To say Paul Goldschmidt is locked in right now is an understatement. Dude has delivered 9 HRs, 27 RBIs and 23 Rs in August. That’s only 23 games folks. For the season, that’s a slash of .338/.419/.633 with 33 HRs and an RBI total already north of triple digits. Unless the gold-digging descendants of Lewis and Clark pack up this treasure and head West in September, the 2023 season will be Paul’s best statistical year of his career. To put it in perspective, his 3-year average OPS is .860 – which most players would love to see on the back of their baseball card. So, then 1.052 is pretty good, right? Practically the whole alphabet soup of analytics is up this season. Contact % is up. BABIP, ISO, wOBA, HR/FB%…all up. He’s hitting LHP better. He’s hitting RHP better. Hell, he’s hitting positional players better. It’s not all roses though. If you dig a little deeper, there is an “important” analytic in which the polish is dulling on our precious metal…his barrels are down to 12.9% (from 13.6% in 2021). Hmmm…me thinks that analytics may not be as critical as we once thought. But I digress!
For more on the Golden Child, check out Grey’s work the other day, Goldy Locks In vs. Baby Bears. In the article, Grey also shares some golden love and discusses all the historical changes in baseball since the last triple crown winner. By the way, we need more of these great names of old in our game today. Just saying! Go do yourself a solid and read for yourself.
So, I see no reason to even look for other 1B options today so see below for my other player recommendations to build around Paul. As always, my picks are primarily powered by the Razzball Streamonator and Hittertron and the other DFS tools available on our site. If you don’t have access to them yet, well, what are you waiting for?
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Justin Verlander, SP: DK: $11,000 / FD: $11,400 – On a day when there are a number of big (and expensive) names to choose from, why not pick the upcoming Cy Young winner? If anyone can hold down those pesky O’s, it’s Kate Upton’s husband. Those two 3-ER clunkers are well in the past after his last outing of double-digit K’s against the Twins. The O’s are a great story, and I hope they stay in contention right up to the end, but they’ll have trouble today.
Julio Urias, SP: DK: $10,400 / FD: $10,500 – This one is less about the pitchers and more about the teams. Julio Urias has been mostly consistent this season, going 6-7 innings, 6-8 K’s and less than 2 ERs per outing. Today should be more of the same. More importantly, the Dodgers should provide plenty of run support for their hurler, leading to a W as well. A 40-point (FanDuel) game today is as close to a gimme as there is.
Salvador Perez, C: DK: $4,700 / FD: $2,800 – Last week I included Salvador Perez in my DFS lineup and told you his OPS is .200 points higher versus LHP. Well, guess what? His OPS is still .200 points higher versus LHP and faces another one today. In this case, the LHP has already served up 2 HRs to Salvy in just 8 ABs. Yes, please!
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B: DK: $11,000 / FD: $4,500 – I already said there’s no reason to look any further into 1B options today. However, if your slate doesn’t include the Sunday Night game or you need to save the bucks, then go mining for fool’s gold with Rowdy Tellez ($3,700 / FD: $2,800) or Jose Miranda (DK: $4,000 / FD: $2,900).
Gleyber Torres, 2B: DK: $4,200 / FD: $3,200 – The Yankees are back on track and Gleyber Torres has been a big part of it with hits in 8 of his last 10 games. The splits favor Torres today versus LHP Zach Logue. His 18 HRs are split evenly against RHP and LHP, but his total versus lefties comes in 200 less PA. Can anyone say “double digits”?
Evan Longoria 3B: DK: $3,500 / FD: $2,900 – The higher-priced 3B options are all very good, as usual, but if you need to consider saving a few bucks on the hot corner today, here’s another option. Evan Longoria has spent quite a bit of time on the IL this season but he’s now healthy and putting together some solid games for his DFS followers. He has three 25+ point games (FanDuel) in the last two weeks, including a 44.4-point outburst as the Giants were departing Colorado. Sure, he’s a bit of a gamble but he should be low-owned and a game-changer if he delivers.
Oneil Cruz, SS: DK: $3,900 / FD: $2,800– The traditional numbers don’t tell the tale for Oneil Cruz. This kid can simply play and is so fun to watch. He also now holds the record for the hardest batted ball in the Statcast era at 122.4 mph. Even Giancarlo Stanton is still shaking his head. Now picture Noah Syndergaard doing the same today as Cruz takes him deep to center…
Bryan Reynolds, OF: DK: $4,400/ FD: $2,900 – Staying in the City of Brotherly Love, Bryan Reynolds is a great play today versus the aforementioned Syndergaard. Reynolds has 8 double-digit games in August, punctuated by games of 50.6 and 51.1 (FanDuel). His power comes primarily off RHP and has even contributed a few SBs to help boost his scoring potential. It doesn’t hurt that Syndergaard has been giving up runs lately too. I don’t recommend stacking Pirates too often but a mini-stack appears to be a nice play today.
Kyle Tucker, OF: DK: $4,600 / FD: $3,900 – Kyle Tucker has quietly put together a pretty nice season with 22 HRs and 19 SBs. A look at his DFS scores shows last night’s 0’fer was the first since putting up a doughnut on August 6. Over that stretch, he has 8 games in double digits with 3 HRs and 3 SBs on the ledger. Look for a rebound for Tuck and the rest of the Astros versus Austin Voth today.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
There’s not much rain to speak of anywhere but the forecasts call for windy days in the Midwest. Look for winds to help right handed pull hitters in Kansas City but may help pitchers a bit in Minnesota and Chicago.
Doing Lines In Vegas
Combing the tickers for plus odds as I always do, I like the Diamondbacks at +170 over the White Sox and the Tigers at +145 over the Rangers. On the prop side, consider HR props for Rafael Devers, Vladimir Guerrero Jr and Bryce Harper. Happy Betting!
