His baseball people! Geez, look where your mind goes, straight to the gutter! Speaking of gutters, the Miami Marlins are the baseball equivalent of that black gunk you find trapped in your gutter at the end of the fall when the rain and decomposing leaves have been hanging out there for weeks on end. In other words, they stink. Meanwhile, Jameson Taillon ($23,300) has been out of this world in two starts with a 1.26 ERA and 0.488 WHIP. Miami has a league worst OPS vs. RHP of 0.562 and can’t get out of their own way offensively. For the evening slate, Taillon is my top choice. In short, don’t be a nut, play Taillon.
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Max Scherzer, SP: $23,700 – If you are playing the early slate, there is a plethora of aces, pitching at home, that you can choose from. Max stands out to me as the cream of the crop given he gets the Rockies. The Rockies on the road are usually a safe bet to pitch against, although it should be noted, they’ve been top ten on the road this year. That’s a small sample size though.
Charlie Morton, SP: $21,400 – Sticking with the early slate, I’m always a huge fan of Charlie Morton. Morton just doesn’t get the love he deserves and is therefore usually lower owned. Texas is bad right now, having lost Odor and Andrus in a week. Morton is a safe bet for a solid game and a win.
Garrett Richards, SP: $13,900 – If you’re playing cash games your pitcher pairing with Taillon has to be Rich Hill, but in GPPs, it’s not such an easy choice. I’d probably stick with Hill, but Richards is an intriguing option. This has more to do with opponent than anything. The Royals are in pretty rough shape and I’m not sure I’m buying Jake Junis just yet. I dug into his overall numbers and nothing really jumps out at me to explain his hot start. The 100% LOB% obviously won’t hold up and the Angels look like a pretty solid offense this year. Richards should be in line for a Win and should save you enough salary to boost your bats. And who doesn’t like a boosted bat?
Gary Sanchez, IF: $8,600 – I don’t usually look towards catchers at the infield spot, but Sanchez is no ordinary catcher, especially against a poor left in Francisco Liriano. I’ll be looking at a lot of Yankees during the early slate.
Mitch Moreland, IF: $5,600 – With the high priced pitching of the early slate, we’ll need some value picks on offense. With Hanley down, Mitch Moreland should get the start and has the platoon advantage against Alex Cobb. There’s a good chance Moreland will be occupying a prime position in the Sawx lineup as well.
Logan Morrison, IF: $5,900 – We may not get many more opportunities to pick on poor Miguel Gonzalez. He’s given up 9 runs in his 9 innings of work so far and only struck out 4 batters. If the Twins can avoid the snow, I expect a high scoring game.
Travis Shaw, IF: $7,500 – Turning our attention to the main slate, I’ll be looking to pick on Matt Harvey. I’m hoping this is a contrarian play as everyone seems to be rooting for Harvey and is all giddy for his decent start. Harvey’s velocity is pretty low though and I’m not sure I’m buying the comeback. I’ll take my chances and hope to cash in before everyone realizes he still stinks.
Jean Segura, IF: $6,600 – This is nothing more than a price play. Segura is hitting .341 before the start of Friday night’s game. The zero in the HR column is likely what’s pulling this price down, but .341 is nothing to scoff at. Scott at the cheap price instead and lock and load Johhny Safe.
Marcell Ozuna, OF: $8,300 – The Cardinals are another team I’ll be looking to stack as they take on Brandon Finnegan in Cincinnati. This will be Finnegan’s first start of the year and I don’t expect St. Louis to be very kind to him.
Aaron Hicks, OF: $6,400 – Fresh off the DL, Hicks’ price hasn’t caught up to his value yet. With 2 homers yesterday we could be chasing dongs, but for the price, I think it’s worth the risk.
Max Kepler, OF: $5,700 – Once again, this is a big IF the Twins can get this game in. They aren’t only facing Miguel Gonzalez, but also, Mother Nature.
Shohei Ohtani, OF: $8,500 – As I mentioned, I’m not sold on Junis just yet. Ohtani meanwhile, I’m sold, hook, line and sinker. The low position in the batting order is rough, but even the Sciosciopath is inching him up. I’m not sure what his ownership will be like, but I’m all over Ohtani.
Khris Davis, OF: $8,500 – Marco Gonzales has had a rough go of things to start the year. It’s early, but 15 baserunners in 8.2 IP isn’t very inspiring. Khris is priced below Hunter Renfroe tonight for some unknown reason and unlike Marco, Davis does inspire confidence.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Mother Nature is a cruel, cruel woman. We have rain likely in Detroit which could lead to a lengthy delay or even a PPD. Snow is once again expected in Minnesota. How does Minnesota build a brand new stadium a few years ago and not include a roof? Can we avoid Target Field until May please? Cincinnati and Chicago could also have rain which makes the early slate rather terrifying. The late games look playable with the only question mark in Kansas City where it could be wet and cold. Yuck.
Doing Lines In Vegas
Corey Kluber and the Indians are the biggest favorite of the early games (-235) with Rich Hill claiming that honor for the late games (-170). Garrett Richards and the Angels are right there though at -155, which makes me even more excited for my Richards pick on the cheap. BAL@BOS is expected to be the highest scoring affair with a 9.5 over/under. Vegas sees Kluber and Hill stymieing the Blue Jays and Diamondbacks respectively, giving each of those games an over/under of just 7 runs.
