Welcome to today’s daily fantasy post! Remember that you can find our posts on the brand-spanking new DFS home page, as well as the fantasy page. Bookmark those sites now!
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Let’s get to today’s interesting facts, using DraftKings prices. We’ll cover the night slate of games, leaving out only Rockies-Reds (12:35 p.m. ET), Cubs-Cardinals (1:45), Angels-White Sox (2:10) and Mariners-Indians (6:10) from today’s schedule.
Five Things to Watch:
1. Madison Bumgarner ($11,400) is a -129 favorite over the Zack Greinke and the D-backs in a game that carries a puny run total of 6.5. The night’s biggest favorites are Ross Stripling ($6,400) and Nathan Eovaldi ($7,100) – both at -160 in games with eight projected runs. I’m considering Rick Porcello ($8,200), who averaged 22 DK points in a pair of starts against the fearsome Blue Jays, and gets a home matchup with the terrible Rays’ lineup tonight.
2. Yo, BvPers: Ryan Howard ($3,900) has three homers in 26 at bats against Bartolo Colon … Paul Goldschmidt ($4,700) is 12-for-38 with eight walks and a couple of homers versus Madison Bumgarner … The Blue Jays’ mashers (Donaldson, Bautista, Encarnacion) are a combined 10-for-79 (.127) with just one homer against Ubaldo Jimenez.
3. Since the beginning of 2011, Nationals OF Jayson Werth ($4,100) has a .386 wOBA, an .897 OPS and 24 home runs in 505 at bats versus lefthanded pitchers. Werth homered Tuesday, and faces fly-balling southpaw Wei-Yin Chen tonight.
4. I was hoping for a Doug Fister bounceback season, and while I know it’s been just two games, the guy’s averaging 85 mph with his fastball. Stacking some Rangers (DeShields, Mazara, Fielder, Beltre, Moreland) against Fister sounds like a decent idea. Also in the stack conversation are Orioles vs. R.A. Dickey, Brewers vs. Tommy Milone, and Yankees vs. Kendall Graveman.
5. Twins SS/3B Eduardo Nunez ($3,000) has averaged 13.2 DK points over his last six starts, and he figures to remain in the leadoff spot against the mediocre Jimmy Nelson. No-brainer, right?
Here’s D.J. Foster’s Daily Fantasy Advice for today:
Yesterday’s Recap: As per usual, Adam Meyer made some great calls yesterday. Logan Verrett was a deep cut who put up 6 scoreless innings in a win. George Springer and Jose Altuve both went yard, and both were listed here as part of the recommended Astros stack.
Must-Start of the day: Matt Carpenter, STL
Carpenter crushes right-handed pitching (.397 wOBA, .254 ISO) and Kyle Hendricks really struggles against lefties. Carpenter is also 7-for-12 against Hendricks lifetime with 2 HR.
Deal of the day: Raisel Iglesias, CIN
The Rockies often get too much credit away from home, even though they were dead last in OPS on the road last season. Iglesias is a big time strikeout pitcher who is a decent favorite (-132) at a big time bargain ($7300).
Avoid of the day: Jose Bautista, TOR
He’s just 2-for-30 lifetime against Ubaldo Jimenez, which seems like a big enough sample size to trust.
Stack of the day: Texas Rangers
There are still some good values scattered throughout this lineup (Nomar Mazara especially) and Doug Fister is the lowest priced pitcher on the board in a game with a high projected run total (9). I’m on board.
Starting pitchers:
Raisel Iglesias, CIN: “Deal of the Day”
Madison Bumgarner, SF: See Halpin’s notes above.
Jeff Locke, PIT: Locke isn’t normally a guy we’d target due to his low strikeout rate, but the Padres have been abysmal at home. If you’re looking for a cheap win, start here.
Danny Salazar, CLE: The Mariners bats are prone to striking out based on their numbers last year, and we know Salazar can stack up the K’s. He’s a sizable favorite pitching at home and is a nice secondary option if you don’t want to pick between MadBum and Greinke.
Catchers:
Jonathan Lucroy, MIL: .294 batting average against LHP over the last three years.
Wilson Ramos, WAS: Slightly better against lefties and has enough power to take flyball pitcher Wei-Yin Chen yard.
First basemen:
Ryan Howard, PHI: See Halpin’s notes above.
Byung Ho Park, MIN: He’s homered in three of his last four games and the ball should fly off his bat in Milwaukee against Slippin’ Jimmy Nelson.
Second basemen:
Jose Altuve, HOU: Hamels is a little scary, but Altuve’s stellar history against LHP makes him hard to go away from.
Josh Harrison, PIT: .328 average over the last three years against LHP.
Third basemen:
Matt Carpenter, STL: “Must-Start of the Day”
Adrian Beltre, TEX: 8-for-23 lifetime against Doug Fister and can be part of our Rangers stack.
Shortstops:
Eduardo Nunez, MIN: See Halpin’s notes above.
Elvis Andrus, TEX: Rangers stack.
Outfielders:
Ryan Braun, MIL: .925 OPS against LHP over the last three seasons.
Starling Marte, PIT: .309 three-year average against southpaws, and has speed to boot.
Jayson Werth, WAS: See Halpin’s notes above.
Corey Dickerson, TB: He can really beat up mediocre right-handed pitching, and that’s Rick Porcello.
