Fantasy Spin July 25, 2015

Saturday baseball begins at 4:05 Eastern with five games in Early DFS contests at DraftKings. The big guns are Jake Arrieta $11900 and Madison Bumgarner $11100; using both leaves less than $3400 per bat. I prefer Arrieta, with a possible bargain like Miguel Gonzalez $7100, Erasmo Ramirez $6100 or even underdog Chris Bassitt $5500 vs. MadBum.

Kept in check last night by King Felix, the Toronto faces former teammate J.A. Happ $6100 and the Jays lead the majors by a wide margin with an OPS of .836 against lefties. Drew Hutchison $7200 is very risky if he starts, after being a late scratch (illness) two straight nights, so the Mariners’ bats also look good.

There’s not as much appeal in Late contests (8:40; 2 games) where it’s not even possible to exceed the salary cap. Hector Santiago $9100 is the standout SP and his Angels teammates are stackable.

Our focus is on the ten ballgames at 7:05. Handicapping begins with Chris Sale $13400, whose latest was not his best. That’s an awfully high salary unless he throws a 10-K masterpiece, like he did in every June start.

Plays of the Day

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Matt Harvey $10100 is overpriced based on recent results. While his stuff is there, command comes and goes; 14 walks in his last three. Carlos Carrasco $10300 will have a tough time outpitching Sale, and Johnny Cueto $9000 must overcome constant trade rumors and high altitude. Shelby Miller $9300 and Carlos Martinez $9800 might stage a duel in St. Louis, with A.J. Burnett $8800 vs. Gio Gonzalez $8300 another interesting battle.

Santiago, such a strong play in Late action, might go overlooked here. I’m willing to take a chance on Danny Duffy $5500, whose latest was his best of four starts since coming off the DL, or Zach Lee $5800 making his major-league debut against the low-scoring Mets off some promising Triple-A form.

We liked Nick Hundley $3400 as the #1 catcher on Friday (for $600 more) and he stayed hot with an RBI triple. Iron man Salvador Perez $3400 will be fresh after a rare night off.

Saving on the mound allows us to afford Paul Goldschmidt $5700 or 1B/3B Todd Frazier $5900 for a change. Eric Hosmer $4200 is good value and Evan Gattis $3500 is waking up.

Brian Dozier $5000 homered again last night, Jose Altuve $4600 is sharp and the only cheap guy I like even a little is former Met 2B/3B Justin Turner $3100, who has to face the Dark Knight.

Frazier and Nolan Arenado $4900 are the best 3B if you can afford them. My pick is rookie Miguel Sano $3900, who hit a bomb to straightaway center on Friday. He crushed LH pitching in the minors, so ignore a meaningless 17-AB sample.

Carlos Correa $4800 also loves hitting southpaws and is worth the money. If you’re spending more than me on pitching, 3B/SS Jung Ho Kang $3300 keeps getting two hits every night — that streak is now at six games.

Mike Trout $5000 and teammate Kole Calhoun $3700 form two-thirds of my outfield. We loved Carlos Gonzalez $3700 last night — for $700 more — and he blasted two home runs. Charlie Blackmon $4400 is also tempting. Another frequent Spin selection, Matt Kemp $4300 went deep again and his OPS is now 1.337 over 10 games. Still cheap after a horrible start, Melky Cabrera $3000 appears to have broken out with a flurry of extra-base hits.

Pos	Premium	Bargain
SP1	Chris Sale $13400	Zach Lee $5800
SP2	Hector Santiago $9100	Danny Duffy $5500
C	Nick Hundley $3400	Salvador Perez $3400
1B	Paul Goldschmidt $5700	Eric Hosmer $4200
2B	Jose Altuve $46500	Justin Turner $3100
3B	Nolan Arenado $4900	Miguel Sano $3900
SS	Carlos Correa $4800	Jung Ho Kang $3300
OF1	Mike Trout $5000	Melky Cabrera $3000
OF2	Matt Kemp $4300	Carlos Gonzalez $3700
OF3	Charlie Blackmon $4400	Kole Calhoun $3700