How does that old adage go? A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush? Basically, having in hand and ‘knowing’ what you have is worth more than the potential of what you could get elsewhere. Well, because this is my post and I can kinda do whatever I want, I’m gonna mix up that metaphor into a fruit cocktail of fantasy baseball jargon. A Rocky in the Mountains is worth two in the McCovey. Yeah, take that! Basically, for every one Rockies hitter you’d take in Colorado, it would take two to get the offensive production you’d expect to get from that one. You feel me? I’m glad you do. Now stop feeling me, you’re making me this write up dirty. The point here is the Rockies on the road have a rocky road as they’re the 4th worst wOBA away from their friendly confines. Well golly gee, DraftKings players, look what we have here. It’s a Cy Young blast from the past on the mound to face this fragile lineup in Jake Peavy. It may seem like the last time Peavy was good that Leave It To Beaver was a popular television show and truth be told, that may still be the case. He hasn’t looked fully ‘right’ over the last few years and his best days are behind him. But, he’s a bulldog on the mound and he’s also pitched well since rejoining the senior circuit, posting a 3.58 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Not Earth-shattering numbers but when he has a matchup he can exploit – like his last turn against the Cubs, going 7 innings while striking out 8 – he typically delivers. The Rockies K nearly 24% of the time while on the road and even if they dial one up on him, the AT&T Park rarely delivers good service. We’re sorry, but the HR you have hit is no longer the right distance. Please hang up your batting helmet and try again. I rarely call lines, but give me at least 6 IP with 6 K and minimal walks and hits to go along with it for the Peav’er. Here’s some other picks for the Monday slate on DraftKings for 2014 Fantasy Baseball…
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Chris Tillman, SP: $8,400 – The top end of the pitching on DK looks to be fools gold to me so I’m probably getting by with cheap arms but if I’m over 8K for the day, Tillman will probably be my guy. Chris has been in a groove of late, tossing 3 of his last 4 starts for 25+ DK points, with a near 36 point effort woven in there. With the Rays offense still scuffling, Chris will be the explanation to the Cypress Hill lyric ‘Here is something you just can’t understand, how I could just start Tillman’. Something tells me AZlyrics lied to me about those lines…
Francisco Liriano, SP: $9,700 – Wait, did I just say I wouldn’t be paying up? Yeah, I did. You caught me in a lie…or did you?!? I think Liri being the top priced pitcher on the board tells you a lot about today’s slate. And wanna know what it also tells me? He’ll probably be underowned with how high of a price tag he has. Well, sometimes the contrarian play is going with the most expensive guy. Everyone is going to say ‘the rent is too damn high!’ while looking like a black Colonel Sanders as they do it. Meanwhile, you mosey in and nab him cuz seriously, less than 10K for the top-priced pitcher? Sale and Scherzer were over 13K yesterday apiece! Just do it.
Clay Buchholz, SP: $6,000 – Buccholz is a hot mess. He has a 50+ point DK outing under his belt this year and he has two negative point appearances in his last 10. That should tell you enough. If he were a chick and you saw him at the bar, you’d assume he’s a cross-dresser cuz the dude is pretty damn fugly…see, you thought I was gonna give analogy and I just gave it to you straight. Seriously, don’t go after the tranny at the bar, especially when they look like Clay. In fact, better idea would be to stack against them. Blue Jays have Blue balled their owners of late but I think Monday changes all that. On such a short and lonely DFS night, I want as many BJs as I can get. Jose Bautista, Adam Lind, Edwin Encarnacion, and Jose Reyes should be cocked and loaded for your lineups. Hehe…cocked…
Roenis Elias, SP: $7,800 – When Notorious El-Ee-Es takes the mound tonight, he’s the heavy favorite to win the game. I know, I know, that’s only 4 points but let’s play this one out and think about getting a lot of run support early. The kid calms and gets into a groove. The Rangers bats give up. Roenis cruises 7 and strikes out 6 without giving any runs up. Can you see this beautiful picture I’ve painted? All this to say, I could see a major Mariners set up with my teams tonight. I’d be throwing in guys like Kyle Seager, Kendrys Morales, and Dustin Ackley into my lineups.
Brandon Moss, 1B/OF: $4,000 – You ever get beat down so bad, you just wanna take it out on anybody and everybody? After getting the lumber laid to them at home last night by the Angels, I think the A’s are going Soul Asylum on Feldman and the ‘stros. Give me Coco Crisp, Stephen Vogt, and Josh Reddick for some hot lineup action.
Buster Posey, C: $4,300 – Vegas my expect this to be a low-scoring affair but Buster sports a .372 wOBA against opposing lefties. While we’re still in San Fran, consider Michael Morse as part of your lefty smackdown crew while we’re at it.
Allen Craig, 1B/OF: $2,800 – With how cheap the hitting options are, I might just be able to go Shark and Liri and call it a day. Craig was 2/4 with a HBP and a double mixed in there yesterday. I’m going against my better judgement about people with two first names and running Allen out there in most of my lineups today. Oh and since we’re still on a BoSox snippet, I’ll pay up for Yoenis Cespedes today. His .229 ISO against lefties this year is top 25 in the league and with J.A. Happ’less on the mound, I could see him creeping into the top 20 by the end of the day.
Adam LaRoche, 1B: $4,500 – Are you left-handed, LaRoche? Why yes, yes I am. Did you know that Burnett gives up 1.37 HR/9 to lefties at home this year? I was not aware of that. Well then can I assume you also didn’t know you had the 8th best ISO so far for the month of August? You know, you play your hardest and you don’t pay attention to the numbers but now that you mention it, I HAVE felt pretty good out there. I’m gonna go hit a HR just for you, good sir. That LaRoche guy is awesome. Hey, my buddy Bryce Harper is a lefty and he’s been stroking it of late as well. You should consider him also! Well, you heard him folks. Don’t disappoint my new internet friend, LaRoche!
Pedro Alvarez, 3B: $3,300 – It’s been a year no one expected from Alvarez. Many were looking for a 30 HR, 2 steal performance with a low average and here he is trying to be Kyle Seager with his 20/10 aspirations. Well after a 9 point outing on Sunday and a 39 point outing on Saturday, I’m thinking he keeps things rolling. Unless you’re sliding the aforementioned Seager over to the hot corner, I’d vote for Pedro.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
The weather man says it’s ok to go outside and play for all games. So put down your X-Box controller and go do something fun. No, that doesn’t mean pick up your PS Vita and play it on the porch. Damn kids these days…
Doing Lines In Vegas
The big game on the docket is the 9 o/u TORvsBOS game. Give me your best ‘o’ face there. For another ‘o’ for the 8 in the HOUvsOAK game and another one for the SEAvsTEX 7.5. For my under call, I’m avoiding the SDvsMIL game even though Milwaukee on paper looks to mash against lefties as a team. They just haven’t been in a groove of late to jump in on that action.
