Month: May 2017

The Legend, Lenny Melnick Wins Week 3 Period 2 of Tout Daily!

Lenny Melnick paid the price, rostered Max Scherzer and Chris Archer, two of the most expensive pitchers, and rode them to victory in Tout Daily’s Period 2 Week 3 contest.

With all that dough tied up in dominant arms that dominated, Lenny looked to Mike Trout and Kendrys Morales for offense, but the two combined for just 23 points.

It was, in fact, Martin Maldonado and Devon Travis, who put the legs into legend, scored 51 points between them and squeaked out a victory over Todd Zola.

Vlad Sedler had his third Top 5 finish in Period 2, and still leads the field in the season’s second contest. The period’s Top 2 finishers will win golden tickets to the season finale and a chance to vie for the championship, which is interesting because this period’s top two finishers, Melnick and Todd Zola, are tied for third right now, two points behind Michael Beller.

You can see the whole leaderboard right here.

Tout Daily DFS Picks for May 26th!

We’re halfway through Period 2 of Tout Daily and Week 2 winner Vlad Sedler has a slim lead over Week 1 winner Michael Beller, who in turn has a small lead over Andrea Lamont, who isn’t ahead of . . . you know, you can check out the whole leaderboard right here.

If you’re moved to try out Draft Kings, who are hosting Tout Daily this year, they have a special offer for new signups. Deposit $5 and gain free entry to a $3 contest. Click here to for more details and how to sign up.

Now, onto this week’s picks:

LAWR MICHAELS

Antonio Senzatela ($5900 vs. St. Louis): Looking to the rookie Rockie to confuse the Cards long enough for his offense to get a lead, and thus lead the way to a big week. The low-priced pitcher allows me to really go for offense this cycle.

Michael Conforto ($5000 @Pittsburgh): The solid Mets outfielder goes up against right-hander Chad Kuhl and his 1.61 WHIP. Oh boy.

JEFF BOGGIS

Top Pitchers

Jacob DeGrom ($12,100 @Pittsburgh) Mother nature played a role last night and I expect much of the same in tonight’s slate of baseball games. I thought about starting Stephen Strasburg (WAS vs. SD) tonight, but there is currently a 60% chance of rain. I don’t want to have to make a last-minute decision of juggling starting lineups in case Strasburg’s game is rained out or delayed. DeGrom has the same salary as Strasburg at $12,100 and will take up roughly 25% of my salary. DeGrom has 76 Ks in only 56 IP. Roster Jacob DeGrom tonight if you want to beat Lawr Michaels in period 2, week 3 of our Tout Wars DFS contest! #BeatLawr

Mike Clevinger ($8,000 vs. Kansas City) Clevenger rocks the mullet haircut with business up front, party in the back. He took a no-hitter into the 7th inning against Houston in his last start and is filling in nicely for the Indians while Corey Kluber is on the disabled list. Along with the mullet, Clevenger is sporting a nice 1.56 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 19 Ks on 11 IP. Roster Michael Clevenger tonight if you want to beat Lawr Michaels in period 2, week 3 of our Tout Wars DFS contest! #BeatLawr

Manny Machado ($4,400 @Houston) He is dirt cheap tonight and it’s time that he emerges from his early season slump. Machado faces Houston right handing pitcher, Joe Musgrove, who owns a 4.06 ERA on the season. Machado is hitting only .210 with 6 home runs and 15 RBI against right-handed pitching this season. Tonight, he breaks out of his slump. Roster Manny Machado tonight if you want to beat Lawr Michaels in period 2, week 3 of our Tout Wars DFS contest! #BeatLawr

MIKE GIANELLA

Max Scherzer ($12,700 vs San Diego) He’s almost an automatic play for me regardless of price/matchup, but the Padres feels like a gimmie.

Matt Carpenter ($4,600 @Colorado) Sits at the top of a St. Louis stack at Coors this evening. Coors hasn’t had too many high octane games yet, but with the summer approaching, we’re just about due.

PHIL HERTZ

Jacob DeGrom ($12,100 @Pittsburgh)

Matt Carpenter ($4,600 @Colorado)

BRIAN WALTON

OK, the Scherzer pick was easy, but now where to scrimp? Do you hamstring your offense or seek out a bargain SP2? I am going with the latter, specifically Zack Godley ($6,300 @Milwaukee) of Arizona at just $6300. The right-hander has been sharp in his four starts, with a 1.05 WHIP and a .195 batting average against. Godley pitches in Miller Park Friday night, but against a Milwaukee lineup that will be without Ryan Braun.

Speaking of scrimping, I am saving some money at first base on Friday night, picking up interim Brave Matt Adams ($3,300 @San Francisco) for just $3300. In five games since the trade from St. Louis, Adams has five extra-base hits and four RBI. In the smallest five at-bat career sample against Giants starter Matt Cain, Adams has a single, double and three RBI.

TIM HEANEY
Jake Arrieta ($9,200 @LA Dodgers): Going against the grain a bit here, but Arrieta looks to have figured some things out. I’ll call his name while everyone else runs away from the Justin Turner-less Dodgers.

Aaron Hicks ($4,300 vs. Oakland): It’s a bit pricey, but it definitely plays toward Hicks’ performance vs. LHP, and Manaea should endure a little resistance from a steady Yankees home offense.

RICK WOLF

Jose Bautista ($4,800 vs. Texas) In daily fantasy sports, owners try to find players who are the opposite handedness of the pitcher to get a natural edge.  Well, Jose Bautista is right handed, but hitting just .154 vs LHP in 2017.  Conversely, in the last 14 days, the bat-flipping Bautista is the best hitter vs RHP from either side of the plate.  He is hitting .571/.638/1.036 making his OPS a crazy 1.674.  He faces AJ Griffin who after twirling a gem has gone back to back with awful performances giving up 13 earned runs in less than a full 9 innings.   Bautista is at home and in the two hole, so invest with confidence.

Max Scherzer ($12,700 vs San Diego) Know it is the chalk, but look at the matchup.  The Padres strikeout the fourth most and after tonight it may be second as they are only eight strikeouts behind the Milwaukee Brewers.  No team can see the Rays with a telescope with more than 85 strikeouts more than the next team.  Scherzer is a sure thing for the strikeouts with at least 6 strikeouts in each of his last ten outings.  He is striking out 42% of RHH this year which is tops in the majors.  He relies heavily on his slider, throwing it more than 40% of the time to RHHs.  He costs more, but is a sure thing tonight.

GENE McCAFFREY

Max Scherzer ($12,700 vs San Diego) is a must at home against the strikeout-prone Padres. No sense messing around with a 30-point game his over/under, and I’ll take the over. This means a cheapish #2 is also pretty much a must, and I choose Aaron Nola in a close call over Mike Clevinger, who is impressive but a bit walk-prone.

Several good budget choices tonight, but Starlin Castro ($3,500 vs. Oakland) at The Stadium against lefty Sean Manaea and a weak Oakland bullpen is close to a can’t-miss, at a mere $3500.

CHARLIE WIEGERT

Mike Clevinger ($8,000 vs. Kansas City) had a great last outing and gets KC at home, maybe lightning will strike in same spot again!

Betts and Bogaerts ($5,200 and $4,900 vs. Seattle) vs Gallardo, Bour who has been red hot, and Harper to go deep tonight.

JASON COLLETTE

Mike Clevinger ($8,000 vs. Kansas City)

Welington Castillo ($3,700 @Houston)

The May 22 FAAB Reports for Tout Wars!

Todd  Zola and the merry lads at Mastersball have the words and numbers for all the leagues and let us know what happened this week. Check it out here.

Mike Gianella’s NL and LABR reports are always full of wisdom and wit. This week’s is here.

Draft Kings Picks for Tout War Daily, From the Touts. May 19, 2017

Michael Beller got off to a nice start in Period 2 Week 1 of the four-week contest. Week 2 goes off tonight.

Here are Tout Picks for tonight’s contest:

CHARLIE WIEGERT

The last time Taijuan Walker ($8,400 @SD) pitched good was April 27th vs San Diego. He gets them again tonight and I’m hoping for another 10+ KO performance.

Nolan Arenado ($5,200 @Cincinnati) and Charlie Blackmon ($5,300) against Reds rookie pitcher Bonilla, and hot hitters Jose Altuve, Jonathan Lucroy and Aaron Judge.

GENE McCAFFREY

Luis Severino ($8,800 @Tampa Bay) has 17 Ks in 56 PAs vs. the Rays lineup, which means his expected performance range is mediocre-to-great. Which is a lot better than poor-to-mediocre.

Assuming the game is played, Brandon Crawford ($3,300 @St. Louis) has hit Michael Wacha well and he’s cheap.

JEFF BOGGIS

Chris Sale ($13,000 @Oakland) has been on fire and he is worth paying top dollar to roster him this week. Over this past 5 starts, Sale is 3-1 with a 2.68 ERA and averaging over 7 innings pitched and 11 strikeouts per game. He pitches on the road tonight at Oakland where he owns a 2.49 ERA and 0.83 WHIP on the road this season. You must be more savvy when rostering your hitters to justify Sale’s top salary at $13,000, but he can carry your team tonight. Roster Chris Sale tonight if you want to beat Lawr Michaels in period 2, week 2 of our Tout Wars DFS contest! #BeatLawr

Chris Taylor ($3,700 vs. Miami) By rostering Chris Sale at SP, I must find hitter values and I think I have that tonight with Chris Taylor. After going 0/3 on Wednesday, he was given the day off on Thursday and rested for tonight’s game. Taylor will face left-handed pitcher, Justin Nicolino tonight. Chris Taylor is hitting .381/.500/.571 with 1 HR and 1 RBI against lefties this season. He also has a 0.923 OPS over the last 14 days. Roster Chris Taylor tonight if you want to beat Lawr Michaels in period 2, week 2 of our Tout Wars DFS contest! #BeatLawr

BRIAN WALTON

With the big money likely on Chris Sale, I will save $4600 by leading with Alex Wood ($8,800 vs. Miami) and field a decent offense. With a 2.27 ERA, 48 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings and back to back double digit strikeout games, Wood is finally stepping to that long-anticipated next level. Making this play even better is the arrival of the toothless Miami offense in Dodger Stadium Friday night.

On offense, my pick of the day is scalding-hot J.D. Martinez ($4,700 vs. Texas). Over his last 25 plate appearances, the Detroit outfielder is 8-for-16, including five home runs, 11 RBI and he took nine walks to boot. There should be little contest between this Martinez and Rangers starter Nick Martinez (5.04 ERA) Friday evening.

LAWR MICHAELS

Charlie Morton ($8,700 vs. Cleveland): Morton has slipped into the Astros groove, adding three MPH to his fastball, averaging 18.7 fantasy points per game. That means pairing him with Alex Wood gives me solid arms and big time bats. The move is also a crapshoot, as I am assuming my mates will go for Chris Sale against the Athletics, which is certainly the called for pick.  But, going against the grain Week II gives a chance to jump by my mates with a good day, and still affords two more weeks to try and rectify a potential Morton meltdown.

Lorenzo Cain ($4,100 @Minnesota): Cain is having a solid year despite those around him, averaging eight points while facing lefty Hector Santiago, who has pitched pretty well, but is indeed vulnerable to the long ball.

May 15, 2017 FAAB Reports

Mastersball weighs in with reports on all five leagues, with a complete record of bids and wisdom from Todd Zola and his crew.

Mike Gianella talks about Tout NL’s moves this week, plus comments about LABR Mixed (with some Tout info as well) and LABR AL.

Period 2 Week 1 of Tout Daily is All Michael Beller!

Michael Beller took two cheap pitchers, Dylan Bundy and Eddie Butler, stacked the Dodgers and Diamondback offenses, and easily bested the Rotowire cadre, Vlad Sedler and his Rotowire boss, Jeff Erickson, who finished the week in second and third respectively.

[CORRECTION: This post originally named Clay Link as the winner because of confusion caused by Michael Beller’s DK name. It is now corrected.]

Both Sedler and Erickson rostered Bundy and the evening’s second most expensive pitcher, Clayton Kershaw in Colorado.

You’ll find the leaderboard here.

The Top 10 for the week (wydiyd is Jeff Zimmerman, bbella is Andrea LaMont):

Tout Daily Picks for May 11, 2017

It’s the start of Period 2. Everybody starts fresh, except that Derek Carty and Howard Bender already have Golden Tickets in their pockets.

This week’s picks:

PHIL HERTZ

Freddie Freeman ($4,700 @Miami) versus Urena.

Mike Foltynewicz (($7,500 @Miami) versus the Marlins.

JEFF BOGGIS (Fantasy Football Empire) @JeffBoggis

Top Pitcher – Matt Harvey ($6,900 @Milwaukee) – I predict that a lot of experts will be staying away from Matt Harvey tonight, which plays right into my period 2 Golden Ticket strategy. At $6,900, Harvey is the 20th ranked starting pitcher tonight, which affords me the opportunity to roster some of the higher priced pitchers and hitters. Harvey has something to prove tonight, and I am willing to roll the dice on the dark night silencing his critics. This is not a bad matchup tonight against Milwaukee as they rank 19th with a 91 wRC+ against right-handed pitching in 2017. Get him into your lineup if you want to beat Lawr Michaels in period 2 of our contest! #BeatLawr

Top Hitter – Mookie Betts ($5,200 vs. Tampa Bay) – Over his last 4 games, Betts is averaging almost 25 fantasy points per game. He faces right-handed pitcher Alex Cobb tonight. Against right-handed pitchers this season, Betts is batting .324 with 4 home runs, and 18 runs batted in this season. Get him into your lineup if you want to beat Lawr Michaels in period 2 of our contest! #BeatLawr

GENE McCAFFREY

Pitcher – The magic has to end sometime for Joe Biagini ($4,900 vs. Seattle), but he’s got skill and he’s super-cheap tonight.

Hitter – Assuming he plays, Yasmani Grandal ($4,500 @Colorado) is heating up just in time for Coors Field.

LAWR MICHAELS

Clayton Kershaw ($11,300 @Colorado): Expensive? Yes, but the lessons of Robbie Ray and the Rockies vulnerabilities to Southpaws are not lost on me, so downtown with the best lefty–maybe pitcher–in the game I go.

Elvis Andrus ($4,200 vs. Oakland): Still not considered among any kind of top tier shortstop it seems, Andrus averages eight points a game and is wielding a pretty solid .386 OBP with a couple of homers, a steal, and six walks over his last ten games. He should be able to continue against Oakland and Jesse Hahn at home.

BRIAN WALTON

Patrick Corbin ($8,100 vs. Pittsburgh). This is as much about Corbin as it is the Pirates’ woeful offense, which is 28th in MLB in runs scored. After three quality starts in a row, Corbin was bombed last time out, but I will give him a Coors Field mulligan for that.

Cody Bellinger ($4,900 @Colorado). Speaking of Coors, the early choice for National League Rookie of the Year and his Dodgers mates are playing at altitude this weekend. Tee off time is 8:40 p.m. EDT against Tyler Chatwood, who comes into the game with a 5.40 home ERA in 2017.

CHARLIE WIEGERT

Top Pitcher…Matt Harvey ($6,900 @Milwaukee)  A contrarian pick for sure, but if anyone has something to prove right now, it’s Harvey!

Top hitters… Stacking some Dodgers at Coors; Grandel, Bellinger and Puig.

JEFF ERICKSON

I’m using Dylan Bundy $7,500 @Kansas City) against the worst offense in baseball, and trying to get speedy Diamondbacks against Tyler Glasnow.

Derek Carty Crushes Period 1 in Tout Daily 2017!

With a second consecutive first place finish in week four of Period One, Derek Carty pranced to a 69 point lead in the four week contest, earning a Golden Ticket to the finals.

Howard Bender finished third on the week, but that was enough for him to finish 25 points ahead of third place finisher Phil Hertz and also earn a ticket to the finals.

You can see the whole leaderboard here.

A new four-week contest begins next Friday. Look for our Touts’ picks for Friday night’s contests on Friday afternoon.

Would you like to play? The Tout Daily league is hosted by Draft Kings, and they are offering a special to new signups. Deposit $5 and gain free entry to a $3 contest. Click here to for more details and how to sign up.