If only baseball were as easy as the surface stats tell us. Player A has great peripherals and a pretty ERA. Player B has numbers more hideous than the elephant man, lock him away in the dungeon and let us never speak of him again. It’s all too easy to look at the season long numbers on a player and simply throw him out the proverbial window…or literal window if they really screwed you in your league. But of course, you’re here because baseball isn’t that easy and you’re a straight masochist. With that, enter Anibal Sanchez. Come in close and get a whiff of that stat line…whew! You don’t put up a 6.60 ERA over nearly 90 innings without doing a lot wrong. But even the worst pitchers can put things together for a good stretch and Anibal is far and away not the worst pitcher in baseball so he has that going for him. Know what else he has going for him? He just came off of a 10 K, 2 BB performance against the Twins. I know, I know, they’re the Twins, but its more common for a nice little groove of good pitching than it is to have an ace-like outing and then completely fade the next go. I’m not stumping for Sanchez for anything outside of tourneys but at $4,800, he’ll sure make your dollar stretch for a Coors day. But enough about bad pitchers have good days, let’s talk about good players and good plays. Here’s my Sunday fun day hot taeks for this Sunday DK slate…
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Rick Porcello, SP: $9,200 – Speaking of Twins…even when things are going good, this is a team that’ll swing and miss plenty. I’d love for a cheaper price on Porcello but the Twinkies do funny things to opposing pitcher prices. Good to go for both tourneys and cash in my book. Oh and just so we don’t have to deal with the questions, Corey Kluber and Jon Lester? Great in both formats, but is the safer of the two. If you wanna get feisty, rolling Jose Quintana makes sense even though the Tigers are built to bully left-handed pitching.
Junior Guerra, SP: $8,900 – The blowup potential here is higher than Cheech and Chong in Colorado, but let’s just use this space to point out that Guerra could K 10 Cubbies. I wouldn’t go near him in cash, but I can promise you no matter what he does, he’ll be the best Junior you’ve ever seen. Well, at least better than this Junior.
Jameson Taillon, SP: $8,100 – Because Phillies…no seriously! Ok, ok, Taillon is pretty good. Phillies are making their annual run at being the worst offense in baseball and with the Braves in Colorado over the last four days, there’s a chance! Seriously, they’re poopy, Taillon is a solid SP2 in all formats.
Lucas Giolito, SP: $7,600 – The Padres aren’t on the same plane of ineptitude as the Phillies by any stretch of the imagination, but they sure do K a lot; 24.6% of the time, to be exact. Giolito hasn’t shown much promise in his two starts this year, but a date with San Diego could change all of that. Strictly a tourney play for me, but the K chances are high here.
Mike Zunino, C: $2,900 – Unfounded narrative alert! Zunino caught J.A. Happ at least a couple of times way back in 2013 so he could have a slight understanding of what he brings to the table. Factor in Zunino being cheap and also has three HRs in four total games this year, it’s hard to gloss over Zun. If not, feel free to look for the backup catcher du jour for a price relief.
Edwin Encarnacion, 1B: $4,900 – It’s Sunday, definitely a good day to take your favorite pet out for a trot, eh Edwin? Wade Miley is on the mound and that puts Toronto bats in play. Gimme the usual suspects in Josh Donaldson and Michael Saunders and maybe pair them with some cheap gets like Darwin Barney and Kevin Pillar. Who needs Coors!
Brandon Belt, 1B: $3,600 – If you’re penny pinching, Brandon should help with your money belt problems. On a day where Mark Reynolds is $4,700, why not take the guy who’s cheaper and in just as good of a spot? That was a rhetorical question, no need to answer in the comments below.
Jace Peterson, 2B: $4,100 – He’s 1/10 in Colorado so far but that one hit was a HR. Throw in that he’s hitting lead off, today would be a good day for some Ace of Jace. All that we want is another dong, Jace. You’re gone tomorrow! Oh and Coors bats: they’re in play because duh.
Ryan Schimpf, 2B: $3,500 – Keep this Schimpf on the barbie, it’s smokin’ hot! Over his last 15 games, Ryan has a .293/.393/.833 slashline with seven HRs. Why did I show you the last 15? Because I was looking at him on my season long team *makes sly grin while nodding my head at the computer of which you wouldn’t have known about had I not told you, which makes me an even more smug bastard*. For reals, too cheap to avoid on a day like this unless you’re punting the position.
Kris Bryant, 3B/OF: $4,400 – Not the cheapest play, but cheaper than a large pile of big name 3Bs today and also the same price as…Martin Prado? Da fuq, DK…anyhoo, Bryant hasn’t hit one out since the All-Star break. He’s finished! Or, we’re getting in at the right time. Yeah, I like the latter option.
Danny Valencia, 3B: $3,900 – Valencia has been relegated to spot starts because Billy Beane wants to show him off for a trade…wait, what? Yeah, I don’t get what’s going on there either. Nevertheless, Valencia is near the top in wRC+ against left-handed pitching on the year and he’s a great lead in for an Oaktown stack. Throw some Marcus Semien, Khris Davis, and even Jake Smolinski if I need a cheap option.
Hernan Perez, 3B/OF: $3,600 – Lester is good, but he’s not Kershaw. Perez has been hitting well since getting a regular gig and has done most of his damage so far this year against lefties to boot. Throw in that his value comes in his wheels, there’s a cheap chance for double digit points that won’t require a bomb to get there.
Aledmys Diaz, SS: $3,900 – Consistently consistent…yes, that’s what I wanted to say. Aledmys has been good all year and great at times and July has been one of those times. Season long stats don’t do the Cardinals any justice against lefties and I’m all about a Cardinals stack to prove it. Gimme Jedd Gyorko, Randal Grichuk, Stephen Piscotty, and maybe even Tommy Pham for a cheap way to get some big arms in today.
Marcell Ozuna, OF: $4,300 – With a wRC+ of 191 against lefties on the year, you can’t price Marcell like he’s Marceau, DK. So power, many hit, must Ozuna!
Nelson Cruz, OF: $4,200 – Your cash game OF’er of the day. Too cheap to miss, too good to ignore. Cruz against a lefty in Toronto. Go get you some.
Mark Trumbo, OF: $3,600 – You don’t lead the majors in HRs without hitting one out from time to time against a good pitcher. Mark has hit bombs in back to back games. Can he do it three in a row? You don’t have to pay up to find out.
Preston Tucker, OF: $2,900 – Preston has one of those sweet lefty swings and we all know this version of Tim Lincecum ain’t the Tiny Tim we want to remember. Come here, you sexy mother Tucker!
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Much like a Mormon town, every place is dry today. Unlike said Mormon town, this is a good thing.
Doing Lines In Vegas
Get ready for someone to drink your milkshake because on this Sunday, there will be runs. Not one game is below an 8 O/U so picking your pitching spots is gonna be crucial. The obvious big O/U on the day is Coors at 12, but is followed by a 10 in the BOSvsMIN tilt and a few 9.5 games (NYYvsSF, CINvsARZ, TORvsSEA, and HOUvsLAA). If you’re looking for top dawg pitchers, you’ve got Giolito and Porcello sitting pretty at -200 but again, those O/U’s at 9 and 10 respectively tell you ain’t nothing safe here. Overall, looks like a great tourney day. Get out there and have some fun.
