst wRC+ in the league against left-handers like Wood, he becomes an even more attractive option.

Latos was the obvious pick today. He’s been as good as ever, if not better than ever, this year, and he’s facing the Padres who are one of only three teams with a wOBA under .300 against right-handed pitching. Plus, San Diego is the least homer-friendly park in the league for left-handed hitters. Given that left-handers have the platoon advantage against Latos, this is an important factor in mitigating that advantage. And to put the cherry on top, the weather will be ideal for pitchers tonight in San Diego. It will be cool (great for low scoring), and the wind will be blowing in.

With a pick that easy, the only real decision was Wood or Greinke in a good matchup against the Yankees who have the 3^rd worst wRC+ against right-handed pitching. Ultimately, I chose Grienke primarily for the reason listed above. I want safety out of my starting pitcher slots. As great as Wood has been, Greinke is still the safer option at this point. But I also chose Greinke because I know I can find enough good hitters on the cheap. Below you’ll see that it wasn’t all that difficult to field a solid lineup despite picking the two most expensive pitchers of the day.

However, the Wood option is so intriguing that I’ll be entering a second lineup in a few contests today as well. Below are both of my lineup entries for the day.

On the team with the two expensive pitchers (the left side), the cheap hitting options I chose were Derek Norris ($3,500), Jonathan Villar ($3,200), Dayan Viciedo ($3,300) and Christian Yelich ($3,300). Villar and Yelich are good examples of how you can take advantage of call-ups. The pricing is almost always very conservative with prospects for quite awhile after their debut. Villar has four steals in his first seven games, and speed like that gives you a nice floor. All he has to do is steal you a base to avoid being useless. Yelich hasn’t been quite as good since his call-up, but he’s been capable and has a favorable platoon match up with Zach Wheeler. And Norris and Viciedo also have favorable platoon match ups. Viciedo is the guy I like the most of this group. In 217 PA versus left-handed pitching since the beginning of 2012, he has been 42% better than league average.

With those four bargains, you can fill the other half of your lineup with more popular options. Eric Hosmer ($4,100), Matt Carpenter ($4,200) and Alex Rios ($4,200) all have favorable platoon match ups against below average pitchers. And you can also get Jeff Baker ($4,000) who has the best wOBA in the league against left-handed pitching (min. 50 PA). That ain’t a bad lineup at all despite buying the two most expensive pitchers.

On the right side, going with Wood as opposed to Greinke allowed for several upgrades in the lineup. I stuck with Viciedo and Yelich because I always pick a few cheap options when I spend less on pitching so I can free up money for more elite hitters (plus I think Viciedo is the value of the day). I also kept Hosmer because he’s been steady lately and has a great match up. And of course I kept Baker. Did I mention he has the best wOBA against left-handed pitching?

As for the upgrades, it’s always tough to pass up Buster Posey ($4,700) against a lefty because he’s been 83% better than league average against left-handers in his career, especially when the lefty is John Lannan. Ian Kinsler ($4,700) will get left-hander C.J. Wilson in good scoring conditions (hot weather, favorable wind for Texas’ jet stream).  Hanley Ramirez ($5,300) is only the 17th most expensive hitter today, but he has been the best hitter in the league over the last 30 days according to ESPN.com’s player rater. He’ll also have a favorable platoon match up. And finally I’m taking Yoenis Cespedes ($4,600) on the hope that his six hits and 7 RBI in the last two days are the beginning of his big turn around.