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Tout Daily Phase 4 Week 2: The Touts Pick!

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We asked the Touts to share their picks for best pitcher and best hitter in tonight’s Tout Daily Week 14 contest. For more about Tout Daily visit here.

Tonight’s contest is Week 2 of Phase 4 of the five phase contest. The top three finishers in each phase get a ticket to the big August 28 final, with big money and the chance to be the first Tout Wars Daily champ.

Scott Pianowski, Jeff Erickson, Adam Ronis (has two!), Lenny Melnick, Lawr Michaels, Tom Kessenich, Michael Beller and Jeff Bogis have tickets to the finals already. The leaderboard is here.

Here are this week’s Tout picks. I’ll be updating this as they come in, so check back later if you get a chance.

TODD ZOLA

Madison Bumgarner ($11,900 vs. Philadelphia) My goal is the golden ticket so I’m in conservative mode, want to stay close then decide how risky to be in the final two weeks of this period. Bumgarner is the safest arm on the board to get a base of innings and whiffs.

Derek Norris ($2,400 at Texas) Should injury concerns me but if I was likely to hit leadoff against Wandy Rodriguez in Arlington, I’d tell the Skip everything is fine.

PAUL SPORER

Madison Bumgarner ($11,900 vs. Philadelphia) Yes, he’s the most expensive arm out there, but sometimes the most obvious answer is the best answer. I’m not deterred at all by Philly getting him for 5 back in early-June, either. That was one bad inning and he still went 8 with 11 Ks. He has basically been a carbon copy of last year’s excellence.

Nolan Reimold – ($2200 vs. Washington) Figured I’d give a nice low-dollar bat since you need at least a couple when you spend on MadBum. Health has eluded Reimold throughout his career, but he has regularly shown the ability to handle lefties when he does play. Righties having their best success against Gio since his rookie year, too, with a .777 OPS a 131-point difference than his work v. lefties.

ENO SARRIS

Danny Salazar ($8,700 vs Oakland) The circumstances help — Salazar is pitching at home in a nice park, with the third-coldest weather of the day, and incoming winds, against a team that’s bottom half of the American League against fastballs — but this is more about Salazar’s quality with respect to his price. Here’s a pitcher who has struck out 37 batters against nine walks in his last 35.1 innings. Yeah, he gives up the home run, but the Athletics are fourth-worst in homers over the last thirty days, and only a run better for the season. This is a power pitcher that doesn’t walk many batters, going up against a less powerful team that depends on making contact and taking walks to score runs. That’s a good price for a secret ace.

Rougned Odor ($2,800 vs San Diego) The Rangers’ second baseman has been a different hitter since he came back from the minors, He’s really tightened up his swing rate against righties, which would serve him well against Ian Kennedy. In fact, Odor is part of a mini-stack on my squad, as I try to take advantage of a homer-prone righty with relatively soft stuff coming into the heat of Texas. It’s scheduled to be a whopping 91 degrees in Arlington tonight, five degrees warmer than the second-warmest park, That heat should be worth an extra eight feet of batted ball distance over, say, the game in Cleveland, where it will be 20 degrees cooler. Of course, it looks like the wind is blowing in right now, but that’s still a nice park and a nice matchup for relative values in Odor, Josh Hamilton, and even Leonys Martin (should he start).

JEFF BOGGIS

Gerrit Cole ($10,600 vs. St. Louis) My heart wants to start Madison Bumgarner tonight, but my head is starting Gerrit Cole. Cole is at a $1,300 discount tonight versus Bumgarner and I have them projected within 2 fantasy points tonight. It all comes down to their opposing pitchers. Bumgarner is facing Cole Hamels, who I believe is on showcase tonight as this could be his last game in a Phillies uniform. Case in point, on Tuesday night, Max Scherzer faced Johnny Cueto, and Cueto is also a potential showcase pitcher. Cueto pitched lights out and it would not surprise me if Hamels outpitches Bumgarner tonight. Cole faces Lance Lynn tonight and Lynn is no slouch at $9,300, but Hamels is a tougher matchup tonight. Don’t be surprised if a lot of top ranked pitchers end up with a no decision tonight. In his last night starts, Cole is 7-1 with 1

Justin Upton ($2,700 @ Texas) This is purely a value pick based on his ability, his matchup, and his salary. Anytime that I can get a player that is being discounted, I take advantage and Upton at $2,700 is a steal tonight. He has a good righty versus lefty matchup against Wandy Rodriguez. Over the past 2 season, Justin Upton has a slugging percentage of .487 against similar pitchers. He did not start in Wednesday’s game and had 2 days of rest from his oblique soreness. Just make sure he is in the starting lineup tonight and all indications is that he will be in the starting roster.

AL MELCHIOR

Erasmo Ramirez ($6,700 vs. Houston Astros) – Ramirez has been performing like a near-elite over seven starts now, with a 1.18 ERA and 14 percent whiff rate. The Astros can’t hurt his chances for Ks, and the price is phenomenal.

Brian Dozier ($4,000 vs. Detroit Tigers) – Dozier is no bargain, but he hits righties about as well as he hits lefties, and Justin Verlander is allowing an .807 OPS to right-handed hitters.

JAKE CIELY

Madison Bumgarner ($11,900 vs. Philadelphia) Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke on back-to-back days? Don’t worries Phillies, now you get… what’s that? Madison Bumgarner?! Geez, sorry guys. But, I am not going to apologize for auto-picking Bumgarner for my lineup no matter the price. People can try to be contrarian, but it’s only going to bite them in the end.

Prince Fielder ($3,500 vs. San Diego)– How is he only $3,500? Ian Kennedy is giving up home runs as if it’s his goal in life, and the Rangers have one of the higher projected run totals tonight. There really isn’t much more to say here, as Fielder is a near must-start.

JEFF ERICKSON

Madison Bumgarner ($11,900 vs. Philadelphia) Just keeping it simple by using the best pitcher against the worst lineup in a great ballpark. I’ve had a lot of positive reinforcement going that way this week – why stop?

Mitch Moreland ($2,900 vs. San Diego) A home matchup against Ian Kennedy, is that something that you might be interested in?

DOUG ANDERSON

Madison Bumgarner ($11,900 vs. Philadelphia)– There’s just nothing I can find to nitpick in this matchup. Bumgarner’s season numbers are maybe a little disappointing, but most of the damage came on the road early in the season. He had sub-3.00 ERAs in May and June. The Phillies? Hey, at least they’ve scored more runs than theWhite Sox and Mets.

Adam Jones ($3,300 vs. Washington) – Against RHP Jones
is the anti-Votto, but that OBP jumps up to .375 when he faces a left-handed pitcher. Jones used to seem like the next big thing, but he’s turned into a boringly consistent player. I like boring when it’s this good.

DAVID GONOS

AJ Pierzynski ($3,400 at Colorado) and Kendall Graveman ($5,400 at Cleveland)

GENE MCCAFFREY

Difficult night, a typical Friday. I’m going bang for the buck to get some expensive hitters in, so it’s Noah Syndergaard ($8,400 vs. Arizona) and “I Dread Jedd” Gyorko  ($2200  at Texas). Let the chips fall.

ADAM RONIS

Madison Bumgarner ($11,900 vs. Philadelphia) and Dee Gordon

FROM THE GODFATHER OF FANTASY SPORTS, CHARLIE WIEGERT

Hitters…loading up on the Rockies and Braves at home. 3B Nolan Arenado ($5,100 vs. Atlanta) my must have, he’s going to Hale tonight!

PETER KREUTZER

Ervin Santana ($7,600 versus Detroit) I know, crazy, but Tigers without Miggy isn’t the same offensive team. And Santana is cheap, coming off an excellent win in his first game back from suspension. I didn’t like the matchups and/or prices of the big guys, so a little bottomfishing.

Bryce Harper ($5,000 versus Baltimore) The reason to bet on Santana is to also bet on guys like Harper (Tillman) and Edwin Encarnacion (Duffy) in good matchups.

STEVE MOYER

Kyle Hendricks  ($6900 vs. Cubs) – Inside Edge says play early and take advantage of these cheapo starter against the crosstown rival Chisox.
Jedd Gyorko  ($2200  at Texas) We’ve probably all been jilted by Jedd at some point in our fantasy careers by now, but Inside Edge says he’s the top play on the board tonight. And at second base. And at $2200.

 

Weak July 6 FAAB, Reports from Mastersball and, on Tuesday, Baseball Prospectus.

Lord Zola and the merry gang at Mastersball share their observations about this week’s FAAB doings in Tout Wars.

Mike Gianella’s weekly AL and NL FAAB roundup gets contemplative, and it feels odd.

Tout Daily Week 13. Missed It By This Much! Getting Smarter or Getting Luckier?

patrickmayoThis is the place where we hail the week’s Tout Daily by FanDuel winner, so let’s get this out of the way. Lenny Melnick calls him a Daily Fantasy Monster, but you know him as Patrick Mayo. Last night he won Week 1 of Phase 4 of Tout Daily’s five phase contest. That puts him in the lead to win one of three tickets awarded to the top three finishers of this four-week phase, a ticket giving its holder entry into the Tout Daily finals, on August 28th, in which 15 entries compete for $2,000 in prizes (contest and prizes courtesy of FanDuel).

Well done, Patrick.

Oh, you want to know about Patrick’s team?

Like half of the active Tout Daily teams this week, Mayo’s squad was built around Clayton Kershaw. The experts loved Kershaw in Friday’s Picks Column because a lefty strikeout pitcher against the struggling Mets offense was seen as the equivalent of money in the bank.

But Kershaw’s high price ($12,300) forced his owners to make like Greece and accept austerity elsewhere, which led to Mayo’s coup de grace rostering of Grady Sizemore, Gerardo Parra, and the unintuitively inexpensive Robinson Cano, who scored a combined 20.75 points Friday night.
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A look at Mayo’s roster shows that despite Kershaw’s disappointing performance (one reason you pay Kershaw so much is because his disappointing game is often close to the peak performance of lesser pitchers) no single player had a negative value, and this team (click to enlarge) was the evening’s best.

Which takes us to the night’s real story: Rotoman Rising.

Rotoman, who has to admit he is writing this piece, sent dinner guests home about 10:30 pm and checked his computer to see what fresh hell was destroying his Tout Daily squad. Entering Week 13 of the weekly contests, Rotoman had yet to taste the fruits of a Top-10 finish. (One of only four teams not to score at least once going into week 13.)

Rotoman had a hard time reconciling his belief that Daily Fantasy Baseball was a game with an extremely high variance of outcomes with the fact that he himself was so consistently bad (without even making rookie mistakes, like starting players who don’t play because they’re not in the lineup or the game is rained out).

The point is, that while the better player will certainly prevail over time, the outcome on any day is highly subject to luck. How bad do you have to be to not be able to even get lucky? Rotoman asked himself, not just once.

As Rotoman’s computer flickered to life on the FanDuel Live page, memories of incredible cheese cake (thanks Kim!) fogging his mind, a remarkable thing happened. The letters said kroyte, the numbers said 45.5 (1 of 43). This outcome was so unexpected it took a moment to comprehend. This did not mean Rotoman was 45th out of 43 contestants having scored but a single point, which was similar to some other week’s results. No, this meant of all the 43 teams playing, Rotoman’s score was the best. Rotoman was winning.

And not by a little. It turns out that Rotoman was the only team playing Chris Archer, who scored 14.66 points on 6.2 IP, 0 ER and 8 strikeouts against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium. Alas, no win, but not bad. This was better than the owners of Michael Wacha were getting. He struck out six in seven innings while allowing one earned run. 12 points. Ten of the 43 teams owned Wacha, and everyone Rotoman was competing with in the Top 10 was playing Wacha, who was out of the game and not going to get a win. Wow, but then it hit Rotoman, hard: Kershaw.

Two teams, sitting down in the teens, maybe 17 points behind, were playing Clayton Kershaw, whose game against the Mets was just getting underway. Rotoman has to admit he watched for a while, as Patrick Mayo’s and Ron Shandler’s and Todd Zola’s teams climbed into the Top 10 and the Mets were retired innocuously inning after inning. Rotoman hoped to see Kershaw knocked from the game, the Mets taking a lead, but that didn’t happen, and when it was clear that a Kershaw win would vault Mayo’s and Shandler’s teams above team kroyte, Rotoman went to bed.

A series of disturbing dreams haunted Rotoman. Why had he chosen Ben Zobrist over Robbie Cano, who was much cheaper? Because that would have left Rotoman with $1,000 unspent dollars. Who would he have replaced with that $1K? Maybe his big scorer for the night, Kole Calhoun. That would have been a disaster. Can you simply not spend $1,000? That’s tough.

Maybe he would have upgraded Adam Jones, whose 0-4 cost team kroyte another point. Maybe Rotoman should have downgraded Jones to Grady Sizemore, which would have given him enough money to buy Clayton Kershaw! This game is tricky.

None of which would have mattered if Kershaw won the game against the Mets, but he didn’t. One reason Rotoman didn’t go with Kershaw was because Noah Syndergaard is a pretty good starter in his own right, and in fact Syndergaard shut the Dodgers down as hard as Kershaw was silencing the Mets. Which left the door open for Rotoman, but he didn’t know this as he slept, he merely dreamed it. Over and over and over again.

Alas, in the gray rainy morning light, Patrick Mayo’s team (which you’ve heard about already) took first place and $60 (thanks to a 10th inning Welington Castillo double and run scored). It was the broad support of his offense that made the well-earned difference. Rotoman settled for second and $48. Ron Shandler finished third and another money virgin of Tout Daily, Todd Zola, finished fifth, right behind the Godfather of fantasy baseball, Charlie Wiegert.

Notably, only one of the top 10 finishers in Phase 4 Week 1 has a ticket to the finals already. That would be Phase 3 champ Michael Beller. It is fun to still be competing as we prepare for Phase 4 Week 2 for this Golden Ticket (created by Jeff Boggis, who has a real one):

pk-golden ticket from Boggis

You can see the leaderboard here.

Which part of one-day games of fantasy baseball do you cherish? The fresh hell of defeat or the surprising richness of everything falling into place? Play against Rotoman and many other Touts in Tuesday’s Tout Challenge contest. Bet $2 and merely finish in the top half of the standings to win $4. Look for the #toutchallenge on Twitter this coming Tuesday.

The Touts Pick for Tout Daily Week 13! A New Phase…

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We asked the Touts to share their picks for best pitcher and best hitter in tonight’s Tout Daily Week 13 contest. For more about Tout Daily visit here.

Tonight’s contest is Week 1 of Phase 4 of the five phase contest. The top three finishers in each phase get a ticket to the big August 28 final, with big money and the chance to be the first Tout Wars Daily champ.

Scott Pianowski, Jeff Erickson, Adam Ronis (has two!), Lenny Melnick, Lawr Michaels, Tom Kessenich, Michael Beller and Jeff Bogis have tickets to the finals already. The leaderboard is here.

Here are this week’s Tout picks. I’ll be updating this as they come in, so check back later if you get a chance.

JAKE CIELY’S Picks

Clayton Kershaw ($12,300–New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers) His price could be $13,200, heck, it could be $15,300 and I’d still use Kershaw. There is no such thing as contrarian when it comes to Kershaw versus the Mets. The only question is whether Kershaw will through a perfect game or just a regular ol’ no hitter. The last time the Mets scored twice was in May… or it just feels that way. In reality, they have averaged just 1.6 runs per game in their last 14 with a .180 batting average and scored just one runs on 15 hits in a 3-game series against the Cubs. Just put Kershaw in your lineup and figure out the rest later.

Kole Calhoun ($2,300–Los Angeles Angels at Texas)  Finally, The Rock has come… wait, sorry, I got caught up in it. Finally, Chi Chi Gonzalez saw the clock hit midnight after we kept waiting for him to regress. Over his last two starts, Gonzalez is 0-2 with a 6.94 ERA and 1.46 WHIP. We have to find value with Kershaw being so expensive, and Calhoun is a terrific play. He only costs $2,300, and Vegas gives this game a 9 O/U with the Angels money line being -125.

DOUG ANDERSON OPINES

Clayton Kershaw ($12,300–New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers) First of all, it’s Clayton Kershaw. Then there’s the fact that only three teams have scored fewer runs than the Mets. Kershaw is opposed by Noah Syndergaard, who’s been inconsistent as you might expect from a young pitcher. If you can build a respectable lineup with Kershaw, you roll with it.

Steve Pearce ($2,400–Baltimore at Chicago White Sox) Yes, this is about Danks, but it’s also about Pearce and lefties. Over the last five years, Pearce has scored 6.561 FanDuel points for every 10 plate appearances against left-handed pitching. That puts him in Albert Pujols and Carlos Gomez territory.

THE GODFATHER OF FANTASY SPORTS, CHARLIE WIEGERT

Michael Wacha ($8,600–San Diego at St. Louis) I’m going to break rule number 1 tonight; I’m taking Cardinal pitcher Wacha because I’m going to the game and want someone to root for!  Wacha has the stuff that any game can be double digit strike outs, and the Redbirds need to get back on a winning track.  Hopefully they bust out tonight.  

David Ortiz ($2,900–Houston at Boston) The Red Sox and Astros looks like a slugfest in Fenway so I’m loading up. David Ortiz  has been hot, so he’s my pick to click tonight.

GENE McCAFFREY SAYS

Clayton Kershaw ($12,300–New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers)  It’s possible to go against Kershaw and win, but with good cheap hitter options why get cute?

Nolan Reimold ($2,200–Baltimore at Chicago White Sox)  Take Nolan Reimold, among others, and reap.

JEFF BOGGIS CONCLUDES

Michael Wacha ($8,600–San Diego at St. Louis) The allure of rostering Clayton Kershaw is enticing, but the $12,300 salary can’t be justified tonight. I was a top tier starting pitcher, but at a fraction of Kershaw’s salary. That is why I am rostering Michael Wacha tonight at home against the San Diego Padres. San Diego is one of the weaker offenses against right handed pitchers this season and the matchup for Wacha is at home tonight. By rostering Wacha, I save $3,700, leaving me an average of $3,300 to spend per hitter versus $2,837.50 to spend per hitter if I rostered Kershaw.

Manny Machado ($4,200—Baltimore at Chicago White Sox) By rostering Wacha versus Kershaw tonight, I have more flexibility to spend my remaining dollars on an elite hitter. I like both Macado and Nolan Arenado tonight, but Arenado’s salary is $700 higher at $4,900. Since rostering Arenado last week with his 2 home run game last Friday night, Arenado has only averaged 0.18 fantasy points in his last 4 games on FanDuel. Over the past 6 games, Machado has averaged 3.3 fantasy points per game on FanDuel.

RAY MURPHY’S RULE

Clayton Kershaw ($12,300–New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers) Week 1 of a new phase is no time to get cute or over-think the pitching choice. Kershaw, at home, against a struggling Mets lineup that skews left-handed, is as good as 15 or more points in the bank.

Adam Lind ($4,000–Milwaukee at Cincinnati) Opposing RHP Michael Lorenzen has had big trouble with LHP (970 OPS against), making this an optimal spot for Lind in GABP. Rostering Kershaw means going low-budget on some hitters, but generally not at first base.

BRIAN WALTON BREAKS HIS SLUMP PICKING AGAINST KERSHAW vs. The Mets.

Michael Wacha ($8,600–San Diego at St. Louis) Like Kershaw, he also draws a below-average offense in San Diego at home Friday night. After his hot start cooled a bit, the 24-year-old is no longer among top NL Cy Young Award candidates, but has the advantage of coming off an extra day’s rest between starts. 

Yasmany Tomas ($3300–Colorado at Arizona) For those looking for a value play. The Cuban is heating up over his last four games with six hits in 17 at-bats (.353), including a home run and four RBI. Colorado starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick lugs his 6.07 ERA to the mound against the Snakes Friday. Need I say more?

SCOTT PIANOWSKI DESCRIBES

Julio Teheran. ($8,000–Philadelphia at Atlanta) Completely different pitcher at home, and the draw is lovely. 

Alejandro De Aza ($3,100–Houston at Boston) The Red Sox finally have offense in right field. Alejandro De Aza can hit righties, and for all the Boston problems, the offense has woken up nicely. 

LAWR MICHEALS PREDICTS

Ubaldo Jimenez ($8,400–Baltimore at Chicago White Sox) Since I qualify for the tourney, I have a little latitude. That said I am still looking at emulating Adam and his double ticket, and Ubaldo has been hot (3-0, 2.75, 23 whiffs over 19.3 innings his last three starts) and I am happy to gamble with him against an erratic hitting White Sox team.

Joe Mauer ($2,600–Minnesota at Kansas City) How did Mauer fall so far off the map? He is just hitting .267-3-30, and his OBP is .337, a far cry for a former batting champ. Still, a lefty hitter against Jeremy Guthrie (5.68 ERA, just 43 whiffs over 81 frames) is too tasty to leave on the table.f

TODD ZOLA’S VERDICT

Clayton Kershaw ($12,300–New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers) Lock, load it. move on.

Nolan Reimold ($2,200–Baltimore at Chicago White Sox)– Hitting second versus John Danks in the Cell? Yes, please.

PAUL SPORER SAYS, Tough day, today.

Michael Wacha ($8,600–San Diego at St. Louis) The results have been there all year, but early on (thru first 6) the Ks were lagging. They’ve been in place over his last 9 starts with 55 Ks in 55.7 IP. Meanwhile, SD is doing a great job imitating their 2014 offense which isn’t good for anyone involved… well, except for opposing pitchers. 

David Peralta ($3900–Colorado at Arizona) He’s no longer the dirt-cheap option he was to start the year, but he continues to rake righties, especially at home, and so even as a higher-level option, he is still worth rostering. 

SCOTT SWANAY SAYS, Happy Fourth of July!

Clayton Kershaw ($12,300–New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers) Sure, he’s the most expensive pitcher by far, but the Mets don’t score many runs, strike out fairly often, and have a low team OPS.  In other words, Kershaw’s got a realistic shot at putting up 20 FanDuel points tonight.  It was tempting to go with Chris Archer and save $1,700, but the Yankees’ offense is considerably more formidable than the Mets’, and Dodger Stadium is a more favorable pitching environment than Yankee Stadium.

Kole Calhoun ($2,300–Los Angeles Angels at Texas) He may be in the midst of a “disappointing” season, but $2,300 seems like a bargain considering that he gets to face the mercurial Justin Masterson in Fenway Park.

AL MELCHIOR’S HOLIDAY HOT DOGS!

Clayton Kershaw ($12,300–New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers) He’s Clayton Kershaw; they’re the Mets. That should be reason enough, but then there’s this. His last seven starts have produced a 1.85 ERA, 67 Ks and nine walks.
Lorenzo Cain ($3300–Minnesota at Kansas City)  Cain is getting on base against lefties at a .420 clip. If he reaches against Tommy Milone and Kurt Suzuki (40 steals allowed in 51 attempts) is catching, I like Cain’s chances to swipe a bag or two.

Pitcher (Cost–Game) Votes (FanDuel Points)

Clayton Kershaw ($12,300–New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers) 7  (13)
Julio Teheran. ($8,000–Philadelphia at Atlanta) 2 (15)
Michael Wacha ($8,600–San Diego at St. Louis) 4 (12)
Ubaldo Jimenez ($8,400–Baltimore at Chicago White Sox) (10)
Chris Archer ($10,600–Tampa Bay at New York Yankees) (14.66)
Jesse Chavez ($8,700–Seattle at Oakland) (6.33)
THE BEST BUY: Julio Teheran–15 points for $8,000
Hitter (Cost–Game) Votes (FanDuel Points
Kole Calhoun ($2,300–Los Angeles Angels at Texas) 2 (8.25)
Neil Walker ($3,200–Cleveland at Pittsburgh) (1.25)
Steve Pearce ($2,400–Baltimore at Chicago White Sox) (.5)
David Ortiz ($2,900–Houston at Boston) 2 (7.75)
Nolan Reimold ($2,200–Baltimore at Chicago White Sox) 2 (.5)
Mookie Betts ($3,700–Houston at Boston) (2)
Manny Machado ($4,200—Baltimore at Chicago White Sox) (.25)
Adam Lind ($4,000–Milwaukee at Cincinnati) (2)
Yasmany Tomas ($3300–Colorado at Arizona) (-1.25)
Alejandro De Aza ($3,100–Houston at Boston) (2)
Joe Mauer ($2,600–Minnesota at Kansas City) (.25)
Stephen Vogt ($3,400–Seattle at Oakland) (.25)
David Peralta ($3900–Colorado at Arizona) (2)
Lorenzo Cain ($3300–Minnesota at Kansas City) (9.75)
BEST BUY: Kole Calhoun–8.25 points for $2,300.
Voters without comments include Adam Ronis, Phil Hertz, Rotoman, David Gonos,

The June 29, 2015 FAAB Report!

The fellas at Mastersball.com have posted their FAAB roundup for the week, which was mostly a quiet one. There were a few big bids, but all were reduced to little bids by Sir Vickery.

Mike Gianella takes on Tout AL and NL transactions (and includes TW Mixed Draft and Auction in a chart) for the week, at baseballprospectus.com.

Who Is Winning Tout Wars Mixed Draft on June 28, 2015?

Adam Ronis has a 12.5 point lead over Rudy Gamble, which is a big lead except for one thing: Ronis just lost Giancarlo Stanton for 4-6 weeks.

That’s a big blow, but Ronis’s team might be able to handle it. Thanks to Stanton and Bryce Harper, as well as Kyle Seager, Brian Dozier and Pedro Alvarez, all with double digit home runs, Ronis has 13 more homers than Paul Greco’s team, and 24 more than Paul Sporer’s, which is third in the category.

If there is a place Ronis is really vulnerable it just might be in starting pitching. He has two surprise closers, in Jeurys Familia and AJ Cole, but his starting staff is Wacha and Cole, then pray for Tsuyoshi Wada, Bartolo Colon, and Roenis Elias.

But so far that’s been enough to get it done. To see the rosters and transactions in Tout Mixed Draft visit the league’s onRoto.com home page.

The current standings;

Screenshot 2015-06-28 16.34.49

Tim McCullough Takes Tout Daily in Week 12! Read on for the notably big story.

Michael Beller, Adam Ronis and Jeff Boggis win tickets to the #toutdaily on @FanDuel final on August 28th, when 15 ticket holders will compete for $2,000 in prizes and the Tout Daily 2015 crown!

Notably, Adam Ronis won his second ticket to the finals. (Each Tout Daily player may win a maximum of two tickets in the contests five phases.) Other ticket holders thus far are: Scott Pianowski, Lenny Melnick, Tom Kessenich, Lawr Michaels, and Jeff Erickson,

Notably, Derek VanRiper was edged out of a ticket by Jeff Boggis by .25 of a point. That’s a single out by a single hitter over the course of four weeks. VanRiper failed to win a ticket despite finishing in the Top 10 during Phase 3 three times. Only Michael Beller, the Phase 3 winner, also finished in the Top 10 three times during Phase 3.

Notably, nobody else was close to the tickets.

tim-mcculloughWhich brings us to Tim McCullough, who won Phase 3 Week 4, with 50.25 points. This was his second Top 10 finish in #toutdaily’s 12 weeks.

Much like Week 11 champ, Phil Hertz, McCullough built his team with unpopular choices. Only Rajai Davis, Adrian Beltre and Xander Bogaerts were owned by more than two other Tout Daily teams.

Big earners for McCullough were spread across the board, with his exclusive Jake Arrieta earning 13 points despite failing to get the win in St. Louis, and Russell Martin, Prince Fielder, Dee Gordon, Scott Van Slyke and Rajai Davis each earning more than five points.

Phase 3 Week 4 runners up include Ray Murphy (Taijuan Walker, Edwin Encarnacion and Scott Van Slyke) and Tim Heaney (Tyson Ross, Edwin Encarnacion, Brian Dozier and Ryan Raburn).

Notably, Charlie Wiegert’s fourth-place team was the highest finisher to roster the night’s biggest-scoring (and highest-priced) starter, Max Scherzer.

Screenshot 2015-06-27 10.04.38

Congratulations to Tim McCullough, Adam Ronis, Michael Beller and Jeff Boggis, and please join us next week for Phase 4 Week 1, when the slate is wiped clean!

The Touts Picks for Week 12 of Tout Daily with FanDuel!

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We asked the Touts to share their picks for best pitcher and best hitter in tonight’s Tout Daily Week 12 contest. For more about Tout Daily visit here.

Tonight’s contest is Week 4 of Phase 3 of the five phase contest. The top three finishers in each phase get a ticket to the big August 28 final, with big money and the chance to be the first Tout Wars Daily champ. Here are the leaders going into this final week (click to enlarge):

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Scott Pianowski, Jeff Erickson, Adam Ronis, Lenny Melnick, Lawr Michaels and Tom Kessenich have tickets to the finals already. The leaderboard is here.

Here are this week’s Tout picks. I’ll be updating this as they come in, so check back later if you get a chance.

Paul Sporer Picks

 

Francisco Liriano ($9900–Atlanta at Pittsburgh) The contact-heavy approach has served ATL well this year against righties where they sit around or just below average. Yes, that is being “served well” for ATL standards because they were expected to be a total doormat coming into the season and they have been vs. lefties. They sit 28th in wRC+ at 76 WITH Freddie Freeman… imagine them without and it’s not like he killed lefties in the first place (.769 OPS). Liriano has been mostly excellent this year with a 3.26 ERA and skills to back it (and then some). He’s had a few clunkers as he always does, but the upside is elite once he gets rolling.
Luis Valbuena ($3900–New York Yankees at Houston) Valbuena is a DFSer’s dream with his low costs and HR-dependent production. With 19 HRs the price has jumped up, but he’s still worth targeting in tourney situations because of that power output. He’s incredibly boom or bust with two 14-pt nights within his last eight games and then just 7.25 pts in the other six combined. He’s at home and he’s facing righty, his two prime splits. And he’s facing a righty who gets mauled by lefties in Nathan Eovaldi (.964 OPS v. LHB).

Brian Walton Likes

Francisco Liriano ($9900–Atlanta at Pittsburgh)  Wise money will be on Max Scherzer ($12,500) against the inept Phillies offense, but then again, if the Nats’ ace was ever going to have an unexplainable let-down, wouldn’t this be the time? Instead, I will save almost three grand and select the ace of my National League Tout Wars squad, Pittsburgh’s Francisco Liriano, who takes on the Freddie Freeman-less Braves at home.

Jason Heyward ($3700–Chicago Cubs at St. Louis) On the offensive side, I will highlight Cardinals outfielder Jason Heyward. Early returns had pegged the Braves as the clear winner in the Shelby Miller trade, but Heyward is finally heating up. The 25-year-old has a .913 OPS in June and is coming off a Miami series during which he went deep twice and plated four.

Jeff Boggis Has A Lot on the Line Tonight

Max Scherzer ($12,500–Washington at Philadelphia) Going into tonight’s contest, I am in 3rd place and a close to a “golden ticket” into the Tout Daily Championship, so I can’t afford to get cute and take chances with my roster tonight. Starting pitching is my top priority and I plan on building my team around Max Scherzer. He is the highest salaried pitcher tonight, but that is not stopping me from rostering him in tonight’s contest. Scherzer has averaged 16.95 fantasy points per game this season and over the past 2 weeks, he has averaged 26 fantasy points. He is coming off his no-hitter against Pittsburgh on Saturday and he is facing a team that he has pitched well against this season. In 2 starts against the Philadelphia Phillies this season, he is 2-0 and is averaging 8 innings pitched, 1 earned run, and 7.5 strikeouts. If he repeats this average, that’s 18.5 fantasy points on Friday night. Scherzer faces Aaron Harang who is giving up a lot of home runs lately. Over the last 4 starts, Harang has allowed 20 earned runs in his last 23.2 inning pitched. There is a 50% chance of rain in Philadelphia on Friday, but it decreases to only 20% on Friday night.

Nolan Arenado ($4,500–Colorado at San Francisco) The third baseman for Colorado is the hottest hitter in baseball this week and ranks #1 overall in the past 7 days with 9 runs scored, 4 home runs, 9 RBIs, and a .391 batting average. He faces Tim Hudson tonight to where he is slugging .500 against him in his last 19 plate appearances. Arendado has 20 home runs and 60 RBIs on the season.

Todd Zola Divines

Francisco Liriano ($9900–Atlanta at Pittsburgh) Facing a weak-hitting Braves team that whiffs at a 22 percent clip versus southpaws, at home in one of the best pitcher’s parks in the league. It’s not even a bang-for-the-buck thing. I expect more points from Liriano than anyone on the docket, including Scherzer and Kluber.
Derek Norris ($2,800–Arizona at San Diego) You know the expression friends with benefits? I call this a punt play with benefits. Norris faces a weak lefty at a minimum price at a position I’ll either spend a ton for the right situation or go cheap. This is going cheap in a great situation.

Al Melchior Ruminates

Max Scherzer ($12,500–Washington at Philadephia) Everyone knows by now that Scherzer has been nearly perfect in back-to-back starts, and he has been flat-out dominant all season long with great control. Add in a matchup against the worst offense in the majors against righties and that makes Scherzer worth every penny.

Luis Valbuena ($3900–New York Yankees at Houston)
 Valbuena doesn’t hit for average against righties or lefties, but he does crush righties for a .288 Iso. Eovaldi has allowed a .380 batting average to lefties. Looks like the perfect night to start Valbuena.

From the Godfather of Fantasy Sports, Charlie Wiegert

Max Scherzer ($12,500–Washington at Philadephia) The closest thing to a sure thing, so you have to pay the price. But Max has been on a roll, has an inferior Phillies team, and wants to extend the Washington pitchers scoreless innings streak.  He’s 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA vs Phillies this year, pay the price and get the best.
Evan Longoria ($2900–Boston at Tampa Bay) I’ll have to go cheap with Scherzer, so looking for bargains.  I’ll take a couple $2200 outfielders, and some right handed hitting Blue Jay hitters at home vs Texas lefty starter Nick Martinez and hope Evan Longoria takes Rick Porcello deep.

Steve Moyer’s Inside Edge

Francisco Liriano ($9900–Atlanta at Pittsburgh) Anyone cheaper than Mr. No-Hitter is a bargain tonight and Inside Edge says Lirano is the best choice on the board. When the Phillies are pounding Scherzer later, you’ll be doing the happy dance (OK, I’m getting carried away).
Justin Upton ($3,300–Arizona at San Diego) Clicks on all cylinders according to the new, even more improved this week Inside Edge engine. Say Hey, Robbie Ray!

Ray Murphy’s Thoughts

Taijuan Walker ($7,800–Seattle at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) Much attention will be focused on Scherzer, but I’ll take a shot with Taijuan Walker tonight for $7800. He’s been on a roll for the last month, and in that time has established that he can thrive on the road. He is at Anaheim tonight, facing a surprisingly-punchless Angels lineup. I’ll roll with him and bet that I can use the $4700 savings between him and Scherzer to build an offense that makes up any points gap between the two hurlers.
Scott Van Slyke ($3,000–Los Angeles Dodgers at Miami) is my favorite platoon specialist tonight: facing rookie southpaw Justin Nicolino, Van Slyke will slot into the middle of the Dodgers lineup. Look for a long ball from him.

Michael Beller Zags

Francisco Liriano ($9900–Atlanta at Pittsburgh) You can go in a lot of different directions with your pitcher tonight, but I’m riding with Francisco Liriano. A matchup with the Freddie Freeman-less Braves? Yes, please.Josh Donaldson ($4,100–Texas at Toronto) Rostering Liriano instead of one of the pitchers priced higher than him allows me to stack Blue Jays. Of all those Jays, I think Josh Donaldson is the best bet. He should be able to take advantage of a matchup with Nick Martinez.

Eno Sarris Digs

Jesse Hahn ($7,800–Kansas City at Oakland) Way down there on the list, the 12th-most expensive pitcher, that’s the one I want. Hahn hasn’t been a great source of strikeouts, but he continues to tell me they are coming, and there are reasons to believe — his curve is among the league-leaders in spin rate, and was a top-five pitch by whiffs last year among curveballs thrown by starters. In the meantime, though, he’s just a really high floor pitcher at home. After being on teams with  pitcher’s parks over the last two years, he’s shown a 3.03 ERA at home. Like the price most of all, though.
Victor Martinez ($3,300–Chicago White Sox at Detroit) It’s so nice to be able to play Victor Martinez at catcher. It’s even nicer when he’s facing a lefty that uses a curveball as his out pitch. Martinez has traditionally batted better from the right side, and has mashed yakkers over his career. Given that Jose Quintana doesn’t get many whiffs, and Martinez doesn’t whiff much, this seems like a great matchup for the Tiger. I was tempted to put a cheap Ryan Rua on here — the Texas outfielder is facing a lefty today, in Toronto — but Rua will bat lower in the lineup and is more of a lineup hole-plugger with some upside.

Phil Hertz Hits

Jesse Hahn ($7,800–Kansas City at Oakland) I’m a little nervous about Jesse Hahn’s potential lack of strikeouts, but he’s been pitching well, the A’s are playing well, and the price is right.

Logan Morrison ($2,400–Seattle at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) has an OPS north of .800 against righthanded pitchers and has hit Matt Shoemaker well before.

Scott Engel’s Kiss

Francisco Liriano ($9900–Atlanta at Pittsburgh) If you are not going to spend up for Max Scherzer tonight, then Francisco Liriano looks like a good option at $9,900. The Braves offense is rather punchless without Freddie Freeman and Liriano should be in line for the win.
Brian Dozier ($3,900–Minnesota at Milwaukee) Kyle Lohse is having a terrible season and I will always attack him when I can. Righties are hittng .323 with 10 HRs against him so I will lock in Brian Dozier at 3,900 and maybe add a Twins teammate or two.

Gene McCaffrey’s Pearls

lex Colome ($6,400–Boston at Tampa Bay) Roll those dice with Alex Colome against the anemic Red Sox in Tampa. You may lose but you should have plenty of hitting points.
Robinson Cano ($2,600–Seattle at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) is finally heating up, nice spot vs lost righty Shoemaker tonight.

Lenny Melnick’s Voice

Max Scherzer ($12,500–Washington at Philadelphia) If we are true Baseball fans ,we must root for Max Scherzer to tie Johnny Vander Meer’s record of 2 NO hitters in a row  Im rooting and playing him for all the wrong DFS reasons
Evan Gattis ($3,300–New York Yankees at Houston) Eovaldi in Houston? Give me Gattis and a side order of Valbuena please! Ill take it TO GO! (deep)

Jake Ciely Skies One

Max Scherzer ($12,500–Washington at Philadelphia) Man, it’s tough to stomach a pitcher priced at $12,500, but is there a chance we see back-to-back no-hitters for Max Scherzer? After all, the Phillies are the worst team in baseball against righties for wOBA (.279) and wRC+ (74). There are quite a few hitters in the $2,000 range, where you can build a solid lineup behind Scherzer (I did it), so you have to go with the guy who has 52 points over his last two starts.

Jake took Byron Buxton, early in the day, but switched to Bryce Harper when Buxton went on the DL.

Lawr Micheal’s Disembodied Poetics

John Lackey ($8,800–Chicago Cubs at St. Louis) Since I need points, my “crapshoot” is Lackey facing the Cubbies, who are indeed free swingers.

Andrew McCutchen ($4,200–Atlanta at Pittsburgh) With Josh Harrison ($3,300) A minor stack against Williams Perez, who has pitched well enough, but averted disaster by allowing opposing hitters a .324 OBP to go with his 1.377 WHIP.

Scott Swanay’s Stabs

Trevor May ($6,400–Minnesota at Milwuakee) He’s been pitching better of late, and he gets to face a strikeout-prone team(Milwaukee) that’s starting a struggling pitcher (Kyle Lohse).  Max Scherzer seems like the “obvious” pick for tonight, but the Phillies don’t strike out a lot, so I’ll spend my money elsewhere.
Charles Blackmon ($4,400–Colorado at San Francisco) The price tag seems low for a streaking hitter facing a mediocre starter (Tim Hudson).  The only thing that could make this match-up more appealing were if the game were being played at Coors Field.  Brett Gardner was the other hitter I considered tabbing for this week’s contest.

Doug Anderson’s Dailies

Tyson Ross ($8,800–Arizona at San Diego)  – FanDuel has five pitchers priced above  Ross. Just remember this is Tyson Petco Ross we’re talking about. He’s a much different pitcher than Tyson on-the-road Ross. While this year’s splits don’t agree, I’m going with a career’s worth of splits. He’s also coming off a dominant performance of his own against these same Diamondbacks.
Yoenis Cespedes ($3,700–Chicago White Sox at Detroit) vs. Jose Quintana (LHP) – First of all, I’m not a big believer in Batter vs. Pitcher numbers. BUT, Cespedes is part of maybe the best stack of the night, and he’s 8-for-12 with four home runs off Quintana in his career. It’s a small sample size, but it does tell me Quintana is not going to dominate Cespedes.
Pitcher (Cost–Game) Votes (FanDuel Points)
Francisco Liriano ($9900–Atlanta at Pittsburgh) 7 (8)
Max Scherzer ($12,500–Washington at Philadelphia) 5 (17)
Taijuan Walker ($7,800–Seattle at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) (12)
Jesse Hahn ($7,800–Kansas City at Oakland) 2 (8)
Alex Colome ($6,400–Boston at Tampa Bay) 2 (5)
John Lackey ($8,800–Chicago Cubs at St. Louis)
Trevor May ($6,400–Minnesota at Milwaukee) (-4.67)
Tyson Ross ($8,800–Arizona at San Diego) 

Hitter (Cost–Game) Votes (FanDuel Points)

Luis Valbuena ($3900–New York Yankees at Houston) 2 (.25)
Jason Heyward ($3700–Chicago Cubs at St. Louis) (-1)
Nolan Arenado ($4,500–Colorado at San Francisco)
Derek Norris ($2,800–Arizona at San Diego) (2.25)
Justin Upton ($3,300–Arizona at San Diego)
Evan Longoria ($2900–Boston at Tampa Bay)
Scott Van Slyke ($3,000–Los Angeles Dodgers at Miami) (8.25)
Josh Donaldson ($4,100–Texas at Toronto) (3.25)
Victor Martinez ($3,300–Chicago White Sox at Detroit) (1.25)
Logan Morrison ($2,400–Seattle at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) (.25)
Brian Dozier ($3,900–Minnesota at Milwaukee) (7.75)
Kole Calhoun ($2,200–Seattle at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim)
Robinson Cano ($2,600–Seattle at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) (5.25)
Evan Gattis ($3,300–New York Yankees at Houston)
Bryce Harper ($5,300–Washington at Philadelphia)
Andrew McCutchen ($4,200–Atlanta at Pittsburgh) With Josh Harrison ($3,300)
Charles Blackmon ($4,400–Colorado at San Francisco)
Yoenis Cespedes ($3,700–Chicago White Sox at Detroit)
Ian Kinsler ($2,800–Chicago White Sox at Detroit)