Author: Todd Zola

Two more Golden Tickets will be awarded at the conclusion of Friday night’s games. Vlad Sedler has a comfortable 20 point lead with Michael Beller, Lenny Melnick and Todd Zola all within two points for the second entry the period into the Tout Daily Finals. Derek Carty and Howard Bender already earned Golden Tickets finishing first and second in Period 1.

Of course, an outstanding performance from a lesser owned player can propel someone into the top-two. Here’s who the Touts are hoping do just that.

Michael Beller, SI.com

Pitcher: Stephen Strasburg is an easy pick for me this week. He has 26 strikeouts in his last 14 2/3 innings, and is facing an A’s team that has a 25.3% strikeout rate, second highest in the league. I’m hoping that Kershaw’s presence keeps Strasburg’s ownership rate relatively low.

Hitter: I’m stacking Reds against Mike Foltynewicz, and Joey Votto is at the center of that. It appears to be a great night to hit in Cincinnati, with the temperature in the low 80s, and the wind blowing out to right-center. Of course, it’s always a good night to hit when you’re Joey Votto.

Charlie Wiegert, CDM Sports

Top Pitchers…It’s hard to resist the “big name” pitchers going tonight, but I am.  I’ll try to get close to the same points they’ll earn with a couple young pitchers throwing very well right now, Michael Fulmer against the White Sox and Ty Blach against the Phillies.  Both could get 10+ k’s, go at least 7 innings and be in line for a W!

Top Hitters….Using the $’s saved on pitching to roster Goldschmidt and Lamb against Urena and a hot Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks against Liriarno, Also Neil Walker, who likes to show his old team (Pit) they should have kept him!

Tim Heaney, Rotowire

Ty Blach ($7,300 at PHI): I assume I won’t be the only one to list him, but I’ll slide in the control-minded southpaw against the woephul Phillies.

Scott Schebler ($4,200 vs. ATL): Mike Foltynewicz yet again has been blown up by the long ball, and the NL leader in home runs — still feels weird to type that — has a fine chance to pile on top of those issues.

Lawr Michaels, Mastersball

Stephen Strasburg ($12,000): Strasburg whiffed 15 his last start and last week, Oakland set a four-game series team record, whiffing 59 times. That means over 108 at-bats, the team struck out 55% of the time. For Strasburg, that should be shooting fish in a ballpark barrel.

J.D. Martinez ($5500): Derek Holland is having a nice year, but I will take the uber-efficient Martinez banging against the lefty and be plenty happy.

Gene McCaffrey, Wise Guy Baseball

Pitcher – Strasburg is at the top of his game, at home against a bad, high-K team, so he’ at least as good a points bet as Kershaw and cheaper.

Hitter – Typical Friday, loaded with good choices. I’m always looking for the guy with the best chance to hit TWO home runs, and Chris Davis at home against Porcello is right up there. Nice $4000 price too.

Phil Hertz, Baseball HQ

I like Fullmer at home against the White Sox and Ryan Zimmerman, heating up again, against Triggs.

Jeff Boggis, Fantasy Football Empire

Dallas Keuchel (HOU) $10,900 at Texas – I can’t fault anyone that starts Clayton Kershaw ($13,100) and Stephen Strasburg ($12,000), but by doing this you are allocating roughly 50% of your salary cap. This would leave your roster with an average salary of $3,112.50 to roster your 8 hitters. Dallas Keuchel is a logical alternative as he can be rostered for $10,900, saving you $2,200 versus Kershaw and $1,100 versus Strasburg. Dallas Keuchel has been outstanding this season with a record of 8-0 with a 1.81 ERA and 0.88 WHIP. Roster Dallas Keuchel tonight if you want to beat Lawr Michaels in period 2, week 4 of our Tout Wars DFS contest! #BeatLawr

Top Hitter

Eric Young Jr. (LAA) $2,400 versus Minnesota – If you are rostering one of the high salaried starting pitchers tonight, you are going to have to look for value and Eric Young Jr. is a player that you want to roster for tonight’s contest. The Los Angeles Angels recalled Eric Young, Jr. due to the injury to Mike Trout. We have a small sample size, but in his 4 games played, Young is 5 for 15 with 2 runs scored, 1 home run, 2 RBIs, and 2 stolen bases. Roster Eric Young Jr. tonight if you want to beat Lawr Michaels in period 2, week 4 of our Tout Wars DFS contest! #BeatLawr

Tout Daily is back! Once again, the Tout Warriors will be competing in a private league, matching wits and trading barbs for 21 weeks, with the goal of being crowned 2017 Tout Daily Champion.

This year’s competition will be run on DraftKings. The site features two starting pitching and tighter pricing than some of the other DFS companies. The weekly contests will be publicly viewable, though you need to have a DraftKings account to see it. If you don’t have a DraftKings account, we have a deal where you can register and deposit just $5 and DraftKings will award you a free entry into one of their $3 contests. Here’s the link:

https://www.draftkings.com/gateway?s=889582753

Each Friday afternoon, the Touts will share a pitcher and hitter they’re using in that night’s contest. We’ll post them here in time to help you set your own lineups that evening.

Brian Walton, Mastersball.com, @B_Walton

On a day with a wealth of starting pitching options, I had to pass on the two very expensive aces in Thor and Cueto so I did not have to scrimp on hitting. A sneaky pitching pick is Houston’s Dallas Keuchel ($9600), about whom many are likely wary. After all, we may put more stock in his disappointing 2016 than his Cy Young Award-winning 2015. Still, the right-hander is off to a good start in 2017 and pitches tonight in the cavernous Oakland Coliseum.

Though I could not afford Syndergaard, I like his backstop, Travis d’Arnaud, especially at just $3000. Over the last three starts, the red-hot hitter is 7-for-13 and draws Edinson Volquez of the Marlins on Friday night. However, watch the lineups as d’Arnaud caught all 16 innings on Thursday so is a candidate to be given a day off.

Mike Gianella, Baseball Prospectus, @MikeGianella

Top hitter: Freddie Freeman. Opposing pitcher Jhoulys Chacin is weaker against lefties and Freeman has played like an elite hitter thus far

Top pitcher: Noah Syndergaard. Clayton Kershaw is always tempting. But the price difference between Thor and Kersh allowed me more flexibility in my lineup. Thor in a pitcher’s park against a tired Marlins team is my play

Jeff Boggis, Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis

Top Pitcher

Clayton Kershaw (LAD) $13,500 – Kershaw allowed back-to-back homers for the first time in his career during his last outing at Colorado. I look for him to bounce back at home against Arizona tonight.

Julio Teheran (ATL) $8,500 – If you want to save some salary cap money, Teheran is the 12th highest player on the board. He owns a 0.00 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He wants to be the first starting pitcher to win a game in the new Atlanta Braves stadium.

Top Hitter

Freddie Freeman (ATL) $4,600 – Going to stack as many Atlanta Braves players tonight for several reasons. This is their 1st regular home game of the season. This is their 1st regular season home game ever in this ballpark. The Braves face San Diego Starting pitcher, Jhoulys Chacin, who owns an 8.10 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.

Tim Heaney, Rotowire, @Tim_Heaney

Adam Duvall, CIN vs. MIL ($4,300): Tommy Milone at Great American Ball Park, against a 30-homer bat. Have to take that, right?

Julio Teheran, ATL vs. SD ($8,500): Call me chalky, but in a stacked slate for pitching, his price offers the best return on investment among the aces. He should mow down the Padres.

Jeff Erickson, Rotowire, @Jeff_Erickson

Hitters: Reds RHs (Duvall, Suarez) at home vs Tommy Milone

Pitcher: Thor

Charlie Wiegert, CDM, @GFFantasySports

Pitchers…winging it the first week.  I’m going to be contrary and hope my long shot pitcher, Adalberto Mejia shows some of the stuff he was showing in spring training.  After his first dreadful start, this could be a make it or go back to the minors start, so his second start against the White Sox better go go at home!  And Danny Duffy, yeah pitching for the worst team in baseball, another long shot.  But if my two long shot pitchers come through with 15-20 points each, I could win the week.

Hitters…with the $ savings on pitchers, I’m able to load up a bit with Trout, Braun and Myers.  Taking a couple early season “hot” players, Solarte, Sano and Lindor, and hoping Salvador Perez and Carlos Santana go deep tonight.

Gene McCaffrey, Wise Guy Baseball, @wiseguygene

Pitcher – Aaron Sanchez was the most effective SP in the AL last year, still a bit under the radar.

Hitter – Marcus Semien is off to a slow start but he’s walking and running and he slugged .655 off lefties on the road last year.

Phil Hertz, Baseball HQ, @prhz50

I’m wearing my Orange and Blue tonight:  Thor against a Miami team that’s going to be tired; and Cespedes who’s on one of his patented hot streaks.

Lawr Michaels, Mastersball, @lawrmichaels

Clayton Kershaw ($13,500): Facing the Diamondbacks at home, Kershaw is expensive, but the Snakes have among the lowest walk rates (7.4%) and highest strikeout rates (24%) in the Majors thus far. Over 91 at-bats against lefties, Arizona is hitting .220-2-10. Advantage Clayton.

Yunel Escobar ($3100): Escobar has come out of the blocks hot, hitting .366-1-4 over his first 41 at-bats, following consecutive .300 seasons. The right-handed hitter gets to face lefty Danny Duffy at home, and for $3100, a single and a walk mean a profit. And, if anyone can do that, it is Escobar.

Howard Bender, Fantasy Alarm, @rotobuzzguy

Love me some Dallas Keuchel against the A’s tonight. His ground ball rate is fierce, his strikeout rate will climb (A’s whiff 21.6% of the time vs LHP and who can forget Oakland’s feeble .241 wOBA with a 57 wRC+ against southpaws?

I’ll stick with the hot bat of Eric Thames who is hitting 2nd again tonight against Scott Feldman. Nice little LHH vs RHP match-up here and Feldman, despite some nice surface numbers, still has trouble keeping the ball in the yard.

What are your top-three considerations with respect to selecting your pitcher for Tout Daily?

Scott Engel, www.rotoexperts.com, @scotteRotoEx: Match-up first, then see if I can keep the price down.  Then the opposing pitcher, don’t want my top starter bested by another ace.

Lawr Michaels, www.mastersball.com, @lawrmichaels: Strikeouts first, followed by wRC+ and wOBA by the opposing team.

Rick Wolf, www.fantasyalarm.com, @RickWolf1: Since it is a one-pitcher league, I think you have to get the SP right.  That doesn’t mean select the highest salary pitcher, it means select that pitcher that you are most sure will deliver you Top 3 value and not give you negative points.  I look at the DFS Playbook PRO at Fantasy Alarm to get umpire reports, rankings, projections, vs team data and select the pitcher most likely to win that also will have the most points in doing so.  Sometimes it is more art than strictly numbers as we know that trends continue especially for hot SPs at home usually.  It is not always Kershaw that is the best pick, there are a lot of factors.  Don’t screw it up.

Peter Kreutzer, www.askrotoman.com, @kroyte: First I look for pitchers facing bad teams and bad pitchers. The win is the thing. Then I look for strikeouts, either from the pitcher or because the opposing team has lots of guys who strike out. Finally, there is price. A pitcher in the $8-9K range allows you to take an extra hitter or two, rather than $2,200 guys. But the key thing is getting points from your starter, so sometimes it makes sense to pay more and then hope to find hitting bargains.

Gene McCaffrey,  www.wiseguys.com, @gene2323: 1. Quality of the pitcher. 2. Is he home or away? 3. Quality of the opposition. I may switch 2 and 3 in pursuit of points, but you notice that salary ranks behind them all.

Paul Sporer, www.fangraphs.com, @sporer: 1. His Talent 2. His Opposition 3. His Venue (more home/away than particular parks except of course the obvious Coors & Rogers Centre… I know how much you love park factors, Todd!)

Editors Note: Grumble. Grumble. Grumble.

Charlie Wiegert, www.CDMSports.com, @GFFantasySports: First, the pitcher needs to have pitched well in his last few previous starts.  Second, the pitcher needs to be in a situation where he can have a good chance at double digit strike outs and pitch at least 7 innings. Third, the pitcher needs to be favored to win the game, the better the odds of his winning, the better selection he’ll be.

Andrea LaMont, www.rotoexperts.com, @rotolady: 1) Opposing team and location.    2) PQS scores (last three starts) – specifically that BB × 2 < K , HA < IP, and IP > 5.    3) Run Support and quality of defense

Scott Swanay, www.fantasybaseballsherpa.com, @Fantasy_Sherpa: 1) How good is the pitcher? 2) How good is the opposing offense? 3) How good is the opposing pitcher?

Phil Hertz, www.baseballhq.com, @prhz50: Price, chances for a win, ballpark.

Jeff Boggis, www.FantasyFootballEmpire.com, @JeffBoggis: What has worked for me this season is building my roster around an ace pitcher. When I have gone with lower-salaried options, I haven’t been as successful, so my first consideration is rostering one of the top starting pitchers for that day. The second selection criteria is looking at a pitcher’s last 3 starts to see how well they have pitched, how deep they are going into games, and developing the projected fantasy points for the top pitchers. I then compare the projected points to their starting salaries to derive a “dollars per fantasy point” metric. The lower the dollars per fantasy point, the more likely I will start that pitcher that evening. The last consideration is taking into consideration what type of hitting team I can roster against the cost of the starting pitcher. Sometimes, I just can’t make it work, or don’t feel comfortable with the hitters selected. So it may be a combination of the hitters that I want for that evening, with my second choice at starting pitcher. It’s just as much an art as it is a science for me. Just as important is taking something away for each roster that I have played so that I can fine tune my strategies for future events.

Patrick Davit, www.baseballhq.com, @patrickdavitt: 1) Value, which I define as reasonable points expectation per salary dollar.  2) Strikeouts match-up.  3) Likelihood of a win (quality of opp, quality of opp pitcher).

Nando DiFino, www.rotoexperts.com, @nandodifino: 1) Price – I believe in spending a lot on the pitcher and forcing bargains in the hitting spots. Overall, it seems to be the constant in the lineups that end up winners.
2) Talent – If I believe in Matt Boyd (and I do, most nights), I will keep him in consideration, even if he isn’t one of the aces.   3) Match-up – If Boyd is at Colorado, though, I’m probably going to pass. If he’s against the Phillies, he’s still in the running. Maybe Boyd is a bad example because #1 usually eliminates his type, but I’ll use him here and there just to be a little against the grain.

Chris Liss, www.rotowire.com, @Chris_Liss: I don’t really have separate considerations – it’s a combination of price, quality, recent performance, opponent, park, opposing pitcher (to a small extent), K-rate, and the other options on the slate. If an ace has a good matchup and is pitching well, I’ll almost always use him. If the aces have bad matchups or have hit rough patches, I’ll sometimes go dirt cheap if the matchup/park is right and load up on hitting.

Todd Zola, www.mastersball.com, @ToddZola: Since the question specifically asked about Tout Daily, the first thing I do is decide if I want to play it more like a cash game or like a tournament. For cash, I want the pitcher I project to score the most points, regardless of price so my second step is estimating the number of innings plus strikeouts and using that as my ranking (my go-to stats are K% for pitcher and opposing lineup and approximate wOBA/wRC+ for opposing lineup). I usually have my guy after this second step but if it’s close (close being within the points given for a win), I’ll use win probability based on Vegas odds. By the nature of step two, the top ranked hurler is almost always favored. If I’m playing more like a top-heavy tourney, I want a guy with a chance for a big +EV. By nature, the lower priced pitchers usually fit the bill. The second step is maximizing strikeout potential since that’s where the upside is with a lesser pitcher. The third is opposing pitcher. By choosing a lesser pitcher, I’m already putting the win in jeopardy. if my underdog throws a good game, the last think I want is for a loss or no-decision.

History was made Tuesday night in the Tout Challenge. Not only is Andrea LaMont one of the first females to play in Tout Wars (along with Stephania Bell) but she’s the first lady to top the Touts in Tuesday’s Tout Challenge.

Joining Andrea in the top-ten is Jake Ciely and Gene McCaffrey. Six more Touts finished in the top-twenty.

Leading team rotolady was a bold choice of Jordan Zimmermann as the Washington Nationals right-hander took the hill in Coors Field. Zimmermann responded with a respectable 12 FanDuel points for Andrea and just one other challenger.

Leading her offense was another Nat, Ian Desmond, who tallied 8.25 points and was owned by just three others in the contest. See the remainder of Andrea’s squad below.

We’re nearing the end of the inaugural season of Tout Daily as this is the final week of the final phase before the one-week Tout Daily Championship on August 28. There are still 3 tickets to the dance left to be awarded. Scott Engel leads the fifth and final phase and is looking for his second chance at the $1000 grand prize. Rudy Gamble and Steve Moyer are currently second and third with several Touts within striking distance.

Be sure to stop by Friday when the Touts share their top pitcher and hitter for the Tout Daily contest.

Apparently Scott Engel took umbrage with his SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio co-host Adam Ronis having two tickets into the FanDuel Tout Daily Championship as Engel is in the driver’s seat for a second ticket of his own. “The King”, as he’s affectionately known in the industry finished atop the field for the second time in Phase 5 of Tout Daily, the final segment before the one-day championship on August 28. Engel took down the first week of the phase and last night repeated the feat, finishing with 66.83 points, comfortably ahead of Scott Pianowksi’s 61.5 total.

Engel and Pianowski were followed by Rudy Gamble, Derek Van Riper, Rob Leibowitz, Tristan Cockcroft, Ray Murphy, Eno Sarris, Andy Behrens and Steve Moyer. All ten ended the evening with a little more in their FanDuel account.

Engel is a healthy 26 points ahead of Gamble for the lead in Phase 5 with Steve Moyer presently occupying the three-hole. The top three finishers will capture the final three spots in the $2000 FanDuel Tout Daily Championship with a cool $1000 going to the winner.

Already entered are Jeff Boggis, Lenny Melnick, Michael Beller, Jeff Erickson, Ray Murphy, Tom Kessenich, Charlie Wiegert, Lawr Michaels, Pianowski and of course Engel with one and Ronis with two.

You can find the leaderboard here.

Engel’s squad was anchored by Jaime Garcia, the most popular pitching choice among the Touts for the week. Garcia tossed 8 1/3rd innings allowing only an unearned run, fanning six while getting the win to total an impressive 18.33 FanDuel points. The top hitters on the week-leading squad were Derek Norris, Adam Jones and Jedd Gyorko who each hit a home run.

Here’s the rest of Scott’s team:

We asked the Touts to share their picks for best pitcher and best hitter in tonight’s Tout Daily Week 19 contest. For more about Tout Daily visit here.

Tonight’s contest is Week 3 of Phase 5 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. Last week Al Melchior, Patrick Davitt and Paul Sporer finished atop the standings.

Sporer, Steve Gardner and Jeff Boggis lead the Phase 5 standings at the halfway point.

The leaderboard is here.

Scott Pianowski, Jeff Erickson, Adam Ronis (has two!), Lenny Melnick, Lawr Michaels, Tom Kessenich, Michael Beller, Jeff Boggis, Ray Murphy, Scott Engel, and Charlie Wiegert have tickets to the finals already. Everyone but Adam Ronis is eligible to add a ticket in the final phase (two tickets maximum to the finals).

Here are this week’s picks!

DOUG ANDERSON

Dallas Keuchel ($10,700) vs. Detroit Tigers – Keuchel is for real boys and girls. I had my doubts last year, but he’s done nothing but get better this year. His strikeouts are on the way up and he’s posted a 1.26 ERA at home. The Tigers offense still ranks pretty high overall, but they are 28th in runs scored in the month of August. You think trading away David Price and Yoenis Cespedes had an affect on morale?

Evan Longoria ($3,100) vs. Martin Perez (LHP) – Longoria is not the elite hitter we thought he was going to be and his FanDuel price tag shows that. He is however hot (.333 in August) and has hammered left-handers to the tune of a .337 average this year. Perez has the velocity back, but not much else. In his five games since returning from Tommy John he’s posted a 5.81 ERA. The Rays offense is on fire (relative term) and they score well against left-handers. I smell a homer and three ribbies for Longo tonight.

PHIL HERTZ

I like Robbie Ray at $7000 against a depleted Atlanta lineup; I think Pedro Alvarez at $2700 is a bargain, given his past success against Colon and his performance the last week.

JAKE CIELY

Keuchel – He’s at home. Enough said.

– Facing Adam Morgan and his 4.06 ERA, awful 5.8 K-BB% and hitter-loving 1.42 HR/9

JEFF BOGGIS

Jaime Garcia ($8,200)

I am starting Jaime Garcia tonight, more for his consistency as my deciding factor. There are higher priced starting pitcher available tonight, such as Max Scherzer ($11,400) and Corey Kluber ($12,000) but in their past 4 starts, both Scherzer and Kluber have given up 4+ earned runs in at least 2 of these 4 starts. Garcia won’t strike out as any hitters, averaging 4.5 strikeouts per game, but I think he will make this up in win potential and a much lower salary. Plus Garcia is the only one of these three starting pitchers that is pitching at home tonight and has a favorable matchup (vs. Tom Koehler of Miami). Current Marlins hitters are batting just .213 in their last 47 AB’s against Garcia. Garcia has an outstanding 1.77 ERA and 0.91 WHIP going into tonight’s matchup.

Top Hitter

Jose Bautista ($5,200)

Jose Bautista is the highest salaried outfielder in tonight’s contest at $5,200, but I think he is worth it. Over the past week, Bautista is batting 8 for 23 (.348) with 6 runs scored, 3 home runs, 3 runs batted in, and 1 stolen base. He has a favorable matchup tonight at home against Ivan Nova of the New York Yankees. In his last 21 plate appearances facing Nova, he is 5 for 15 (.333) and has a slugging percentage of .533. I am hoping for one of Bautista’s patent pending Friday night bat flips as he admires a home run off of Ivan Nova tonight.

SCOTT SWANAY

Pitcher – Jaime Garcia. He’s not the most talented starting pitcher goingtonight, or the one likely to post the biggest strikeout totals, but he’s pitched very effectively while flying under the radar since his mid-season return from the DL. David Price is tempting, but even though the Yankee bats were ice cold for most of the past week, they showed some signs of life last night. Max Scherzer and Dallas Keuchel were the other two options I considered, but I like Garcia’s chances the best to get the 4 points that come with a Win.

Hitter – Jed Lowrie. He’s only the second best “Shortstop” on his team, but he’s supplanted Luis Valbuena as the ‘Stros starting third baseman, he’s hit well since coming off the DL, and he gets to face Alfredo Simon. For $3,100, I’ll take it.

STEVE MOYER

Jaime Garcia – SP – $8200 – Ranks higher on the Inside Edge board tonight than any of the big boys and that’s a relief, because. . .

Nelson Cruz – OF – $5000 – The highest hitter on the IE board is no bargain, and there aren’t a lot of highly-ranked bargains below him either. It’s gonna be Stars & Scrubs tonight.

ADAM RONIS

Jaime Garcia and Preston Tucker

JEFF ERICKSON

Pitcher: Jaime Garcia ($8,200). On a night when there are a lot of aces going, this is a little risky to use Garcia. But … he’s the third biggest Vegas favorite on the board against a Marlins lineup that’s really shaky, and I have some reservations Scherzer, Price, Keuchel and Kluber. Plus this affords me at least one or two Coors bats that I wouldn’t get otherwise. Keuchel is my second choice.

Batter: Charlie Blackmon ($4,500). Love the matchup against Tyson Ross – Ross’s slider shouldn’t be as effective at altitude, plus he doesn’t hold runners on very well. It’s expensive to use Blackmon, but that’s also why I have Garcia in there.

ENO SARRIS

Jaime Garcia

You have to set the innings pitched requirement really low (60), and that’s because he’s been injured this year (every year), but if you do, no starter has a higher ground ball rate this year than Jaime Garcia. In other words, the floor for his production, especially at home against the Marlins, is very high. Now, excellence in this game means often reaching for the ceiling, but in this case, the ceiling isn’t terrible, either. A string of zeroes and a ‘w’ will score well even if it only comes with four or five strikeouts. And oh yeah, he saves you almost four thousand bucks to spend on your lineup in the process.

Justin Upton

Yohan Flande doesn’t get whiffs and is a lefty pitching in Coors, so he’s itching for a stack. Flande does get ground balls, but as it turns out, fly-ball hitters do well against ground-ball pitchers. Justin Upton is a fly ball hitter. To a certain extent, so are Derek Norris and Jedd Gyorko. It’s time to feast for the famished Padre righties.

RAY MURPHY

Jaime Garcia ($8200): looking to differentiate myself from the field a bit, I’ll be fading tonight’s aces and taking a shot with Garcia. He has a favorable home matchup against the Marlins, so I’m looking for him to go 6-7 innings with 5+ Ks, hopefully just a run or two, and leave the game in line for the win. From there, I’ll look to my offense to carry me.

Logan Forsythe ($3300): Martin Perez has looked a lot better in his last two starts, to the point where he seems like a decent off-the-radar play at home against the Rays tonight. But Forsythe has a .965 OPS against lefties this year, including 8 HR in 111 AB. Facing a still-finding-his-way Perez in the Texas heat, Forsythe will be in my lineup tonight.

BRIAN WALTON

There are a lot of good pitching choices, so I am going to drop down to number six, St. Louis’ Jaime Garcia ($8200), to save money for hitting. When healthy, the lefty is a dependable option even if the strikeouts are low (at 6.3 per nine). Through 10 starts this season, Garcia has a 1.77 ERA and a career mark of 2.85 at Busch Stadium. The 29-year-old draws the Marlins at home Friday night.

For my hitter, I will stay with the Cardinals – third baseman Matt Carpenter ($3800), specifically. The left-handed hitter is having a strong August with four home runs and eight RBI to go with a 1.062 OPS. He favors right-handed pitchers and will face Miami righty Tom Koehler at home Friday evening.

GENE MCCAFFREY

Another difficult Friday night, with risk in all the top-$ pitchers. So I’m going cheap with an improving Danny Duffy at home. I’ll use the salary to pay for Carlos Gonzalez and his never-ending (insert snicker) streak.

TODD ZOLA

I’m waffling between Corey Kluber and J.A. Happ on the hill. It’s a choice between safe and Hail Mary. I know I’m going to need to take a chance either this week or next, I’m just deciding if this is the week to shoot the moon. Ultimately it’ll come down to whether I can find the sticks to support Kluber since I like his strikeout upside versus the Twins. Happ’s attraction is his price and facing a NY Mets squad that whiffs a lot versus southpaws. The issue is he’s J.A. Happ. What I do know is whichever I don’t select for Tout Daily I’ll use in a different tournament to ease the pain if I choose poorly.

For hitters, I’m all over Colby Rasmus facing Alfredo Simon. Simon has allowed 12 of his 15 HR to LHB and for the season has given up 37 xBH to lefties, fanning them only 43 times. The icing on the cake is Rasmus is just 1-for-7 with 5 strikeouts against Simon which will scare off some batter versus pitcher disciples and keep his ownership low.

CHARLIE WIEGERT

top pitcher…Paying the price and taking Corey Kluber ($12,000). He dominated the Twinkees last time out, so the chances of him doping it again are not good, but, he just might have their number! If nothing else, there’s a good chance for double strike outs.

top hitter…Cards 3B Matt Carpenter ($3800) and Dodger 1B Adrian Gonzalez ($3400). Both have been hot lately, and with Klubers price, there’s not much room to take the top guys for tonight.

Is your DFS participation strictly Tout Daily or do you play during the week? Do you expect to keep playing once Tout Daily is over?

Steve Moyer, www.Inside Edge.com: I’m hooked. The only things that prevent me from playing a 50/50 and a tournament every day are extreme busyness or the matchups looking unfavorable. I like TOUT Daily because it’s the potential of money for nothing – a really nice freeroll.

Jeff Boggis, www.FantasyFootballEmpire.com, @JeffBoggis: I plan to play once Tout Daily is over for both fantasy baseball and fantasy football. Tout Daily has been a lot of fun and very challenging, especially with this group of competitive people. I’ve learned a lot for the different techniques and sources of information that the Touts have incorporated into their daily fantasy lineups, and I plan on increasing my knowledge to roster the best team possible in both the 50/50 and tournament style formats.

Brian Walton, www.mastersball.com, @B_Walton: I also play in the Mastersball-sponsored contests at FantasyScore once or twice per week, but that and Tout Daily is it for my daily participation right now. I haven’t yet chose to re-allocate the necessary time to play each day and won’t do it unless I can do it right.

“Andy Behrens, Yahoo! fantasy writer. A man barely alive.”

“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world’s first bionic DFS player. Andy Behrens will be that man. Better than he was before. Better…stronger…faster.”

Either that or Andy had a crush on Farrah Fawcett growing up.

The top point-scoring team in this week’s Tout Challenge was leemajors, the moniker of FSWA President and all around good guy Andy Behrens. Coming in second was a challenger named mistergus with third going to someone with the handle of ToddZ.

In general it was a strong week for the Touts, placing nine Warriors in the top-16.

Andy’s squad was led by Carlos Rodon. In fact. Andy was the only participant to deploy the Chicago White Sox young southpaw. Rodon came through with seven innings of shutout ball, fanning 11 while procuring the win and a whopping 22 FanDuel points. The top hitter on team leemajors was Lorenzo Cain, owned by just two in the entire contest. The Kansas City Royals center-fielder had four hits including a double and homer with two runs and an RBI good for 11 points.

Before we share Andy’s entire lineup, be sure to check back Thursday for our weekly round table and Friday as the Tout Warriors reveal their top hitter and pitcher for this week’s Tout Challenge. We’re getting down to the nitty-gritty, this being the third of four weeks in our final period. The top-three point-scorers over this final phase will earn the last three golden tickets into Tout Championship on  August 28.