Mastersball on all the week’s moves here.
Category: Data
Zola by a nose and a half in Tout Daily Period 4, while Shandler wins night!
Going into the final week of Period 4, Todd Zola had a big lead over Jeff Erickson, who in turn led Mike Gianella by seven points. Zola stumbled in week four, finishing 26th on the night, while Erickson finished 11th and Gianella tied for fifth. Lots of action, but the results ended much the same, with the three week-three leaders finishing atop the board after week four closer but in the same order.
Zola, Erickson and Gianella win golden tickets to the August 26th Tout Daily Finals, when a season champion will be crowned based on that night’s play.
For Erickson it is his second ticket of the year to the finals, and he’ll get to enter two teams in the 15 team finals field, and play for a third ticket in Tout Daily Period 5, which starts next Friday, July 29th.
Other holders of tickets to the Finals are Brian Walton, Rick Wolf, Rob Leibowitz, Tim Heaney, Tristan Cockcroft, Jason Collette, Patrick Davitt and Patrick Mayo.
Ray Murphy and Brian Walton finished seven and eight points back of Gianella, respectively, finishing fourth and fifth for the Period.
As each Tout Daily Period ends, all eyes fall on the race for the golden tickets, and the Friday night contest is overlooked. Last night’s first place team was Ron Shandler’s, edging Michael Beller and Ray Murphy.
Shandler was one of only two Top 10 teams to roster Jonathan Gray, in Colorado, and was rewarded with the night’s second-best pitching performance.
Big nights from Joey Votto and Christian Yelich, plus another strong game from popular pick Daniel Murphy, pushed Shandler to the top position, despite a woeful games from Tanner Roark and Jordy Mercer.
Shandler’s winning total was 26 points fewer than the winning total in week 3, and the lowest total winning points in Period 4.
Michael Beller rostered two meh pitchers on the night, Danny Duffy and Matt Shoemaker, who each cost $5,900, and received meh performances, but Duffy scored a Win. Beller used the money he saved to roster Nolan Arenado, Dexter Fowler, and Cameron Maybin, who did enough to prevail over all but Shandler.
Ray Murphy was the only other Top 10 team to roster Jonathan Gray, and he coupled him with Lance McCullers, the night’s best pitcher, who generated 21 points. Alas, his only solid hitter was Cameron Maybin and he came up one point short of first.
You can see all the night’s results at RTSports.com/tout-wars.
You can see the whole leaderboard here.
You can play daily fantasy baseball at RTSports.com, for prizes or just for fun.
Come back here, to Toutwars.com, next Friday afternoon, for the Touts’ top picks for Friday night, and follow that night’s action at RTSports.com.
Catching Zola! Mission Impossible?
Todd Zola leads the Period 4 race after three weeks by 16 points over Jeff Erickson, who leads Mike Gianella and five other challengers by from seven to 14 points. But as we’ve seen time and again, anything can happen on any given day in DFS, so no one is resting easy today.
Here are today’s picks from the Touts:
JEFF BOGGIS
I like Madison Bumgarner ($9,400 @ NY Yankees) and Josh Donaldson ($6,800 vs Seattle).
PHIL HERTZ
Brandon McCarthy ($4,500 @ St. Louis) and Wilmer Flores ($3,100 @ Miami)
LAWR MICHAELS
Since it all comes from pitching, I grabbed a pair of starters I like, but guys who are hardly marquee names, starting with Michael Fullmer ($6900 @ Chicago White Sox) trying his very strong skills (9-2, 2.16 with 77 whiffs), pairing him with the equally effective and modestly priced Tanner Roark ($6400 vs San Diego), with a 9-5, 2.82 record and 106 punchouts.
I like a couple of Fish a lot, so Christian Yelich ($4800 vs NY Mets) and Jake Realmuto ($3600 vs NY Mets) are in the lineup against the Mets Logan Verrett and staying with the Big Apple theme, Didi Gregorius ($3600 vs San Francisco) is becoming a very good hitter with a .296-11-41 line.
SCOTT SWANAY
Matt Shoemaker ($5,900 @ Houston) Seems underpriced given how well he’s pitched this season and how much the Astros strike out.
Alex Gordon ($4,500 vs Texas) He has to start hitting at some point, doesn’t he?
CHARLIE WIEGERT
Going with two who should get 7-10 K’s and have a good chance for a W: Tanner Roark ($6400 vs San Diego) and Michael Fullmer ($6900 @ Chicago White Sox).
Top hitters, I’m looking for long balls tonight from Giancarlo Stanton ($5,700 vs NY Mets), Bryce Harper ($6,500 vs San Diego) and Adam Duvall ($4,700 vs Arizona) plus riding a hot Joey Votto ($6,400 vs Arizona) and Zack Cozart ($4,600 vs Arizona) against Archie Bradley.
MIKE GIANELLA
Top Hitter: Kris Bryant ($6,200 @ Milwaukee). Taking one of the best home run hitters in one of the best home run parks in baseball is a pretty easy call, even if opposing pitcher Jeff Nelson isn’t necessarily homer prone. I saw Bryant hit his first major league home run last year at Miller Park; hopefully, he can repeat the magic tonight and push my team into the finals.
Top Pitcher:Madison Bumgarner ($9,400 @ NY Yankees). I was burned (slightly) using Bumgarner last week in what should have been an easy matchup against the Padres but figure it’s worth getting back on this horse against a Yankee lineup that has not hit lefties well this season. The park’s home run factor makes me a little nervous, but in a week where there aren’t a lot of strong options, I feel comfortable using Bum here.
TIM HEANEY
OF Khris Davis ($4,500 vs. Tampa Bay): Davis has not cared about Oakland’s immense pitcher-friendly rep, as he’s hit 14 of his 23 homers at the O.co. His 24.2% HR/FB is also one of the league’s best. Add more gasoline because of his matchup against fly-ball-heavy hurler Jake Odorizzi.
SP Tanner Roark ($6,600 vs. San Diego: Roark’s magical year has included a 2.32 ERA at home, which makes his price tag all the more enticing. The Pads remain a middle-of-the-road offense even when they leave Petco.
BRIAN WALTON
At $5900, Matt Shoemaker ($5,900 @ Houston) is just the 20th-most expensive pitcher on the board Friday night. The Angels hurler fanned 13 White Sox last time out and against his Friday night opponent, Houston, this season, Shoemaker has 24 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings and averaged over 18 points per outing.
Joey Votto ($6,400 vs Arizona) is working on a six-game hitting streak, coinciding with Cincinnati’s current homestand. The Reds first sacker has gone deep in two of his last three games while amassing 25 points. Votto has a nice home matchup with Archie Bradley and the Snakes Friday night.
GENE MCCAFFREY
Pitcher: Danny Duffy ($5,900 vs Texas), at home at a nice price.
Hitter: Jake Lamb ($4,800 @ Cincinnati) is a bargain against an atrocious Reds’ staff.
Mini FAAB Reports for July 18!
A second FAAB run, three days after the last, but there is still action, especially for a man named Pomeranz. Todd Zola and his henchmen at Mastersball have comments on five leagues.
Mike Gianella tackles the Pomeranz issue, too, with charts, plus all the other moves in Tout AL and NL, with some mixed league discussion too at Baseball Prospectus.
Jeff Erickson Tops Tout Daily Field with Strasburg and Pham!
The top two Tout Daily teams last night rostered Stephen Strasburg and Thomas Pham, and when the two players combined for 32 points those teams gained an edge. (Only Hector Santiago (18) and Chris Taylor (18) scored more points on the night, and no team owned them both.)
But after that the two leaders went about accumulating points in different ways.
Winner Jeff Erickson also got strong contributions from Paul Goldschmidt, Randal Grichuk, Stephen Piscotty, and Jonathan Villar. Of this group only Piscotty was owned by more than 5 percent of RTSports.com teams last night.
Jeff also had no players who scored a zero, and got double-digit points from the night’s most expensive pitcher, Madison Bumgarner, even though he failed to win his game.
The second place finisher, Eno Sarris, did get a win from his second pitcher. But Carlos Carrasco only scored .66 more points than Bumgarner.
Sarris also suffered from a no-point night oh-fer from Travis d’Arnaud, but still finished a solid second because of strong performances by Yasiel Puig, Travis Shaw, Howie Kendrick, and Addison Russell. Only Kendrick was owned by more than two percent of RTSports.com owners.
The rest of the night’s results sent the Period 4 competition topsy turvy, as only Todd Zola and Bret Sayre repeated in the Top 10 from the previous week.
Zola, the only player to finish in the Top 10 all three weeks so far, has a huge lead on the whole field, leading Erickson by 16 points and ahead of the rest of the pack by 23. You can see the whole leaderboard here.
While anything can happen, the final week of Period 4 looks to be a battle among Zola, Erickson, and Mike Gianella, Howard Bender, Eno Sarris, Tom Kessenich, Brian Walton and Derek VanRiper for the three Golden Tickets.
Of that group only Jeff Erickson and Brian Walton already have tickets into the Tout Daily Finals, on August 26th. Check back next Friday to ToutWars.com for the Tout’s picks for that night, and Saturday morning for the Period 4 final results.
Tout Wars Daily Per. 4 Wk. 3 Previews: The Touts Picks
Todd Zola is in the lead by 15 points over Andrea LaMont and Howard Bender, who are just barely ahead of Mike Gianella and Steve Moyer. And there are many right behind them. This week will be make or break for some of those teams. Especially if Zola continues to score big.
The whole leaderboard is here.
In an unusual turn, we’re playing this week’s contest including the 2:20 ET matinee at Wrigley Field. Those who missed that starting time will be allowed to submit legal rosters (no Rangers or Cubs) up until 7pm ET tonight. The salary list is here: RTDaily-Baseball-Salaries-2.
Who do the Touts pick tonight? Look for the results here at ToutWars.com on Saturday morning.
BRIAN WALTON:
Though Carlos Carrasco ($8600 @ Minnesota) allowed five runs in his last pre-break start, four were unearned due to shaky defense behind him. Over the last month, seven starts and 32 innings, the lndians’ ace has an ERA of 1.97 and takes on the toothless Twins Friday night.
Despite Phillies first baseman Tommy Joseph ($3300 vs. NY Mets) being best known as a lefty-masher, more than half of his hits in his current 10-for-18 hot stretch were against righties, such as Friday’s opponent, 43-year-old Mets All-Star Bartolo Colon. Joseph’s price cannot be beaten, freeing money to use elsewhere.
PHIL HERTZ
I’m recommending Carlos Carrasco ($8600 @ Minnesota) as a pitcher and betting that Giancarlo Stanton ($5,700 @ St. Lous) didn’t leave all his home run swings in San Diego.
LAWR MICHAELS
Still, I am guessing that by going with Madison Bumgarner ($9400 @ San Diego) pitching in friendly PetCo. I also suspect that just as a gaggle of us thought Sale would manhandle the Braves that MadBum will have his way with the Friars. Still, it is a logical choice to me, offset by my crapshoot of Ervin Santana ($6,500 vs. Cleveland), twirling against the dangerous Indians. Big Erv is coming off a monster two-hit game against the lesser Athletics, but Santana actually has four solid starts in a row.
The pricey Bumgarner did force me to quiet my outfield down, but I still grabbed the fine troika of Marcell Ozuna ($4800 @ St. Louis), Denard Span ($4400 @ San Diego), and Stephen Piscotty ($4300 vs. Miami) all of whom can simply hit.
JEFF BOGGIS
My top Starting Pitcher is Madison Bumgarner ($9,400 @ San Diego). Bumgarner was the second-best pitcher behind Clayton Kershaw in fantasy baseball for the first half of the 2016 season. In his last outing against Arizona last week, he stuck out 14 on a one-hit gem. Bumgarner has never pitched a no hitter in his career, so maybe this will be his night to accomplish this feat.
My top Starting Hitter is Josh Donaldson ($6,800 @ Oakland). My top DFS strategy for tonight is to not start any players that participated in the home run derby, so I’m going with Josh Donaldson as my top starting hitter. Josh Donaldson is the second best hitter behind Jose Altuve in fantasy baseball for the first half of the 2016 season. Donaldson is the best hitter over the last 30 days before the all-star break. Donaldson is facing right-handed starting pitcher Daniel Mengden of the Oakland A’s tonight. Donaldson is batting .290 with 19 home runs and 51 RBIs against right-handed pitching this season. Last week, Daniel Mengden gave up 6 earned runs in only 4 inning pitched at Houston. He owns a 4.54 ERA and 1.37 WHIP on the season.
TIM HEANEY
SP James Paxton ($6,900 vs Houston) He’s typically better at pitcher-leaning Safeco Field, and the Astros’ OPS vs. southpaws is one of the league’s worst.
OF Stephen Piscotty ($4,300 vs Miami) .351/.468/.597 against lefties this year. Always a nice DFS bargain when he faces one. Wei-Yin Chen carries a .507 slugging percentage vs. RHB on the road.
CHARLIE WIEGERT
Going Cheap on Pitchers again. Jorge De La Rosa ($4,900 @ Atlanta) and Anthony DeSclafani ($6,500 vs. Milwaukee). Both have pitched well lately, have strike out potential and a good chance to get a win.
Hitters, with the dollars saving on the cheap pitchers, taking Mike Trout ($6,800 vs Chicago White Sox) and Kole Calhoun ($4,900 @ Chicago White Sox) at home tonight against Miguel Gonzalez. Nolan Arenado ($6,800 @ Atlanta) and Charlie Blackmon ($6,500 @ Atlanta) against Atlanta rookie (Harrell) and sleeper picks Jedd Gyorko ($2,800 vs. Miami) (if in line up at home against MIA — Chen) and Kennys Vargas ($2,600 vs. Cleveland).
MIKE GIANELLA
Top hitter: Giancarlo Stanton ($5,700 @ St. Louis) Even the bad Stanton has mashed against southpaws this season. His ISO is sixth among qualified hitters. Jaime Garcia isn’t a gimmie, but I’m betting on a resurgent Stanton to go yard tonight.
Top pitcher: Madison Bumgarner ($9400 @ San Diego). A well rested Bumgarner Post All Star against a Padres lineup that is thin after their top two or three hitters is a pretty safe place to put my money.
Tout Wars All Star Break FAAB Commentaries.
From the crew at Mastersball, notes on five Tout Wars leagues.
Mike Gianella’s FAAB Notes at Baseball Prospectus are up. They’re presently behind the paywall, but they’re usually available for everyone. I’ll let him know and we can hope they’ll be available later.
Adam Ronis Pulls Out Tout Daily Period 4 Week 2. UPDATE BELOW.
Mike Gianella and Todd Zola tied for second. Todd’s was the highest finishing team that rostered Chris Sale, who scored only two points on the night.
The standings:
Adam’s team:
UPDATE: After two weeks in Period 4, Todd Zola has opened a 15-point lead over Andrea LaMont and Howard Bender. None of the Top 10 teams at this point have previously this year won tickets to the August 26th finals, but among those who have (and could win a second ticket this period), Brian Walton is 12th, Rob Leibowitz is 14th, Jason Collette is 15th, and Jeff Erickson is 17th.
You can see the entire leaderboard here.