Category: About Tout Wars

We start with a clean slate as both the Tuesday and Friday initial three-week periods are complete. Tonight begins another chance at Golden Tickets into the Tout Daily Championship. Here’s who a few of the Touts are relying on to get them there.

Steve Gardner (USAToday Fantasy Sports, @SteveAGardner)

Pitcher: Nate Pearson – Coming off his worst outing in three MLB starts, it’s time for Pearson to show his true talent against an overachieving Orioles lineup.

Hitter: Luis Garcia – I don’t really like ANY of the second basemen today, so I’ll go cheap with the Nats rookie who just hit his first MLB homer last night. That’s two rookie picks on one slate!

Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis)

Pitcher: Carlos Carrasco – He’s averaged over 7 K’s per outing this season, so you have to like his chances tonight at Pittsburgh. At $9,900, he’s not cheap, but there are a lot of other pitchers I would not touch tonight.

Hitter: Max Kepler – Kepler’s batting average is nothing to brag about at .231, but he hit his 6th home run last night and I love his $4,700 salary tonight.

Derek Carty (RotoGrinders, @DerekCarty)

Pitcher: Yu Darvish – Darvish will be the chalk, no doubt, but there’s no need to get cute in cash games. He’s added velocity this year and is using his fastball less (almost always a good thing for a pitcher), and today he gets 10+ mph winds blowing in in Wrigley, which is the equivalent of like 30+ mph anywhere else. Pay up and move on with your life.

Hitter: Rhys Hoskins – The impression is that Hoskins is having a bad year, and now he’s $4,900 on DK. But his K% is down, BB% is up, and his Statcast numbers are all in line or better than previous years. His xwOBA is near .400. Give him a big park upgrade into Fenway and a weak opposing pitcher in Godley, and you have a very strong play.

Phil Hertz (BaseballHQ, @prhz50)

Pitcher: Kenta Maeda – I’ve always liked Maeda and he’s pitching well and at home. I’ll stick with him

Hitter: Juan Soto – Yeah, he’s expensive, but I like his match-up and he’s got a 1.618 OPS over his last 10 games.

Ray Murphy (BaseballHQ, @RayHQ)

Pitcher: Carlos Carrasco – Seems like a pretty clear top 3 of Darvish, Carrasco, Maeda. I’m skipping Maeda, for no particularly good reason. Carrasco’s matchup is too good to fade IMO.

Hitter: Randall Grichuk – Underpriced at 3700, batting 2nd against Wade Leblanc. Yes please.

Charlie wiegert (CDM Sports, @GFFantasySports)

Pitcher: Masahiro Tanaka – Like the price and he’s pitching well…can go deep into game, get 7+ k’s

Hitter: Robinson Cano – Cano has been hot and I’ve got three White Sox hitters going against Tiger rookie.

Anthony Aniano (Rotoballer, @AAnianoFantasy)

Pitcher: Yu Darvish – The obvious play tonight as the most expensive pitcher on the board. He faces a Cardinal team averaging less than 4 runs per game

Hitter: Dom Smith – $4300 for the Mets best hitter. He has 15 or more fantasy points in 5 of his last 6 games

Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola)

Pitcher: Yu Darvish – Going back to the style when I used to actually be sort of good at this – pay for pitching and figure out the rest

Hitter: Randal Grichuk – Grichuk dialed in, but more importantly enjoys a great matchup in Camden Yards

The first two Golden Tickets will be awarded at the conclusion of tonight’s action. It sure looks like it will come down to the wire. Here are the Top-8 heading onto the Tuesday slate.

Here are some of the players the Touts are using to try to secure a trip to the 2020 Tout Daily Championship.

Phil Hertz (BaseballHQ, @prhz50)

Pitcher: Ross Stripling – Not really enamored with any of the choices tonight, but I’ll go with Stripling and hope the Dodgers let him go long enough for the win.

Hitter: Bryce Harper – Harper’s always been a hitter who can go on big streaks – he’s been on a roll, and I think he’ll keep it up for awhile.

Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola)

Pitcher: Brandon Bielak – Went five innings last time, albeit with just one strikeout. Giants more productive than expected, but for the price I’ll use Bielak as SP2.

Hitter: Travis d’Arnaud – He hasn’t showed it this season, but d’Arnaud is plug and play with a lefty (Montgomery) on the hill. Plus, stacking Braves big time.

Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis)

Pitcher: Dylan Bundy – Apparently Bundy only needed a change in scenery to from the east coast to the west coast to salvage his career. I’ll take him at a decent price tonight at $9,700. He’s averaging over a strikeout per inning, to go along with his 2.08 WRA and 0.60 WHIP.

Hitter: Fernando Tatis Jr. – Tatis Jr. has 6 home runs in the last 7 games. Time for him to start a new streak tonight! Salaried at $5,800, he does not come cheap, but he’s averaging 14.1 fantasy points per contest.

Jeff Erickson (Rotowire, @Jeff_Erickson)

Pitcher: Zack Wheeler – I figure most people will be on either Scherzer or Stripling – I’m hoping to be a little different with Wheeler and Plutko.

Hitter: Jose Martinez – Martinez’s $4,000 salary helps me afford Trout, Harper and Realmuto, and is against LHP Martin Perez with the wind blowing out in Fenway.

Tout Daily is back! We’ve abridged the format to account for the short season, running a pair of simultaneous contests on Tuesday and Friday, so twice a week we’ll be sharing our top picks on the slate. Let’s get right to it!

Anthony Aniano (Rotoballer, @AAnianoFantasy)

Pitcher: Walker Buehler – A very thin group of pitchers on tonight’s slate and Buehler stands out as the superior pitcher of the night. It’s a chalk play but one that needs to be done.

Hitter: Matt Olson – For $4300 he faces a pitcher with a ERA of 6.71 in 2019. Olsen hit .288 with 25 of his 36 home runs versus RHP last season

Charlie Wiegert (CDM Sports, @GFFantasySports)

Pitcher: Justus Sheffield – Going cheap, hoping for some K’s and a win his last outing produced7 k’s Yeap Buehler is top play, but I don’t trust it!

Hitter: Nolan Arenado – Time for a big night and first dinger, loaded with Betts, Alanso, etc

Phil Hertz (BaseballHQ, @prhz50)

Pitcher: Josh Lindblom – Buehler is clearly heads and shoulders better than all the other options, but I don’t want to invest that much on a pitcher that might not go 5 innings. Lindblom is a flyer, but I like him more than the other options

Hitter: JD Martinez – Going against a rookie pitcher who hasn’t pitched above Double-A.

Mike Gianella (Baseball Prospectus, @MikeGianella)

Pitcher: Zach Davies – It’s a bad night for pitching. Buehler is the obvious choice and I’d normally roll with him, but I don’t want buy into WB and only get 3-4 innings. The Giants have been terrible against righties so far and I’m hoping Davies and his veteran presence can give me five decent innings. This is more about being able to maximize my offensive money than anything else.

Hitter: JD Martinez – Martinez rakes against southpaws and is going up against a lefty making his major league debut who isn’t a high strikeout arm. This feels like a gimmie.

Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis)

Pitcher: Walker Buehler – Not afraid to pay up tonight for Buehler at $11,300, in a night where starting pitching is very scarce.

Hitter: Nelson Cruz – I’l take Nelson Cruz to the bank at $4,500 tonight. Small sample size, but he is the top ranked hitter so far this season with 3 home runs, 10 runs batted in, and a .538 batting average.

Steve Gardner (USAToday Fantasy Sports, @SteveAGardner)

Pitcher: Josh Lindblom – Is there any pitcher who’s good for 5+ innings tonight? I don’t think there is. But a starter on a decent team going up against a below-average lineup? Give me Lindblom at Pittsburgh.

Hitter: Salvador Perez – He didn’t play at all last season so it seems he’s severerly underpriced at $2800, even in the KC lineup. He does have a couple homers already this season …

Rick Wolf (Fantasy Alarm, @RickWolf1)

Pitcher: Kyle Gibson – Now in Texas where we saw Lance Lynn breakout, Gibson’s advance metrics show that his numbers don’t make sense. His velocity was up. His BABIP was 50 points higher than the year before. His HR/FB% was way higher cause all the other metrics to be out of whack. Texas is a better park and that will be better this year. Home tonight against Arizona is looking good to me.

Hitter: Pete Alonso – With lefthanders on the mound for the Mets vs Red Sox, the righthanded hitters in both lineups will be in my game stack. If you go with one bargain at picher, you can fit them all. Feel like it is time for Alonso’s power to break out. LGM.

Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola)

Pitcher: Josh Lindblom – Like a couple of my esteemed colleagues, the key is the Rotowire blurb, “Lindblom is not expected to have any restrictions early in the season.” Though, a weak Pirates lineup in PNC doesn’t hurt.

Hitter: Mike Trout – Saved enough at C, 1B and SP2 to afford a 6K guy and still get a two-man LAD and BOS mini-stack.