It’s so frustrating to have just the right matchup, the research points you in the right direction and then, poof, you lose. It’s even more infuriating to see that same group of players go off the next day when you are off of them. The emptiness of the DraftKings lineup when guys like Josh Donaldson do absolutely nothing haunts like all the haunted houses in fiction rolled into one website.
So what do you do when your Dodgers stack flops when you needed it the most? When your research and everything tells you to go right back to it again the next day?
Well, you do it, you roster them again. But what about the agony it caused you? You hated those guys for what they did to you and there’s no way you’ll let them do that to you again. Don’t focus on the results, honor your process. I would say Shake It Off, but that now has been tainted by the pop song gods so we’ll just say that it will feel good when that stack or that player does come through like you thought they would.
Chris Davis and Mitch Moreland have long been guys I’ve rostered because their metrics are outstanding, especially against RHP and their fly ball rates are right in line with guys who could go deep at any time. And Tuesday night they did just that, trading a pair of HRs each in that Rangers/Orioles run fest. Good times, good times.
Research, roster, repeat…and don’t let the recent results, one way or the other, fool you.
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Chris Heston, SP: $6,500 – His game scores are all over the place, but in the right matchup he has provided some gigantic scoring nights. At this price, with this opposition at that venue, I’m putting him on the team.
Carlos Carrasco, SP: $10,200 – He’s by far the highest upside pitcher on the board tonight, with a 14% swinging strike rate and 9 K/9 in his last six starts. The Rays struggle mightily against RHP and usually strike out against them, but don’t tell Danny Salazar owners that after he only struck out two in 7 2/3 innings. Still, such a result could lower Carrasco’s ownership even just a little, which is a good time to strike.
Welington Castillo, C: $3,400 – He’s been crushing and has a good and bad matchup with Brett Anderson. Bad in that Anderson has actually been elite with ground ball rate in his last six starts (69%!) Good in that when Anderson has struggled, it’s been against righties and the venue is ripe for some Anderson regression.
Kendrys Morales, 1B: $4,100 – Morales has had the power pilot light on all season and gets a heavy fly ball pitcher in a HR park in Vincent Velasquez in Houston. Morales is even higher in the lineup with the absence of Eric Hosmer and the Royals are forecasted a 4+ run night, so look for Kendrys, who has really been making hard contact, so be in the middle of the scoring.
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B: $5,800 – After going through all of the values in my lineup, I found I had more than enough to roster Goldy, and why not? He is an elite lefty crusher in his home ballpark which happens to be the best thing to offense since Coors Field.
Aaron Hill, 2B: $3,400 – Hill typifies the power/fly ball approach. When it’s good, it means long ball. Like Castillo, it won’t take much in Arizona to get one out of the park and Hill is another low cost play that could pay with his power and 50+ fly ball rate over the last 30 days.
Cesar Hernandez, 2B/SS: $2,900 – This is all about Hernandez batting second and Jonathan Lucroy being behind the plate for the Brewers. Lucroy has allowed over 75% of runners to steal on him, so all Hernandez has to do is get on base and, shazam!, big time steals points. He had two Tuesday night (17 DK points overall) and as long as Lucroy is there again, Hernandez is a terrific low cost middle infielder who can provide HR points.
Manny Machado, 3B: $4,500 – Machado is moderately priced for the amazing production he has displayed over the last few weeks. Nick Martinez is heading back to gas can status, and Machado leading off gets the most cuts at him. Order up!
Chris Parmelee, OF/1B: $3,400 – Sure, we could’ve highlighted fellow Oriole Chris Davis, but who look at the guy who launched two home runs Tuesday night? That slot machine paid big and now we’ll move to one that didn’t pay in that game. Parmelee has been sensational against RHP this season, bats in a good spot in the O’s lineup, and has the power to do what Davis did Tuesday night.
Scott Van Slyke, OF: $3,900 – Lefty crusher against weak lefty in a hitter’s park = Scott Van Slyke. He was injured earlier in the year but now he’s back and doing what he does best: Hit for power against LHP. Smash!
Adam Jones, OF: $4,900 – Jones in the middle of a lineup in a high scoring game against a bad pitcher seems relevant. Jones has quietly snuck into the hard contact and power leaders and wasn’t one of the big looters Tuesday night, like Parmalee. His turn Wednesday.
Ben Revere, OF: $4,000 – Same as Hernandez there at 2B, just massive steals points waiting to happen at the knees of Jonathan Lucroy. Brewers starter Kyle Lohse is only average 4.7 K/9 for his last six starts and Revere’s 90% contact rate for the season lends itself well to this scenario.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Washington in Atlanta and the White Sox in St. Louis are the two games that could come under weather delays or possible cancellations, so keep an eye on that, especially if you were going to roster Matt Wisler tonight.
Doing Lines In Vegas
Los Angeles continues their offensive visit into Arizona with a line of 8.5 while the same line can be found in Baltimore, where the Rangers and Orioles line up for an encore to their Tuesday slugfest. Wei-Yin Chen, who does pitch well at home, is a large favorite at -170 as is John Lackey at -165, which says more about the state of the White Sox hitting than it does about the very average Lackey.