So I’ve done something that I’ve been wanting to do for awhile.
It was all my idea as I felt it is just necessary to separate daily fantasy sports and personal political opinions. The two shouldn’t ever be brought together when you are publicly representing a company you are employed by.
Not that my employer, DailyOverlay, has an issue with my religious, personal or political beliefs, I just feel that in the interest of myself and DO, I should separate the two. My opinions on Twitter that are non-sports related are quite strong. While I am not ashamed of them or have a feeling of remorse or guilt, it’s just time to create the divide.
So with that said, I have a content-specific Twitter account that will solely be DailyOverlay, sports and fantasy sports related.
Please follow me at my new handle – @hotdogdaily.
I will likely continue to prop up this Twitter handle as a formality to make sure everyone that reads this knows who they should follow for daily fantasy sports purposes.
Now that I’ve cleared the air, let’s get down to business for tonight’s MLB slate, which has just 5 games for us to play.
I am not a huge fan of these smaller slates, but there are enough games for us to make at least a few picks and run an expert consensus. But let it be known, this slate sucks.
Here’s who I have my eye on tonight!
Chris Flexen – SP – New York Mets – $6,500
Analysis: I had no clue until Wednesday night who this guy was. But after looking at his numbers, he sported a 1.66 ERA in Double-A. To be called up to the majors from Double-A, I think that at least speaks volumes of the upside someone might carry. The only qualm I have with that is that he hasn’t faced anything close to major league talent by not having pitched in Triple-A. Now, he is facing the Padres, who at times look like minor leaguers. They strike out 25 percent of the time to RH bats and this is a big ball park. Looking at his gifs and videos, Flexen’s delivery reminds me a lot of Roy Halladay. He looks like he has filthy stuff, let’s just hope the first-game nerves and road jitters aren’t too heavy.
Paul deJong – 2B/SS – St. Louis Cardinals – $3,800
Analysis: Outside of Jose Altuve, deJong is the majors’ hottest hitter. He’s got 14 home runs in 49 games which is just an insane number. He’s faced some solid pitching in that span, too. He draws Zack Godley, who has been a great pitcher this season, but I will take a hot bat against most pitchers any day of the week. I just hope I am not too late to the party for hopping on the train today in a Value Index pick.
Evan Longoria – 3B – Tampa Bay Rays – $3,900
Analysis: Hmm, I wonder who the chalk at third will be? Longo against a lefty. Longo against a lefty in Yankee Stadium. Longo against a lefty as a member of the road team. Longo against C.C. Sabathia who he has 7 home runs against in his career and has a .405 career average against and 9 doubles. *insert gif of me shoving in poker chips*
Adam Duvall – OF – Cincinnati Reds – $4,400
Analysis: There are a lot of young to no-name pitchers on this slate. One of them is Marlins’ pitcher Chris O’Grady, a lefty who gets to face the Reds for the second time in 5 days. In that first start, he gave up 3 ER with 6 walks and 6 Ks. That’s good for a first road start of your career, but I usually don’t like pitchers who just faced a team inside of a week or two. I think this spells trouble for O’Grady, even if Cozart sits again. As for Duvall, he’s one of the top lefty mashers on his team and in the majors, recording a .402 wOBA, a .303 ISO, a 32% hard contact rate with 7 home runs.
Jose Abreu – 1B – Chicago White Sox – $3,700
Analysis: I am price enforcing here. For all the talent Abreu has, he’s underpriced and that’s because of his matchup. Jon Lester is the top-priced pitching option, but with him facing the White Sox away from Wrigley, I am not going to buy into Lester at all tonight. The White Sox are 10th in team wOBA against lefties this season. Abreu is the top lefty crusher on the team, sporting a .436 wOBA, .239 ISO and a 37% hard contact rate. It helps that he is 4-for-9 with a double, 2 RBIs, a walk and a steal against Lester in his career. The ballpark is a boost and Lester has a 4.47 road average this season, even though he’s technically not on the road outside of Chicago, he still is a downgrade due to the ballpark and the disadvantage of facing a DH instead of a pitcher.
