Category: Article

Who Is Winning Tout Wars? An Overview

With a month left in the season we’ve crowned one Tout Wars Champion for 2015: Charlie Wiegert is Tout Wars Daily champion. But what about the other leagues? While you can alway check in on the standings and transactions by using the links in the right nav at toutwars.com, at this point it might be a good time to check in on the pennant races.

TOUT WARS AL

Chris Liss is having a classic Liss season, young pitching, lots of hitting, lots of risk, and is seven points ahead of Jeff Erickson and nine points ahead of Mike Podhorzer. The three have bubbled up and down around the top of the standings all season, but Liss has benefited from Chris Davis’s spectacular season, and Carlos Correa’s emergence after being called up earlier in the year. There are plenty of points in play for all three teams, up and down, for this to turn any which way at any time, but Liss is clearly the fave.

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TOUT WARS NL

Mike Gianella is seven points ahead of standing three-time champ Tristan Cockcroft, but just two weeks ago his edge was only two points. For Cockcroft, the problem has been a freefalling pitching staff, which has won just a single game in the last 13 days, allowing Gianella to pass him. These teams have lots of points in play, too, so while you have to prefer to have the lead, there is no sitting comfortably at this point. Still, Gianella has to appreciate that he was the best team in the first half and has been the best team in the second half. Now he just has to bring it home.

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TOUT WARS MIXED AUCTION

At the halfway mark on the season Zach Steinhorn had a commanding lead, but that was before Fred Zinkie went to work. Zinkie was in 12th place on June 28, 39.5 points behind Steinhorn. From that point to the August 31 trading deadline he made 19 trades, and has taken a slim lead ahead of Scott Swanay and Steinhorn. Swanay was in 10th place on June 28th, and has nearly matched Zinkie in the second half. Meanwhile, Tim Heaney is just five points behind Zinkie, in fourth place. There’s a lot of pennant race to come in this one.

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TOUT WARS MIXED DRAFT

Adam Ronis and Paul Greco have been near the top of the standings all year long, but their weak second half performances have given Rudy Gamble a chance to open up some space ahead of them and Eno Sarris (whose had the best second half of them all). Gambles position is pretty strong, but he’s vulnerable in Wins and the pitching qualitatives,

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TOUT WARS X

Bret Sayre entered the last four-week contest 14.5 points ahead of Patrick Mayo and 31 points ahead of Doug Anderson. As we approach the halfway point, Sayre is 15 points behind Mayo, who has moved into a tiny lead. What looked like it might be a blowout has ended up a a nail-biter, if you’re Sayre and Mayo.

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FAAB Reports for August 24!

Mastersball.com surveys a surprisingly active week and notes one of the invidious effects of the Vickrey auction system.

In Tout NL, there were a number of interesting hitters available, and a number of bidders:

Steve Gardner: Domingo Santana 30 (27)

Brian Walton: Domingo Santana 26, Aaron Altherr 26 (25), Travis Jankowski 26, D Sweeney 26, Tommy Pham 2. Travis Jankowski 0

Phil Hertz: Domingo Santana 22, Aaron Altherr 22, Darin Ruf 22 (1), Travis Jankowski 22, D Sweeney 0.

Gene McCaffrey: Aaron Altherr 24

Scott Wilderman: Aaron Altherr 13,Tommy Pham 7 (1), Travis Jankowski 6, Darin Ruf 0

Tristan Cockcroft: Travis Jankowski 15 (1), Aaron Altherr 11, Jason Bourgeois 5 (2)

The bolds are the guys who bought the player, and the number in parentheses is the Vickrey reduced price. The issue here, I think, is the way Vickrey distorts the market, rather than reflect it. Clearly Domingo Santana and Aaron Altherr were preferred over Travis Jankowski, but in terms of pricing, the difference as set by Walton, Hertz and Wilderman is slight. But because of Vickrey, Santana and Altherr went for full price, while Jankowski’s price was cut from $15 to $1. It seems arbitrary, though it is worth noting that Jankowski was Cockcroft’s highest ranked hitter for the week, so it is fitting he got him.

I just think reducing big bids down to $1 demeans the process, making the reduction lucky rather than a reading of the market.

Mike Gianella discusses the week’s Tout AL and NL moves at Baseball Prospectus.

The Tout X Horse Race, Down To The Wire!

toutwarsXlogoFive months, five games, and Bret Sayre leads Patrick Mayo by 14.5 points in the race for the 2015 Tout X championship.

That happens to be identical to the 14.5 point lead that Sayre had over Mayo at the end of Game 1. The two have, ever since, traded blows from month to month, playing it even overall.

In fact, the high scorer in the four games since the opening draft on Tout Weekend has been Doug Anderson, who has managed to climb up into third place despite a disastrous opening frame. His 213.5 points over the last four games edges the 211.5 that Sayre and Mayo have posted.

You can see the whole leaderboard here.

Anderson trails Sayre by 31 points, slightly less than the lead Sayre opened up over Anderson in Game 1. It’s hard to see Anderson being able to close that gap in the final contest, especially since he also has to pass Mayo, whom he trails by 16.5 points. But that’s why they play the game.

Here is a link to the September Game standings.

One interesting aspect to this year’s Tout X Monthly Game is that MLB players can be owned by multiple teams. Who did the Top 3 pick this time round?

DOUG ANDERSON’S TEAM

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PATRICK MAYO’S TEAM

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BRET SAYRE’S SQUAD

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The Final 15! Engel and Pianowski Earn Second Tickets! Third Ticket in Dispute!

Scott Engel did not have a stellar week 4 of Phase Five of Tout Daily, but his lead going into the last week was so big he finished first easily overall, winning his second ticket to the finals.

Scott Pianowski had the seventh best finish for the week, which elevated him into second place for the Phase, and earned him his second ticket to the finals.

As for the Phase’s third ticket, Rudy Gamble and Steve Moyer have tied for the four weeks, each generating exactly 165.99 points. A fair and appropriate tiebreaker is being devised, to determine which of these teams will win the 15th ticket to the finals, the results to be announced soon.

stevegardnerAs for the week 20 contest, Steve Gardner rode Carlos Carrasco’s arm, and a big night from AJ Pollock, as well as solid performances from Joey Votto and Alcides Escobar, to a 10 point victory over Michael Beller. Gardner finished just 11 points out of third place, despite a disastrous week 3 in which his team totalled just two points.

Michael Beller overcame a weak performance from Wei-yin Chen, riding the thundering bats of Pollock, Marlon Byrd and Carlos Gonzalez to second place for the week.

Third place for the week went to Patrick Mayo, who had only one hitter finish with five or more points. That was the newly de-beareded Ben Paulsen, because Chris Sale’s big game and some smaller hitting was enough.

Here’s how Gardner did it for the week:

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One final bit of whimsy. The Top 3 finishers overall who did not win tickets to the finals:
Seth Trachtman, Brian Walton, and Jake Ciely. See the entire leaderboard here.

The Final Picks! Touts Swing For the Fences in Tout Daily’s Final Qualifying Week!

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We asked the Touts to share their picks for best pitcher and best hitter in tonight’s Tout Daily Week 20 contest. This is the last week of the last qualifying phase. The top three finishers in this phase will win tickets to the Finals, which will be held next Friday, August 28th. For more about Tout Daily visit here.

Scott Engel has a huge lead in Phase 5, looking for his second ticket in the finals, but there are more than 20 teams within striking distance of second and third places. All it takes is one bad week to fall out of contention, as last week’s leaders, Paul Sporer and Steve Gardner, learned.

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.

Here are this week’s picks!

PHIL HERTZ

Brett Anderson ($7,200 at Houston) I’m eschewing the aces.

Miguel Sano ($4,000 at Baltimore) I like Sano’s matchup in Baltimore versus Wei-Yin Chen.

GENE MCCAFFREY

Chris Bassitt ($7,600 vs. Tampa Bay) Maybe the hardest night yet for the pitching with all the aces going, but they’re all on the road except for the lately-volatile Felix. I think that Bassitt has almost as good a chance to put up 15 points as any of them @ $7600.

Paul Goldschmidt ($4,400 at Cincinnati) At the same time it’s a great night for hitters and I’ll start at the top with relative bargain Paul Goldschmidt @ $4400 against a stiff lefty in a bandbox.

AL MELCHIOR

Jimmy Nelson ($8,000 at Washington) Nelson has been close to untouchable against right-handed hitters with a .191/.267/.278 slash line allowed. Bryce Harper and Jose Lobaton could be the only lefties in the Nationals’ lineup. Nelson should be able to extend his recent run of strong starts, as he has compiled a 1.70 ERA in seven outings with a 45/14 K/BB over 47 2/3 innings. Oh, and he’s limited batters to a .279 SLG over that period, too.

Jay Bruce ($2,900 vs. Arizona) Bruce has been a reliable power bat against righties, putting up a .232 Iso against them. The Diamondbacks starter, Rubby De La Rosa, has allowed a .306 batting average and 17 home runs against lefty batters over 69 1/3 innings this season.

ENO SARRIS

Andrew Cashner ($7,000 vs. St. Louis) Yes, Cashner has had some issues this year with the home run, and the ball in play. But he still throws in the upper nineties, and more importantly he’s in cold San Diego, where he has a career ERA of 2.67 and a home run rate that’s two thirds of his away home run rate. Only two games will be colder tonight, and the wind is blowing in for the Padres’ mulleted ace. Add in the fact that he’s up against the Cardinals—only three NL teams have hit fewer home runs for the Cards, and they recently lost Matt Holliday and Randall Grichuk to injury—and this is a great way to stack your lineup with studs.

Matt Wieters ($2,500 vs. Minnesota)Research by Jeff Zimmerman has shown that Tommy John surgery doesn’t affect position players at the plate, and Wieters is within a good week of his career numbers in most categories right now. Wieters is 40% better against lefties than righties over his career, and he faces a soft-tossing lefty in Tommy Milone… in a homer-happy park that will see temperatures better than all but four open-air parks tonight. In fact, Wieters is part of a double play for me, as I love righty Adam Jones enough to pony up.

MICHAEL BELLER

Wei-yin Chen ($8,100 vs. Minnesota) I’m going with Wei-yin Chen tonight. I love the matchup with the Twins, and I think the ownership will be awfully low with all the other options available. He stood out when I first saw the slate before I knew any prices, and the $8,100 tag made him a no-brainer for me.

A.J. Pollock ($4,200 at Cincinnati) He has been hot, he had a plus matchup, the diamondbacks are at the Great American Ball Park for power hitters, and $4,200 is a perfectly acceptable price. Count me in.

JEFF BOGGIS

Madison Bumgarner ($12,800 at Pittsburgh) I am in 10th place for phase 5, but I am only 10 points out of 3rd place for the elusive Golden Ticket for phase 5, so I can’t afford another lackluster week. There are a lot of aces to choose from tonight, but unfortunately they are facing each other. Bumgarner has been pitching lights out recently and is on the road in Pitcher-friendly PNC Park tonight against a beatable opponent in Jeff Locke. As much as I would like to save a little cash and start either King Felix Hernandez or Chris Sale, I don’t want to take on the added risk in the win category. Rostering Bumgarner leaves me with only $2,775 on average to roster 8 hitters.

Adam Jones ($3,900 vs. Minnesota) Jones has been hot as the weather here in Atlanta over the past week. In the past seven days, Jones is 10 for 27 (.370) with 6 runs scored, 4 home runs and 8 RBIs. He has a favorable matchup tonight against lefty Tommy Milone. Since I rostered Madison Bumgarner, this is a great value play with Jones having a salary under $4,000.

BRIAN WALTON

John Lackey ($9,000 at San Diego) There are aces galore available, but I am passing on them all to drop down to the number eight pitcher, John Lackey. The veteran right-hander has quietly posted a 2.87 ERA this season, stepping into the leadership gap for MLB’s top pitching staff vacated by injured Adam Wainwright. Lackey draws the Padres Friday night in spacious Petco Park.

Paul Goldschmidt ($4400 at Cincinnati) Goldschmidt is good anywhere, but looks even better against lefty David Holmberg at Cincinnati. Holmberg’s 5.95 ERA, coupled with Goldy’s 1.082 OPS against left-handed pitching this season, topped off by Great American Ball Park, where the first baseman has two home runs and eight RBI in 11 career games, makes for my recommended hitter play.

RAY MURPHY

Justin Verlander ($7700 vs. Texas) He hasn’t quite pushed his velocity back to peak levels yet, but he’s throwing harder in August than he has all year. That uptick seems to have crossed some sort of critical threshold for him, because his results have looked positively vintage for the last month: five straight dominant outings on our BaseballHQ Pure Quality Start scale, with a net of 5 BB/32 K in 36 innings over that span. Tonight’s opponent (TEX) is by no means a doormat, but at least the game is in Comerica.
Joey Votto ($4200 vs. Arizona) He never comes cheap, but rostering Verlander will allow me to afford him comfortably. Facing Rubby de la Rosa, who has struggled with LH batters all year, in hitter-friendly GABP, is a great building block for my lineup. Spoiler: I’ll very likely be using Jay Bruce ($2900) as well.

JAKE CIELY

Chris Sale ($12,200 at Seattle) 
Charlie Blackmon ($4,500 vs. NY Mets)

CHARLIE WIEGERT

Carlos Carrasco ($9600 at NY Yankees)  The Tribe has been a thorn in the Yankees side the past couple weeks, so I’m going out on a limb they can put up a good effort against Tanaka.  His last game was a complete game, so I’m hoping for lingering effects of all those pitches!  Hopefully Carlos will go deep into the game and continue throwing his K ball.

I like the match up of Rockies hitters against Bartolo Colon in the mile high city.  Carlos Gonzalez ($5,000 vs NY Mets), Jose Reyes ($3,600 vs NY Mets) and DJ LeMahieu ($3,500 vs NY Mets) will find a way into my roster.

STEVE MOYER

Chris Davis ($5000 vs Minnesota) This odd, occasional lefty/lefty matchup (Tommy Milone) tops the Inside Edge hitter board for tonight. Davis is hot and due for a dinger.
David Price ($11,700 at LA Angels) The top Inside Edge starter must be champing at the bit after seeing his bullpen blow what looked like a sure win a week ago.

TODD ZOLA

Chris Bassitt ($7,600 vs. Tampa Bay) LOADS of talented arms but I need to find a latent one with the ability to excel
Nolan Reimold ($2,200 vs Minnesota)— double dong potential with platoon edge on hittable Tommy Milone.

SCOTT SWANAY

John Lackey ($9,000 at San Diego) Most weeks I find at least one pitcher’s match-up that I can get excited about; tonight, I can’t.  So, I’ll go with the unspectacular but steady Mr. Lackey and hope for the best against an anemic Padres’ offense.  Others considered were Gio Gonzalez vs Mil (ruled him out because Jimmy Nelson has been pitching well lately) and Chris Sale @ Sea (ruled him out because King Felix is opposing him, and I doubt he’ll give up eight runs in a third of an inning tonight).
Jay Bruce ($2,900 vs. Arizona) Since I have a lot of ground to make up this week if I want to grab one of the final Golden Tickets, and home runs are the quickest way to the winner’s circle, you’re not getting into my lineup tonight unless you have a good deal of power and/or are facing a pitcher prone to give up the gopher ball.  Bruce qualifies on both counts.

Al Melchior wins Week 2 of Phase 5 in @ToutDaily by @FanDuel! A night of less than spectacular pitching.

I bought Andrew Heaney?
I bought Andrew Heaney?

It was supposed to be a glorious night for the pitchers. Five had a cost of $10,000 or more, paced by the uberarm of Clayton Kershaw, and even the rooks, like Daniel Norris and Aaron Nola, came with pedigree. But things didn’t work out quite as expected.

The pitchers were fine overall. Scoring was down for the week. The winning score, Al Melchior’s 47.16, would have finished 20th the week before. But apart from Lance Lynn, the golden arms didn’t win their games. And so eight different pitchers finished in the Top 10, representing 77 percent of the week’s starters. And only one Top 10 team had Lynn. It was up to the hitters to make some noise.

Al Melchior’s made the most. They overcame a mediocre start from Andrew Heaney, who went 5.2 innings and allowed four earned runs, ending up with only 3.66 points. But the hitters shone across the board. Brian Dozier, Welington Castillo, Xander Bogaerts, Bryce Harper, Lorenzo Cain and Michael Brantley all scored more than five points. Here’s how Al did it (click to enlarge).

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Patrick Davitt finished second on the week, behind a nice (but unwinning) game from James Shields, a big night for Mike Trout, and solid performances from Mark Teixeira, Michael Brantley, and Xander Bogaerts.

Paul Sporer took third, with a nice (but unwinning) game from Jacob deGrom, and solid hitting from Jonathan Schoop, Eddie Rosario, JD Martinez, and Lorenzo Cain.

Sporer was the only Top 10 finisher in week one to finish in the Top 10 in week two of Phase 5, and thus finds himself atop a crowded field vying for the final three tickets to the August 28th final.

The top three finishers in each four week phase of Tout Daily receive tickets to the final, which will see $2,000 distributed among the top five finishers, including a $1,000 first prize, by FanDuel, the contest’s sponsor. The winner will also be crowned the first Tout Wars Daily champion.

You can find the leaderboard here.

Touts with tickets already are Jeff Boggis, Lenny Melnick, Scott Engel, Michael Beller, Jeff Erickson, Ray Murphy, Tom Kessenich, Adam Ronis (has two tickets), Charlie Wiegert, Scott Pianowski and Lawr Michaels.

 

The Touts Picks for Tout Daily on August 7!

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We asked the Touts to share their picks for best pitcher and best hitter in tonight’s Tout Daily Week 18 contest. For more about Tout Daily visit here.

Tonight’s contest is Week 2 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 Scott Engel, Jeff Boggis and Peter Kreutzer finished atop the standings.

The leaderboard is here.

Six of last week’s Top 10 already have tickets to the finals.

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!

PHIL HERTZ

For a pitcher, I’ll go with a top pitcher on a hot team: Jacob deGrom ($11,000 at Tampa Bay).

For a hitter, I’m going to dig deep and take the low cost Eugenio Suarez ($2,400 at Arizona), playing in a good hitters’ park.

GENE McCAFFREY

Tonight is a night for a) light investments in b) multiple teams. So many good pitching bets at a wide range of salaries, at least one is going to throw up a 20-25 point start, but for this game I have to pick one. It comes down to deGrom vs. Sonny Gray and I’ll go with the chance for spectacular with Jacob deGrom ($11,000 at Tampa Bay).

That means cheap hitters, and it looks like Victor Martinez ($2,500 vs. Boston) is over the hump and batting cleanup vs. Joe Kelly.

DOUG ANDERSON

Jose Fernandez ($11,000 at Atlanta) Fernandez is the only pitcher in Kershaw’s neighborhood as far as FanDuel Points Per Game goes. Kershaw is at 16.0 and Fernandez 15.3. No other pitcher is above 14.0. He’s only been back for six starts, but he looks like he never missed any time. Normally I’d expect some hiccups when recovering from Tommy John surgery, but Fernandez seems immune.

Miguel Sano ($3,000 vs. Cleveland and Cody Anderson (RHP)) Cody Anderson has fallen apart after four great starts to begin his season. Sano’s weakness is the swing and miss, but Anderson doesn’t have that type of stuff. I see a long ball coming tonight for Sano.

ADAM RONIS

Jose Fernandez ($11,000 at Atlanta)

Anthony Rendon ($3,000 vs Colorado)

JEFF BOGGIS

Jose Fernandez ($11,000 at Atlanta) Most DFS players will probably go with Clayton Kershaw tonight and pay the premium of $13,400, but I am going to pass for several reasons. I could not come up with a decent hitter lineup to offset the highest salaried pitcher on the board tonight. More of a concern is Kershaw is facing a very good Pittsburgh Pirate lineup and facing their ace in Gerrit Cole at $10,500. In fact, there are many great pitchers going tonight, but unfortunately they face each other, and you risk the chance of your pitcher walking away with a win and 4 fantasy points. Using the methods I described in yesterday’s Tout Round table article at https://www.toutwars.com/?p=3979 for using the Las Vegas lines, odds and props when it comes to researching my DFS lineups, I am starting Jose Fernandez tonight at $11,000. Although he may be on a pitch count tonight, Fernandez has averaged 16.3 fantasy points over his past three starts. The Las Vegas number line has the game at -150 in favor of Fernandez vs. Julio Teheran, with the total runs scored at 6 ½. That compares to Clayton Kershaw -132 vs. Gerrit Cole, Jacob deGrom -120 vs. Jake Odorizzi, and Dallas Keuchel -114 vs. Sonny Gray.

Todd Frazier ($3,300 at Arizona) Frazier is mired in a slump and his price reflects this at only $3,300. I contribute his slump to the home run derby in the all-star break. It usually takes 2-3 weeks to correct your timing and I look for Frazier to turn it around, beginning tonight against Arizona starting pitcher, Chase Anderson.

BOGGIS Top Stack Special: Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals face fly ball pitcher John Danks tonight at home. I am stacking outfielder Lorenzo Cain, catcher Salvador Perez, and shortstop Alcides Escobar. I wanted to also include second baseman Ben Zobrist, but I could not make my lineup work with his $3,800 salary.

CHARLIE WIEGERT

It’s one of those days, nobody jumps at me. Vegas lines have a lot of low totals, so I expect a lot of good pitching.  I’m going with SD pitcher James Shields ($8,900 vs. Philadelphia) against the Phillies at home, hoping for another solid start and at least 7 k’s.

Leaning heavily on Cincinnati hitters at AZ against Chase Anderson just coming off DL.  Joey Votto ($3,700 at Arizona) has looked locked in lately, hopefully he goes deep tonight.

 ENO SARRIS

Aaron Nola ($6,100 at San Diego) Down the list, at less than half the price of Clayton Kershaw, is a starting pitcher that will allow you to field a heck of a lineup in Nola. With plus command and a great changeup, his below-average velocity is not so much of a problem. Right now, even his inconsistent curve is getting great whiffs. The only mark on Nola’s resume so far — and maybe related to his velocity — is a tendency to give up the homer. He’s going to be in San Diego, though, which will once again be the second-coldest park in the big leagues. As a bonus, the wind should be blowing in tonight. 

Jason Heyward ($3,500 at Milwaukee) Heyward is in Milwaukee, which he should like, and he’s also facing a rookie pitcher in Tyler Cravy. Though rookie pitchers perform better than rookie hitters, we do have enough of a sample to say that Cravy isn’t going to get a lot of whiffs. His swinging strike rate is *less than half* of the one Aaron Nola is showing in the early going. Cravy didn’t get grounders in the minors, either. Heyard’s five-tool skill set can get you points in different places, and a career .281/.367/.462 line against righties is exciting at his price.

RAY MURPHY

Jacob deGrom ($11,000 at Tampa Bay) Kershaw and deGrom are tonight’s top two SP, both working on the road. Kershaw’s the better pitcher, of course… but deGrom’s opposing TAM offense is weaker, as is the opposing SP. The better shot at a win makes him my choice for tonight, and he gives me an extra $2300 on Kershaw owners to build my lineup.

Victor Martinez ($2,500 vs. Boston) VMart snapped a long slump with two HR last night. Tonight he faces the execrable Joe Kelly, he only costs $2500, AND I can play him at catcher? Sign me up.

JAKE CIELY

Daniel Norris ($6,000 vs. Boston) Hear that? Yes, that’s the dice rolling. Norris is one of the better young pitching talents in the game, but he struggles with control. He looked better in his return against the Orioles, walking just one in 7.1 IP. The Red Sox offense has been anemic. Plus, after a mediocre first week, I’m going “all in” for a final shot at a ticket.

Anthony Rendon ($3,000 vs Colorado) He looks to be getting back into the swing of things (pun not intended, okay… maybe semi-intended). Rendon is 10 for his last 35 and has a career .304 AVG against lefties. Jorge De La Rosa has a 4.83 ERA in his last nine starts.

LAWR MICHAELS

I like Lance Lynn ($9,300 at Milwaukee) as a less expensive strikeout pitcher against a team with terrible on-base totals (.293) against right-handers.

As for hitters, Asdrubal Cabera ($3,400 vs. NY Mets) has been hot and as long as he gets to start (he did get hit in the face with a ball yesterday) i like the switch hitter even if he is facing Jacob deGrom.

BRIAN WALTON

There are plenty of available aces on Friday, with seven pitchers drawing five figures. The downside, of course, is putting roughly a third of one’s stipend on one arm. Instead, I will drop down to Phillies rookie Aaron Nola ($6,100 at San Diego), who has been solid in his first three Major League outings (3.38 ERA, 7.2 K/9) and will face the Padres offense in Petco Park Friday night.

 Mired in a slump for weeks was Matt Carpenter ($3600 at Milwaukee). Returned to the top of the Cardinals batting order, the third baseman has taken off, with three doubles, five home runs and eight RBI in his last seven games. Carpenter and the rest of St. Louis’ lineup draws rookie Tyler Cravy in Milwaukee Friday evening.

PAUL SPORER

Jacob deGrom ($11,000 at Tampa Bay) The top five studs are all on the road, but they are all in favorable parks – PIT, TB, ATL, OAK, and SEA. I’ll take the second-most expensive squaring off against the Rays at Tropicana Field. JdG’s having a fantastic season, but he’s been particularly excellent since mid-May with a 1.47 ERA and 0.70 WHIP in 91.7 IP with 98 Ks and just 12 BBs. He has allowed just 2 ER in his last two starts (13.7 IP), but taken a ND in both. The revamped Mets offense certainly makes you more confident about using their aces in DFS as the ever-important W is much more likely. 

Eddie Rosario ($2600 vs. Cleveland) Saving some money with my hitter pick since I’m going with one of the ace arms. He’s been ice cold since his near-cycle with just 1 hit in his last 25 PA. Seems like just a cold snap as opposed to major reason for worry, especially as it comes on the heels of a 13-for-29 run. With Rosario & deGrom, you still have $3K per slot for the rest of your roster. 

PETER KREUTZER

Jose Fernandez ($11,000 at Atlanta) He’s the ace with the best matchup tonight.

Victor Martinez ($2,500 vs. Boston) Maybe it was yesterday’s dingers, but at this price V-Mart can be my catcher forever.

STEVE MOYER

Jose Fernandez ($11,000 at Atlanta) Nothing tricky or cheap here, but Fernandez matches up to well against the weakling Braves to pass him up.

J.D. Martinez ($3,800 vs. Boston) Top dog on the Inside Edge hitter board this week faces Joe Kelly and his six ERA.

SCOTT SWANAY

Lance Lynn ($9,300 at Milwaukee) So many good pitching matchups tonight that it seems like Opening Day in August, so I’ll go w/ a pitcher, who while not as glamorous as some of the more expensive names, probably has a better chance of garnering a Win.

Miguel Sano ($3,000 vs. Cleveland) Sure, he’s just a rookie, but $3,000 for a guy averaging 3.0 Fan Duel points per game, facing Cody Anderson, and sporting an OBP over .400 seems like a bargain.

The July 31 Picks of Touts in Tonight’s Phase 5 Week 1 #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 17 contest. For more about Tout Daily visit here.

Tonight’s contest is Week 1 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 Ray Murphy, Scott Engel and Charlie Wiegert won tickets to the final.

This week, everyone starts off even again. 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).

But there are weekly cash prizes, too, so you can bet Ronis will be playing.

Here are this week’s picks!

ENO SARRIS

Danny Salazar ($8,800 at Oakland) A tier below the most expensive guys sits a pitcher with ace-like stuff in Salazar. A blazing fastball, a devastating a change, a new curveball: Salazar has it all to dominate a Zobrist-less Oakland lineup. And though he has his flaws — his command leaves him at times, and his high fastball can drift over the plate — he’s in a good spot to mitigate those flaws. Oakland will once again be the coldest park in major league baseball tonight, a full 26 degrees cooler than the game in Texas. That will steal some oomph from those fly balls, and keep a few in the park.
Victor Martinez ($3,100 at Baltimore) Using Martinez at catcher is such a fun thing. His career weighted offense is a full 40 percentage points higher than the average catcher, and we don’t need to worry about framing or blocking in the daily game. He hasn’t been great this year, but he’s been much better since he returned from injury. In that time, he’s raised his slugging percentage above league average (not catcher average), and shown signs of coming out of a funk. The wind’s blowing out in Baltimore and it will be the second-hottest non-domed park tonight, and the Detroit lineup is full of great righties that can take advantage of Wei-Yin Chu’s soft stuff. Consider a mini-stack.

CHARLIE WIEGERT

 Going with the homer pick tonight, Cardinal Michael Wacha ($8, 500 vs Colorado).  If you think he’ll have his “A” stuff tonight (I do), he’s a good bargain compared to the other top pitchers tonight.  Rockies scrambling, lost tough one last night, and they could be a little down tonight. Cardinals usually give Wacha good run support, and I expect them to solve Kendrick.
Going with the Cardinals will get to Kendrick idea,
I look for Kolten Wong ($3,100 vs Colorado), now in the 3 spot, to be productive.  And Jason Heyward ($3400 vs Colorado), who has been red hot, to go deep tonight.  I also like the Giants and Orioles hitters tonight against weak pitching!

JEFF BOGGIS

 Clayton Kershaw ($13,300 vs LA Angels) I don’t care about his high salary or that it only leaves me with an average hitter salary of $2,712.50. I don’t care about the medical reports of his sore hip/glute area. I don’t care that he is facing Mike Trout tonight. He’s Clayton Fricking Kershaw and he’s averaged over 25 fantasy points over his last 3 starts. No paralysis by analysis here.

Adam Jones ($2,900 vs Detroit) and Manny Machado ($3,700 vs Detroit) My weekly start both Bryce Harper and Mike Trout approach is being put on hold for this week. Trout is facing Clayton Kershaw on the road tonight and since I am starting Kershaw, which would be limit my upside. Bryce Harper faces The Dark Knight, who owns Harper in head to head matchups. Harper is 0 for 14 with 7 strikeouts against Matt Harvey. (Yes, you read that correctly). So my plan B for tonight is to stack both Adam Jones and Manny Machado against one of the worst pitchers in MLB. Buck Farmer is replacing Shane Greene in the rotation tonight. In 13 IP this season, Farmer owns a 9.22 ERA and has given up 22 hits. That’s almost an average of 2 hits per every inning pitched.

STEVE MOYER

David Buchanan ($5,100 vs Atlanta)  The second-ranked pitcher on the Inside Edge board tonight is quite a shocker. Go big or go home, I guess. You’ll be able to afford plenty of Chris Davis’s at this pitcher price.

Chris Davis ($4,000 vs Detroit)  He ain’t cheap, but Inside Edge says he’s in line for big things tonight against youngster Buck Farmer.

SCOTT SWANAY

Danny Salazar ($8,800 at Oakland) it was a toss-up for me between Salazar and Michael Wacha, but decided to go with Salazar because he faces a weaker-hitting opponent and an opposing starting pitcher (Kendall Graveman) who won’t be winning the Cy Young Award anytime soon.

Ryan Zimmerman -($2,300 at NY Mets) Yes, he’s facing the Dark Knight, but Matt Harvey hasn’t really been pre-TJ Matt Harvey this year, and Zimmerman has hit well in three games since being activated from a lengthy stay on the DL.  At a cost of just $2,300, he’d be a bargain even in Jack Benny’s eyes (if Jack Benny had played DFS).

RAY MURPHY

 Michael Wacha ($8, 500 vs Colorado) at home against whatever is left of the Rockies lineup. Wacha has outwardly struggled lately, but his skills look better than ever. Nice price for a great matchup at home.
Brandon Belt ($3000 at Texas) makes a nice option at 1B tonight. He’s in Texas to face Nick Martinez, who has come unglued in his last five starts. All five were on the road, but seeking respite at home in Arlington in late July is not a good proposition. Belt has been hitting well lately (.317 BA over last month), just lacking power. Looking for that to change tonight…

LAWR MICHAELS

 Gio Gonzalez ($9,600 at NY Mets) Going against a team that has the second worst strikeout rate in the Majors against lefties seems to be a solid under-the-radar selection.
Kolten Wong ($3,100 vs Colorado)  Hitting left against Kyle Kendrick seems like a lot of potential fun for my offense.

JAKE CIELY

 Michael Wacha ($8, 500 vs Colorado)
Chris Davis ($4,000 vs Detroit)

GENE MCCAFFREY

The expensive pitchers tonight are all great but all have questionable starts—or at least issues that make their prices probably too high. Therefore I’m going cheaper with the inconsistent but often brilliant Eduardo Rodriguez ($7,700 vs Tampa Bay) at home against the Rays.
This frees up salary and I’ll spend some of it on Brandon Crawford ($3,200 at Texas) the Giants are a juggernaut on the road and BC is a good bet for a great game against stiff righty Nick Martinez.

BRIAN WALTON

Cleveland’s Danny Salazar ($8,800 at Oakland) draws the A’s in Oakland tonight. The 25-year-old right-hander has just one career outing vs. Oakland, three weeks ago. In that contest, he finished just one out short of a complete game with only one unearned run on the board and eight strikeouts.If you are looking to save a bit of money Friday night, consider third base. St. Louis’ Matt Carpenter ($2,700 vs Colorado) has been in an offensive funk for weeks, but seemed to break out with a four-hit game, including two long balls, against the Rockies Thursday evening.

TODD ZOLA

Jason Hammel ($8,200 at Milwaukee) No Carlos Gomez, no Gerardo Parra and a banged up Ryan Braun – I’ll take that set-up and fade the aces.Chris Davis ($4,000 vs Detroit)  A high-risk, high-reward pick, Davis should be able to make contact against Buck Farmer and when he makes contact, good things happen. A 4K price tag is up there so I may pivot off when I see what’s available after the lineups flesh out from deadline-mania.

ADAM RONIS

Danny Salazar ($8,800 at Oakland)

Anthony Rizzo ($3,100 at Milwaukee)

DOUG ANDERSON

Neil Walker ($3,100 at Cincinnati) vs. Michael Lorenzen (RHP) – Both for his career and in 2015, Walker has as extreme lefty/righty splits as you’ll see. Over the last five seasons he’s scored more than 2.0 FanDuel points more against right-handed pitchers than left-handers. It’s been more of the same this year. The clock has struck midnight for Lorenzon as well. He’s allowed a .333 batting average and 2.15 WHIP to left-handed hitters. This shapes up as an ideal matchup for Walker
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Jimmy Rollins ($2,800 vs LA Angels) vs. Hector Santiago (LHP) – Rollins is not the hitter he used to be, but don’t try telling that to left-handed pitchers, against whom he’s hitting .321. Rollins is also on a little power spree with three homers in his last six games. Santiago’s shiny 2.43 ERA looks nice, but what’s up with the 4.30 xFIP?

PHIL HERTZ

Matt Harvey ($9,900 vs Washington) Gets Washington at home. Even though Nats are getting healthy, Harvey had pitched well against them until his last outing against them. I look for a rebound and at $9900, he costs less than the other “elite” starters.
Brandon Crawford ($3,200 at Texas) may be the best offensive shortstop in baseball this year. I think he’s a bargain at $3200.

JEFF ERICKSON

Clayton Kershaw ($13,300 vs LA Angels) This isn’t quite as obvious as Kershaw vs the Mets, but it’s still worth the effort to squeeze his price in, especially when I’m uncomfortable with the other top options. My second choice for tournaments is Danny Salazar, and I’d dip all the way down to David Phelps as my third choice.

Nelson Cruz ($4,200 at Minnesota) Target Field is a hitter’s ballpark this year, especially for right-handed bats, the wind has blown out lately, and lefty Tom Milone is on the mound.

PETER KREUTZZER

Danny Salazar ($8,800 at Oakland) I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to backup my AL only guy with a DFS play, but the matchup and the strikeouts look good. Could be a good night or a bad one, if you know what I mean.

Brandon Moss ($2,500 vs Colorado) He’s been ice cold and at some point that has to change, right?