Today, I’m going to give the MLB Daily Dollar (Early) [$125 Guaranteed, Single Entry] contest a go. It’s just a $1 entry and the top 30 score some dough. It’s a good entry level game and what better way to celebrate the Fourth of July by making taking your first dip into the daily fantasy pool.

Don’t forget to claim your deposit bonus!

Rotoinfo.com provides excellent updates as lineups roll in. Happy Fourth of July!

DraftKings.com Team of the Day:

With the early games, we are usually a bit limited, but not today. There are a lot of great choices.

Chris Archer | P | Rays | $8,300 – Archer gets the pleasure of facing the Houston Astros who sport the worst K% against right handed pitching in the majors at 25%. Archer has struggled with his control since his call up, but luckily for him the Astros are also 22^nd in BB% in the majors against righties so he should be able to hold down the walk numbers.

Ian Kennedy | P | Diamondbacks | $7,800 – I vacillated (look it up) on this second pitching choice. I’m going with Kennedy for a couple of reasons. First, he’s at Citi Field – a notorious pitcher’s ballpark. Second, the Mets are fourth in K% against right handers at 22.3%. Third – the Mets. Kennedy has 16 strikeouts over his last three starts (16 2/3 innings) so I expect good things.

There are other options even with the shortened set of matches including those who have been hot lately (greater than a K per inning over their last three starts):  Ubaldo Jimenez and Matt Cain (though I’m a little wary of Cain in Cincy’s park). And those with juicy matchups (opponents have high K%): James Shields, Allen Webster (only if you like to live dangerously) and our friend Matt Cain.

I would avoid Cole Hamels like the plague. Or whatever we are avoiding here in the 21^st century.

Buster Posey | C | Giants | $5,100 – Posey’s good. Generally. His match up with the Reds’ Mike Leake is nothing special, but there really isn’t a lot at catcher. And with most teams playing an early game after a late night game there may be a lot of backup catchers getting some run today. I’d stick with a star.

Gaby Sanchez| 1B | Pirates | $3,300– Sanchez is 16^th in the league in OPS (greater than 20 plate appearances) against left handed pitching. Overall. Not just among first basemen. Just behind Ryan Braun and ahead of Justin Upton and David Wright to name a couple of all stars. He’s an easy choice at this low a salary.

Dustin Pedroia | 2B | Red Sox | $5,400 – Petey loves hitting against lefties and Eric Stults brings his southpaw to Fenway where that Green Monster looms large. Stronger men than Stults have wilted under its shade. Pedroia has a .968 OPS against lefties this season and an OPS more than 120 points higher at Fenway than on the road. I’ll spend the big money here.

Josh Donaldson | 3B | A’s | $4,300 – Donaldson is another lefty masher as he has an OPS of 1.125 against left-handers this season. He gets the mighty Travis Wood on the hill. It’s too bad he no longer qualifies at catcher as I’d rather slot him there than here.

Jose Iglesias | SS | Red Sox | $3,500 – Iglesias still isn’t this good of a hitter, but I’ll ride him until he falters. He’s a cheap option who has produced consistently in the DraftKings game as he’s averaged 7.9 points over his last 10 games and has failed to pick up a hit in only two of them.

Starling Marte | OF | Pirates | $4,400 – Marte has the tenth best OPS against left handers in the majors at 1.111. He gets to face Cole Hamels who just hasn’t been very good lately.

Jay Bruce | OF | Reds | $4,000 – Bruce has some success against Matt Cain in his career as he is 6 for 13 with a 1.204 OPS and he’s solid against righties.

Nate Schierholtz | OF | Cubs | $3,800 – I really wanted to put Yasiel Puig here, but then I realized he’s not playing. Then, I said, well, why not. Then, I realized this is for money. So, let’s go with a final sneaky play. Schierholtz sits 12^th (just one spot behind Mike Trout) in OPS against righties for OFers. That .905 OPS for $3,800 looks nice.

If you are looking to stack today I think the Pirates make an intriguing option against a struggling Cole Hamels. They have some cheap bats that succeed against lefties and I imagine not too many DraftKings’ players are on them. I’ve left $100 on the table so not a lot of room to change, but I could go for a cheaper catcher and upgrade my pitchers.

Good luck today!