The Chalk.
Is there a piece of DFS vernacular that is more ubiquitous among all the articles and streaming shows? I’m just as guilty in my work as anyone else. I went into this season thinking I was going to try to express myself avoiding common phrases like “The Chalk,” but when the article rubber meets the deadline road, sometimes convenience wins.
So what is it? It’s usually used as shorthand by authors and stream hosts to refer to the most popular plays on a slate. (There’s another one I said I’d try to avoid using, slate.) The thing that had me thinking about this phrase lately was some discussion around a poll on the bird app from excellent DFS player, Neil Orfield.
This is where I stand, and when I made this poll I was curious to see what percentage of respondents understand this conceptually.
However, I got into a conversation with a few players in which one very sharp player disagreed, not based on misunderstanding the concepts, but… https://t.co/g8suQDCdI3
— Neil Orfield (@playerqDFS) May 25, 2023
Often as a tournament player, I find myself trying to avoid chalk at all costs. At times I go too far and forget that as Neil pointed out, teams can be chalky, but under-owned and the same time.
So what does that have to do with today? We have three teams in the chalk category on the 6-game Drafkings evening slate. The Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Diamondbacks all stand out due to the opposing pitcher. None of them are head and shoulders in projections, but the industry is projecting ownership on the Blue Jays to be a little behind the others. Don’t be fooled by Julio Teheran’s season debut against the Giants, he is still a soft-tossing righty who relies on that soft fastball as his main pitch and I want to hammer the Blue Jays.
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Luke Weaver / Dinelson Lamet, SP: $7,900 / $5,100 – Here’s a spot we can get leverage on the field if we want to focus on playing a group of chalky hitters as our main stack from the Blue Jays. I can’t seriously tell you that I think Weaver or Lamet will be outstanding today, but if they do surprise, we’ll vault up the leaderboards with everyone playing hitters against them.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B: $5,100 – It’s much easier to play Brandon Belt at 1B when you’re building your stack since he’s so cheap and has been putting together some good plate appearances lately. But I can’t avoid Vlad, and I’ll find the salary someplace else.
Brice Turang, 2B: $2,400 – Oh look! It’s the salary I’m finding someplace else. It’s no secret that Alek Manoah is struggling. The field will be on the big Brewers’ bats, so let’s try to take a shot on the cheap hitter with the platoon advantage that will be ignored by the field.
Matt Chapman, 3B: $4,600 – This season’s scorching start from Chapman seems like it happened years ago, but Matt is still an excellent hitter. Don’t avoid him with your other Blue Jays just because he is “cold.”
Bo Bichette, SS: $5,000 – Most of our opponents will try to find their salary savings at the SS position. Plug Bo into your Blue Jay stack.
Christian Yelich, OF: $4,400 – The common conception is that Yelich isn’t good anymore. The real fact is that he just isn’t exciting as he once was. He’s still a consistent fantasy performer, and it’s likely that if the Brewers continue the MLB trend of exploiting Alek Menoah’s weaknesses, Yeli will be a part of it.
George Springer / Daulton Varsho, OF: $4,800 / $3,600 – Mix and match both of these guys in with Vlad and Bo as you can afford them.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Nothing to worry about today.
Doing Lines In Vegas
Nothing standing out to me here today.
