Tim Heaney has won the first two weeks of Period 3 of Tout Daily by RTSports.com. Touts across the country have adopted the #anyonebutheaney hashtag, hoping to make up ground in this crucial week.
You can see the leaderboard here.
The Top 3 finishers in each period win a golden ticket to the August 26 finals.
Who are the Touts taking to take on Heaney tonight?
Phil Hertz is recommending Matt Shoemaker ($5,900 @ Oakland) and Yoenis Cespedes ($5,500 vs. Atlanta) tonight.
Jeff Boggis:
Matt Harvey ($8,200 vs. Atlanta) When I evaluate pitchers in DFS formats, I have three criteria. I want to roster a pitcher that is trending in the right direction as far as his performance. I also look at the best matchups in regard to the pitcher obtaining a win. Finally, I look at pitchers that have high strikeout rates. Matt Harvey meets all 3 criteria. He’s been pitching much better as of late with 3 consecutive quality starts. He has a great matchup tonight at home against the Atlanta Braves. And in his last 3 starts, Harvey is averaging almost 6 strikeouts per game.
Chris Davis ($6,400 vs. Toronto) I am rostering Chris Davis tonight based on his favorable matchup tonight against Aaron Sanchez. Lifetime, Chris Davis is batting .600 (6/10) with 3 home runs, 4 RBIs, and an on base percentage of .692.
Lawr Michaels:
Matt Shoemaker ($5,900 @ Oakland), who has resurrected himself with five straight quality starts, facing the injured and offensively anemic Athletics (it pains me to say this).
The last cycles I have been trying to milk—although in all honesty, unsuccessfully—the low-end pitchers by stacking my outfield with some big sticks, and the truth his, my hitters have indeed come through all over. That means Kole Calhoun ($5100 @ Oakland) facing Kendall Graveman seems too good to pass up, while Michael Conforto ($5000 vs. Atlanta) against the Braves John Gant (0-1, 5.62, 1.75 WHIP) similarly seems like potential fun.
On the low end, second sacker Whit Merrifield ($3500 vs. Detroit) has hit safely in nine of his last ten games and is hitting .344-2-4 this past week, so I am hoping the Royals new keystone man will keep it up for at least another day.
Mike Gianella:
Josh Donaldson ($6,600 @ Baltimore) With a relatively weak pitching slate tonight (and with my BFF Jake Arrieta unavailable because he’s pitching this afternoon), I decided to cut against the rain and go with cheap pitching and a hitter-heavy lineup. Donaldson leads the group with a tasty match-up against Mike Wright in hitter-friendly Camden Yards.
Robbie Ray ($6,000 @ Philadelphia) I’m not a big Ray believer, but the Phillies have been absolutely dreadful against southpaws this year and Ray is coming off of an impressive start against the Marlins. Only the Braves have a worse wOBA against lefties in 2016.
Scott Swanay:
Julio Urias ($5,400 vs Milwaukee) The Brewers strike out a lot, and if the Dodgers’ braintrust decides to let him throw more than 80 pitches tonight, he may even have a shot at a win!
Jaff Decker ($1,600 vs. San Francisco) Low-cost option who has some power, has some speed, and bats left-handed, which should be enough to earn him the start against Jeff Samardzija.
Charlie Wiegert
Matt Harvey ($8,200 vs. Atlanta) has been hot, and the Mets got some bats back, so he should get a win tonight against ATL, and 7-10 k’s.
Going with a couple hot hitters hoping they continue: Victor Martinez ($4,800 @ Kansas City), Kyle Seager ($5,700 @ Boston), Carlos Gomez ($4,700 vs. Cincinnati) and Will Myers ($4,300 vs Washington). If they all hit HR’s, I should have a good night.
Gene McCaffrey
Few look as good as Michael Fulmer ($6,500 @ Kansas City) these days, against a weakened KC attack.
Watch Pete O’Brien ($2,100 @ Philadelphia) strike out three times and hit a 450-foot home run.
Brian Walton
What is not to like about Joe Ross ($7,600 @ San Diego) and the first-place Nationals invading PETCO Park to take on the last-place Padres? At $7600, Ross is just the eighth most expensive pitcher of the day, performs especially well against right-handed heavy lineups and has three very strong outings in his last four.
I watched Jose Altuve ($6000 vs Cincinnati) go 3-for-7 in the Astros’ just-completed series at St. Louis and it is no fluke. The second baseman has multiple hits in seven of his last 10 games and feasts on lefties, such as very hittable Reds starter John Lamb, who gets the road start Friday night.
Tim Heaney
Matt Shoemaker ($5,900 @ Oakland) Love that he’s still this cheap after his recent ace-like run. Fly-ball concerns hardly exist when he visits spacious Oakland.