I might be letting my Braves fan bias shine through a little here, but I’m giddy for Kevin Gausman’s first start for the Braves tonight. How long have we been saying Gausmaun just needed to get the heck out of the AL East and out of Baltimore period? The O’s are far from pitching savants and exchanging the Sawx and Yanks for the Marlins and Mets never hurt anyone’s value. Gausman checks in at $16,300 on FantasyDraft tonight and I think that’s a fantastic value. Gausman has always had the K-upside which is why we’ve all been tempted by him (and let down) in the past. I think the change of scenery will do wonders for him and I want to get on the bandwagon now before it’s full and much more expensive. Besides Gausman picking on the offense-inept Mets, let’s look at the rest of tonight’s DFS picks:
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James Paxton, SP: $24,900 – Paxton is your man for cash games today. He’s he’s at home against a team playing for next season and we all saw his upside last time out with 7 IP, 8 Ks and zero earned runs vs. the ‘Stros. The Mariners should put up plenty of run support facing Marco Estrada also, yet another plus.
Jose Berrios, SP: $21,300 – Speaking of playing for next year, I’m not sure what year the Royals are playing for, but it’s Whit Merrifield and a bunch of dudes at this point. They don’t strike out much, but they have the 3rd lowest team OPS and falling fast. Berrios should handle these chumps with ease.
Mike Minor, SP: $13,700 – The bad teams in the American League this year are down right wretched. I’ll be targeting the Orioles and Royals whenever I can. If the opposing pitcher is even halfway decent, they’re a viable option. Minor has been at least halfway decent this season and I love his upside for the price. That’s GPP city.
Jorge Polanco, IF: $8,500 – Yes, the Twins have cashed out for this season, but there’s still a few players that can get good wood on the ball. The Twinkies get to face a Burch Smith today. Burch has himself a 6.00 ERA and 5.15 FIP so what’s left of the Twins offense is in play tonight.
Yonder Alonso, IF: $9,100 – Felix Pena isn’t looking much better than Burch Smith so far with a 5.24 ERA and a 4.00 FIP. It’s not easy to fit many Indians in your lineup these days with Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor being so expensive, but Yonder is affordable and has the platoon advantage against a very mediocre pitcher.
Carlos Santana, IF: $8,400 – You can pretty much auto-fill Carlos Santana in these columns for me until he cools and/or gets more expensive. Jose Urena is nothing to fear in Philly.
Joey Gallo, OF: $9,100 – Gallo is almost on the same level as Carlos Santana for me right now, plug and play. He’ still in Camden Yards and faces Dylan Bundy who is prone to a blow-up now and then.
Freddie Freeman, IF: $9,000 – Freddie is hitting just .400 against the Mets so far this season. Not too shabby.
Ronny Rodriguez, IF: $5,800 – Ronny has been my super-punt-play of choice lately. Sometimes the money just works out that you need a guy on the cheap, it might as well be a guy that has a chance to return at least some value.
Eddie Rosario, OF: $9,400 – More picking on Burch Smith, but this time with a guy that could potentially double dong. Him and the next guy will be in all of my lineups tonight.
Michael Brantley, OF: $8,500 – I don’t understand Brantley’s pricing on FantasyDraft, but I’ve been taking advantage of it for what seems like weeks now. Come take advantage of their mistake with me.
Andrew McCutchen, OF: $8,100 – Clay Buchholz can’t keep this up, can he? If anyone on the Giants is going to hit him, it’ll be Cutch.
Nick Martini, OF: $7,400 – After the debacle against KC (5 IP, 4 ER) and the thrashing Cleveland gave him (3 IP, 5 ER), I’m back to picking of Jordan Zimmermann, just like last season. Nick Martini should be leading off and if it’s another short outing for JZ it’ll mean a lot of chance for Martini to put up points.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Not much on the docket today weather-wise, but there’s a chance for some storms in Minnesota. They shouldn’t be enough to PPD the game but they could cause a delay for Berrios, be warned.
Doing Lines In Vegas
The big favorites on the night are Kluber and the Indians (-240), Berrios and the Twins (-235) and Paxton and the Mariners (-225). The highest run total is in Baltimore at 10.5 runs. That’s a down right Coorsian run total. Two games share the low total of 7.5 runs TOR@SEA and HOU@LAD.
