How do you like your eggs? Scrambled? Hard-boiled? Sunny-side up? Fertilized (or Shawn Kemp style for you NBA fans)? Me, I like mine Odorizzi. What Egg puns using Jake Odorizzi‘s names are lame? Well soooooorry! You try and be super funny, relevant, and informative several times a week. This is hard work ladies and gents, and I’m in the trenches. What, I’m rambling? Sorry I’m coming off a three day coke binge and haven’t slept since Tuesday. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you view drug abuse, that isn’t true. I just worked a ton of hours and have been spending my down time trying to digest baseball for these daily leagues and football for the fall. The work for a fantasy sports writer never ends. Or it never sleeps, or maybe that’s Wall Street, or money. Yeah I think it’s something with money. Either way my brain is now so filled with mundane factoids about baseball I yelled out wOBA while making love to my wife last night. And Yes, I have indeed taken up residence on the couch for the foreseeable future. Hey! I found a peanut M&M in between the cushions. Score! So what does all this have to do with Jake Odorizzi? Nothing! I told you I’m super tired and have the mental capacity of a jack rabbit on meth.
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As for Jake Odorizzi, SP: $7,800 – he’s been pretty good great since the calendar hit June, (his last start not withstanding). The ERA has been sub-3, the K/9 has been between 9.50-10, and he’s been getting deeper into games. Earlier in the season Odorizzi’s issues revolved around his inability to get out of the 5th inning. In 9 June and July starts 5 of his outings were 6 or more innings. Sure, vintage Doc Holiday he is not, but it’s improvement and the K numbers are filthy. In 116 2/3 his K/9 is 10.03. That’s crazy high. That’s so high that it’s good enough for 6th in all of the land. Behind only a few guys you’ve never heard of, Yu Darvish, Clayton Kershaw, Stephen Strasburg, Chris Sale, Max Scherzer. That’s pretty serious company; especially when we consider nothing is more important on DraftKings than Strikeouts. So keeping that in mind, his matchup against the whiff happy Cubs only further solidifies this pick. The Cubbies are only more than happy to embrace the city’s “Windy” moniker. With a K% of 22.5 they’re the third most whiff happy team in the show. BOLD PREDICTION: 7IP, 9 K’s, 3BB, 5 H’s, 1 R, 1W. – 30.95 DK Points
Yu Darvish, SP: $12,000 – I’m sure Darvish’s ownership numbers will be the highest among any of the starters on today’s pitching roster. I thought about fading him, but he’ll probably put up huge K numbers against an Astros lineup that’s battled the Marlins all season for the leagues worst K%. When you combine that with Darvish’s league leading K/9 of 11.22, it’s tough not to expect some big points from Yu tonight.
Garrett Richards, SP: $10,400 – This is simple, he’s been good all year (2.58 ERA, 1.02, K/9 8.92, BB/9 2.82, HR/9 .29), and his opponent the Red Sox have hit poorly all season, in particular the last two weeks. Over that time they have the lowest wOBA in the league, the 4th highest K%, and scored the lowest amount of runs.
James Paxton, SP: $9,000 – This is all about the White Sox lefty splits. They’re 17th in wOBA against lefties and have the 6th highest K% at 22.2%. Paxton looked very solid in his return from the DL last turn and I’m going to take a roll of the dice on the Rookie.
Adam LaRoche, 1B: $4,200 – LaRoche has been en Fuego the last week putting up 14, 30, and 16 point performances in three straight days. He’s also got the upper hand in the BvP battle with Aaron Harang with 4 homers and 7 RBI’s. Considering his history with Harang and his current hot streak I’d be hard pressed not to call him My Dong Of The Night.
Derek Norris, C: $3,400 – Is it me or are hitters really cheap tonight? I understand that there are some great pitching options but when was the last time Jose Abreu cost $4,400? April? It’s sort of the same thing here with Norris. The bearded one has been a good source of powerand DK points all year. Check to make sure he’s in the lineup. The Twins as of writing this have not named a starter for Saturday. Even if Norris is out of the lineup it’s not a big deal his catching partner John Jaso is also priced at $3,400.
Jimmy Rollins, SS: $3,900 – Lifetime against Jonathon Niese Rollins is 12/25 with 2 homers. Priced under 4k and coming off a couple of big games. This should setup nicely toward a big night from Rollins. Who knows this could be his last game with the Phils.
Kole Calhoun, OF: $3,400 – Calhoun’s price is just too nice to pass up. He’s too good a hitter and too versatile a DraftKings scorer to be down in the dregs. The matchup won’t matter because he’s facing the Pawtucket Red Sox rotation. This price should open some coin for some big bats in your lineups.
Evan Gattis, C/OF: $3,500 – This is another one that’s all about the price. Gattis hasn’t been nearly as dangerous since coming off the DL, but he has the kind of Power that he could blow at any point. Will Tanner Roark hang something for Gattis to hit? I don’t know but I have a hunch that he’s going to be breaking out sooner rather than later. Let’s hope last night’s day off has El Oso Blanco ready to strike.
Matt Dominguez, 3B: $3,100 – This is a contrarian play simply because the Astros third baseman has 3 career homers off Yu Darvish. Granted he’s also 4/17 with 6 so’s, so he could just as easily walk away wearing a golden sombrero. He’s a solid play in GPP’s or a way to open up some budget for some high end pitching options.
Todd Frazier, 1B/3B: $4,300 – Brad Penny is pitching for the Marlins today. No it’s not 2003, but I did check. There’s not much to like about the Reds lineup most days outside of Frazier and Devin Mesoraco, but I could actually see myself stacking Cincy bats in a lineup or two. Frazier is hitting .315 with 13 homers and a wOBA of .417 against RHP at home. I’m guessing most of those righties weren’t 36 year old journeymen that hadn’t pitched in the bigs in two years, but maybe I’m wrong.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
There’s a 50% chance of rain in Atlanta for the Braves showdown with the Nationals and a 40% chance in Cincinnati for the Reds/ Marlins game.
Doing Lines In Vegas
St. Louis @ Baltimore – 8.5 – over – Because Ubaldo Jimenez could give up 9 himself.
Boston @ LA Angels – 8 – Over
White Sox @ Seattle – 7.5 – Under
As always be sure to check the lineups, give a look at the weather and I toast your team with slightly chilled Manischewitz
Follow me on Twitter @ralphlifshitzbb or challenge me on DraftKings @ Puigroast
