Daily Fantasy Baseball Advice for 6/25

This is a guest blog post by trader Widereceiving.  Be sure to follow him on twitter for daily fantasy advice.

Pitchers:

James McDonald - $23,409. At McDonald’s current price, he should be played every time he starts, regardless of matchup. But he should especially be played today as he faces the middle-of-the-road Phillies.  He only has a 6-3 record, but his ERA is third best in the league at just 2.19, and he just had put up 21.00-points against the Twins last time out.  Though the Phillies are a better offensive team than Minnesota, both teams are around the league average of 306 runs. With McDonald being one of the best pitchers in the league this year, and the Phillies’ pitcher Joe Blanton struggling to fool hitters, there’s a good chance that McDonald gets the win. Take advantage of McDonald’s crazy low price tag, before it disappears. 

Christopher Archer - $20,000. Archer had a really good outing last week, in his first Major League start: 6.0 Innings Pitched, 7 strikeouts and one earned run.  He also only walked one batter, which is promising for the youngster who had some command issues in the minors.  Archer recorded 11.00 points in his last, despite getting the loss, so you can reasonably expect another double-digit performance out of him tonight.  As long as Archer can keep his walk numbers down, he’ll remain a great value play.  He’s a sneaky good play today, and you may want to give him a look.

Batters:

Carlos Lee - $5,760.  In his career, El Caballo has had great success against the Padres: a .324 batting average accompanied by 12 walks.  On top of that lifetime success, Lee has been doing quite well recently, since coming off of the DL – 4.4 FP/10k.  Tonight, he faces Ross Ohlendorf on the mound, who has a 4.96 ERA between AAA and the majors in 2012.  This is an awesome matchup for Lee, and his price is quite cheap for his consistent production. 

Daniel Nava - $6,282. Like Will Middlebrooks, Nava is another player that has come through for the Red Sox after one of their All-Star options went down.  And, according to some Boston reporters, “Nava isn’t going anywhere”; the Red Sox have faith in him, and, until some other guys come off the DL, Nava should stay in the Red Sox lineup.  And with good reason too, as he has put up 6.2 FP/10k in the last seven games.  Tonight he faces Aaron Laffey, a man with a career 4.30 ERA.  As long as Nava is in the lineup against the left-hander, he will look to contribute in a big way, as the Red Sox offense stays hot on their home stand.

Jemile Weeks - $5,571.  Weeks walked three times against the Dodgers back on June 19th, and since then he has collected a hit in each of the last five games. While it may not seem like much, every streak starts off small.  The young second baseman also has 10 steals on the year.  Though he hasn’t recorded a steal since May 15^th, his chances of at least one swipe tonight are pretty good, as Seattle’s catcher, Jesus Montero, has only thrown out 21% of stolen base attempts.  It’s never easy predicting stolen bases, but the numbers heavily favor Weeks as long as he can get on base.

Definitely consider these guys when you are picking your players tonight. Good luck!

Daily Fantasy Baseball Advice for 6/18

This is a guest blog post by trader Widereceiving.  Be sure to follow him on twitter for daily fantasy advice.

Pitchers:

Matt Harrison - $26,785. Matt Harrison has never played the Padres in his career, though he will try to remain on his extraordinary pitching streak– not allowing a run in 16.1 innings. That streak isn’t the only thing Harrisonhas done well, however. He has posted a Quality Start in each of his last five games to go along with four wins. While he hasn’t struck out too many batters - just 5.1 per nine innings in those five outings -Harrison has managed to put up decent fantasy numbers over that 5-game span: 6.18 FP/10k. Not only does Harrison get to pitch at PetcoPark, he has the benefit of facing San Diego, the MLB’s 29th-ranked offense. It is a mouth-watering start for fantasy players, and the matchup should be taken advantage of. 

Wade Miley - $25,303. Like Harrison, Miley has never faced off against the team he will pitch against today. Another thing similar to Harrison is Miley has quickly collected four wins and five Quality Starts, though it took him six outings to do so, as opposed to Harrison’s five. Over the last five starts, the Arizona left-hander has a slightly better strikeout-per-nine ratio than Harrison, at 5.7, but faces a slightly better hitting team, ranked 20th among all MLB teams. Sure, Miley has a lesser track record and, sure, he is facing a better offense, but when you can purchase him for $1,482 cheaper, he’s worth the buy-in.

Batters: 

Adrian Beltre - $7,298. Yo, Adrian! In Beltre’s last four games, he has scored 7.5 FP/10k, proving that he is starting to warm up; and Beltre warming up is not a good thing for opposing pitchers! Not only is he starting to get hot, but he will also look forward to hitting in PetcoPark for a few days, a place he has had moderate success in his career: a .284 batting average, four homeruns and seven doubles with five stolen bases. That’s not flashy, but when you mix it with what he has done the last four games, it could equate into a decent fantasy day against a very bad pitcher, Jason Marquis, who he is batting .438 lifetime against.

Albert Pujols - $8,503. We do realize that he is 1-for-12 in his last three games, but that one hit was a homerun, something that he has done twice to Matt Cain in his career. Cain is coming off of a perfect game, in which he punched out fourteen Astros and made Giants history. With that being said, it is hard for many pitchers to come back and have solid outings after throwing arguably the best game of their life. For Cain, it could be quite difficult, seeing that he has to face one of baseball’s all-time greats. In Pujols’ lifetime against Mr. Perfect, he is hitting .571 with four walks, two dingers, and five driven in. While fourteen at-bats is a small sample-size, we should have faith in the stats and arguably the best hitter in the game to improve on those career numbers. 

Alcides Escobar - $6,110. Alcides Escobar isn’t very good, but he has some speed, allowing him to post fantasy numbers. With three stolen bases in the last seven games, Escobar is a viable asset for those of you willing to invest in speed. For those who already have been using him, you guys would notice that he has not only stolen bases, but he’s been getting base hits. With seven hits in the last seven games, the man known as Alcides has contributed 5.73 FP/10k over the seven games. He should be a decent start against the veteran Randy Wolf, who has a 5.06 ERA on the year. 

6/13 Daily Fantasy Baseball Strategy

This is a guest blog post by trader Widereceiving.  Be sure to follow him on twitter for daily fantasy advice.

Pitchers:

Hiroki Kuroda - $34,737.  In five career starts against the Braves, Kuroda has a stellar ERA of just 2.10.  That alone says he should be in your lineup tonight as he’s pitching against Atlanta.  But on top of that, Kuroda has a microscopic 0.82 ERA and 0.68 WHIP in his last three outings.  In those outings, he has put up 4.92 FP/10k, and looks to be a solid fantasy start against opposing veteran Tim Hudson who has been shaky all of this year.  Regardless of Kuroda’s price, he’s a great play because he seems in line for a strong performance and likely a W.

Felix Doubront - $24,479. In Doubront’s last start, he gave up six runs, allowing eight hits and two walks in four innings of work.  The one positive of the outing was that Doubront did manage to post six strikeouts in those four innings.  We’ll give him a pass for last weekend, because Doubront had been really solid in his two outings prior.  In those two starts, Doubront posted 7.01 FP/10k, and looked pretty good doing it.  Today, Felix takes the hill against the Marlins, who scored one run last night against his Red Sox teammate, Clay Buchholz.  The Marlins’ offense is unpredictable, as it can pour it on or perform poorly on any given night, but the Marlins bats have not been giving Ricky Nolasco (starting opposite Doubront tonight) much run support, scoring around two runs per game in Nolasco’s last three outings.  Doubront, on the other hand, has been getting about three times that run support in his last three starts.  Doubront should be the favorite to earn the win.

Batters:

Trevor Plouffe - $6,760.  With ten home runs on the year, Plouffe’s problem isn’t his bat.  His problem is his awful glove, which can keep him out of the lineup at times.  A struggling team like the Twins will try and keep productive bats in their lineup, so if Plouffe is playing, he is definitely fantasy relevant.  How fantasy relevant?  Well, very.  He’s got five home runs in the last nine games, to go along with a .361 batting average in that span – a strong 8.67 FP/10k. With a hot-streak like that, Plouffe should be played as long as long as his price is so cheap and as long as he is in the Twins’ lineup. 

Adam Jones - $7,195. Though Jones is 0-for-3 with a lone RBI against Kevin Correia (pitching tonight for the Pirates) in his career, Jones has been simply awesome all of this season.  It’s surprising how he maintains such a low price tag with his seventeen homers on the year and with two in the last three games.  At any price, but especially as long as you can get him on the cheap, Jones should be in all of your lineups until he cools down (if that ever happens).

Danny Espinosa - $7,064.  Watch out, Espinosa’s got a hot bat!  He has five doubles and a homerun in the last five games.  Espinosa doesn’t always record a hit, as his low .227 batting average shows, but he has good speed and decent power, allowing him to hit doubles, steal bases, and jack a few over the fence every now and then, which is exactly what Espinosa has been doing.  But in the month of June, Espy is batting .276 and has 5.03 FP/10k.  With Kyle Drabek, who has been just about average this year, going for the Blue Jays tonight, expect Espinosa’s hot bat to stay hot. 

Daily Fantasy Baseball Advice: StarStreet Value Plays for 6/1

Daily Fantasy Baseball Advice: StarStreet Value Plays for 5/30

Pitchers:

Johnny Cueto – $24,690. Cueto was roughed up in his last outing against Colorado, allowing 11 hits and walking two, while giving up five earned runs. Then why put him on the “Value Plays” section? Because he takes on the Pirates, who, let’s just say, are struggling offensively. In 16 career starts against Pittsburgh, Cueto has managed 95 strikeouts in 99 innings. He also has a lifetime 2.55 ERA against the club with a .215 BAA. That screams must start. 

Anthony Bass - $20,778. Bass is possibly the biggest boom or bust pick for today. On one hand, he faces a Chicago Cubs team that isn’t very good, and on the other hand, you have an inexperienced rookie who has had success thus far, but had a horrible outing last week. Last time he faced the Cubs, he went five innings with one earned run, and struck out two. Bass will likely strike out more than two, though, as he has averaged 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings this year. Another plus for him is that the Cubs lost Aramis Ramirez, who hit the homerun off of him last year that gave him the one earned run. The good outweighs the bad, but if you are feeling hesitant at all, don’t use him.

Batters: 

Carlos Beltran – $7,577. Tim Hudson has struggled in his career against Beltran, allowing Carlos to hit .351 lifetime off of him with four homeruns, four doubles, and 17 RBIs. Against right-handers, Beltran is batting .295, with 12 of his 15 homeruns coming off of righties. Beltran has cooled down since his hot start, which boosted his average up to 5.0 FP/10k, but Beltran has remained semi-hot with 4.2 FP/10k in his last eight games. Beltran is both a smart match-up play as well as a good value pick at his price. 

Alexei Ramirez - $5,854. Alexei started the year off horribly, having his average dip to .199 on the year, but in the last five games, he has driven in five, with three multi-hit games, three stolen bases, and two doubles. Those are signs that he is starting to turn it around after an abysmal start. Today he faces the almost-rookie Alex Cobb, who he has not seen yet in his career, but with Ramirez averaging 7.17 FP/10k in the past five games, it shows promise that he could have a nice game against the young right-hander.  

Carlos Quentin - $6,750. Quentin is healthy again and it looks like he is happy to be back. In the two games Carlos has played in since coming off the DL, he has provided owners with four hits in eight at-bats, two of which have been doubles, two RBIs, one homerun, a walk, and three runs. That is fantasy gold! It’s also a sign that he could be back and at it again with Ryan Dempster, who Quentin has had success against in his career. Quentin is 5-for-12 with a double and four RBIs against the veteran, and with Quentin having 10.4 FP/10k, he might be able to share the love and post that exact amount of fantasy points today.

Daily Fantasy Baseball Advice for Memorial Day

This is a guest blog post by trader Widereceiving. Be sure to follow him on twitter for daily fantasy advice.

Pitchers: 

Scott Diamond - $20,989. Last time out, Diamond went six innings, striking out four, while walking one and giving up nine hits and two earned runs in a loss against the White Sox. That outing gave him the least amount of fantasy points on the season at 5.5. He’s scored 20.25, 18.25, 10.75 and 5.5 respectively, in his four major league starts this season. Regardless of the scoring decline, Diamond takes the mound against an Athletics team ranked 27^th in runs scored. That seems to be a good match up for Diamond, who has an ERA of 1.78 and xFIP of 2.78 on the season, to go along with a 6.04 K/9. He’s inexpensive and should provide you with a good bang for your buck, regardless of how many shares you put into him. He could provide a gem of an outing. 

James McDonald - $24,700. While McDonald isn’t as cheap as Diamond, he is a more reliable play. Since April 25^th, McDonald hasn’t scored less than 14.5 fantasy points in each of his starts. He also hasn’t struck out less than seven batters in his last six outings. Today should be a good day to start him, as not only has he been on a roll, but he faces a Cincinnati team that has struggled offensively, scoring just 184 runs on the season, 21^st in the league. While Pittsburgh is last in runs on the season, McDonald has still managed to win three games on the year. Don’t shy away from aggressively placing shares into McDonald.

Batters: 

Jonathan Lucroy - $6,147. Isn’t amazing how Lucroy comes at such a discount? Lucroy has been amazing over the past few weeks, averaging 4.14 fantasy points in the last 18 games, good enough for 6.73 FP/10k. Those are elite numbers in StarStreet terms, and he faces off against Aaron Harang, who has a 4.36 ERA on the season. While Lucroy is 0-5 in his career against the right-hander, Lucroy has swung a hot bat, and should be chosen, no matter what small sample-size we have seen from their previous face-offs. 

Dayan Viciedo - $7,734. Viciedo has been an absolute monster the past two weeks, hitting seven homeruns and 20 RBIs, and racking up 67.5 points since May 14, and shows no sign of slowing down. He’s a big boy with a small price that should be invested heavily in, as he has 6.71 FP/10k in the past 13 games. Oh, did I mention that is also facing a struggling rookie Matt Moore? That should only increase his value today.

Matthew Adams - $5,000. With Lance Berkman going to the DL and missing at least 8 weeks, Adams has been a hot pickup in weekly leagues and a sizzling play in daily leagues. He is a low-risk/high-reward play, even with his inexperience. Adams could be in line for a few runs scored today, which is something that the World Series Champions have done well, placing third in the league so far in Runs Scored. With Berkman out and Adam’s price low, watch for him to be a helpful, cheap play, even with his small sample size of 19.2 FP/10k.