I just can’t resist myself when it comes to a baaaaad sheep pun and my buddy Jake Lamb. Jake’s had a pretty rough go of things since coming off the DL including being 0 for his last 10. Do you know what can end a rough patch faster than a scalded dog? A trip to Coors field, that’s what. The Diamondbacks pack up and head from Coors South to Coors Coors and I’m going to be all over Jake Lamb while he visits. Because of Lamb’s missed time it’s hard to get a great read on where he’s at as a hitter. In his 22 games so far this season he’s got an identical wOBA as his teammate, Yasmany Tomas (.342) and a very similar SLG percentage (.418 vs. .429). Looking back to his minor league numbers last season we can see he was just obliterating AA (.318/.399/.551). The kid can hit and with the Coors assist I like him to have a nice few days.
As for the second part of my title, DraftKings is running a fun little survivor tournament that starts tonight. I’m a big fan of these style tournaments, I think they are lots of fun. You can read the details on the tournament here. This is the first of three of these they will be running at various price points. The one tonight happens to be their “medium” tournament. The smallest stake event will feature a $5 buy-in and if you’ve never done one before, I encourage you to give it a whirl. The biggest deal is, you need to have the 4 days to be able to build a lineup. For the most part you play each day as you would a regular 50/50 game. Survive the second day and you’re in the money. If you make it to the final day, you’ve made your money back and can shoot for the moon and the 30 grand top prize. Not bad for a $27 buy-in. I said for the most part you can play this as a regular 50/50 because I tend to be a little more aggressive in these tournaments than a typical 50/50. The reason is, the pros and those with money to burn will be running some large trains in this thing, trying to push through multiple entries to the end and the guaranteed money. I’m not saying to go totally crazy but when choosing between Byron Buxton and Torii Hunter for your final roster spot, lean towards the upside. Here’s a couple more picks to help you survive tonight…
New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 18 teamer of Razzball writers and friends to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. It’s how we know you care! If you still feel helpless and lonely, be sure to subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays.
But first, a quick note: Our 25 teamer last Tuesday didn’t fill and was canceled. It was a sad time had by all. Maybe the grind is getting to folks, the dog days are starting to creep in or maybe everyone is broke. Regardless, I think we’ll start making the tournaments smaller. First come, first serve, so check in early and reserve a spot if you want in.
Chris Archer, SP: $9,800 – You’re not afraid of the Blue Jays are you? Archer isn’t and I like him to bounce back from his rough outing in Washington and cruise at home. Archer has shown he can tame the Blue Jays and did so in Toronto the last time he faced them. He struck out 11 that game, Blue Kays indeed. The reduced price will make it possible to pair him with Bumgarner and go ace/ace, a nice play in the 50/50 format.
Carlos Martinez, SP: $8,300 – C-Mart is a nice road favorite in Miami tonight and given the pitcher’s park that is Crayola Canyon, I think he has limited downside. For this price, it’s feasible you could pair him with Archer and really load up on bats without rostering a total shot in the dark at SP. With a game in Coors and hitter prices inflated there, I can dig that move.
Mike Fiers, SP: $8,200 – Now we enter the risk/reward portion of the starters, guys we can’t fully trust. Fiers could strikeout 13 Mets in 7 IP just as easily as he could give up 7 ER in 3 IP. That big time strikeout upside is what makes him an ideal tournament option. I like that he’s at home, a Vegas favorite and has Jon Niese opposing him. I don’t like that he could drop a -3 on you.
Jesse Chavez, SP: $6,600 – I get that the Rangers have been hot lately, but I don’t get why Jesse’s price is this low. DraftKings refuses to raise his price much above $7K and I’m happy to keep rostering him. His worst recent outing was a 6.7 point performance vs. the Red Sox in Fenway Park. That’s not someplace I typically start a pitcher anyway and outside of that it’s been a nice mix of 20-30 point outings. Texas ranks 5th in the majors in strikeouts which should allow Chavez to keep the point total up even if he lets up a few runs.
Miguel Montero, C: $3,300 – We’re going to get the BvP special out of the way first thing today. I like my catchers cheap and when a cheap catcher is facing a pitcher sure to scare people off but has some nice numbers against him (7 for 23 with 2 HRs), that screams GPP play to me.
Garrett Jones, 1B/OF: $2,900 – You want salary relief? I’ve got your salary relief. The Phillies are like a walking (or limping in Jerome Williams case) home run derby right now with Aaron Harang, Kevin Correia and Sean O’Hitagain. I loaded up on Yankees last night vs. Correia to great success and I don’t expect O’Sullivan’s 5.63 FIP is going to do much to slow them either.
Ben Paulsen, 1B/OF: $3,500 – Coors Field, Coors Field, Coors Field. As Grey has said multiple times, these guys should all be owned when playing at home. The upside is just too big to ignore.
Stephen Drew, 2B/SS: $3,000 – Did you know Drew has more HRs than David Ortiz? Ortiz owners, I’ll wait for the oven to preheat as you prepare to stick your head in it. The rub is the .188 batting average. It’s a HR or nothing for Drew, but with no penalty for outs and a cheap price tag, Drew is always one of my favorite value plays.
Anthony Rendon, 2B/3B: $3,700 – Speaking of value. For those that play season long and might be reading this and considering giving DFS a try, here’s a little comparison of the two. Grey gave you his Anthony Rendon “Buy Low” on Friday, well that same mentality applies here. Rendon is priced much too low for his talent level and I expect he’ll be in the mid four thousands shortly. We buy low now in DFS and ride the hot streak as he pushes his price tag back to where it belongs and enjoy the cash along the way.
Aramis Ramirez, 3B: $3,400 – I love researching this column and finding new nuggets that I never would’ve thought of otherwise. I went to handy Fangraphs leaderboards to check out Todd Frazier’s numbers, expecting to find him topping the list of 3B vs. LHP. Much to my surprise, there was a Aramis Ramirez. Aramis leads all 3B this season in wOBA vs. LHP, ISO vs. LHP and OPS vs. LHP. In other words, he’s clobbering lefties and gets Jon Niese tonight. Enjoy that cheap gem.
Jung-Ho Kang, 3B/SS: $3,200 – With Johnny Cueto getting his start skipped the most generic man in the phonebook gets the call face the Pirates, Josh Smith. I went and peeked at Smith’s minor league numbers and they’re alright, nothing to write home about. the 6.6 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 doesn’t do a whole lot for me. Kang on the other hand does do something for me and that’s provide cheap pop at a weak position. We give Kang a lot of love in these DFS columns and for good reason.
David Peralta, OF: $4,300 – I think I’ve given you enough value plays that we can splurge a little in the OF. Peralta is just another lefty in the Arizona lineup that is looking to beat up Kyle Kendrick. Lefties are slugging .570 off of Kendrick and Arizona should mash.
Brett Gardner, OF: $4,600 – We’re going to keep on splurging on lefties in the OF. Gardner has been spitting hot fire and kept it going last night. His 5 game log reads: 21, 29, 20, 0, 31. I know we’re not supposed to buy into hot streaks, but this is a good play hot streak or not. The fact Gardner is clobbering the baseball is just icing on the cake. A cake made of money.
George Springer, OF: $4,700 – The heck with it, I’m on a roll and these high priced guys are just plain fun to roster. They are expensive for various reasons, but mostly, because they are good. Springer is fun to watch and with 4 HRs in his last 34 ABs has been a blast to put eyes on recently. He gets C.J. Wilson tonight and in 5 ABs vs. Mr. Hair he was 2 hits, both of which left the yard. Yes please and thank you.
Chris Parmelee, OF: $3,200 – One last cheapie before we get to the weather and odds. Last I checked, Joe Kelly is still awful. All Chris Parmelee does is hit home runs. That is a nice combo for DFS purposes, especially at $3,200. Parm’s been getting the 2 or 3 hole from Showalter which means 2-3 shots at Joe Kelly’s 99 MPH, straight as an arrow fastball.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
So much rain. Nothing kills my vibe faster than watching radars and crossing my fingers that games play. We’ve got rain that could kill our Yankees stack, some rain in the Washington area as well as Boston. Luckily, the rain cloud permanently parked over Coors field has finally headed out.
Doing Lines In Vegas
Besides the Coors field game and the whopping 11 over/under there it’s Baltimore @ Boston and Oakland @ Texas with 9 runs apiece as the highest totals. San Diego @ San Francisco features the lowest total at 6.5 runs. Your biggest favorite on the night comes from New York believe it or not. CC Sabathia and the Yankees are ginormous -240 favorites to beat Sean O’Sullivan and the Phillies.
