Ron Shandler is in the lead at the turn, as we head into the third week of Period 2 of Tout Daily by RTSports.com. But he has Adam Ronis, Scott Engel and Patrick Davitt close behind him, and with two weeks remaining lots can change.
You can follow tonight’s action at RTSports.com/Tout-Wars, and while you’re there make some paid or free action of your own.
We asked the Touts who they would likely be playing tonight, and why. Here’s what they had to say:
Jeff Boggis said a lot!
Top Pitcher: Aaron Nola ($6,900 vs. Atlanta) and Jose Quintana ($7,800 vs. Kansas City. Jake Arrieta is the obvious choice tonight for starting pitchers, but comes at a very steep price at $9,800. My strategy this week is to save some money on starting pitching and go with the value play of Aaron Nola at $6,900. Aaron Nola takes on an Atlanta Braves offense at home tonight. The Atlanta Braves team batting average of .235, ranking them 24th out of 30 MLB teams. Atlanta is dead last in slugging percentage at .318 and OPS at .616. Aaron Nola has a WHIP of 0.85, ranking him 4th overall in the major leagues for starting pitchers. As my 2nd starting pitcher tonight, I am starting Jose Quintana (SP-CWS) $7,800. Jose Quintana ranks 2nd overall in the major leagues with an ERA of 1.54. Quintana ranks tied for 7th overall in the major leagues in WHIP with 0.99. Jose Quintana is at home tonight against Kansas City. In his last 7 starts, Quintana has pitched at least 6 innings and has not given up more than 2 earned runs in any of his 8 starts this season.
Top Low Cost Pitcher – Matt Andriese ($3,700 @ Detroit)
Top Hitter: Danny Valencia ($4,300 vs. NY Yankees). Until Valencia cools off, you have to ride the hot hand. Over the past week, Valencia is the top ranked hitter in fantasy with 8 runs scored, 6 home runs, 11 RBIs, and a batting average of .444. He has a base hit in 8 of his last 9 games started. He faces C.C.’s Pizza Sabathia who is coming off the disabled list tonight to start against Oakland. Sabathia has an ERA of 3.81 and a high WHIP at 1.55.
Top Low Cost Hitter – Alex Avila ($2,900 vs. Kansas City)
Phil Hertz writes: “I’m recommending Gerrit Cole ($9,200 vs. Colorado) as pitcher, and some outfielder on the Angels, whose name escapes me. Oh right, Flounder, or is it Trout ($6,700 vs. Baltimore).
Howard Bender has some ideas:
Top Hitter: Anthony Rizzo ($6,600 @ San Francisco) It’s a must to pay up for Rizzo tonight. An absolute must. Jake Peavy is a punching bag for lefties who are posting a .464 wOBA against him and Rizzo is sitting on a .302/.416/.556 slash line for May with an INSANE 1.334 OPS versus righties while he’s on the road.
Top Pitcher: Scott Kazmir ($7,300 @ San Diego) I rarely like to use Kazmir. Almost never, in fact. But facing the Padres is almost like a gift at this point. The Friars have a below-average .306 wOBA with a 26-percent strikeout rate against lefties and they’ve posted just a .236 wOBA over the last seven days. DO I even need to point out that they rank dead last in offense at home too?
Lawr Michaels likes Aaron Nola ($6,900 vs. Atlanta) facing the Braves (who doesn’t?) and loves Michael Conforto ($5200 vs Milwaukee) going against leaky Wily Peralta and his 7.03 ERA.
Scott Swanay reports:
I’ll go w/ Scott Kazmir ($7,300 @ San Diego) as my Pitcher pick this week. His FIP (5.16) has been even worse than his ERA (4.89) this season (which is due in large part to a lousy HR/9 mark), but he’s still striking out almost a batter an inning, and he faces a Padres team that’s worst in the league in OBP, has the third-fewest HRs, and third-most strikeouts. I’m in.
I’ll go w/ Anthony Rizzo ($6,600 @ San Francisco) as my Hitter pick. In the “Two Jakes” match-up the Cubs have the clear advantage, so I’ll stack several of their hitters tonight and hope for the best.
Charlie Wiegert tells us:
Top Pitcher: Not a lot of time to do much research today, so going with my gut, Aaron Nola ($6,900 vs. Atlanta) has been pitching well, Atlanta’s offense is not good and they tend to strike out, seems like a reasonable pick. Tanner Roark ($5,600 at Miami) had a bad start last time out, but he did have a big K game a few weeks ago, maybe lightening can strike again versus the Marlins.
Top Hitter: Riding hot hands. Manny Machado ($6,500 at LA Angels), Ian Kinsler ($5,200 vs. Tampa Bay) and Carlos Beltran ($4,500 @ Oakland). Also taking some Cardinal right handed hitters against Corbin; Piscotty, Diaz and Molina.
Mike Gianella weighs in:
Top Pitcher: Jake Arrieta ($9,800 @ San Francisco) He’s expensive, but so far this year he has been worth it.
Top Hitter: Ben Zobrist ($4,800 @ San Francisco) In order to pay for Jake, I had to avoid any big ticket items on the hitting side. The Cubs will bounce back after a moribund offensive series against the Brewers. Having Jake Peavy toeing the rubber on the opposite side of Jake will help.
Brian Walton’s thoughts:
Of the two NL East clubs expected to be terrible this year, Atlanta has lived up to the billing, while Philadelphia has been respectable while rebuilding. Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola ($6,900 vs. Atlanta) takes on the Braves in Atlanta and inexplicably is just the 12th-most expensive pitcher for Friday.
Danny Valencia ($4,300 vs. NY Yankees) of Oakland has been red-hot since coming off the DL last week with six home runs and 11 RBI over his last seven games. Not bad for the 21st-most expensive third sacker on Friday, who draws C.C. Sabathia at home.
Rotoman thinks Aaron Nola ($6,900 vs. Atlanta) is the obvious choice for one of tonight’s pitching slots, with ML OPS leader Aledmys Diaz ($3,800 vs. Arizona) moving up to hit second a fun matchup against Arizona.
Ray Murphy chimes in:
Everyone’s probably going to have Aaron Nola ($6,900 vs. Atlanta), and with good reason: he’s been terrific and the Braves are awful. For a second SP, I’ll go with Tyler Duffey ($6100 vs. Toronto), who has been strong in three straight starts and catches Toronto at a good time. That will leave me with 74% of my budget for offense.
Speaking of offense, Justin Nicolino is terrible, and Anthony Rendon ($4700 @ Miami) should be batting near the top of the lineup against him tonight. I’ll buy at an average-ish price.