I’ve held a myriad of weird jobs over the years, none of which I’ve been qualified for: Closed captioner for every episode of The Monkees shown here in Canada (seriously)? Check. Audio engineer in a TV mobile truck for hockey games? Check. Report writer at a geology firm? Check. Writer at Razzball? Check. I have always kind of winged it (wung it?) through life. And that’s the theme for this post: winging it. As I write this on Friday night, the Dodgers-Giants game has just been postponed and God knows who’s going to be playing where tomorrow. Also, I’ll be on a plane (winging it!) so I won’t be able to check for you. So forgive me in advance if everything I say below is irrelevant by the time the first Saturday game starts (and as always, check your lineups, kids). But going with the information we have at present, I’m going to suggest you throw Gerrit Cole into your FantasyDraft team for Saturday. Ya, he has frustrated us all in the past, but he is taking the mound versus the third-worst-in-MLB San Diego Padres. (Aside: You know, someday I’d just like to give the Padres a comforting group hug.) He had an outstanding start last time versus the Rangers, going 7 innings of 2-hit ball, and I think he’s worth the $24,000 today (and yes, that does make him the priciest pitcher on the main slate) — he’s probably going to get you a win. But if you don’t dig him (BECAUSE COAL, GEDDIT… OK, I’ll stope), I’ve excavated some more options for you after the jump.
New to FantasyDraft? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!
Trevor Bauer, SP: $18,100 – He’s frequently a bit of a risky play, but Stream-o-Nator ranks him second tomorrow for his start against the fourth-last Royals in Kaufman Stadium (where he’s pitched to the tune of a 2.18 ERA in 20 innings).
Sonny Gray, SP: $17,700 – Backed by a potent offense and up against Chris Tillman, Gray should (hopefully) get you a win. Tillman is Stream-o-Nator’s second-lowest-ranked pitcher for the day (above only poor Chad Bettis, pitching in Colorado). For Tillman’s last outing, the Astros snacked on him to the tune of 4 runs, 7 hits and 4 walks in 4 IP. Yankee Stadium has always been a little miserable for Chris Tillman (a 7.94 ERA over 17 IP).
Didi Gregorius, IF: $10,000 – I think P. Didi is a must-play in this game versus Chris Tillman (and his price tag reflects it, alas). Didi’s gone 11 for 20 against Tillman in the past (wOBA .675); he’s currently hitting .360 with a pretty ridiculous OPS of 1.474.
Kris Bryant, IF: $9,900 – This start versus Zach Davies in Miller Park should be a good one. They’ve stared each other down for 28 ABs and I think it’s safe to say that Kris has won that contest, with 11 hits (.452 wOBA). Over 3 years, he’s hit a not-so-shabby .288 at non-nom hitter-friendly Miller. He also wins at having dreamy blue eyes.
Jose Abreu, IF: $8,400 – Man, it was fun watching the New White Sox versus the Jays in their series this past week. I like this team. I also like having Jose Abreu on my fantasy team. I would like to have him in my DFS team also. I’d run him out today at Guaranteed Rate Field, where he has a 3-year average of .302. He plays in an underrated lineup where he may have a good opportunity for RBIs, and this price makes him pretty attractive, too, if you’re trying to stack some Rockies and Yankees.
Brad Miller, IF: $5,700 – Here’s your cheapie IF play of the day. He hasn’t been hitting a whole whack of a lot, but I’m looking at him for the price and his wOBA of .433 versus Rick Porcello. He has a .275 AVG against Porcello in 40 ABs, with 5 HRs, and that’s liveable-with for less than 6 grand if you need a little somethin-somethin’ to round out your lineup.
Giancarlo Stanton, OF: $11,000 – So yes, he costs a fortune, and he’s been a wee bit up and down since the start of the season, but tomorrow he should be worth his weight in gold (#mining) tomorrow, versus Chris Tillman. Hittertron projects him to hit 0.49 HRs tomorrow (for the math-challenged among us [in which I very much include myself]: if he faced Tillman all season, he’d have 80 HRs).
Starling Marte, OF: $9,200 – Giancarlo, Mike Trout ($10,600), Aaron Judge ($10,100) and Mookie Betts ($10,700) all have nice match-ups in good parks today, so grab ’em if you can afford ’em, but there’s a sliiiiiiightly better-priced OF option in Marte. His 3-year numbers versus RHP put him at .307 – reverse splits! Plus he’s done something every day he’s been in a lineup so far this season.
Ender Inciarte, OF: $9,100 – None of the Rockies or Braves players are going to be cheap today, but Inciarte is in the middle of the pack-ish, at least, price-wise. In 14 at-bats (not a massive sample size, I know), Inciarte has hit .357 against Chad Bettis. It’s a good lefty-righty match-up: Inciarte’s .307 against RHP in the last 3 years.
Brett Gardner, OF: $7,400 – If he’s in the lineup, he’s worth a shot versus Chris Tillman for their 12-for-45 history (.350 wOBA). This is also a nice lefty-righty match-up.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
At the risk of jinxing things, it’s actually not looking too bad for Saturday in baseball world. There is a chance of rain for the Braves-Rockies and Mets-Nationals games, but hopefully just a delay, not a rainout.
Doing Lines In Vegas
Not surprisingly, really, Vegas is leaning very heavily in favor of the Astros over the Padres (-236) and Yankees over the Orioles (-226). An interesting one: it’s a projected dead heat between the Cards and the Diamondbacks (-100 even).
