We’re in the dog days of summer and a look at the MLB calendar finds only 7 more Sundays of regular season baseball to look forward to after today. The wheelin n dealin is now done so it’s time for the MLB teams contending for playoff spots to step on the accelerator. Some will make it, others will run out of gas. No matter what, there will continue to be great stories written across baseball.
In the AL, the Yankees have come down to earth and have been surpassed by the Astros for the #1 seed. Curse of the Great Montgomery? Cleveland is starting to put some distance between themselves and both the Twins and White Sox. Who would have seen that coming? For the Wild Cards births, Mariners and the O’s are right in the thick of it. Yes, those O’s that just traded the face of their franchise and their closer.
On the NL side, the Dodgers look to be the team to beat and are trying to lock up the division by Labor Day. In the East, the Mets are pulling away for the division title but the Braves and Phillies remain in the Wild Card hunt. St Louis appears to be the class of the Central after Milwaukee left everyone scratching their head with the trade of arguably the game’s most dominant CL at the deadline. And what can I say about the roller coaster ride that the Padres fans have been on lately. After the euphoria of landing Soto, Bell and Drury then the gut-punch of Tatis’ suspension, can the Friars eliminate the distractions and reach the playoffs?
All this proves yet again that baseball is, and will always remain, America’s Pastime! Let’s enjoy the rest of the season and win some DFS contests together. I’ll do my best to make it count each and every Sunday. Today we have some good matchups on the mound and potential high-scoring games to build some solid lineups. But before we do, 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 let’s build some winning lineups …
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Chris Bassitt, SP: DK: $9,600 / FD: $10,300 – The Mets third “ace” comes into the day having tossed eight quality starts over his past nine outings dating back to June 14. During this stretch, he’s posted a 2.19 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 55:11 K:BB rate. Both the Mets and Phillies come in a little bruised but Philly will be at a bigger disadvantage with their best bat, not named Bryce, still nursing a calf injury suffered Thursday. This looks to be a nice P battle between Bassitt and Zack Wheeler, but my money is on the Mets hurler to be strutting like the King of Rock and Roll when the day is done.
Cristian Javier, SP: DK: $8,700 / FD: $10,600 – Christian Javier brings his stellar 3.14 ERA and 1.05 WHIP, with 132 K’s in 100.1 IP, into the matchup with the A’s today. Justin Verlander has been getting the notoriety this season, and with good reason, but we need to give Javier his due as well. In back-to-back games before the All-Star break, Javier provided his DFS owners with 70 point games. That’s not a misprint…70. Granted, we can’t expect that every time out, but he has been very solid nonetheless. Facing the depleted A’s squad, I fully expect this trend to continue today.
Carson Kelly, C: DK: $3,900 / FD: $3,000 – Carson Kelly was on quite a run at the end of July, averaging slightly over 20 points per game over a 4-game stretch against Washington and San Francisco. His bat has since chilled a bit but he remains a good play at Coors Field today against Ryan Feltner, who has failed to reach 20 points in his last 3 starts.
Jose Abreu, 1B: DK: $4,800 / FD: $3,100 – The White Sox have been in search of an identity all season. Now with Tim Anderson on the IL and Luis Robert DTD, it’s time for Jose Abreu to step up. What better time to do so than against a pitcher that he owns to the tune of .476/.476/.619 over 21 ABs.
Nico Hoerner, 2B: DK: $4,600 / FD: $2,700 – Nico Hoerner comes in with an average just under .300 and has hits in 5 of his last 7 games. Despite not having much power, Nico can steal a base, rarely strikes out, and knows how to draw a walk. In DFS, he’s a player we can feel comfortable with to avoid a goose egg. Sure, we always want our picks to hit a HR but the reality is, we need everyone to contribute and Nico has enough ways to do just that.
Manny Machado, 3B: DK: $10,400 / FD: $4,000 – I suggested Manny Machado last weekend and it appears I was a few days premature. He’s been on an absolute tear since mid-week with 4 games in a row over 25 points. Hitch a ride, buy a ticket, sneak in through someone’s luggage…do whatever you need to jump on this express train today if you can make the math work.
Josh Rojas, SS: DK: $5,400 / FD: $3,500 – Josh Rojas let me down on Friday in the first event of the DFS Wars (@realdfswars) with a whopping 3 points. Check out his line on Saturday (3-5, HR, 3 RBI & SB). I’m not one to hold a grudge though and will go with him in my Sunday DFS contests too, expecting a line somewhere in the middle of the two. If he let you down on Friday as well and you’re not as forgiving, I won’t judge. In that case, I’d consider Bobby Witt Jr. (DK: $4,800 / FD: $3,200) as well.
Julio Rodriguez, OF: DK: $5,200/ FD: $2,700 – Julio Rodriguez returned Friday after missing 11 games with a wrist contusion but you’d never know it. In Texas, he went 2-4 with a walk and a pair of steaks in his first game back. The Mariners are happy to have their leadoff batter back and so am I. His .282/.365/.494 slash versus pitchers like Martin Perez makes his selection today even sweeter. Enjoy!
Wynton Bernard, OF: DK: $2,000 / FD: $2,600 – If you haven’t heard the story of Wynton Bernard yet, do yourself a favor and take some time today to look up the full story. Here are the cliff notes: Wynton spent 10 years in the minors before finally getting the call-up from AAA this week. Bernard hit .325 and posted 26 SBs in 87 games for Albuquerque this season. In his first game in COL, he went 1-3 and added a SB for good measure. He may be a sentimental pick for many reasons, but he can deliver the goods as well.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Other than some precipitation in the Cincy area around game time, there are very low chances of rainouts across baseball today so make your selections with confidence. No major projected wind factors to consider either. Just looks like a beautiful day for some baseball.
Doing Lines In Vegas
Combing the tickers for plus odds today, I’ll be all over the Guardians at +125 and Reds at +135. I may even take a flyer on the O’s (Yes, those O’s…) at +150. This should be a great day for player props as well. Practically any player on the Dodgers and top 5 batters on the Astros really jump out to me as winning prop opportunities.
I have one bench spot and some decent dudes on the FA list.
Who do I choose? Rest of season in 5×5 OBP roto league…
Franmil Reyes
Elehuris Montero
Brandon Belt
Mark Canha
Nelson Cruz
Joey Gallo
Austin Hays
AJ Pollock
Trent Grisham
First of all, thanks for following our content and reaching out with your question. Before I gave a firm recommendation, I’d want to know where you stand in the offensive categories. Where can you realistically make up ground? Do you need power and don’t care about OBP? Do you need OBP and SB perhaps? Here are my general thoughts: Reyes and Belt are decent options if you need power. Both can go on a run and put up some nice totals in a short time. Also, both have OBPs below their 3-yr average so there is some potential payoff there too. I like Montero but I’d stay away from him as his minor league numbers don’t suggest making a big difference over a short time. Grisham hasn’t been doing much but he is below his normal SB pace and could be a plus add in a few counting stats if the Padres offense takes off like we’re expecting…and won’t lose playing time to Tatis Jr. in the OF. I don’t see much growth in Canha’s or Hays’ production to warrant a pickup. All-in-all, I’d take a flyer on Reyes first and see how he does in his new digs. But don’t be afraid to move on if he continues to struggle.