On small slates, sometimes you find yourself looking around the DK draft room and you have to talk yourself into someone. Sure, there’s merit to my John Lamb call today and we’re gonna get to them but before we do, let’s look at who we’re not rostering to get a feel for why we’re here. Zack Greinke in Coors? Um, no. Up and down Matt Harvey who gave up four runs to this same Braves team while pitching at home? Ehhhhh…the upside lacking blah-fest that is Matt Wisler? Puh-lease. So here’s me going all Brick Tamland on you and trying to get you excited about going to the Lamb pants party. John really hasn’t been in any sort of groove so far this year but maybe, just maybe, his last start against the Astros gets him kick started. After having a 10.51 K/9 over 10 starts last year, Lamb has nearly halved that production, dropping down to 5.7 all while keeping his walk rates atrocious. These are not good things! However, here’s the good news: Padres. Admittedly, San Diego has a surprising 117 wRC+ against lefties but there’s some K upside here. Padres sit near the bottom with a 23.9% K rate against southpaws. If you’re looking to get some Coors exposure, you’re gonna need to make some financial concessions to get there and at $5,400, John is just that with some punch out upside to go with it. So let’s move along, shall we? Here’s my LOUD NOISES hot taek for this Thursday DK slate…
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Jon Lester, SP: $11,700 – Um, duh? It’s a short slate and Lester has K and high win potential. Clearly the king SP1 for the day, let’s move on…
Wei-Yin Chen, SP: $5,000 – When the whole world zigs…friendly reminder that Lester is gonna be 1,237,567.22397% owned tonight…give or take a few percentage points, of course. The Cubs offense has been asleep at the wheel of late and Chen really hasn’t pitched to his potential. On a night where I strongly suggest you stay tourney only, pairing Chen with Lamb could be the Konami cheat code to cash winnings.
Nick Hundley, C: $2,800 – Consider this your update that it’s a Coors night and all Coors bats are in play. Hundley this cheap after bombing two out already this week is a gift. Cherish it.
Freddie Freeman, 1B: $4,800 – Slowly and quietly, Freeman has learned how to hit a baseball again, averaging 13.6 DK points per game over his last 10. With Harvey still trying to get right, it’s a nice night to pay for a 1B that’s not playing in the Rockies.
C.J. Cron, 1B: $3,700 – Don’t let the 10 game log fool you: Cron has been hitting well of late. With a mediocre pitcher in town in Graveman, it could be a good day to be an Angel. Not like the religious kind, more like a stack Anaheim kind.
Jace Peterson, 2B/OF: $2,600 – I’m not suggesting a Braves stack but I have only ten games to talk about here. Peterson can swipe a bag and is hitting well since his callup. Factor in he probably leads off and you have yourself a nice punt play.
Eugenio Suarez, 3B: $3,900 – Have I mentioned that I’ve already mentioned Coors? Ok, now you know why there’s no Jake Lamb nor Nolan Arenado here…yet now they are…but they’re really not. Got it? Good. Suarez is a guy you should like against a lefty as that’s where most of his damage has come from this year (wRC+ of 151 against southpaws vs 65 against righties). In fact, you could probably roster a few Reds on a day like this and enjoy yourself away from that Coors game.
Marcus Semien, SS: $3,000 – Lincecum is back in the league. Let’s see how quickly he can get sent back out.
Curtis Granderson, OF: $4,300 – Wisler is what they refer to as ‘good in real life, not great in fantasy’. Wisler is still learning and getting his splits under wraps. Who can take advantage of such things? The Grandy man can.
Giancarlo Stanton, OF: $3,200 – The power is still there so I’m not hopping off at this price. Not that I was on him like Grey wants to be on him, but you get what I’m saying.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Sighs…of course. Be wary of the CINvsSD game as there could be some weather concerns to begin the game. Maybe a delay and then we get the whole game in? For now, it’s just not easy to tell so be sure to check back in on twitter for a weather update prior to lock.
Doing Lines In Vegas
If you’re looking for heavyweight lines for a pitcher, look no further than Rick Porcello and his BoSox. They’re a -240 favorite against the White Sox, though beware the o/u is the second highest of the day behind the obvious Coors sitting at 11. Meanwhile, Lester and his Cubs against the Marlins sit at -175. The good news for this game is the o/u dropped a full run to 7.5 after open, meaning not only is Lester the obvious cash game play but gives my Chen GPP call a solid bump. If you’re looking for runs in all the right places, Buckwheat, you also have the DETvsSEA tilt sitting at 10. Having CINvsSD sit at 9.5 and with a flat line on who will win just makes me love Lamb even more. I love Lamb, I tell you!
