It’s a story that’s been told many times before and will be told many times to come. It’s the story of the Colorado Rockies and their travels throughout the land at sea level. I won’t bore you with the retelling but I will tell you about a young man named Vincent Velasquez. Double V (VV for short) is all of 23 and full of piss and vinegar. He was impressive enough in double A for the Astros to call him right up. There he was posting a handy 12.6 K/9 with a 1.37 ERA and sub 1 WHIP. Sure, it was double A and this is the bigs, but I was impressed by the kid’s composure in his debut and the Ks didn’t stop there (5 in 5 IP). The 4 walks aren’t great, obviously, but he was able to pitch himself out of trouble when he needed to. The price is right here as well. VV is priced barely above the slew of relief pitchers on DK at $5,500. Circling back to the oft told story of the Rockies on the road where they struggle oh so mightly and everything is coming up V. On the 5 game early slate, he pairs nicely with Scott Kazmir for a K-happy 1-2 punch that sounds like a winner to me. Fear not, on this rare split Tuesday I’ll provide a little something something for the early games as well as the night caps. It’s a nice day to throw together an early tournament lineup or two and maybe some H2H games and then parlay those early winnings into some night time buy-ins. It’s a full day of DFS fun for us junkies and I can’t wait to dive in.
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But first, a shoutout to Crowthevok who schooled us all last Tuesday and did it without Chris Heston. Although, Joey Votto and his triple dong night was involved. Tuesday was bonkers and if you didn’t have at least one of Heston or Votto, it was hard to cash anywhere. Congrats to Crow on the big win.
Garrett Richards, SP: $9,400 – I gave my recommendations for daytime pitchers in the opener. The night games become a question of who to pair with Matt Harvey. I’m going right back to that well and don’t care what you call me in front of my back. There’s not a lot of desirable options outside of the Dark Knight, but Richards is one I’ll be looking to on my cash game lineups. Doubling down on aces is a strategy I enjoy when building a “safer” lineup for my 50/50s and/or H2H games. I’m leaning on Vegas quite a bit tonight and Richards is the second biggest favorite on the evening. A lot of that has to do with Hellickson on the other side but plenty has to do with Richards’ talent as well. I like Garrett to continue his bounceback from the forgettable outing two starts ago and get the win tonight.
Charlie Morton, SP: $7,900 – If you’re feeling squeezed monetarily, Morton would make a decent consolation SP2. He gets the White Sux and once again is a heavy favorite (-160). Morton isn’t going to get a lot of strikeouts, but he falls into the “safe” category. He’s not going to wow you, he’s not going to kill you kind of deal. 6 IP, 4 Ks, a couple earned runs and the win sounds about right tonight, or about 20-24 DK points. That’s usable. I told you, it’s slim pickins.
Chris Tillman, SP: $6,500 – Me recommending Tillman should be all the proof you need that outside the top 2 options it’s U-G-L-Y, ugly, ya, ya it’s ugly. Sticking with the theme here, Tillman is the night’s biggest favorite, checking in at a whopping -200. For those more inclined to trust the resident brainiac as opposed to the Vegas sharps, the Teamonator has the O’s as the second most likely team to win tonight. I’m always game to pick on the Phillies, even more so when Jerome Williams is the opposition. If you’re building a tournament lineup and need to save some cash to load up on some bats, Tillman is where I’d look.
Stephen Vogt, 1B/C: $3,300 – Cashner has looked fairly ordinary of late and this seems way too cheap for a guy hitting in the middle of the lineup and hitting as well as he has been (.273/.380/508). Add in the platoon advantage (gotta love those lefty catchers) and I believe in Stephen Vogt for the early games.
Matt Wieters, C: $4,200 – I know, I know, I never like paying up for a catcher, but there’s a time and a place. The time? Jerome. The place? Williams.
Evan Gattis, 1B: $4,200 – I’m not at all sure why Gattis qualifies at 1B and not C or OF, but whatever. Chris Rusin is coming to spend the day in Houston and I don’t think he’s going to have a very fun visit. All Astros righties are in play for the day time and I’ll be stacking up as many as I can fit.
Albert Pujols, 1B: $4,800 – We’re not supposed to care when a player is on a “hot streak”, but I’ve got more to this call than just that. Seven homers this month is hard to ignore but Pujols still seems to get no respect. His ownership rates haven’t been near what I thought they’d be of late and I think some people will look the other way tonight as well. For tournament options I often find a good play that doesn’t have the platoon split and target them. The reason is simple, most people build lineups based on the platoon advantage so a R/R matchup will have depressed ownership rates. Hellickson is a flyball pitcher and the way Pujols is hitting them right now it could be a big payoff and the difference maker in a big tournament.
Robinson Cano, 2B: $3,400 – Cano is not a .237 hitter. He’s not a 20 home run hitter, we know that, so the power outage is expected. The batting average on the other hand, that should be higher. I’ll keep rostering him at a discounted rate until he’s back to career norms everytime he faces a righty.
Logan Forsythe, 1B/2B: $3,000 – Well, my old middle infield friend Stephen Drew’s price tag finally inflated, so like any good day trader, I’m selling high and buying low on Forsythe. $3,000 is far too cheap for a clean-up hitter, that’s just a fact. Forsythe can hit for power, can chip in some steals and that 4 spot provides ample RBI and run chances. Ignore the fact he doesn’t have the platoon advantage and roster with confidence.
Pablo Sandoval, 3B: $3,400 – The Fat Panda appears to be awakening from his bamboo-induced coma. He’s on a 6 game hit streak with a homerun mixed in there. Julio Teheran has been a far cry from the ace he looked like last season and you always want Panda when he’s facing a right hander. Like Cano, this price won’t stay low for long once they heat up, so act fast and take advantage.
Chris Davis, 1B/3B: $4,500 – I mentioned Jerome Williams, correct?
Carlos Correa, SS: $4,300 – I’m giddy to roster the Astros new two hole hitter for the day slate. I already mentioned I’d be loading up on Astros. If you decide not to, just do yourself a favor and at least work Correa in. This kid’s special.
Jung Ho Kang, 3B/SS: $3,400 – I’ll provide a little more of a value play for the night games and express my love for Kang. I’m a big fan of power upside at the middle infield spots and when said upside is also cheap, you can bet I’m all over that. When facing the lefty Rodon last night Kang found himself in the cleanup spot in what was a nice looking all righty lineup from the Buccos. I hope that trend continues tonight and I can roster two cleanup hitters in my middle infield for $6,400. What a deal!
Nori Aoki, OF: $3,600 – Aoki is the BvP special for the day games. In a mere 11 ABs vs. Happ Aoki has 6 hits and a slam and legs. If you’re into such things, do what you do.
Cameron Maybin, OF: $3,700 – Can we make calling the Red Sox pitching staff “Coors North” a thing? Wade Miley blew up on his manager last start for having the audacity to pull him after giving up 3 HRs. My only explanation for this is he thinks 3 HRs is a good thing. Cameron Maybin, who has found new life with the Braves, would be more than happy to help Wade out with that HR total.
Travis Snider, OF: $3,300 – We’re digging deep to pick on Jerome now. Snider provides great pop potential at a price that is almost free. Snider will most likely be making his way into every lineup I make tonight. I was a huge fan of Snider as a sleeper this offseason and the slow start hasn’t really scared me off. Snider still boasts plus raw power and Camden Yards is tailor made to showcase it.
Gerardo Parra, OF: $3,400 – I feel like I’ve rostered Parra everyday for the past week or so, but his price hasn’t really changed much despite his recent success and his position atop the Brewers lineup. ABs equal points cheap ABs equals a happy hippo.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Looks like another rough day of weather watching, I had Anibal all queued up yesterday but the rain scared me away. I hate rain. It’s easier to list the games NOT affected by the weather today. On the early slate there’s no rain in the forecast for San Francisco (vs. Seattle) or Whale’s Vagina (vs. Oakland). As for the late games, those in the clear include games in Detroit (vs. Cincinnati), Chicago (vs. Cleveland) and LA (vs. Arizona). Of course, teams with domes will be unaffected as well.
Doing Lines In Vegas
I’ve already mentioned some of the bigger favorites on the day, so I’ll cover the over/unders here. The low mark on the day is no surprise; Kazmir vs. Cashner in Petco Park (6.5). There’s a whole slew of 9 run totals tonight, all showing up in the night games. They are as follows: PHI@BAL, CIN@DET, and LAD@TEX. For you stackers out there, Baltimore, Detroit and the Dodgers are your targets tonight. Lock and load.
