Winning never gets old. For the second straight day, our MLB player picks weren’t quite perfect, just good enough to finish in the money in every event entered, afternoon and evening.That’s part of the appeal of Daily Fantasy Sports. You can turn a tidy profit by coming close often enough, even when you don’t finish first.
Tonight there are 15 ballgames, beginning at 7:05 Eastern, and several gigantic special events at DraftKings. One of them has a $300 buy-in, just 925 teams and the winner takes home $100,000 cash. With a little luck, you could win that much for just $3.00!
DK matches your first deposit 100% (up to $600) with bonus funds that convert to cash. You’ll also get a FREE entry into the $250K Swing For The Fences, which offers 17,163 cash prizes — $100,000 for first — and a maximum of 95,825 teams. Second place is worth ten grand, and the top 50 finishers win $200 or more. Every prize is guaranteed, even if the contest doesn’t fill. There’s no better time to give DFS a try; it’s easy and fun. Pick two pitchers and eight hitters with a $50000 salary cap.
What we don’t have tonight is a “sure thing” superstar pitcher with a five-digit salary. Quite a few #2 and #3 SP are available, with Jake Odorizzi $8600 a reasonable investment against the slumping Mariners and Carlos Martinez $9100 making another start vs. the Dodgers after beating them on Sunday with 7 IP of 1-hit shutout.
I’m considering a couple of potential bargains on the mound. Chi Chi Gonzalez $5400 was a bit wild in his big-league debut (5 BB, 2 K) but the Rangers rookie got the W and allowed just two hits. Only slight improvement in his command might baffle the Royals. Without an overpowering fastball, Williams Perez $5500 isn’t quite as highly-regarded a prospect, but the Venezuelan rookie has been solid in three starts and might surprise the Pirates with his curveball and an effective changeup.
Going cheap on the mound lets us load up on hitting for a change. Teams to target include the Rockies, Diamondbacks, White Sox, Twins, Blue Jays and Giants.
Catcher is the thinnest position, with Buster Posey $4300 and Russell Martin $4300 the standouts (flip a coin) and Josh Phegley $3000 generally a potential bargain against lefties. His teammate Steven Vogt $4000 might need a night off; he was limping yesterday.
The only reason not to use the great Paul Goldschmidt $5700 at 1B is a growing tendency for opponents to walk him, intentionally or nearly so. Freddie Freeman $5000, Brandon Belt $4600 and Adam Lind $4300 are all decent value and I don’t recommend going cheap at first.
Dee Gordon $5300 tops the 2B list, but don’t ignore Jason Kipnis $4800 and I’ve been reaping benefits from Dustin Pedroia $4200 all week.
You have to like Miguel Cabrera $5200 off a lefty in a hitter’s park, but Josh Donaldson $5300 is a beast at home. If you don’t want to spend for either of them at 3B, Manny Machado $4200 is affordable and powerful rookie Joey Gallo $4000 has hit in all three games with 2 HR since his callup.
Troy Tulowitzki $5100 is definitely the best fantasy SS. Jhonny Peralta $4100 has been good to me (and all his owners) with five hits in his last two games and new Mets leadoff man Ruben Tejada $2900 gets no respect for his last ten — .428/.470/.818 — but has certainly fattened my wallet.
In the outfield there are dozens of good candidates: Giancarlo Stanton $5800 has homered in two straight, Jose Bautista $5200 is due to explode at home, A.J Pollock $4600 faces a struggling southpaw, Steven Souza Jr. $4300 vs. a LHP. I like Adam Jones $4300, who homered last night and am a huge fan of Joey Butler $3700, whose 3 SB in the last two were an added bonus. Unheralded Preston Tucker $3800 has become the 3-hitter on a first-place team.
It’s a personal preference to focus on smaller pools, because there are logically more “outliers” — completely unexpected performances — among 30 teams than six, or 12. But we all have to Swing For The Fences once in a while. There are Turbo contests (8:10; four games) and Late action (9:40; three games) but the big money events span the full schedule.
| Pos | Premium | Bargain |
| SP1 | Jake Odorizzi $8600 | Chi Chi Gonzalez $5400 |
| SP2 | Carlos Martinez $9100 | Williams Perez $5500 |
| C | Buster Posey $4300 | Josh Phegley $3000 |
| 1B | Paul Goldschmidt $5700 | Adam Lind $4300 |
| 2B | Jason Kipnis $4800 | Dustin Pedroia $4200 |
| 3B | Josh Donaldson $5300 | Joey Gallo $4000 |
| SS | Troy Tulowitzki $5100 | Jhonny Peralta $4100 |
| OF1 | Giancarlo Stanton $5800 | Adam Jones $4300 |
| OF2 | Jose Bautista $5200 | Joey Butler $3700 |
| OF3 | A.J Pollock $4600 | Preston Tucker $3800 |
The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season and we’re turning out attention to baseball for the summer. Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates.