Steve Moyer and Brian Walton have big leads going into the third week, but one stumble can erase those. Jake Ciely, Lawr Michales, Derek Van Riper, Adam Ronis, Scott Pianowski, Jeff Erickson, Jason Collette and Rob Leibowitz trail them, right now competing for the final ticket to the Tout Daily Finals on August 26th.
You can watch all the action at rtsports.com/tout-wars. Or play along for cash prizes or fun, just follow the link to get set up.
Of those competing for the final tickets, Brian Walton, Jeff Erickson and Rob Leibowitz already have tickets. Jeff Erickson already has two tickets!
Adam Ronis has the third highest point total for the season, but doesn’t not yet have a ticket to the finals.
We asked the Touts for their best picks in tonight’s games. Here’s what they told us:
PHIL HERTZ
Favorite Pitcher: Stephen Strasburg ($9,200 vs. Atlanta). Favorite Hitter: Neil Walker ($4,200 vs San Diego).
BRIAN WALTON
Yordano Ventura ($7,100 @ Minnesota) may not excite, but the Royals right-hander has allowed three runs or less in each of his last six starts while averaging almost 10 points per outing. On Friday evening, Ventura draws the last-place Twins, 23 games under .500 and coming off three straight losses during which they were outscored 32-14.
Neil Walker ($4,200 vs San Diego) is working on a nine-game hitting streak during which the Mets’ second baseman is 17-for-37 (.459), including three home runs and six RBI. He will take on Paul Clemens of San Diego this evening.
LAWR MICHAELS
Going high and low with my pitching, riding David Price ($9,200 vs Arizona) and then Jonathan Gray ($6,000 @ Philadelphia), hoping both can twirl away from home.
For hitters I like Ryon Healy ($2,800 vs Seattle) on the low end facing newbie Southpaw Ariel Miranda, and Michael Saunders ($5,100 vs Houston) facing Joe Musgrove.
JEFF BOGGIS
I’m just playing the role of spoiler and need a DFS miracle tonight, so I am going to go with SP Joe Musgrove ($4,000 @ Toronto). He faced Toronto on August 2nd a and struck out 8 betters in only 4.1 innings pitched. For my top hitter, I am also going try to steal some DFS points with starting Billy Hamilton OF ($4,500 @ Milwaukee) for $4,500. If he gets on base and steals some bases, he’s good for 10-15 points. If he goes 0-4, then I will take the 0 DFS points for the night. High risk, high reward player.
HOWARD BENDER
Ross Stripling, SP ($4,400 vs. Pittsburgh) I love his ground ball rates, especially when he’s facing a team like the Pirates who have been mashing the ball in the dirt 49.2-percent of the time over the past week. On top of that, Pittsburgh has just a .292 wOBA which comes with a .095 ISO and 22.7-percent strikeout rate.
David Dahl ($4,600 @ Philadelpha) and Gerardo Parra ($4,500 @ Philadelphia) Stacking Rockies? Come on! How cheap can you get? Well, they’re not in Colorado tonight so the prices are a bit more reasonable. With Dahl and Parra batting fourth and fifth in the lineup tonight against Jake Thompson, I’m looking for a whole lot of BOOM and hopefully very little bust. Thompson’s MLB experience isn’t extensive but when I see lefties posting a .484 wOBA against him, I’m willing to overlook the sample size.
[We’ll update later if more picks come in. Good luck tonight!]