Fantasy Baseball DFS Advice - April 5
Welcome to today's daily fantasy post! As noted here on Monday, there are multiple changes for this year that we need to address ...
First, we will make these daily posts on a new page everyday, unlike 2015 when we just refreshed the same page.
Secondly, you can find our posts on the brand-spanking new DFS home page, as well as the fantasy page. Bookmark those sites now!
Next, we are adding a "Five Things to Watch" and "Stack of the Day" section along with the usual information from 2015 (Must-Start, Deal, Avoid, and positional picks).
Finally, our amazing development team added a Twitter feed so you can see tweets from Ryan Fowler (@FOXSportsFowler), John Halpin (@jhalpin37), D.J. Foster (@FOXSportsFoster), and myself (@FOXSportsMeyer). That way, if information surfaces for any last minute changes, you can see our thoughts instantly.
Let's get to Tuesday's interesting facts - we'll cover the night games only.
Five Things to Watch:
1. Mariners DH Nelson Cruz had a .457 wOBA with a 1.107 OPS versus lefthanded pitchers last season, and for his career those numbers are .389/.919. Rangers LHP Martin Perez has a career .334 wOBA against righthanded batters (.766 OPS), which is below average if not terrible. Cruz is $5,000 on DraftKings, but if you're going to pay up for a hitter today, he's it. If you want a cheaper Mariner, OF Franklin Gutierrez ($3,300) is a nice option.
2. White Sox SP Jose Quintana ($8,400) comes at a reasonable price in Oakland's pitcher-friendly park. The entire A's roster is 15-for-84 (.179) with one homer and a .493 OPS versus the underrated Quintana.
3. Tigers C James McCann ($3,000) killed lefties last season, posting a .916 OPS with a .390 wOBA in 105 plate appearances. That's not the biggest sample, but it'll do. Other lefty-mashing catchers on the slate are Josh Phegley ($2,900, .341 wOBA vs. LHP last season) and Derek Norris ($3,500, .348).
4. Look for Socrates Brito ($3,200) to get his first start in center field for the Diamondbacks. Brito has a solid power/speed package, and will probably bat near the top of the order versus Rockies SP Chad Bettis. Platoon partner Chris Owings batted second on Monday.
5. Padres SS Alexei Ramirez ($3,200) batted fifth on Monday. He's eight-for-22 against Scott Kazmir with four extra-base hits. BvP history aside, this is a solid price for a shortstop with decent power and speed.
Bonus: Remember how bad Jon Lester is at holding runners? Mike Trout is gonna run when he gets on base.
Adam Meyer's Daily Fantasy Sports Plays...
Yesterday’s recap:
On Monday, we recommended 17 batters. Two of those players had their game canceled (thanks, Cleveland). As for the other 15, six of them hit a home run. Not a bad start to the season for us.
Must-Start of the day: Kyle Seager, SEA
He came through yesterday, so I’ll stick with him today. Seager had a .357 wOBA and .214 ISO against lefties last year. Also, he is 10-20 (.500) with three career home runs against Martin Perez.
Deal of the day: Trevor Story, COL
After a two-home run performance on Monday, I would bet that Story would be the highest-owned shortstop of the day. It also helps that his price tag is low, too.
Avoid of the day: Yan Gomes, CLE
The Indians game was postponed on Monday, but that doesn’t change how I feel about Gomes against David Price. He is still 0-15 with eight strikeouts against Boston’s ace.
Stack of the day: Arizona Diamondbacks
Vegas projects that Arizona will score the most runs, so that’s probably a good team to stack. After Paul Goldschmidt, who I like even more after his oh-fer on Monday, you can add David Peralta, Welington Castillo, and possibly Phil Gosselin.
Starting pitchers:
Corey Kluber, CLE - The amount of aces available on Tuesday are slim. So, if you are playing in an “all day” contest, go with Kluber. He had a 9.93 K/9 in 2015 (sixth-best) and has a low over/under today (6.5 total runs).
Johnny Cueto, SF - While his career numbers aren’t great traveling to Milwaukee (1-3 with a 4.19 ERA), Cueto did strike out eight batters in eight innings last year in his only start at Miller Park.
Jon Lester, CHC - He had a 9.09 K/9 in 2015 and Lester’s Cubs are a decent favorite (-131) tonight.
Catchers:
James McCann, DET - Gotta love a low-priced catcher with a .237 ISO against left-handed pitchers.
Welington Castillo, ARI - If you are stacking Diamondbacks, be sure to include Castillo.
First basemen:
Miguel Cabrera, DET - Miggy had a .435 wOBA and .238 ISO in 2015 against lefties.
Mike Napoli, CLE - The league average for wOBA in 2015 was .313. Napoli notched a .403 wOBA against lefties and only a .271 wOBA when a righty was on the hill.
David Ortiz, BOS - He had a .413 wOBA against righties in 2015.
Justin Bour, MIA - Bour is better against righties (.249 ISO and .359 wOBA).
Second basemen:
Ben Zobrist, CHC - He is a much stronger play against left-handed pitchers. Zobrist had a .398 wOBA and a .188 ISO vs. LHP in 2015.
Ian Kinsler, DET - Detroit is my second-favorite stack of the day. Add Kinsler with Cabrera, Martinez, and McCann.
Third basemen:
Kyle Seager, SEA - “Must-Start of the day.”
Matt Carpenter, STL - Last year, he had a .201 ISO against LHP.
Nick Castellanos, DET - In 2015, when a lefty was throwing, his ISO jumped to .219 (instead of .149 vs righties) and boosted the wOBA to .414 (.283 wOBA vs. RHP).
Alex Rodriguez, NYY - A-Rod had a .389 wOBA and .269 ISO against lefties last season.
Shortstops:
Trevor Story, COL - "Deal of the day."
Jean Segura, ARI - If you are looking for the slight pivot from Story, Segura is an option that can add to your Diamondbacks stack against Colorado.
Alexei Ramirez, SD - (See Halpin's "5 Things")
Outfielders:
J.D. Martinez, DET - He did most of his damage when a lefty was on the mound. Martinez had a .385 wOBA and .274 ISO vs. LHP.
Nelson Cruz, SEA - (See Halpin's "5 Things")
Andrew McCutchen, PIT - Last year, he produced a .376 wOBA and .200 ISO against righties. In his career, Cutch is 8-16 (.500) with three extra base hits against Michael Wacha.
Yoenis Cespedes, NYM - He produced his best numbers in 2015 when his team was on the road and facing a righty (.328 ISO and .438 wOBA). Plus, his subpar BvP stats (1-11) makes him a great GPP option.
Curtis Granderson, NYM - He had a .384 wOBA and .225 ISO against righties in 2015.
Stephen Piscotty, STL - Though it was only 66 plate appearances, Piscotty tallied a .376 wOBA against southpaws.
Randal Grichuk, STL - Against left-handed pitchers, Grichuk has a .257 ISO.
Michael Conforto, NYM - He has a career (albeit 96 ABs) .302 AVG against righties on the road.