Second Half Doubt Wars! Join Now!

doubtwarslogoDoubt Wars is the game in which players select their own teams based on Tout Wars auction prices, and see if they can outdraft the pros!

Second half Doubt Wars lets you draft a mixed league team using Tout Wars AL and NL prices. Put together your very own special $260 team and compete against 29 other teams for second-half honors!

To enter send the email address you are registered with to webmaster@toutwars.com. You’ll be assigned a team and can draft your team using the Create Roster button. It costs nothing.

But don’t delay. Teams must be created before the start of games on Monday, July 20th!

Tout Daily at FanDuel Picks for Phase 4 Week 3!

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We asked the Touts to share their picks for best pitcher and best hitter in tonight’s Tout Daily Week 15 contest. For more about Tout Daily visit here.

Tonight’s contest is Week 3 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. Going into this Week Charlie Wiegert has a big lead, with Gene McCaffrey, Brian Walton, Seth Trachtman, Ray Murphy and Todd Zola and many others all in the fight.

The leaderboard is here. Only one of the current Phase Top 10 have a ticket to the finals.

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

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.

THE GODFATHER OF FANTASY SPORTS (And current Phase Leader) CHARLIE WIEGERT

Jose Fernandez ($10,500 at Philadelphia).  Paying the price to get pitching points.  He appears to be the safest option, with the only thing against him is a “road” start.  But it is against ​the lowly Phillies, and he should be able to continue his dominating performances since his recent activation.
Jorge Soler ($2,500 at Atlanta) I’m looking for a few of Fernandez’s team mates to provide some offensive support and Houston hitters (Altuve & Gattis) to spoil Martin Perez’s 2105 debut.  Jorge Soler, who has hit in 6 of 8 games since coming off the dl, becomes a value pick.

PHIL HERTZ

Trevor Bauer ($8,700  at Cincinnati) has been solid in four of his last five starts.
Curtis Granderson ($3,000 at St. Louis) has an .845 OPS against righties. Both are relevant bargains.

ADAM RONIS

Jose Fernandez ($10,500 at Philadelphia) 
Justin Upton ($2,700 vs Colorado)

DAVID GONOS

James Shields ($9,200 vs. Colorado)
Adeiny Hechavarria ($2,300 at Philadelphia)

LAWR MICHAELS

Lance Lynn ($9,300 vs. NY Mets)
Chris Carter ($3,000 vs. Texas)

ENO SARRIS

Trevor Bauer ($8,700  at Cincinnati) He’s cheap, and he’s up against a team that’s bad right now. I could tell you that the Reds are in the bottom fifth of the league over the last thirty days, and that Bauer is facing a National League lineup and has really cut down the walks in his last three starts — 17 strikeouts against two walks in 21.1 innings — but that’s not why I like Bauer most. I like him most because I think he’s a good pitcher and he’ll cost me $1-2k less than the other good pitchers.
Prince Fielder ($3,400 at Houston) This is just part of my mini-stack today: Fielder and Rougned Odor both are facing a righty with home run problems in a hot park with the wind blowing out. I’ll even take righty Adrian Beltre in that situation, and since it’s the hottest game on the schedule, Carlos Correa against a lefty coming back from injury the other way. This game should produce runs.

PAUL SPORER

Julio Teheran ($8200 vs. Chicago Cubs) Teheran is a disappointment this season because of his 4.56 ERA, but hidden in there is a bout of home dominance. He has a 2.04 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and 2.9 K:BB ratio in 53 home IP. He needs to make sure Anthony Rizzo doesn’t beat him. Lefties have been a big issue this year (.859 OPS).

Gerardo Parra ($3,400 vs. Pittsburgh) He’s been a hot DFS pick of late and he should be again today as he is just smashing righties this year with a .313/.345/.498 line. He doesn’t usually do much vs. lefties, but his .829 OPS in 50 PA vs. them this year might even protect us for a PA against a lefty reliever late in the game, but even if he is pulled late or this small sample of good work vs. lefties isn’t skills growth, he’s still worth his price tag.

STEVE MOYER’S INSIDE EDGE

Kyle Hendricks ($7,300 at Atlanta) Inside Edge liked Hendricks last week and it likes him again this week. He’s been fantastic his last three starts, so hopefully that cheapo FanDuel salary doesn’t know something we don’t.
John Jaso ($3000 at Toronto) Rumors of his demise were premature. Instead he’s primed to become baseball’s next .400 hitter. Just kidding. But Inside Edge says his red-hotness continues tonight against the Jays’ Drew Hutchison.

JAKE CIELY

Masahiro Tanaka ($9,700 vs Seattle) I considered Sonny Gray, but the Twins are mid-pack in K% and wRC+, so not a huge boost there. The Mariners have the fourth highest K% against righties along with the seventh lowest wOBA and wRC+. I was too concerned over a potential short outing for Tanaka last time out, and he dazzled. I’ll take the savings (albeit slight) from Gray and Jose Fernandez to plug in Tanaka.
Jose Altuve ($4,300 vs Texas) Since returning from his brief hamstring injury, Altuve is hitting .309 with 17 runs, 3 HRs, 10 RBI and eight SBs. He’s back to being Altuve. The Astros are expected to score plenty against Martin Perez tonight, and Altuve has always hit lefties much better than righties. His price isn’t too restrictive either, which is a bonus.

TODD ZOLA

Jorge De La Rosa ($6,600 at San Diego) Coors to Petco – good, Facing a team with a high whiff rate against southpaws – good. Salary of $6600 – priceless.
Adeiny Hechavarria ($2,300 at Philadelphia) Hitting third against a weak lefty and don’t look now but he has a .976 OPS vs. southpaws. At $2300, clears cap room for some outfield studs.

RAY MURPHY

Lance Lynn ($9,300 vs. NY Mets) He’s particularly strong at home, and the Mets can’t hit anywhere. Biggest risk is probably that Syndegaard matches zeroes with him, but this is still a strong play in my book.
Xander Bogaerts ($3000 at Los Angeles Angels) He’s been hot lately, although that hasn’t translated into power yet. I want to see where he is in the linuep tonight (he’s been 3rd lately, but now Pedroia is back), but facing LHP CJ Wilson makes him a nice play at this price.

BRIAN WALTON

Julio Teheran ($8200 vs. Chicago Cubs) has been the biggest disappointment of my NL Tout squad in the first half, with just six wins in 18 starts and a 4.56 ERA. However, the Braves starter is showing signs of life, having allowed just three earned runs in 14 July innings. Teheran draws the Cubs at home to start the second half Friday night. I am staying with my man and using my savings on hitting!

Miguel Sano ($2600 at Oakland) Some of the prospect luster wore off the Minnesota third baseman while he sat out last season recovering from Tommy John surgery. In the 11 games since the 22-year-old reached the bigs, however, he has reminded us all of his immense potential. Sano brings a .375 average, two home runs and eight RBI into Oakland to face Sonny Gray.

SCOTT SWANAY

Jose Fernandez ($10,500 at Philadelphia) Even if Clayton Kershaw were pitching tonight Fernandez would still be the better pick because he’s facing both an inferior offense (the Phlailin’ Phils) and an inferior opposing starting pitcher (Adam Morgan).  I worry a bit whether the Stanton-less, Gordon-less Marlins’ lineup will cobble together enough runs to get Fernandez the 4 vital points that go with a Win. However, with so many aces pitching the first game after the All-Star break, this still feels like the most appealing match-up.
Bryce Harper ($5,000 vs Los Angeles Dodgers) It’s hard to consider this an arbitrage opportunity at this price.  Still, the price was set assuming that Harper would be facing Clayton Kershaw; instead, he gets to face Mike Bolsinger (and he’s still cheaper than Adam Morgan!).  Of course, since I’m shelling out for Fernandez, Harper, and Mike Trout, the rest of my hitting lineup looks like a collection of has-beens and never-wases.  We’ll see what happens – it should be an interesting evening of baseball regardless of how many grand slams Kyle Schwarber hits.

JEFF BOGGIS

Jose Fernandez ($10,500 at Philadelphia) My strategy that has worked best for me in this contest is to draft an elite pitcher and then look for hitter values to stay within the salary cap. Kershaw was originally scheduled to pitch tonight, but has traded places with Mike Bolsinger in the Dodgers rotation. I like both Sonny Gray ($9,900) and Jose Fernandez ($10,500) tonight, but from a win probability and higher strikeout ceiling, I am going to spend the extra $600 on Jose Fernandez tonight.  If you further analyze the pitcher versus hitter matchup, current Philadelphia Phillies hitters are batting only .162 in their last 37 AB’s against Jose Fernandez. The number is slightly higher for Gray versus Minnesota hitters at .182.

Mike Trout ($5,400 vs. Boston) and Bryce Harper ($5,000 vs. LA Dodgers) Each week I have wanted to play either Mike Trout or Bryce Harper, only to have my player either hit a home run the following night or the player that I did not select hit a home run. Well, I am imposing a brand new hitter strategy tonight and it is my “build a team around Trout and Harper” strategy. This way, I feel I have at least doubled my odds of success tonight and I take the guessing out of the equation. I was going to not roster Harper tonight based on his matchup originally against Clayton Kershaw, but with Mike Bolsinger now starting tonight, Bryce Harper is back in the lineup for tonight! By rostering the law firm of Fernandez, Harper, and Trout, this leaves me with an average salary of $2,350 on my remaining 6 hitters. 

Seth Trachtman Wins Phase 4 Week 2 Tout Daily Contest!

strachtmanFriday night’s contest was dominated by Noah Syndergaard, who scored 24 points for Seth Trachtman and the next five finishers.

Trachtman also got big games out of Neil Walker and Kelly Johnson.

Runner up Charlie Wiegert got big games from DJ LeMahieu, Carlos Gonzalez and Mark Trumbo.

Gene McCaffrey added Prince Fielder, who was owned by a quarter of teams, and Matt Kemp, to Syndergaard.

Week 3 of Phase 4 will come next Friday. The top 3 finishers in each of the contests five phases will compete for $2,000 in prize money on the night of August 28th.

Trachtman’s winning squad (click to enlarge):

Screenshot 2015-07-12 00.25.34Charlie Wiegert takes a commanding lead over the field after two weeks, though no lead is safe in this game.

Charlie is followed by Gene McCaffrey and Brian Walton at the halfway point.

Read the leaderboard here.

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.
Screenshot 2015-07-04 08.27.18
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 ($4,200Baltimore at Chicago White SoxBy 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 ($4,200Baltimore 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.