On Sunday FanDuel is offering a full slate of 15 games to choose from. The first game begins at 1:07pm Eastern and the last one starts at 8pm Eastern so you will need to set your lineups early and please be sure and select players that you are absolutely certain will be playing on Sunday. Also please consult local weather for any possible delays or rainouts.
There are some interesting opportunities on Sunday’s slate and here’s what I’m thinking about.
Pitching
As you’ve probably already figured out my philosophy is to roster a top tier pitcher as I believe there are or at least will be plenty of value sticks available for me to put together a roster that I feel can win for me on any given night. The other thing I’m looking for is value; I want to get at the very least 1 point per $1000 dollars spent…….now that you understand my philosophy here is what I’m looking at tonight.
Jake Arrieta ($12,500) has been phenomanal this season and he faces the Pittsburgh Pirates in the last game of the day. Arrieta has had a great deal of success against the current Pirates and over his past 5 starts he’s striking out 9 per nine innings, walking just over 1 and has allowed 0.021 bombs per nine innings. The Pirates have a 20 percent strikeout rate against righties with a wOBA of .316 and wRC+ of 101. Arrieta is pricey but he is worth it.
Gio Gonzalez ($9,600) is at home against the Phillies and his record against this Phillies team is so so. Over his past 5 starts Gonzalez is striking out 11.17 per nine with 4 walks and 0.31 bombs per nine innings pitched. He’s lasted 6 innings or more 3 of his last 5 starts. The Phillies this season have a 22 percent strikeout rate with a wOBA of 301 and wRC+ of 87 against lefties this season. Rostering Gio might be interesting on Sunday.
Jacob deGrom ($10,600) has a favorable matchup with the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday. Over his past 5 starts deGrom is striking out 10.46, walking 2.36 and has allowed 1.35 bombs per nine innings pitched. deGrom has pitched 6 or more innings 3 of those 5 starts and has never faced this collection of Reds so we don’t have a history. What we do know is the Reds have a 19 percent strikeout rate with a wOBA of .310 and wRC+ of 92.
Danny Salazar ($9,100) has a nice matchup on Sunday against the Kansas City Royals. He’s been quite good against this collection of Royals and over his last 5 starts he’s striking out just over 7, walking 3 and has allowed just under 1 bomb per nine innings pitched. Salazar has lasted 6 or more innings in 4 of thise 5 starts and the Royals are a team with a 16 percent strikeout rate with a .321 wOBA and wRC+ of 102 against righties this season.
Dallas Keuchel ($11,200) has an interesting matchup with the Texas Rangers in Houston. Keuchel has had some success against this current Rangers roster and over his last 5 starts he’s striking out just over 10, walking 1.62 and has allowed 1.89 bombs per nine innings pitched. Keuchel has lasted 6 innings or better in 4 of those 5 starts and he’ll face a Rangers team with a 21 percent strikeout rate, wOBA of .317 and wRC+ of 94 against lefties this season.
John Lackey ($9,000) faces the Brewers at home on Sunday and while his success against the present day Brewers is debateable over his past 5 starts he’s struck out almost 10 per nine with 2.88 walks and less than a bomb allowed per nine innings. The Brewers this season have a 20 percent strikeout rate with a wOBA of .310 and wRC+ of 90 against righties this season. This one could provide some decent bang for your buck on Sunday.
If a low priced option is what you are seeking maybe the White Sox Erik Johnson ($7,000) could be your answer on Sunday. He’s facing a Yankees team that has a 19 percent strikeout rate with a wOBA of .321 and wRC+ of 101. The sample size is small but Johnson is striking out 8.34 per nine with 3.91 walks and 2.35 bombs allowed per nine innings. Johnson has lasted 6 or more innings in 3 of his four starts this season and if he can get you those 8 strikeouts and go at least 6 innings he will have paid off big time.
Stacking Opportunities for Sunday
Mets lefthanded bats like Michael Conforto ($2,600), Kelly Johnson ($2,200), Curtis Granderson ($3,500) and Lucas Duda ($3,800) against the Reds Keyvious Sampson as lefties slug .524 with a wOBA of .417 against Sampson at home.
St Louis Cardinals bats against the Brewers Tyler Cravy should be very beneficial as Cravy has a road wOBA of .327 against lefties and a wOBA of .321 against righthanded bats.
Righthanded Giants bats against the Athletics Sean Nolin should work out well as Nolin has a 7.26 xFIP with righties slugging .333 with a wOBA of .323 when Nolin pitches at home this season.
Stack Blue Jays bats against the Rays Matt Andriese. He has trouble getting anyone out so mix and match to your salary cap limitation.
Value Picks for Saturday Night
Darin Ruf ($2,500) has 3 bombs this season against Gio Gonzalez and has hit lefties hard this season with a .442 wOBA and wRC+ of 183 against lefties while on the road.
Mike Napoli ($2,200) has a career slash line of .500/.667/.1.167/1.183 with a bomb and 3 RBI against Dallas Keuchel. Against lefties this season Napoli has a wOBA of .402 and wRC+ of 154.
Aaron Hill ($2,500) has 4 bombs in his career against James Shields and this season has a wOBA of .292 with a wRC+ of 78 with 6 stolen bases against righties this season.
Mike Moustakas ($3,100) has 2 bombs in his career against Indians pitcher Danny Salazar. Moustakas against righties this season has a wOBA of .358 and wRC+ of 127.
Hey FanDuel Fantasy Football player!
Did you win last week? Last week’s value picks weren’t meant to be an entire roster but I entered them anyway and won a 50/50! Have a look!
Please remember that the list below isn’t meant to be an entire roster…..these are picks I believe will get you extreme value in order for you to spend up on certain players if you so choose. Of course you can also go with this entire lineup or just pick a couple or disregard the entire list and do your own thing!
The other thing I want you to remember is this; our goal is to get 2 Fantasy points per $1000 dollars of salary spent and if they exceed that then we have a great opportunity to win some real cash on Sunday.
QB: There are plenty of quarterbacks to choose from this week and I have decided that the best value is the Dolphins Ryan Tannehill ($8000). He had a big game last week against Jacksonville and his matchup this week against Buffalo should be a good one to exploit. The Bills defense is giving up 350 yards per game meaning this could be a good day for Tannehill! Tannehill does have a small issue with his ankle but he should be good to go this Sunday.
RB: I like the Raiders Latavius Murray ($7,000) on Sunday against the Browns on Sunday. Murray had a great game against the Ravens last week and while his price did jump $200 bucks he should still provide great value as he is the Raiders workhorse in the backfield. The Bills allow just 60 yards on the ground but Murray is a versatile back who is also a receiving threat as evidenced by his 3 catches for 22 yards against the Ravens last Sunday.
RB: I like the Chargers Danny Woodhead ($6,400) against the Vikings on Sunday. His price spiked by $200 bucks but Woodhead is well worth the price. With Melvin Gordon failing to live up to the hype Woodhead has been getting carries and seems to be a favorite target of QB Phillip Rivers as evidenced by his 6 passes for 68 yard output against the Bengals. The Vikings are a team that has demonstrated they have a difficult time against the run (135 yards allowed per game) so Woodhead should be good to go on Sunday.
WR: I really like tandems and I like the tandem of Tannehill and Rishard Matthews ($5,400). Tannehill targeted Matthews 7 times last week against Jacksonville and Matthews responded by catching 6 of them for 115 yards. Jarvis Landry ($7,600) is the sexier pick but with the Bills being a bit stingy against the pass thus far this season Matthews might wind up with the most targets and the best results on Sunday.
WR: I like the matchup the Browns Travis Benjamin ($5,400) has with the Oakland Raiders this week and I especially like the price. Benjamin has become a favorite target of QB Johnny Manziel and right now is the Browns deep threat and biggest offensive producer. The Raider are allowing 326 yards per game in the air and if Benjamin can do what he’s been doing (20 Fantasy Points per game) than he will provide great value on Sunday.
WR: Now it’s time to spend some money and the Steelers Antonio Brown ($9,300) and his matchup against the St Louis Rams is one worthy of exploitation. The Rams are allowing 205 yards per game via the air so while that may be a concern Brown is a proven commodity in DFS and a big time favorite of QB Ben Roethlisberger. I have zero reservations about rostering Brown this week and neither should you!
TE: I play Rob Gronkowski ($8,400) every single chance that I get and I will do so once again this week against Jacksonville. He’s worth every penny and I don’t even care how many people own him TE is where I am rarely contrarian and this week will be no exception.
K: I’ll go with the Dolphins Andrew Franks ($4,500) in this one. The over under is currently 43 points and since I believe the Dolphins will have a big day offensively I will go with Franks in this one.
Defense: I’m really like the Houston Texans ($5,000) defense on Sunday. They haven’t been performing very well yet this season but they have a tasty matchup against a so-so offensive Tampa Bay Buccaneers team. They should be able to at least put up 15 Fantasy Points on Sunday and if they do we will all be smiling on Sunday evening.
On this edition of Phil’s Fantasy Sports Phil is giving away a 25 dollar pre-paid Visa card to one lucky listener per week for signing up at his new Daily Fantasy Sports site Draft Dragons. Rotowire NHL writer Brian Rutherford and Phil discuss Fantasy Hockey mid-tier forwards, Fake Teams Ray Guilfoyle joins Phil and the guys try and figure out who will be the #1 Fantasy Baseball player taken in next seasons draft as well as several Cubs players and pitchers and their possible 2016 values. Draft Kings Playbook writer Jason Walker joins Phil and the guys share their FanDuel and Draft Kings Fantasy Football picks and Rotowire NBA writer Alex Rikleen and Phil discuss Fantasy Basketball sleepers and busts at the Center position. You can download the show from my site or listen below.
