If you are playing the early slate today, you play Bryce Harper. He’s facing Julio Teheran and if you don’t know by now, Harper owns him.
Harper is 15-for-33 with 3 doubles, 7 HRs, 17 RBIs, 5 BBs and a steal. He can do it all against Teheran, who is a dreadful pitcher, especially against lefties.
But for official purposes, we will concentrate on tonight’s 11-game slate. And might I say, the pitching looks awful.
Corey Kluber is the top option, and he’s priced like he’s facing the Padres in PETCO. I don’t care if he beats me, I just don’t think I am playing Corey Kluber tonight.
In 2017, Kluber is allowing 42% hard contact against right handed bats, and 31% to lefties.
BUT if there is one thing to argue for playing Kluber tonight, it’s that he might be underowned. And for what it’s worth, Kluber always starts the season sluggish and gets knocked around. It’s this time of the year when he starts rounding into form.
Right now though, I don’t know if I can roster him. Time will tell. The second high-priced option is Michael Pineda, who is $11.2K, and is facing the Angels. I think you are paying for the safety, but without the K upside in this matchup, I don’t know if I can pay up for him either, especially in tournaments.
Right now, I am paying down for pitching, but that could always change.
I can say right now that there are a lot of first basemen I want to play on this slate. Hopefully I can pair them together in arcade mode to get that kind of combination.
On this slate is also Andrew Cashner. As a Rangers fan, I hate this guy in DFS. He’s not good and he keeps trolling us. It doesn’t help that my other hated Ranger pitcher, Nick Martinez, just trolled me last night against the Astros. The Rangers are playing well and are catching the Astros at a good time, when their starting pitchers are hurt. I can see Cashner being an ass again and pitching well, making us all roll our eyes.
Or he gets shelled. I might have to play it both ways.
Hopefully, whatever you decide, it works out for you tonight.
Now for a little help…
Evan Longoria – 3B – Tampa Bay Rays – $3,800
Analysis: Make no mistake, Francisco Liriano’s price is tempting and he has pitched well at home this season, but I am going to have my fair share of Longo tonight. He’s go the BvP against Liriano, the hard contact against lefties (42%) and the ballpark upgrade that make me feel like the pieces fit.
Anthony Rizzo – 1B – Chicago Cubs – $4,600
Analysis: So the experiment worked for one night, can we make it two? Rizzo hit leadoff Tuesday and gets an even better matchup against Matt Harvey. We will see if he remains the leadoff hitter, but either way, he’s one of three first basemen on the Index today. He’s the one I like in the $4K range, and he’s really hitting well right now. I imagine he’s chalky in cash games and tournaments being the No. 1 hitter on the road against a fading pitcher.
Yoenis Cespedes – OF – New York Mets – $4,500
Analysis: Well, Cespedes’ buddy Wilmer Flores is not on the Index for a third day in a row. He just doesn’t look right at the plate. I will still have shares of Flores, but it’s Cespedes that I actually love.Up against lefty Mike Montgomery, Cespedes has a couple of walks in just 3 ABs against him. I like seeing that in early BvP numbers. It’s only a matter of time before Cespedes connects. Against lefties this season, Cespedes has been brutal for them, amassing a .469 wOBA, a .579 ISO and a 43% hard contact rate.
