It’s the first week of the fifth and final period for the Touts to earn a Golden Ticket into the Tout Daily Championship Tournament. The scores start fresh, the three highest cumulative totals over the next four Tuesdays are awarded the final trio of entries. Here’s who some of the Touts are hoping get them off to a strong start.
Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola)
Pitcher: Chris Archer – In past seasons would pay up for pitching but the change in the run-scoring landscape shifts the value to bats so going cheap and hoping to land on the right hitters.
Hitter: Yasmani Grandal – Running three mini-stacks (Indians, Padres, Brewers). I can afford paying up at catcher and of those three teams, Grandal works best betting third vs. Tanner Roark
Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis)
Pitcher: Chris Sale – Chris Sale is finally pitching like the Chris Sale that we drafted in the 2nd round of 2019 fantasy baseball league drafts. Sale is coming off a 12 K outing and even if he does not beat the Tampa Bay Rays tonight, his other stats will likely pay high enough dividends to justify his $11,000 salary.
Hitter: Cristian Yelich/Mike Trout – Both Christian Yelich ($5,900) and Mike Trout ($5,800) have carried my team over the past few weeks to earn me a golden ticket . If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! Rolling with Yelich and Trout again for this period.
Derek VanRiper (Rotowire, @DerekVanRiper)
Pitcher: Merrill Kelly – There are plenty of aces to choose from tonight, so my hope is that Kelly can quietly deliver a 20-point start at home against a woeful Orioles offense at an affordable mid-tier price ($7,300) at a low ownership rate.
Hitter: Twins Stack (GPP) – I want to load up Twins bats against Domingo German in tournaments (and in this contest, where I’m trying to make up a lot of overall points in the final period), given his home-run issues and the Twins’ ability to hit them in bunches.
Justin Mason (Friends with Fantasy Benefits, Fangraphs, Fantasy Alarm, @JustinMasonFWFB)
Pitcher: Stephen Straburg – Stras is worth paying up for against a struggling Rockies team on the road.
Hitter: Josh Reddick – Reddick is a cheap play in the outfield with a fairly safe floor. Always like getting to be in the middle of a stacked lineup for cheap
Derek Carty (RotoGrinders, @DerekCarty)
Pitcher: Madison Bumgarner – Everyone will be on Chris Sale, who’s great, but Bumgarner is 2k cheaper on DraftKings and nearly as good. His talent level has diminished since his glory days, but too much has been made about his decline at this point. He still has a long leash, gets a pitchers’ umpire, gets easily the best pitching weather of the slate — 60 degrees on a night where everywhere else is mid-70s or hotter — and faces a watered-down Cubs offense that takes a massive park hit.
Hitter: Jose Abreu – Abreu will go overlooked because he faces a great pitcher in Caleb Smith, but he’s way too cheap for his talent level. Plus, Smith gets a very negative context shift, moving from the NL to the AL and from the game’s top pitchers’ park into a strong hitters’ park. Add in the platoon advantage, and Abreu for $3,900 is a terrific value the same as he was last night against Trevor Richards when he posted 25+ points.