This Friday, be sure to to enter the “Spring Fling” over at DraftKings. It’s your chance to turn an $11 entry fee into a $20,000 first place prize! Enter here!

DraftKings.com Team of the Day

As always, I’m playing in the Double Up! contest on DraftKings. Don’t forget to get your deposit bonus here.

Starting Pitchers

– Would you say I have a plethora of (pitchers)?

– A what?

– A *plethora*.

– Oh yes, you have a plethora.

When I looked at the starting pitching options for Tuesday, the classic exchange between Jefe and El Guapo in Three Amigos came to mind. There are so many good starting pitcher options today at varying prices.

There are a few true aces going in Clayton Kershaw ($12,400), Felix Hernandez ($11,700), and CC Sabathia ($11,600). I’ve had more success recently in daily formats spending more on pitching, but there’s no need to spend top dollar tomorrow given the second tier options available.

Because of the matchups they have, Doug Fister ($9,800, v. HOU), Homer Bailey ($9,800, @ MIA), and Jake Peavy ($9,600, @ MIN) are the best options in the second tier. Matt Moore ($10,500) is tempting, but the matchup (@ BOS) isn’t great, and Moore has some regression coming (.196 BABIP, 96.1% LOB%). Of the three I like, I’m going with Peavy and Bailey. Fister’s matchup is probably better than Peavy’s, but I lean toward higher strikeout guys in daily contests. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little scared off by Fister last start (3 IP, 4 ER) even though I know he just got BABIP’d.

I considered a few other mid-tier options but passed on them for various reasons: R.A. Dickey because you just can’t trust him, Derek Holland because Oakland actually scares me as a matchup, and Carlos Villanueva and Patrick Corbin because of less than favorable matchups against the Rockies and Braves, respectively.

If you want to go with a super cheap option, give John Gast a shot. He’s taking the Westbrook spot in St. Louis’ rotation. Gast has been excellent in six starts at AAA this year (1.38 ERA), but struggled in 20 starts at the same level last year (5.10 ERA). Gast’s strikeout rate was average throughout most of the minors, but he’s striking out about 23% of batters this season. His control has also been ‘meh,’ but he’s displayed some skill in his most recent work, and the matchup with the Mets is a good one.

Lineup

All hitters listed have a favorable platoon matchup today.

C – Salvador Perez, $3,400: Trying to play streaks in daily cap contests isn’t a great idea, but Perez has hits in five straight and looks like he’s starting to get it together. His strikeout-to-walk ratio has been much, much better the last couple of weeks than it was in the first month of the year.

1B – Mitch Moreland, $3,300: Moreland, a leftie, has obviously always been better against righties, but he’s crushing them so far this year. He has a .264 ISO and a 138 wRC+ against them this year. At this price, Moreland was an easy choice.

2B – Kelly Johnson, $3,600: Johnson has a 150 wRC+ against righties this season.

3B – Jed Lowrie, $3,900: Lowrie, a switch-hitter, has been much better from the right side of the plate (career 127 wRC+) from which he’ll be hitting today.

SS – Starlin Castro, $4,500: Castro will be facing Kevin Correia who relies heavily on his changeup, and Castro has posted well above average results against changeups for his career.

OF – Andy Dirks, $4,100: Dirks beat up righties last year (140 wRC+) and hit a grand slam off one last night.

OF – Carlos Gomez, $3,900: I don’t understand why a guy with Gomez’s power/speed combo who is as hot as Gomez is going for such a cheap price.

OF – Jay Bruce, $3,900: I’m concerned about Bruce’s lack of contact so far this year, but I couldn’t pass him up at this price against Nolasco.