It’s the fourth week of Period 2, so by the end of the evening, three more entries into the championship tournament will be awarded. Here are some of the players the Touts hope deliver.
Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis)
Pitcher: Spencer Strider – Spencer Strider is coming off a season low 7 strikeouts in his last outing. I’d like to see him go deeper than 5 innings tonight to be worth his $12,300 salary. He’s still averaging 26.4 fantasy points per game. Playing for pride tonight, but you never know.
Hitter: Aaron Judge – Aaron Judge has been on fire since returning from the IL. He’s produced double digit fantasy points in 7 out of his last 8 contests and has exceeded 30 fantasy points in 2 of these contests. At a salary of $6,300, he’s priced to perfection, but that’s what I need tonight.
Howard Bender (Fantasy Alarm, @RotoBuzzGuy)
Pitcher: Bobby Miller – Why wouldn’t you want to go with the rookie? Because he’s facing a tough Braves lineup? Pfffffft! Stare death in the face and laugh!
Hitter: Jorge Soler – In Coors against a lefty? Yum!
Phil Hertz (Baseball HQ, @prhz50)
Pitcher: Eduardo Rodriguez – With one exception, he’s been very good of late. Reasonable price versus Royals. Why not.
Hitter: Aaron Judge – 1.463 OPS over his last 10 games. Nuff said.
Erik Halterman (Rotowire, @erik_halterman)
Pitcher: Eduardo Rodriguez – To Bobby Miller or not to Bobby Miller is the question of the day for me. Count me as more scared of his opponent than excited by his price, so I’ll go with a boring, mid-priced veteran with a great matchup against the Royals instead.
Hitter: Eduardo Escobar – Gotta collect all the Eduardos. Escobar had a -5 wRC+ in his first 12 games, but his 178 wRC+ since then suggests he’s not totally cooked. I wouldn’t expect more than league-average performance going forward, but league-average from a $2,500 player who’s batting second for a good lineup is a steal.
Sara Sanchez (bleedcubbieblue.com, @BCB_Sara)
Pitcher: Gerrit Cole – He’s been so good this season, I went back and forth between him and Strider tonight but the extra few dollars allowed me to tweak my hitters in ways that I *think* will really help, so I’m going to roll with Cole tonight. Plus the Dodgers have some really hot hitters right now and it made me nervous, even though Strider rules and I’m starting him in every league I have him in this week.
Hitter: Jared Kelenic – Kelenic has had a great year, and starting Cole instead of Strider let me pick him up as an OF option. The Mariners face off against the As tonight, which is only slightly less good that hitting in Coors, so I went with Kelenic tonight.
Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola)
Pitcher: Gerrit Cole – Cole and Strider and I’ll figure the rest out.
Hitter: Joge Soler – OK, Cole, Strider and Soler and I’ll figure the rest out. I should probably fade the chalk, but then I should also fade pizza. Though, it looks like Judge is getting attention, so fading Judge works, since I trust a platoon edge in Coors for a guy who is comfy vs. LHP over a non-predictive streak.
Steve Gardner (USA TODAY Sports, @SteveAGardner)
Pitcher: Yu Darvish – It hasn’t been a great season, but Darvish gets strikeouts even if he’s a little off his game. The Nats will help him get back in a groove.
Hitter: Nelson Cruz – A sneaky $3000 pick at first base, Cruz enjoys hitting against left-handers and you can’t discount the revenge factor (!) in his return to Washington.