Fantasy Spin July 27, 2015

On a relatively quiet night for baseball, DraftKings offers two daily fantasy contests with $100,000 cash prizes. For a change, there isn’t a dominant superstar pitcher (or two) with an enormous salary. Top-priced Lance Lynn $11100 and the Cardinals are a heavy favorite vs. Raisel Iglesias $5500. Veteran Kyle Lohse $4900 is having such a dreadful season, the Giants and Chris Heston $9500 are “best bet” candidates.

There are a few possible low-scoring duels. Jorge De La Rosa $7700 has a 1.93 ERA and a .192 AVG allowed in six road starts. Kyle Hendricks $8200 has been sharp in July despite only five runs of support. Edinson Volquez $8600 was great on Wednesday and may repeat, while Cody Anderson $8100 can bounce back from his first poor start. Anibal Sanchez $10200 and Nathan Karns $8700 might trade zeroes in Tampa but neither is a certainty.

Robbie Ray $8000 is another road warrior (1.35 ERA, .177 AVG) with a chance. After seven starts, opposing lefty Mike Montgomery $7300 looked like a Rookie of the Year contender. He’s since been rocked in three straight.

Plays of the Day

First place is worth $100,000 for just $5 in tonight’s $250K Super Knuckleball — 11,230 win cash from 57,500 teams. New to DK? Your first deposit earns a FREE entry into the Late $18K Moonshot, with 1,380 guaranteed cash prizes — $1,000 for first — and a maximum of 6,899 teams. It’s a $3 buy-in, multiple teams are allowed and it closes at 10:10.

A couple of games might produce big numbers. A hot-hitting Rangers team might stay that way against Ivan Nova $7700 and Matt Harrison $4900 has made exactly two starts in 14 months. Although John Danks $6100 has been surprisingly good recently and can outpitch Joe Kelly $5100, both bullpens should be busy. Not sure about Alex Wood $7100, but I like the Braves vs. Kevin Gausman $4300.

Using Lynn and Heston means being thrifty with bats at almost every position. 1B/C Buster Posey $4300 stands out although John Jaso $3200 is excellent value.

Can’t afford Paul Goldschmidt $6000? Yesterday, we said “David Ortiz $4200 and all the Red Sox have a slump-busting opportunity.” Papi scored 46 points (4-for-5, 2 HR, 7 RBI) in an 11-run outburst. 1B/OF Ben Paulsen $2900 is dirt-cheap after his own 2-homer game, just a double short of the cycle.

Kolten Wong $4000 gets the nod at 2B, with Rougned Odor $3800 also playable. 2B/3B Matt Duffy $3600 will be in my lineups at one of his eligible spots.

Alex Rodriguez $5600 exploded for three homers on Saturday night and was rewarded with a day off. We liked 3B/SS Xander Bogaerts $3900 yesterday (4-for-5) and are considering him again. Rookie 3B/SS Tyler Saladino $2500 had three hits on Saturday and three walks on Sunday out of the 2-hole.

We told you OF/SS Hanley Ramirez $4200 and Bogaerts were “sitting on a breakout game” — position versatility helps get both into the lineup. Saladino is also an option at short, depending on what you spend elsewhere.

I’d love to fit A.J. Pollock $5400 into my lineup but have settled for Nelson Cruz $5000 as #1 OF. We touted Carlos Gonzalez $4100 all weekend (7 hits, 4 HR, 7 R, 8 RBI) and will follow him away from Coors at that price. Likewise, Melky Cabrera $3900 has been smacking two hits every day for us at low prices, prompting loyalty. If I needed to save, Angel Pagan $3100 is affordable and Corey Dickerson $3400 had two starts to get his timing back, then a day off. He’ll be a bargain one day soon.

Pos	Premium	Bargain
SP1	Lance Lynn $11100	Jorge De La Rosa $7700
SP2	Chris Heston $9500	Robbie Ray $8000
C	Buster Posey $4300	John Jaso $3200
1B	Paul Goldschmidt $6000	Ben Paulsen $2900
2B	Kolten Wong $4000	Matt Duffy $3600
3B	Alex Rodriguez $5600	Tyler Saladino $2500
SS	Hanley Ramirez $4200	Xander Bogaerts $3900
OF1	Nelson Cruz $5000	Corey Dickerson $3400
OF2	A.J. Pollock $5400	Melky Cabrera $3200
OF3	Carlos Gonzalez $4100	Angel Pagan $3100