The All-Star game is right around the corner. In fact, Phase II of the MLB All-Star voting concluded on Friday, so we now have the starters. As always, we’ll see the respective lineups loaded with the superstars as well as some newcomers who earned their ticket in the eyes of the fans. Unfortunately, as is the case every season, several players will miss the game due to injury. Bryce Harper is out with a fractured left thumb and will not play. Others like Jazz Chisholm and Rafael Devers are currently on the IL or nursing injuries that may prevent their participation. We have a week left before the game so let’s cross our fingers these two, and every other All-Star game participant will get to showcase their talents for us.
Today is all about celebrating the All-Star game by selecting several of both superstars and first-timers in our DFS lineups.
Before we get to the players though, just a quick reminder to check out Streamonator and Hittertron and the other DFS tools from Razzball. There are so many great tools for use, no matter what format or contests you get yourself into. It’ll be well worth your time.
Now, back to the lineup building…
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Logan Gilbert, SP: DK: $9,400 / FD: $9,800 – I touted Logan Gilbert in my Father’s Day Article and even professed him to be an All-Star pick. We’re about to find out if I’m Nostradamus or Ignoramus here. If he’s left off the roster, however, I’ll be in line with all my Seattle friends calling for someone’s head. All he’s done so far is amass a 10-3 record with 2.61 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 93 Ks. Toeing the rubber versus the Blue Jays bats is always a dicey proposition though. Logan was up to the task in their May 17th matchup, dropping a 43 FanDuel point day in Toronto. I’m here for more of the same.
Sandy Alcantara, SP: DK: $10,700 / FD: $10,700 – Sandy Alcantara may find himself the NL starter in the All-Star game. Across 17 starts (123.1 IP), a 1.82 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 107 Ks more than justifies the honor. After back-to-back starts against the Mets in June, the foes know each other very well so I wouldn’t argue going another way here if you’re a little nervous. Stealing an adage from fantasy football though, I say “start your best players regardless of the matchup.” If you can make the numbers work, run with Sandy!
Will Smith C: DK: $4,600 / FD: $3,400 – When final All-Star rosters are set, I expect Will Smith to be on that list. He has put together a very solid season with 13 HRs and a .257/.348/.454 triple slash. He excels against LHP to the tune of a .923 OPS and runs into Drew Smyly today. If you decide to save some salary at this position, especially with some of the names I have coming up, I’d consider Travis d’Arnaud or MJ Melendez.
Anthony Rizzo, 1B: DK: $9,600 / FD: $3,700 – Although not part of the final AL 1B vote, Anthony Rizzo deserves a spot on the All-Star roster. Through July 5, Rizzo has amassed 22 HRs and 54 RBIs for the best team in baseball. A vast majority of those stats have come against RHP. In fact, Rizzo has 2 HRs and 8 RBIs off Nick Pivetta directly. He missed some time lately due to a sore back, but all indications are he’s just about back to full health. If he doesn’t play, my fallback is another lefty All-Star bat in Matt Olson.
Andres Gimenez 2B: DK: $3,900 / FD: $2,700 – Jose Altuve won the AL 2B and you’d expect him to be an easy selection here. However, he has surprisingly struggled a bit in matchups with Cole Irvin to the tune of 2-14 (.143) and a .414 OPS. So I won’t use him today. Andres Gimenez likely won’t participate in the All-Star game this month but he has shown flashes of that potential with his .295/.352/.480 slash. Almost all his HRs have come against RHP and is sporting a .877 OPS versus pitchers like Greinke.
Jose Ramirez 3B: DK: $5,400 / FD: $3,900– The race for the AL 3B starting nod in the All-Star game went right down to the wire between Rafael Devers and Jose Ramirez. Devers won the fan vote but won’t play this weekend due to a back injury. Hittertron really liked both Devers (versus Jameson Taillon) and Ramirez (versus Zack Greinke) today. With Devers out, diverting to Ramirez is an easy choice that really doesn’t need a lot of analysis on my part.
Dansby Swanson, SS: DK: $5,900 / FD: $3,800 – After sleepwalking through April, Dansby Swanson has been on some kind of roll. When the calendar turned over to May, he was sitting at a .216/.293/.351 slash. Now, the numbers resemble an All-Star at .302/.359/.494. During his surge over the last two months, he’s posted double-digit point FanDuel games a total of 32 times, including 5 of them over 30. Today he’s scheduled to meet up against Paolo Espino of the Nationals. Dansby has already touched-up Paolo for a couple of hits and a long-ball this season and there’s little reason to think that trend will change today.
Joc Pederson, OF: DK: $4,200 / FD: $2,900 – Joc Pederson is now an All-Star. He’s also an All-Star game starter, having won a spot in the starting lineup alongside Ronald Acuna Jr. and Mookie Bets for the NL squad. Joc has a total of 17 HRs and sports a strong .264/.339/.546 slash. Unfortunately, only 2 of those have come against LHP like MacKenzie Gore. For that reason, I won’t be rostering Joc in DFS today, I just wanted to give him special props here for his All-Star game nod. I’ll be mixing in either Aaron Judge or Juan Soto on the higher end and Connor Joe or Ian Happ on the lower end.
Randy Arozarena OF: DK: $5,000 / FD: $3,600 – While he may not be an All-Star this year, the former Rookie of the Year will celebrate that honor soon. Of more immediate concern to us, I really like his matchup today versus LHP Nick Lodolo. In his 3 years with the Rays, 15 of his 36 HRs have come against LHP but at double the rate as RHP. He’s also been on a roll lately with double-digit FanDuel scores in 5 of his last 8 games.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
A couple games list low chances of rain. Overall, another nice day of baseball should be on tap for us.
Doing Lines In Vegas
For prop betting, I’m going to lay some coin on the O’s. Yes, those O’s. Currently, the O’s have plus odds (+110) to score over 4.5 total runs. Over the past week, the O’s have averaged 4.6 RPG with a team OPS of .723 and a run differential of +10. The Angels start Jose Suarez who has been pretty good lately but is prone to giving it up every now and then. I always like taking shots on plus odds and this one feels ripe to me.
On the team side, I’m doubling down on Sandy Alcantara and the Marlins (+110) to win against the Mets. I may also take a small flyer on the Tigers (+170) playing on the South Side today.
