Let’s face it, Kings are pretty cool. Certainly cooler than a President, or a Prime Minister, whatever that is. I mean the only title more powerful than King is God. This is probably why people were so up in arms when LeBron James anointed himself King. I’m sure people wouldn’t have been nearly as upset if he elected himself President James. People hate presidents, People fear Kings. Presidents are chosen by mortals, Kings are chosen by God. The only president that is remotely badass is Abraham Lincoln and that’s mostly due to his downtime vampire slaying. Where I’m going with all this, is you should do what you can to acquire the title King, and if you can’t become a king, get yourself affiliated with one. Well, today you’re in luck, gambling-addicted man between the ages of 26-42, for hear ye hear ye King Felix Hernandez of Seattle has returned!
His highness gets the White Sox today on the South Side of the Chi. Facing Los Calcetinies Blancos at U.S. Cellular Field is no easy task for mere mortals, but for a King it’s just a worthy foe. On the really tho….Felix is matchup proof. First off he’s 10-2 with an Era of 2.10. That’s impressive even to you non-number driven baseball fans. For the hardcore seam heads his numbers are boner inducing. Just look at these sexy stats, 1.96 FIP, 2.37 xFIP, 9.61 K/9, 1.54 BB/9, 54% GB%, 4.9 HR%, and a .28 HR/9. Those numbers are silly, and the FIP, xFIP, and a 72.8% LOB tell me he’s not even getting lucky. He’s just that dominant. His price point today isn’t that cheap but the numbers justify the $12,600 price tag on DraftKings. I think it would be regicide to not give Felix a place in your lineup card.
Before we get into the rest of the choices for the day, I have to mention how unbelievable the competition has been the last few weeks in the daily 20 team Razzball leagues on DraftKings. We now have a steady stream of regulars made up of readers and writers, who are jumping in on the action. Just case you don’t know, I’ve been putting one or two of these contests together everyday and sending the invites out early. The setup is pretty simple, 20 teams, $1 or $2 entry fee with the top 3 teams splitting the pot. It makes for a nice low risk high reward contest. If you win one, you can bankroll a week or so worth of play on DraftKings. Have we mentioned before that if you’ve haven’t yet played DraftKings you can signup by clicking here? Have we? I can’t recall. The best part is if you do decide to join us today DraftKings will give you a ticket for a free game just for getting started. I know that’s like too good to be true, but it is true!
So we have two leagues today on DraftKings the first of which filled. I just put together a 2nd and you can join by clicking here.
Now onto the picks!
Shelby Miller, SP: $6,600 – The price on this one is stupid. I mean hey, I get it he’s been pretty subpar all year. His control is spotty, his strikeouts meh, and he’s lucky to have a 4.10 ERA based on the peripherals. Hell, the walks per 9 of 4.47 alone are enough to scare most people off. I just think a home matchup against a Marlins team that struggles on the road sets up nicely. The Fish are pretty dreadful away from the Crayola Crayon, putting up a road wOBA of .295 and K% of 25.6%. If you don’t take my word for it, go ask the Stream-o-nator. It has Shelby ranked as the #5 option for the day ahead of higher priced arms like Anibal Sanchez and Jeff Samardzija. The later of which won’t start today now that he’s a member of the A’s.
Mike Zunino, C: $3,200 – Over the last two weeks, Zunino has socked 5 homers. His wOBA over that time is .410. The price today is $3,200 and he’s scorching hot. What’s not to like?
Justin Morneau, 1B: $4,600 – Morneau is all the way back, having found a career renaissance in Denver. He faces Dan Haren this afternoon; a day after having a 9 game hitting streak snapped. I expect Dr. Morneau to do horrible things to Haren fastballs.
Scooter Gennett, 2B/SS: $4,000 – Scooter is a favorite amongst the DFS writers here at Razzball, and who could blame us? He’s been damn good, putting up a .311/35/6/27/4 slash line over 75 games. Scooter gets Homer Bailey today who he’s 7/18 against lifetime.
Nolan Arenado, 3B: $4,100 – He’s fresh off the DL and was one of two people to get a hit off Kershaw yesterday. Today’s matchup against Dan Haren should be much easier. Before hitting the DL Nolan had been pretty good averaging 7.6 points per game on DraftKings.
Jordy Mercer, SS: $2,800 – Ready for this one? Mercer has been a top 5 shortstop over the last two weeks. With a wOBA of .352 and a wRC+ of 128, Jordy has been a great play in DFS formats. With David Buchanan on the hill for the Phillies today all Pirates bats are in play. I’m definitely playing feeling a Pirate stack attack today.
Matt Kemp, OF: $4,600 – Kemp has cooled down considerably over the last few games compared to his scorching June. Hitting .317 last month with wRC+ of 156, Kemp was back in form. Thus far in July he’s 0/12 with 2 walks. After getting a night off, I expect him to come back this afternoon ready to rake. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s 15/33 lifetime off Jorge De La Rosa with 3 homers, 13 RBI’s, and a 1.381 OPS.
Gregory Polanco, OF: $4,000 – “El Coffee” has been a beast since coming up to the bigs, simple and plain. His slash line of .300/17/3/13/4 in 22 games is exactly what we expected from him. With an average of 9.5 FPPG on DraftKings, picking The Most Interesting Player In The World is always a good decision.
David Peralta, OF: $3,500 – Peralta has been my favorite cheap outfield play for about a week now, and has been a steady source of cheap points. Putting up no less than 5 points in 6 of his last 7 contests including a 26 point night on Thursday. Today he faces Aaron Harang who he went 2/3 with a dong against back on the 8th of June.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Well Rain and a tropical storm delayed my fourth of July and cost us a game yesterday here in Boston. I’m extremely pleased to inform you that there are Zeros across the board today. Play at will!
Doing Lines In Vegas
We’ll make this short and sweet.
I like the over on the line of 7 in the Cubs vs. Nationals game.
The over on 6.5 in the Padres vs. Giants game.
The under in the first game of the Red Sox and O’s doubleheader, that line is 8.5 BTW.
And finally, I’ll take the over on 8 in the Phillies vs. Pirates game.
Follow me on Twitter @Ralphlifshitzbb or challenge me on DraftKings at Puigroast
