(Blows Whistle) Campers settle down now! My name is Ralph and I’ll be your Draftkings camp counselor for the summer. Now that you’ve returned here to beautiful camp Razzawanna, I’d like to give you some tips for safe and successful DraftKinging during your time here. First and foremost keep these two things in mind, first wear your sun screen. The sun is very strong here in Death Valley. You might ask why our camp’s founders Grey Albright and Rudy Gamble picked a location with such harsh weather. I can’t tell you, but I think they might be slightly sadistic. Hey, it could be worse; we could be down the road at the Scientology compound. They shock you with cattle prods when you’re bad, we just take your cash and re-invest it in gambling on daily fantasy sports. The second rule is don’t mess with Padres hitters…that’s pretty self-explanatory. Questions? No? Alrighty then, let’s move on.
With the NBA and NHL finals in the books and Football a few months away all focus is back on baseball. As it should be, what’s better than baseball? Boobs you say! Well, we got them! Billy Butler has not yet eaten his way out of the league and he’s got a solid pair (but with two homers he is getting close). The best way to get in on the daily madness that is baseball is to play DraftKings with us here at Razzball. Not only can you join in the Razzball leagues put together daily by yours truly, but if you join today you’ll get a ticket for a free entry into one of DK’s awesome contests. To join the debauchery click here. Don’t forget to check out the top-notch tools provided here on Razzball in the DFSbot, the Hitter-tron, and the Stream-o-nator.
I’m running two contests today on Draftkings a 10 teamer for the early games and a 20 team blood bath for the later set. Hop on the good foot and get into these contests early to avoid getting Lifshitzed like fellow Razzball writer J-Foh. The setup for today is a little different with three sets of contests running (early afternoon, late afternoon, and night games), so I’m going to give you a couple of targets for the early ones and a full roster for the late games.
Without further ado, here’s Razzball’s picks for June 21st in the year of our lord 2014.
Early Games
Bud Norris, SP: $6,600 – There are literally zero decent pitching options in the early games. So it’s a matter of the lesser of 6 evils. Seriously your options are Jason Vargas, Chris Young, Kevin Correia, Vidal Nuno, Andre Rienzo, and Norris. He’s pretty much the prettiest of the ugly girls, the tallest little person, the least smelly of the hippies, or whatever analogy you like. He has had a back to back good starts against division opponents (Bos and Tor) but the Red Sox offense is on the bad side of Meh, and the Blue Jays spent two weeks doing an impression of the Padres.
Jose Abreu, 1B: $5,000 – This is literally the third week in row I’ve suggested him, but with 3 games in the early set on Draftkings there aren’t a ton of options. Even if there were 15 games he’s still a consistent top 3 option at first. It also doesn’t hurt he gets to face Kevin Correia.
Robinson Cano, 2B: $4,700 – Don’t look now but Cano is heating up. Though I’m sure he misses John Sterling’s hokey homer calls, he’s decided to push along and start hitting homers again. Robbie has gone long dong silver twice in the last couple of weeks and is slashing 10/2/11/.354/1.033 in that time. He’s also 10/23 lifetime against Jason Vargas.
Mid-Day Games
Jesse Chavez, SP: $8,100 – Chavez came out of nowhere this year and has become a very useful pitcher in all formats, posting a K/9 of 8.16 and a BB/9 of 2.20. That’s a difference of about 6 which according to Grey’s K-BB rule makes him an ownable pitcher. He also gets the Red Sox who haven’t exactly been their usual selves this season on offense. In fact when it comes to team wOBA and wRC+ they rank 20th and 24th respectively ( is that respect worthy though?). The worst part is those numbers include the home games at hitter-friendly Fenway. On the road they’re 26th in both wOBA and wRC+. That’s bad by the way.
Brandon Phillips, 2B: $3,900 – Phillips is getting old, his numbers haven’t been Gyrokoian or anything but he’s nothing more than alright. Today he faces J.A. Happ, Phillips is 6/12 lifetime against Happ with two homers. At $3,900 I think he’s worth a start.
PUNT PLAY OF THE DAY!!
Erik Kratz, C: $3,000 – As long as Kratz plays he should be a punt play with huge upside today. In his previous 5 at bats against Mike Leake he’s had 3 hits, two of which have gone for homers.
Late Games
Vance Worley, SP: $7,200 – The Vanimal is back in the majors and based on his minor league numbers this year seems to have righted the ship. I wouldn’t go out and jump on him as a mixed league option or anything, but a tasty matchup against the Cubs has me buying in for the day. His first start back in the bigs last week was solid. He went 7 scoreless innings against the Marlins in Miami, striking out 5 without issuing a walk. His aforementioned minor league numbers look solid with an 8.41 K/9 to a 0.78 BB/9. The Cubs O is also dreadful ranking 27th in wOBA with a .298, and 29th in wRC+ with an 82.
Josh Beckett, SP: $9,600 – The Renaissance of the Spring, Texas native should continue this evening, as he gets the majors worst offense at the major’s best pitchers park. The Padres bats have been dreadful to the point I’d be confident that even Rick Ankiel could come back and pitch a quality start against them. The Padres team wOBA is .275….Yikes!!!
Evan Gattis, C: $4,700 – Everybody’s favorite former drifter is tearing the cover off the ball this season and over the last couple of weeks he’s been at the height of his powers. He’s hit .420 (a number I’m sure he knows a little about) while slashing 10/4/12. He’s gets Doug Fister today who’s a damn solid pitcher, but I’ll still take a hot bat over a Fister…..That’s what she said!
Victor Martinez, 1B: $4,700 – The Zombino has been raking this year, looking to put up the best season of his career if health permits. His numbers stand at .328/18/47 which is good for anybody let alone a 35 year old. He’s hitting 10/4/11 with a .314 average over the last few weeks and faces his old club and Trevor Bauer today.
Carlos Santana, C/3B: $4,200 – Carlos has been smoking hot of late, as he’s hit 4 dongs recently and started to round into form. The price is right and he faces Mr. Kate Upton today. I’m buying…
Elvis Andrus, SS: $3,900 – When Jered Weaver is on the mound, Elvis seems to leave the building quite a bit. He’s 23/65 career against the Weaver with 2 homers and 3 steals. When Andrus has multiple homers against a pitcher I take notice. You should too. Sorry Vernon Reid and Corey Glover but Elvis ain’t dead.
J.D. Martinez, OF: $3,300 – Martinez has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball over the last few weeks. In fact after a homer last night he’s hit 4 dongs in his last 5 days. That’s a ratio even Asa Akira would be proud of.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
I’m not worried about the weather anywhere today. There’s a 30% chance for rain at Wrigley, but unless I see 50% or higher I’m just going with it. My suggestion as always is to look just in case.
Doing Lines in Vegas
I’ll take the over at 7.5 in the Marlins vs. Mets game, the over at 6.5 in the Dodgers vs. Padres game, and the under in the A’s vs. Red Sox game.
Follow me on Twitter @Ralphlifshitzbb or challenge me on Draftkings at Puigroast
