Don’t go jump out the window in DFS hysteria. I am just filling in for the day because Sky reached out and touched me, I mean he got in touch with me. Some of you may remember that I wrote DFS last year and some of you may not even remember yesterday. I’m looking at you hungover Andrew Miller owners. Today we have what feels like opening day with all the hot starters on the bill. Kersh, Bum, Price, Felix are all high priced aces and would be easy calls but it doesn’t leave you any money for offense. You might be able to find some good cheap offensive calls but I like to spread my dollars around as much as I can and not depend on hitting on a bunch of bargain buys. We must have balance. Today Danny Salazar is going for $9,400 and I like him to be up there with the big dogs. On the year, he has the highest K/9 among qualified pitchers and has the 7th best swinging strike percentage. When he’s on he’s un-hittable, but he has been dinged up a few times this year. The HR/FB leaves a lot to be desired (17.6%) and did have a three game stretch where the walks killed him. That got corrected in his last turn when he went 7 innings and K’d 10 while only walking one against Baltimore. He gets the Tigers today who were really scary to start the year but have been atrocious offensively since V-Mart went down. Which is funny because V-Mart did nothing when he was there. He must be their spiritual leader or something like that. K’zar has faced them once this year and went seven innings with eleven K’s and only giving up one run. I like him and you should too if you don’t want to over spend.
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Mike Fiers, SP: $7,900 – Of all the starters going today, he has the third best K-Rate and gets the Nationals who are 11th worst when it comes to striking out. Might be a good play for GPP as others will go with the studs. He has been up and down all year and if he has an up day then you can sing this song.
Alex Wood, SP: $8,600 – I seriously didn’t want any part of this guy and his janky delivery but the Mets have the 5th highest K rate against lefties. He’s also pitched pretty well lately posting a 2.00 ERA over the last month. The troubling part is the 5.33 K/9 over that time and here’s to hoping the Mets swing and miss *takes shot of tequila* Okay I shouldn’t drink and write any more because I just looked at Fatolo and wondered if he would be a good play.
Robinson Chirinos, C: $3,700 – I punt catcher, always have and always will. You can go with Martin, McCann or Posey but not me, I’m going with Chicharones Chirinos. You might be asking yourself, what’s a chicharones? It’s crispy pork skin and delicious with hot sauce while you enjoy a beer. He gets a lefty (.278 against), has the day off yesterday and has hit three of his dongs after off days. If you like punt plays as much as I do then he is your punt play.
Mark Trumbo, 1B/OF: $3,800 – I like value plays and I like giving you value plays. Call me Pic ‘n’ Save! He is way, way, way too cheap today and I can’t let this go unnoticed. I’m going to keep this simple the rest of the way out with him. He is a right handed power bat facing a left hander at a hitters park. If you went with a Kershaw Felix combo then you are looking for bargains and this is a bargain.
Neil Walker, 2B: $3,700 – I’ll be honest with you, I consulted the Hitter-Tron on this play. Second base has always been my achilles heel when it comes to DFS. Walker is a switch hitter who loves chomping on right handers and gets Kevin Correia today. Correia hasn’t pitched in the bigs all year and hasn’t been good since…okay he’s never been good. This might be a call for a Pirates stack…might be.
Josh Donaldson, 3B: $5,200 – And now for the spending part of the program. He is the one 3rd base play I like today as he has been hot, gets to play in Boston where the wind is favorable out over the monster and in the small sample size against Kelly has hit .500. In DFS, I’m not a huge fan of the batter vs pitcher when it’s this small of a sample size but it adds to the pile of likes.
Jung Ho Kang, 3B/SS: $3,700 – Oh yes, its a Pittsburgh stack today. I suggest locking down the middle infidels in black and yellow and wrapping yourself in Korean BBQ. The Kanger loves hitting at home (.354) and is cheap enough to make it worth the gamble so we can make it rain in the outfield.
Nelson Cruz, OF: $4,700 – He is suppose to play today and I like the vs. lefty numbers he has put up this year. Hitting .472 against southpaws, in a hitters park, a blah arm on the hill and a little rest makes me a happy camper. If he’s not in the lineup then you have plenty of cash to get a last second bat.
Steven Souza Jr, OF: $4,100 – Looking over his splits and I don’t see anything significant to point out that makes this a good play. Then I look at John Danks and it hits me. Danks is a flyball pitcher and Souza likes hitting dongs. I know Sky doesn’t like going with the hot hand but Souza likes hitting them in bunches and hit one yesterday. Can we get a dong up in here.
Yasiel Puig, OF: $4,300 – This could end up being a Cuban on Cuban crime. I don’t know what it is but I’m really feeling this one. *checks hitter-tron* The over sexed prediction machine does too. Since coming off the DL, Puig has been hot and facing a fellow Cubano has got to put the ropa in his vieja.
Joey Butler, OF: $3,800 – Have you ever got to that last outfielder slot and the guy you want is $200 more than you have left and then you have to settle on a guy who doesn’t have a lot of data to work with and they happen to be pretty solid lately but not exactly considered hot. Joey Butler is that guy. He is a little better against lefties in batting average and three of his four home runs have come off lefties. C’mon, he is facing John Friggin Danks!
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
The chance of thunderstorms in CLEvsDET and KCvsSTL has me second guessing my lede but considering all the other options today, I think you’ll be fine if you have to adjust. Everywhere else looks good except for the fans in Miami, with that humidity…Oy’ It’s So Humid!
Doing Lines In Vegas
For you value players another hat to throw in the ring is Jeff Locke who at -170 is getting lots of love. If you follow the Bucs stack then you might want to throw Locke into the mix for the W. An O/U of 8 1/2 is not too shabby considering the high games are 9 (TORvsBOS and MINvsTEX). Speaking of Texas, the hitter-tron loves some Rangers stacking tonight. I’m a little bearish on it. Good luck to all of you, it was fun coming back for a little DFS. Adios!
