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.