The Midsummer Classic. Just such an eloquent sounding event. If you watched last night’s game, I’d be surprised if you’re not still sleeping. Ok fine, it wasn’t that bad, but I was texting friends that if Mariano Rivera got the save, the All-Star Game is scripted. And what do you know he pitches in a 3-0 game in the… 8th inning? Oh c’mon Jim Leyland and your “I wanted to be sure he pitched.” Have him be the AL starter then! Sheesh. Or be the first replacement pitcher in so he can get the win.
Another thing spawned on us while bantering during the game, and that was there needs to be more fantasy evens surrounding the All-Star events. Our ideas were one-time immediate payouts from our long-time dynasty league dues for the team with the HR Derby winner, and the winner of the most points in either a points league calculation or a DraftKings calculation from their players in the All-Star game. We think we’re on to something for next year.
For DraftKings, they’ve already got this all worked out with their own huge Midsummer Classic $500,000 contest going on Friday. Yes I know, this means no Razzball contest this week (sadface), but if you haven’t won a ticket through our exclusive contests, you can still get one for FREE. All you have to do is refer five friends THROUGH THIS LINK, and a ticket is yours! Not only do you win a ticket into the Midsummer Classic, but you earn commission based on bringing in your friends to play.
Taking a Midsummer stroll to last week’s picks:
SP – Corey Kluber 7.2 IP 3 H 3 BB 0 ER 8K (33.65 Pts)
CI – Edwin Encarnacion 2-5 1 HR 1 RBI 2 R 1 BB (19 Pts)
MI – J.J. Hardy 1-3 1 HR 3 RBI 1 R (18 Pts)
OF1 – Nick Markakis 1-4 1 R (5 Pts)
OF2 – Nelson Cruz 0-4 1 BB (2 Pts)
UTIL – David Murphy 0-5
TOTAL – 77.65 (Previous weeks’ finishes – 61, 34, 40.15, 47.65, 54.3, 93.85, 76.9, 68.8, 47.7, 67.3, 92.4, 75, 83, 96)
A great return to form in my article picks, leading this team into a third place finish less than three points out of first last week. Dammit Murphy! Kluber was picked by nearly half of teams, so it’s a good thing I pimped him up! A last second decision for my team was switching out Stephen Strasburg for Patrick Corbin to save a little money to help my offense which proved critical. All-in-all a great week, and with the big tamale this Friday, I’m hoping all the picks below come through for Razzball winners (SPECIAL EDITION – Since I’m not going to be in the contest, I’m going to list what my full line-up would be to see how I would’ve done – but only the players denoted with their positions in parentheses will be scored for my normal article scoring):
SP1 (SP) – Jered Weaver ($8,700) – It’s going to be an interesting night of pitching in the Midsummer Classic, as the only real ace going is Strasburg and he’s off a brutal blowup against the Marlins. Then the next highest priced pitcher is, wait for it, Kyle Lohse. Yikes. It’s been said numerous times by me and in the comments that pitching wins you the $ in DraftKings, so I’m going with a solid pitcher, who was rolling in Seattle last time out before a rough 6th inning. He’ll be at home vs. Oakland, who he’s got a 2.36 ERA and 1.04 career mark against. Given that’s in 24 starts with a lot of different hitters, but Oakland hasn’t seen him yet this year and I think Weaver will come out of the ASB steady. Solid value for a solid pitcher.
SP2 – Scott Kazmir ($7,200) – Owned the Twins last time he faced them, K upside.
C (UTIL) – Mike Napoli ($4,400) – Sorry to be convoluted, but wanted to show the line-up in order. Napoli is my article’s “UTIL” pick and my fake team’s catcher for the Classic. He’s a career 7-15 (.467) hitter off of Andy Pettitte, who is struggling to pitch effectively while in his 40’s. Shocker! Hitting in Fenway, I expect some good classic rivalry magic from Napoli.
1B (CI) – Prince Fielder ($5,000) – With Weaver a slight discount, I’m spending pretty big on Fielder, who absolutely crushes Ervin Santana with a career line of 6-10 3 HRs 1 2B and two walks to only one whiff. Santana is coming off a brutal start at Yankee stadium heading into the break, and after showing impeccable control this year, has multiple walks in his last five games. Santana’s got some waffling command issues, and hopefully Prince hits one another 480 feet like he did in the derby.
2B – Nick Franklin ($3,600) – Value pick, hope Bud Norris is his usual terrible self, but it is in Houston where he’s more effective.
SS (MI) – Jimmy Rollins ($3,700) – A fantastic value play, Rollins’ price must be so low due to hitting in Citi Field, but it’s tough to get a player of his pedigree at such a discount. Not to mention he’s a lifetime .455 (5-11) hitter off of opposing pitcher Jeremy Hefner. Two of those hits were doubles, and hitting near the top of the Phillies line-up as opposed to a lot of other MI options hitting low in their respective team’s line-ups, Rollins is a no-brainer.
3B – Matt Dominguez ($3,300) – 3-6 off Joe Saunders and cheap power upside.
OF (OF1) – Giancarlo Stanton ($5,100) – Spending big again, but I’ll make this work! Hitting in Miller Park instead of Miami will be a blessing for Stanton, as he needs only 50% of his normal contact to connect on some homers – and he’s a career 6-12 against Kyle Lohse with two solo bombs already. Stanton is on a short list of players that you’d pick to hit a homer on any given night, and I love the prospects here.
OF (OF2) – Domonic Brown ($4,600) – How can a hitter be perfect? Well, you can start by hitting against Jeremy Hefner, and go a career 4-4 with a homer, 5 RBIs and two walks. That’s six plate appearances and Hefner hasn’t been able to get him out! Pretty impossible not to play Brown on Friday with that track record.
OF – Alejandro De Aza ($4,100) – He’s never faced Tim Hudson, but going with a hot bat heading into the ASB, as he was hitting .480 with two homers and four RBIs in the last week.
And with $100 to spare, that would be my lineup. Shoot your DraftKings questions below or tweet me @jbgilpin – good luck in the Midsummer Classic and win that big pay day!
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