It’s the final week of Period 4 with three more Golden Tickets up for grabs. Here’s some of the picks the Touts are counting on to get into the Championship Tournament.
Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis)
Pitcher: Walker Buehler – Buehler looks to improve on his 8 wins this season and his 1 k per IP ratio.
Hitter: Edwin Encarnacion – Encarnacion owns similar pitchers like Stanek.Over the past two seasons he is slugging .495 in his last 220 PA’s against right-handers with high strikeout rates.
Phil Hertz (BaseballHQ, @prhz50)
Pitcher: Jack Flaherty – Last two starts have gone well — and he’s done better at home.
Hitter: Juan Soto – He’s been red hot and facing Wojciechowski
Anthony Aniano (Rotoballer, @AAnianoFantasy)
Pitcher: Brandon Woodruff – Woodruff is only $8,700 yet strikes out 28.8% of the batters he faces and goes against an Atlanta team that averages almost 9 Ks per game. Earlier this season Woodruff went 8 IP with 6 Ks versus the Braves.
Hitter: Alex Bregman – Bregman faces lefty Andrew Heaney of the Angels tonight and on the season Bregman is hitting .278 with 8 home runs in 90 at bats versus lefties. All with a reasonable $4,500 price tag.
Derek VanRiper (Rotowire, @DerekVanRiper)
Pitcher: Jack Flaherty – Homers have been a big issue for Flaherty this season, and they’re a huge part of why he “deserves” a high-4.00s ERA through 18 starts. While the Pirates temper strikeouts (20.2% as a team, 27th in MLB), the conditions in St. Louis are relatively mild for mid-July, and I’m expecting him to get deep into his start and offer up 5-6 strikeouts over 6+ IP at a very affordable price.
Hitter: Paul Goldschmidt – Pirates starter Dario Agrazal hasn’t missed many bats in his very limited time with the Pirates (three starts), and his ascent through the minors was fueled by very good control the ability (at lower levels) to keep the ball in the park. I can’t quite figure out why Goldschmidt’s power has fallen off so much in 2019, but he’s priced down on a night where there is a 14.5 o/u at Coors, which might actually keep his ownership rate somewhat reasonable in this excellent matchup.
Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola)
Pitcher: Zach Plesac – Going with the two cheapest pitchers for which I have a modicum of trust (Flaherty the other).
Hitter: Brandon Crawford – Call it chasing stats after the DH yesterday but 3.7K in Coors against cruddy RHP is a free square
Michael Florio (NFL Network, @MichaelFFlorio)
Pitcher: Jack Flaherty – I keep going back to the Flaherty well in hopes of the big turnaround game. The good news for today is he has been much better at home this season. Plus, the Pirates lineup isn’t the scariest. It is not a great pitching slate, so I am going for cheaper upside.
Hitter: Nolan Arenado – He is expensive, but he is facing a weak lefty at home! Sign me up.
Jeff Erickson (Rotowire, @Jeff_Erickson)
Pitcher: Walker Buehler – Buehler is too cheap at $10.2, even with facing the Phillies on the road. I’ll sweat the high ownership elsewhere.
Hitter: Matt Adams – There are so many bad pitchers tonight that I wish to stack against, but for this contest I’m using my Nats stack – listing Adams here because he’s the least obvious of the five.
Howard Bender (Fantasy Alarm, @RotobuzzGuy)
Pitcher: Jack Flaherty – Has seemingly turned that corner we hoped to see him turn about two and a half months ago, but better late than never, right? I like him to best the Buccos tonight.
Hitter: Nolan Arenado – Pretty much anyone on the Rockies tonight against a tomato can like Pomeranz. After being embarrassed by the Giants in a double-header Monday, Arenado should be good for 8 home runs and 28 RBI by the end of the 5th inning.