Today I will be playing the Daily Dollar (great for beginners) If you are new to @DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball, you can claim your Deposit Bonus here!

Before I get into my @DraftKings team of the day, here are some weather notes for tomorrow’s games. –Note rain percentages aren’t definitive and are best used as a reminder to check the weather status again on game-day before selecting a player from that game.

Potential rain concerns:

Hou @ KC: 40% chance of scattered thunderstorms

Wind factors:

17 mph winds in Kansas City – blowing out to left field. Will help right-handed power hitters, especially those who are pull happy.

15 mph winds in New York for the Marlins @ Mets game; the winds are blowing out to RF-CF. and Matt Harvey has struggled against the Marlins in his young career (strange isn’t it),

Here is my team this week:

Pitcher: Jeff Samardzjia | $9,800 vs. PIT: Samardzjia has been absolutely amazing in 2013 as he looks to prove to everyone that 2012 was not a fluke. Samardzjia has increased his strikeout percentage all the way up to 28.4%! That mark is good for fourth in baseball behind Yu Darvish, Max Scherzer and big surprise Anibal Sanchez. Samardzjia has made two starts against the Pirates this year. In 17 innings pitched over those two starts, Samardzjia has allowed only four hits, has struck out 17 while walking just two. He’s yet to give up an earned run against them as well. He’s a must start.

Pitcher: A.J. Burnett | $8.700 @ CHC: Burnett  is also enjoying a career season in terms of strikeout percentage. Burnett, strangely enough, ranks fifth in strikeout percentage, right behind of course, Jeff Samardzjia! Unlike Samardzjia however, their appears to be a slight amount of cause for concern in Burnett’s numbers. Burnett has walked seven batters in his last two starts combined, while striking out just nine. Still, it’s a brief bump in the road for a guy who has become one of the elite starting pitchers in MLB.

Other options: Kevin Gausman | $5,000 @ TB: Gausman looked excellent against the best offense in baseball his last time out. He struck out just four, but walked none and scattered five hits on one run in six innings.

Catcher: Matt Wieters | $3,200 @ TB: Wieters has been a monster against the Rays in his career. Also, despite a current .243 batting average, Wieters has been excellent against right-handers. Wieters is hitting a cool .283/.361/.528 against right-handed pitching thus far in 2013. With Jeremy Hellickson toeing the rubber for Tampa Bay, Hellickson is a good starter today.

First Base: Edwin Encarnacion | $4.300 vs. TEX: Encarnacion has been extremely streaky in 2013. Despite his slow start in the first couple weeks of the season, Encarnacion now sits with an on-pace line of 42 home runs, exactly identical to his total in 2012 (his breakout campaign). Encarnacion is 5-8 with two home runs against Darvish in his career.

Other options: Prince Fielder ($4,500) vs. CLE: Fielder has begun to heat up again after a twenty game stretch without a home run. He’s hit three home runs in the past six games and holds good numbers in his career against righty Justin Masterson.

Second Base: Nick Franklin | $2,300 vs. NYY: Franklin has continued to impress during his brief stint as a big leaguer. He provides excellent value at the second base position in daily fantasy. He has become my everyday second baseman in thse formats, regardless of pitcher. As long as he’s in the lineup he should provide at least four or five points.

Third Base: David Freese | $4,300 @ CIN: Freese has been on fire as of late. Hitting .464 in his last seven games, it’s safe to say Freese has found his groove after a rough start to 2013. He hits very well against Latos in his career. He has a .438 On-Base-Percentage against Latos in 13 at-bats.

Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki | $6,200 vs. SD: Troy Tulowitzki is now batting an absolutely absurd .349/.412/.651. The skill has never been the question for Tulo, it’s a matter of health. For the Rockies and Tulowitzki, they are fortunate to draw soft tossing lefty Eric Stults this week.

Outifeld: Jason Bay | $3.700 vs. NYY , Chris Davis | $4,900 @ TB, and Chris Coghlan | $2,600 @ NYM: Bay has hit an incredibly poor .229 thus far in 2013, but he’s turned it on as of late  in the power department, hitting four home runs in the past fifteen days. He faces Andy Pettitte today, whom he has good numbers against lifetime. Chris Davis has continued to be an excellent source of fantasy production all season long. His opposite field home run against Jeremy Hellickson earlier in the year remains in everyone’s memory heading into this matchup. Chris Coghlan has been on a torrid pace lately, batting .360 over the past fifteen days. He happens to be 3-3 against Matt Harvey so far in his career (a performance that happened recently in fact). He should come back from calf soreness very well, as he’ll most likely return to Saturday’s lineup.

Friday News and Notes:

Injured players on the mend looking to come back shortly:

Giancarlo Stanton’s Low-A rehab assignment went well (despite going 0-6 in two games), and could return as early as Monday, according to the Palm Beach Post

Shane Victorino is expected to be activated for the second game of Boston’s doubleheader today against Texas. He should be active in all formats.

Yonder Alonso and the San Diego Padres received bad news on Friday, learning that Alonso’s CT scan revealed a broken arm. He will be out until at least the All-Star Break.

Austin Jackson should be sent on a rehab assignment shortly; after not having any issues with his hamstring after running (According to the Detroit News).

Donovan Solano expects to return on Monday from his oblique injury. His .278 batting average will provide much needed help to NL-Only fantasy owners, especially those that own Brandon Phillips and Aaron Hill.

Nolan Reimold will likely be sent out on a rehab assignment shortly. He has progressed slower than expected, according to manager Buck Showalter (reported by Roch Kubatko of MASNSports), and will be reevaluated later in the week.