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Tout Picks for the July 24 Phase 4 Finale of #toutdaily by @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 16 contest. For more about Tout Daily visit here.

Tonight’s contest is Week 4 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 Ray Murphy has a 10 point lead over Charlie Wiegert, with Brian Walton and Todd Zola just behind.

The leaderboard is here. Three of the current Phase Top 10 (Jeff Boggis, Michael Beller and Lenny Melnick) already have a ticket to the finals, with Boggis more than 11 points behind Walton in third place..

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 picks!

BRIAN WALTON

I will pass on all four pitchers over $10,000 today, and take number five, the Yankees’ Michael Pineda ($9600 at Minnesota), who draws the Twins on the road. The 26-year-old has been pitching well as of late, with 26 strikeouts in his last 27 2/3 innings and a 2.28 ERA.

None of the Cardinals hitters have seen Atlanta’s Manny Banuelos, but shortstop Jhonny Peralta ($3300 vs Atlanta) hits lefties consistently well and has been quietly leading St. Louis’ offense all season long with 14 home runs and 48 RBI. Peralta remains a relative bargain as the seventh-most expensive shortstop on Friday.

 

PHIL HERTZ

Chris Tillman ($6,300 at Tampa Bay)

Brian Dozier ($3,700 vs. New York Yankees)

JEFF ERICKSON

Chris Archer ($10,600 vs. Baltimore) On a slate full of aces, I’m trying to save up with him, and hopefully the O’s continue their recent underachieving ways. I might still find a way to pivot to Max Scherzer if I can save enough with the bats, but FanDuel’s pricing is getting more aggressive with hitters.

David Ortiz ($3,300 vs. Detroit) I really want to find a way to get Joey Votto in there, but Ortiz at home against Justin Verlander is really enticing too, and $1.2K cheaper. Plus, he homered yesterday, so form is pretty good, too.

JEFF BOGGIS

Corey Kluber ($11,000 vs. Chicago White Sox) This is the last week of the phase 4 contest and I am within 11 points of the elusive golden ticket into the finals. So my strategy tonight may be more aggressive than in other weeks as it is an all or nothing type lineup for me tonight. I started a week ago, thinking about how I would construct tonight’s roster and my goal was to build my roster around starting pitcher Zack Greinke. One data point that I did not take into consideration was around Zack’s wife being pregnant and about to go into labor. Greinke has decided to be with his wife on Friday and won’t be pitching tonight. So my plan B for pitching tonight came down to rostering one of three players: Max Scherzer ($12,000), Felix Hernandez ($11,300) or Corey Kluber ($11,000). Scherzer is at Pittsburgh, Hernandez hosts Toronto, and Kluber hosts the Chicago White Sox. Looking at all three matches, I like my win probability highest with Kluber. His K/IP is similar to Scherzer’s and I can roster him at $1,000 less. Most will roster Scherzer, but I need to slightly go against the grain.

Joey Votto ($4,500 at Colorado) A great matchup on the road at hitter friendly Coors Field in Colorado and facing Colorado pitcher Eddie Butler.  I think the stack of the night is any value players on either Cincinnati or Colorado.

DOUG ANDERSON

Michael Pineda ($9,600 @Minnesota Twins)  I could easily go with Kluber or Archer , but Kluber cost more, and it’s hard to expect the Rays to score enough runs to get Archerthe win. Pineda offers a nice combination of upside, matchup, and affordability.

Robinson Cano ($3,400 vs. Toronto) Drew Hutchinson (RHP), is the starter. You may not have noticed, but most of Cano’s struggles this year have come against left-handed pitching. He’s hitting .282 with eight of his nine homers off of righties. He’s also hitting .354 in July and .407 since the All-Star break.

 CHARLIE WIEGERT

I’m spending the bucks and going with the “safe” pick, Corey Kluber ($11,000 vs. Chicago White Sox), mainly because I think he gives me the best chance to stay in the top 3 spots of the monthly leader board.  Safe, because I think he has a good chance of double digit strike outs pitching at home against the White Sox.  The sleeper pitcher I like tonight is Jon Niese, pitching against the Dodgers, which might be an audition.  I could see the Dodgers trading Carl Crawford to the Mets to get his arm in their rotation, which needs help!

I don’t have the money for all I’d like in the Colorado/Cincinnati game, but I’ll take Nolan Arenado ($4800 vs. Cincinnati) as my guy to click.  And with Kluber, I need a few value picks, rolling the dice with Ryan Rayburn ($2200) and Chris Parmelee ($2200).

GENE MCCAFFREY

The usual Friday batch of tough calls, but I like Corey Kluber ($11,000 vs. Chicago White Sox) among the pitchers, at home vs. a White Sox attack that ranks 25th against righties in OPS. His salary requires some cheap hitters and I’ll start with Salvador Perez ($2,200 vs. Houston) to ruin Scott Kazmir’s Astro debut.

ENO SARRIS

Andrew Cashner ($7,300 vs. Miami) Only three teams have been worse than the Marlins with the stick this year. Only three teams have had less power. Cashner — who has admittedly has had some homer issues this year — is home in San Diego, which will be the third-coldest park today, with the bonus of having the wind blowing in tonight. Oh and by using him, you pocket a cool $4,700 from the most expensive pitcher of the day. Cashner may not be as great as his fastball suggests he should be, but he’s also a decent pitcher in a good situation going up against a bad offensive team. 

Joey Votto ($4,500 at Colorado) Right now, Eddie Butler does not have good command. And you know about Joey Votto, meaning something like three walks is your floor on the day. Add in the platoon advantage, and the Coors Field effect, and Votto looks like he’s in line for a good day.

RAY MURPHY

Corey Kluber ($11,000 vs. Chicago White Sox) With a leg up on a golden ticket entering tonight, I’ll be playing this lineup as a cash game. I’m giving a slight edge to Kluber over Scherzer as the day’s top play, since a) Kluber’s a little cheaper, and b) while both are likely to go deep into the game, I don’t have to worry about Kluber getting pulled an inning or two early for a PH. In a possible low-scoring affair in Pittsburgh, that’s a bit of a risk for Scherzer.

Joey Votto ($4,500 at Colorado) Votto is an OBP machine, going to Coors Field to face an RHP who has more allowed more BB than K on the year? I’d pay almost anything for Votto in that spot. $4500 is a bargain.

MICHAEL BELLER

If you want an ace, you aren’t short for options this week. There are arguments to be made on behalf of Max Scherzer and Felix Hernandez, but I’m riding with Corey Kluber ($11,000 vs. Chicago White Sox). I’ll take some savings from the top two options on the board and go with Kluber and his strikeout ways against the disappointing White Sox’ offense.

Todd Frazier ($4,900 at Colorado) against Eddie Butler in Coors Field. I don’t need to say anything else, right?

LAWR MICHAELS

I am going Jose Quintana ($8,200 at Cleveland) as an arm, since I am 40 points down and can afford to gamble, but I like Quintana’s strikeout numbers, he is pitching at home, and Cleveland is up-and-down.

As for a stick, switch hitter Mark Teixeira ($3,900 at Minnesota) against gopher baller Tommy Milone seems like a fun choice to me, although that game, with Millone facing C.C. Sabathia at Target in what portends to be a swinging affair (of course, that means the final score will be 4-3 and all my picks will give me “oh-fers” instead of gophers.

ADAM RONIS

Chris Archer ($10,600 vs. Baltimore) 

David Ortiz ($3,300 vs. Detroit) 

DAVID GONOS

Corey Kluber ($11,000 vs. Chicago White Sox)

Joey Votto ($4,500 at Colorado)

SCOTT SWANAY

Corey Kluber ($11,000 vs. Chicago White Sox)  I wasn’t wild about any of the pitching match-ups tonight, but this seems like the best choice of the lot.  He’ll get a fair number of Ks, the White Sox offense doesn’t scare anyone (now that I’ve said that, Jose Abreu will inevitably slug five home runs tonight), and Jose Quintana hasn’t been as good a pitcher on the road as he had been at home.

Marlon Byrd ($3,100 at Colorado)  He’s one of the least expensive options for getting in on the action for the Reds-Rockies game at Coors Field, which has the potential to be a slugfest given both the venue and the two starting pitchers (Butler and DeSclafani). 

STEVE MOYER

Jon Lester ($9,600 vs. Philadelphia –early games only) Inside Edge predicts no pitcher to wow tonight, but Lester’s the best against the “hot” Phillies, so you’ve gotta get that lineup in before 4. (Scherzer is middle of the pack – veddy interesting.) 

Joey Votto ($4,500 at Colorado) He’s en fuego and expensive and at Coors tonight, but IE says he’s worth it. Make up your own joke about “the Butler.”

 PAUL SPORER

Corey Kluber ($11,000 vs. Chicago White Sox) We’ve got an ace day so there are options w/Max, Felix, Archer, and Kluber. Kluber’s 5-10 record is pretty lame, but it’s certainly not an indication of his pitching. His skills are almost identical to last year’s Cy Young campaign. He’s particularly toasty of late, too: 2.65 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and 42 Ks in 37.3 IP (plus a 6.0 K:BB ratio). The White Sox have been very disappointing offensively after some high expectations coming into the season. They are 28th in wRC+ against righties this year. 

Charlie Blackmon ($4,800 vs. Cincinnati) Another high-dollar selection here, but sometimes the more obvious answer is in fact the right one. DeSclafani started the year horribly against lefties and while he has improved recently, he still a sharp split and now he’s in Coors against a righty-destroyer like Blackmon w/his .897 OPS against them for the year and .941 OPS against righties in Coors. 

TOP PICKS

Corey Kluber ($11,000 vs. Chicago White Sox)

Joey Votto ($4,500 at Colorado)

Tout Wars DFS Round Table

After a break for the All-Star break, we’ve assembled the Touts and posed another DFS question to those participating in FanDuel’s Tout Daily contest.

How much time do you spend researching and entering your DFS lineup(s)?

Seth Trachtman, www.rotoworld.com, @sethroto: I build my lineup around the pitcher, to the point that his salary determines how long it takes to build my lineup. Typically, if the pitcher is an ace, the high-priced choices for the rest of the lineup are limited. In that case, it probably takes about 15 minutes between looking at weather, matchups, and recent trends. For at least a couple positions, I simply scroll down to the bottom of the salaries to pick a player from there. However, if I opt to go for a cheaper pitcher, I have more freedom to pick the high-priced hitters. There’s more choices, and I’ll research pretty much every position. Unintentionally, it has taken more than 30 minutes to choose this lineup of hitting behemoths.

Phil Hertz, www.baseballhq.com, @prhz50: It depends on other life demands. This past Tuesday, it seemed I had 5 minutes to spare although I probably spent about 20 minutes. A week ago, I actually had some free time and spent about a half hour looking for some under the radar good match-ups. Interestingly I don’t think my results differed much.  :<(

David Gonos, www.SoCalledFantasyExperts.com, @davidgonos: Probably about 45-60 minutes on an average non-writing day, depending on how many contests and on how many sites I decide to play that day.

Tim McCullough, www.rotoexperts.com, @Tim_RotoExperts: On average, I’ll spend about 30 minutes on the research depending on the pitchers available on a given night. If there are only one or two obvious pitcher choices it might be a little less. But if there are four or five possible choices it probably takes more like 45 minutes.

Jeff Boggis, www.FantasyFootballEmpire.com, @JeffBoggis: Probably more time that I need to and it all depends on where I am in the Tout Wars DFS contest. On Friday night, I have a slight chance of obtaining a 2nd golden ticket to the finals in late August, so Thursday night and maybe at noon on Friday, I will make one final review of my lineup. There has been an increased number of websites offering daily fantasy advice and rankings, which is a great thing for the industry, but can lead to “paralysis by analysis.” Each week is a learning experience and as much as we love to analyze statistics and look favorable and unfavorable match-ups, sometimes we out guess ourselves. Going with your gut feeling oftentimes outweighs a pile of player analysis and statistics. My research always starts with pitching as it is very difficult to finish high in the weekly standings due to a poor pitching performance. I like to research how the starting pitcher has fared over the past two weeks, and also against the team they are facing that night. I don’t necessarily have to roster the highest salaried pitcher, but I do want to roster a tier 1 pitcher in all of my contests. I can build a hitting team with the remaining salary. I spend more research on hitting versus pitching as I have to find great match-ups with my remaining overall salary. If I can find a hitter that is has a great match-up versus the opposing pitcher, is fairly priced, and is on a hot streak over the past 7-14 days, then they become candidates for my roster.

Rick Wolf, www.fantasyalarm.com, @RickWolf1: It is likely that I play less than others in this group.  I play 2-3 times a week.  At least one of those each week is a speed studying.  30 minutes before the lineup deadline, I look at the different components of the playbook, daily projections from the best in the business and then make quick selections.  The other two times, I spend between an hour and 90 minutes.  Recently because of the completeness of the DFS Playbook PRO – I do ALL of that on Fantasy Alarm.  Jeff lays out the steps here and I skip some, but that is my roadmap: http://www.fantasyalarm.com/articles/jeffmans/20939/how-to-use-the-dis-mlb-playbook-pro/

Craig Mish, www.craigmish.com, @CraigMish: It depends on the day really. Sunday is the trickiest so in general I spend the most time trying to sort through potential pitfalls. On Sunday morning it could take me 45 minutes. Typically Tuesday and Friday I spend 30 minutes. Other days I play very little so about 15 minutes just to stay active.

Scott Swanay, www.fantasybaseballsherpa.com, @Fantasy_Sherpa: Anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour, depending both on the time available and how much I care about a particular contest.  So far, I haven’t noticed any correlation between time spent and points scored by my lineups, which leads me to believe I haven’t yet figured out the “right” way to construct consistently successful DFS lineups.

Charlie Wiegert, www.cdmsports.com, @GFFantasySports: Less than an hour. Based on my results, I probably need to do more!  I check out the pitching to see who has a good chance of a good strike out night, and looking at Vegas odds, who has a chance of winning.  I also use the Vegas odds for over/under on runs to be scored in the game to get an idea which offensive players I might want to roster.  Then I check out the starting lineups to make sure everyone is playing.

Patrick Davitt, www.baseballhq.com, @patrickdavitt: I like to spend 90 minutes or more, but often I am squeezed into less because of other obligations on Fridays.

Scott Engel, www.rotoexperts.com, @ScottERotoEx: It takes me roughly about an hour to two hours depending on my schedule for the day. Ideally, first I like to do my own research and then target a few guys based on matchups, etc. Then I go over to our analysts at DailyRoto.com,  because of the high level they play at, and see who they are targeting as well. Ideally I will get a good mix of my picks and theirs. Or roll out different lineups with more of an emphasis on mine in some and theirs in others if I am going multi-entry.

Jeff Erickson, www.rotowire.com, @Jeff_Erickson: Short answer – 90-to-120 minutes, depending on which day it is, and what’s at stake. On Wednesday I probably agonized for two hours on just my Fantasy Aces Survivor entry (15th place, by .5 point!), other days less. Sometimes the slate is easier to crack than others.

Todd Zola, www.mastersball.com, @ToddZola: I’ll spend a minimum of two hours and up to four depending on timing, how favorable I find the slate and if I need a reason to skip another workout. This may be cheating a little but I’m counting the time I put into researching the DFS content I write on a daily basis primarily because the same effort that goes into the initial research for my work would be exactly what I do if I wasn’t writing and just playing. The actual lineup entering can take anywhere from an hour to twice that, depending on how many sites and lineups I’m playing. I probably play a little more than most in Tout Daily but my volume pales in comparison to others in the industry and certainly the real grinders.

 

Ray Murphy Paves the Way in This Week’s Tout Challenge

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After a week’s hiatus due to the All-Star break, the Touts were back at it on Tuesday in FanDuel’s double-up Tout Challenge. Five Touts finished in the top ten led by the night’s second high scorer, Baseball HQ’s Ray Murphy. Joining Ray in the top-ten was Jake Ciely, Jeff Erickson, Andrea LaMont and Brian Walton. Of the 24 Touts that entered, half finished in the top 45 of the field of 100.

Huge nights from Kyle Schwarber and Shin-Soo Choo paced Ray’s squad, scoring a whopping 16.25 and 17.75 points respectively. Michael Wacha wasn’t as sharp as usual but he made it through five frames, fanning eight and getting the all-important win which also contributed to Ray’s outstanding night. The rest of Ray’s lineup is posted below.

This is the last week of the fourth period of Tout Daily which means when Friday night’s action comes to a close, three more tickets into the Tout Daily Championship will be awarded. None other than Ray Murphy is the leader after the first three weeks, holding a commanding 10.25 point lead over the Godfather of Fantasy Sports, Charlie Wiegert. My Mastersball colleague Brian Walton currently holds down the third spot with a very slim .27 points lead over yours truly. The entire Tout Daily standings can be found here.

Be sure to check back Friday, aces will be wild on the hill which should lead to an exciting Tout Challenge sweat as three more seats in the Tout Daily Championship are decided.

RayTC

 

 

Tout Daily by FanDuel Week 15 Results! Murphy’s Law Rules.

murphyRay Murphy rostered Lance Lynn, the week’s most productive pitcher, in this week’s Tout Daily by FanDuel, which proved to be most of the margin of victory.

That’s because on the hitting side, Tom Kessenich and Jeff Boggi$ (the preferred spelling whenever Jeff finishes in the money), the second and third place finishers, similarly to Murphy rostered two of the day’s big sticks, Kyle Seager and Hunter Pence. They fell short, however, by the difference between Lynn and their shared pitcher, Jose Fernandez, who pitched decently but did not beat the Phillies.

Fourth-place finisher Rick Wolf had Lynn on his team. He also had Jose Iglesias’s huge day, but lacked a strong second bat.

Screenshot 2015-07-18 09.06.18With his Phase 4 Week 3 victory, Murphy moves into the lead for the Phase by 10 points, ahead of Charlie Wiegert and Brian Walton. The latter is the only team to finish in the Top 10 all three weeks of Phase 4. The top three teams in the Phase will win tickets to the August 28 finals, when 15 ticket holders will vie for $2,000 in winnings.

Two Top 10 teams for the Phase are already ticket holders. Jeff Boggis and Michael Beller are 11 and 16 points respectively out of the Top 3. Players may win two tickets to the finals.

Phase Four finishes up next Friday, July 24th.

See the whole leaderboard here. Read more about Tout Daily. Visit FanGraphs.

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.