We are in the home stretch for many head-to-head leagues with roughly four or five matchups remaining to make or break the season.  Whereas rotisserie leagues need to balance the final two months it is often about getting any point possible in any given week in a matchup-based format.  Therefore, we are often chasing the hot hand trying to determine who will remain hot and carry your team to the title.  Invest at the right time and you reap the rewards, invest too late and your season may be crashed.  In the head-to-head spirit this week, our hitter profiles will focus on two NL Central teams with hot hitters making the call for who we want driving home those points.

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See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Mon 8/4
ARI | ATL | BAL | BOS | CHC | CIN | CLE | COL | HOU | KC | LAA | LAD | MIA | MIL | MIN | NYM | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | TB | TEX | TOR | ATH | CHW | DET | OAK | SEA | WSH

We’re now a week past the trade deadline and now that the dust has settled, new opportunities are there for guys you weren’t counting on to rack up fantasy points. The playing time situation has shifted for several teams so we’ll be seeing some fresh faces climbing the points lists. One such newcomer is Carter Kieboom (28) This could be the start of something. After struggling against major league pitching to the point that he’s spent most of the season in the minors he’s back and rewarded anyone who was brave enough to start him with a 28 point week. He’s out there in virtually every league so run to the waiver wire right now to add him in case he can keep this up. He was a highly-touted prospect so it’s not he lacks talent. I’d say the potential return is worth the last player on your bench. Let’s see who else had a good week.

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We have a solid ten games on the main slate this evening which features a Coors game, this should be fun.  For some reason, we have a serious pricing issue on Yu Darvish ($9,000) against the Diamondbacks.  I’m a big fan of McClanahan and all, but why is he $500 more than Darvish?  The Orioles are a tougher match-up in Camden Yards than the D-Backs are on the road in Petco Park.  Maybe it’s just the recent game log talking for FanDuel, but the last time out against the D-Backs Darvish hit 40 points.  Darvish will be the cornerstone of all my lineups tonight.

New to FanDuel? 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!

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What is up everybody? I’ve been listening to a ton of Jamiroquai lately. I’m a sucker for a good bass line. That funk just sets you up for the nights where Mike Foltynewicz was a better start than Nathan Eovaldi, and Cal Quantrill was a better start than Corbin Burnes. What can I say? Variance is the reason we play this wacky game. It’s precisely the fact that Marco Gonzales can throw 108 pitches against the Yankees and limit all the damage, and the Mariners bullpen can come in and do some good, and yet they still lose to the Bronx Bombers in extra frames. As much as experts say we can “predict” this stuff, we simply can’t. That’s why we play the game. If we called the work, “certain outcomes,” there wouldn’t be a game. So, let’s celebrate the weird outcomes that happened Friday night and remember that this, indeed, is the game of baseball where anything can happen.

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Howdy, Razzfolks!

Kinda bonkers it’s already August. Not only cuz baseball is past its trade deadline and the fantasy baseball season is rounding the final bend, but also cuz I’m a teacher and school starts for me the day after tomorrow. Teacher week is the best. Not. But it’s predictable, at least! When the kids get there, well, that’s a different story. But that’s what makes it fun! Most of the time…

Anyhoodles. You don’t give three soggy turds about that. You’re here for injury updates, and injury updates thou shalt receive!

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(NOTE: THIS POST WAS RELEASED EARLY THIS WEEK ON OUR PATREON. IT’S $10/MONTH OR $13/MONTH WITH AN EXTRA WEEKLY PODCAST.)

Standing at a box that appears to be a dynamite detonator, we follow a thick black wire out of the box and down the road to its natural conclusion. At the other end, a mile down the road, the wire is in a cup of Hong Kong milk tea filled with boba. We realize now that was not a dynamite detonator but Grey wearing a box instead of clothes, and that wire was a mile-long straw to suck boba. Suddenly, I shoot up in bed, sweating, screaming, “Myles Straw!” Then, as I get my bearings, I mutter, “Wow, what a dream,” then boba starts dribbling out of my mouth. An animated question mark forms above my head and I ask, “Was it a dream?” So, speed is nowhere. Myles Straw is currently in the top five for steals in the majors, and he was just traded to a team that is running out the clock on its name, i.e., he can run every time he’s on base. Also, he’s the best fit for the everyday leadoff spot. So, you’re thinking, “Grey, you’re silly handsome, but if Straw, um, sucks — hehe, I made a joke — who cares if he’s leading off?” Straw doesn’t, um, suck. He’s a 60-grade hit tool guy, who could hit .280. Sure, he has no power, but you’re not grabbing Straw for power; he’s for speed, runs and potentially average. I love Straw! *sneezes* Sorry, I have hay fever. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

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While it’s been a quiet year for Wander Franco ($3,000) since being called up, he has actually been crushing left-handed pitching with a .955 OPS. He will be batting second for the Rays, a great spot to rack up runs and RBI against opposing southpaw John Means. Means is clearly due for regression with a .198 BABIP and a 4.51 FIP, as well as a 1.73 HR/9. We can take advantage of this matchup with other Rays hitters like Nelson Cruz ($3,700) and Randy Arozarena ($3,700) to stack with Franco.

New to FanDuel? 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!

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Yesterday, Sam Hilliard went 1-for-4 with his 7th homer, and 3rd homer in the last 4 games. It’s no coincidence his hot streak started this week. Last weekend, Hilliard was dealing with a hitch in his swing and striking out even in batting practice. He saw Trevor Story (2-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 14th and 15th homer) walking by and asked him for some help. Trevor responded, “Listen to me, I hate this organization and if you help me sell the stadium for one penny on eBay I will help you.” And that’s how Trevor Story helped Hilliard and how a 15-year-old in Fox Creek, Colorado came into possession of Coors Field. It’s been a crazy good week to grab an outfielder off waivers, huh? Olivares, Soler, Hilliard, oh my! More guys will be coming this afternoon in the Buy column, but Hilliard is here now. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

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My better half created a truly local Farmer’s Market in our backyard. Avocados. Strawberries. Green peas. Cucumbers. Those are just to name a few. At first, the harvest was middling as both the quantity and size were underwhelming. Need more light, she said. More fertilizer. More water. Maybe the plants are what they are, I said. Well, as you can imagine, no sexy time for quite some time after that. So, I did what any normal sex-starved man would do. I went out and “fertilized” the plants with my internal bodily fluids. And what do you know? Happy wife, happy life! Kyle Farmer of the Cincinnati Reds has been added in 33.4% of ESPN leagues over the last seven days as a result of three home runs and 25 hits in 62 plate appearances since the All-Star game. Is this harvest legit or has it been due to outside factors?

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Not much has changed since we last talked. Only A THIRD OF THE BULLPENS have been drastically altered. The Brain Freeze is Slurpee Big Gulp level this week. At least the dust is starting to settle from the flurricane of activity. Exercise some caution on those new openings. Often the less expensive, less glitzy alternative has the same odds to net some saves.

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In most head-to-head leagues, the hierarchy is starting to form, and the top 6-8 are starting to separate themselves from the pack.  A lot of this is as a result of people losing interest, transitioning to fantasy football, or just not tinkering with their team enough.  It is easy to look at the big names that are not producing, I’m looking at you Michael Conforto, and do not want to drop them in case they heat back up.  Let me be the first to tell you, keep tinkering.  

Now, when I say keep tinkering, I don’t mean sit Jacob DeGrom, er, I mean Fernando Tatis, uh, I mean Ronald Acuna Jr…sigh…I guess what I am saying is that you don’t tinker with your studs, but feel free to rotate a piece or two out of your starting rotation bases on matchups, games played, etc.  Hopefully, you have been doing this all season tho.  Who am I kidding?  If you are still reading this article 18 weeks later, you are definitely doing it!  Take a lesson from the Texas Rangers and Mike Foltynewicz.  He decided to tinker with his curveball after having a rough start to the season, and *checks note* actually has seen his ERA rise to 10.42 and his xFIP increase to 6.66.  So maybe don’t tinker as much as Folty.  

All this talk of Tinkering has me reminiscing of my younger years when Tinker Toys were all the rage.  Sharp pointy stick scattered about the house, right next to my Jarts.  The toys back then were so much more fun than the ones we have today, and by fun, I mean life-threatening.  Speaking of life-threatening toys, there was a toy released in the 1950s called The Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab.  This “toy” was actually a real-life radioactive bearing Lab for children.  It contained 4 samples of Uranium-bearing ores and a Geiger counter.  

From the world’s most dangerous toy to the worlds’ most helpful Head to Head article, enjoy!

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Welcome into another Razzball DFS Thursday, the dust has settled from a wild trade deadline and guys are starting to get acclimated to their new homes. Some guys aren’t wasting any time showing off in a new uniform such as Abraham Toro, 3B: $2,500 – Seattle seems to agree with him, batting over .400 with 3 bombs. You love to see it, especially when he doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. He’ll have the chance to continue that run today in the Big Apple and if you can make it there you can make it anywhere.

New to FanDuel? 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!

Please, blog, may I have some more?