Category: Data

It was the late games that brought the noise for Michael Beller last night, who made a late surge with a Melvin Upton walk off homer, to jump past Tom Kessenich and take the Week 3 Period Tout Daily by RTSports.com game.

Both Beller and Kessenich had rostered Jake Arrieta, whose late win in San Francisco supported the top four finishers last night. But only one of those teams had Melvin Upton, taken by two percent of RTSports.com teams last night, whose final swing in the game’s final game was good for seven points and a slim victory on the night.

Upton didn’t do it alone for Beller. Big nights from Kris Bryant and Marcell Ozuna, both on two percent of squads, and Francisco Lindor, on 11 percent, carried him up the standings before the final blow.

Beller won despite rostering Matt Andriese, who won his game versus Detroit last night, but was the only starter on a Top 10 team not to score double-digit points.

Late in the evening Kessenich had to be feeling good. He had a three point lead on the second place team and both had Jake Arrieta, up 9-1 in the eighth inning, on his team. Alas.

The strength of TK’s team was Steven Matz, whose $7,300 price tag reflected concerns about his arm, which he promptly dispelled, pleasing the 39 percent of owners who’d taken a chance on him.

Kessenich’s team was rounded out by popular picks Chris Herrmann (ultra cheap at $1,900) and Aledmys Diaz (who leads the major leagues in OPS this year), and the rarer selection, Carlos Santana.

Top 10 pitchers for the week were Matt Andriese (improbably), Jake Arrieta, Steven Matz, Aaron Nola (picked by 51 percent of teams), Aaron Sanchez (why was he only $6,100?), Tanner Roark (another cheapie), and Gerrit Cole (who scored 10 points despite striking out zero hitters on the night).

All the action jumbled the Period 2 standings heading into the final week.

Patrick Davitt and Adam Ronis are tied for first, with Steve Gardner just five points behind. Other teams in the hunt are Michael Beller, Ron Shandler and Mike Gianella, with a bunch of teams right behind them. You can see the whole leaderboard right here.

The top three finishers after next week’s game will receive golden tickets to the finals, to be played August 26th to crown this year’s Tout Daily champion.

To learn more about RTSports.com’s daily fantasy games, and to play for free or for dough, visit RTSports.com.

Who are the Touts picking tonight? (You can follow tonight’s action, or make some of your own at RTSports.com.)

Jeff Boggis is going to try to use Chris Sale ($9,700 @ Yankees) (The obvious choice is Chris Sale, but you have to pay a hefty premium ($500 higher than the second highest pitcher). I am willing to roster Chris Sale at $9,700 and look for hitter bargains to justify the high price tag on Chris Sale tonight. Sale faces the New York Yankees tonight against Luis Severino who currently owns a 6.12 ERA. Sale should get plenty of run support tonight, but I don’t think he will need it. Sale has now won 7 straight games and sports a 1.79 ERA, a 0.77 WHIP, and a 10/47 walk to strikeout ratio. Matt Harvey is an intriguing option at $9,200, but this is his first time ever pitching at Coors Field in Colorado.) and Jackie Bradley Jr. ($4,100 vs. Houston) (A bargain price for the hottest hitter over the past two weeks. In this two week span, Bradley has 5 home runs, 21 RBIs, 1 stolen base, and batting .468. Bradley is $2,600 less than the highest salaried outfielder (Mike Trout at $6,700) tonight. Bradley is scheduled to face Houston starting pitcher, Lance McCullers of Houston, who is coming off the disabled list.) tonight. Note, however, that there is a significant chance of rain tonight in Boston, so make sure the game is going to be played before rostering Bradley.

Phil Hertz will go with Rich Hill ($6,700 @ Tampa Bay) and Kevin Plawecki ($2,200 @ Colorado) for cheap at Coors.

Law Michaels is looking at Gio Gonzalez ($7,100 vs. Miami) to tame the Marlins, and ideally bag some whiffs, while thinking at Coors, Yoenis Cespedes ($5,400 @ Colorado) drives the Mets and the ball into the Rockies.

Tim Heaney picks SS Jonathan Villar ($3,800 vs. SD) because hosting Christian Friedrich at Miller Park smells like a profitable day for one of fantasy’s most surprising hot starters, and SP Nathan Karns ($6,200 vs. LAA), because Safeco Field will help even more against one of the league’s coldest offenses.

Charlie Wiegert is paying the price and taking Chris Sale ($9,700 @ Yankees) against a beat up Yankee team that is struggling to score runs.  He should rack up 8-10 k’s, and be in line for a win. He’s also going to ride the hot hand of Daniel Murphy ($4,700 vs. Miami) against Tom Koehler, and stack a few players in the Mets @ Colorado game.

Ray Murphy takes Nathe Karns ($6,200 vs. LAA), who is taking a step up this year and draws the struggling Angels at Safeco, with a very reasonable price point, and notes that Jeremy Hellickson has had problems with the long ball and with LH hitters, so when he ventures into Cincy tonight I will very likely be using both Joey Votto ($6,300 vs. Philadelphia) and Jay Bruce ($4,900 vs. Philadelphia).

Gene McCaffrey goes with Steven Wright ($4,200 vs. Houston), assuming the weather holds up, you can’t beat the bang for the buck, and Michael Conforto ($4,900 @ Colorado) is too good to stay quiet in Coors Field.

Scott Swanay selects Chris Tillman ($6,000 vs. Detroit) tonight and hope that he continues his early-season success against a Tiger team that strikes out a lot and has been only middling in the power and on-base percentage departments so far this year. He’ll also pick against Minnesota’s Ricky Nolasco for the second Friday night in a row, this time hoping that Jason Kipnis ($5,100 vs. Minnesota) will be the beneficiary of Nolasco’s largesse.

Jeff Erickson has two wishes: Kevin Plawecki ($2,200 @ Colorado), please be in the lineup tonight! Cheap catcher, in Coors, homered earlier this week. Captain Obvious pick. And Rich Hill ($6,700 @ Tampa Bay), I’m a little worried about the platoon factor, but he has high strikeout upside against the team with highest strikeout percentage in baseball, at an affordable price.

Brian Walton finds it interesting that six of the top seven starters are on the road Friday. He’s going with the best of the best, Chris Sale ($9,700 @ Yankees) at Yankee Stadium. The Indians’ ace has a sub-2.00 ERA this season and a career 2.14 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 21 innings in the Big Apple. And when is Bryce Harper ($6700 vs. Miami) a bad pick? Well, he has been especially good against Marlins starter Tom Koehler. In fact, six of Harper’s nine hits (in 28 at-bats) against Koehler left the park. He drove in 11 while at it.

Eno Sarris points out that Christian Friedrich wasn’t particularly good in Triple-A for the Padres, so he’s stacking Brewers righties — Ryan Braun ($5,900 vs. San Diego) and Chris Carter ($4,900 vs. San Diego) — in particular. Home cooking bratwursts in Milwaukee. As for pitching, nobody can figure out when to swing at Rich Hill’s ($6,700 @ Tampa Bay) curveball, and as long as his arm stays on tonight, he should be fine in Tampa. And cheap!

Mike Gianella goes with Ryan Braun ($5,900 vs. San Diego). He says: I just can’t quit Braun, and the matchup at home against a marginal left-handed pitcher is way too much to pass up, even at this price. He also likes Edinson Volquez ($6,900 vs. Atlanta) and says, rather than go with a big time arm, I decided to go mid-level and play what I hope is a great matchup against Atlanta. Volquez has a 3.02 ERA at home dating back to 2015 (compared to a 4.20 ERA on the road). Volquez isn’t someone I’d normally play in DFS, but picking him allowed me to take advantage of some stronger hitters on a slate that looks very soft on the whole on the pitching side.

Steve Moyer says that recommending Chris Sale ($9,700 @ Yankees) tonight is like telling a friend to buy a Ferrari when he tells you he needs a car. Maybe it’s not all that much less obvious, but I’ll say Josh Tomlin ($5,900 vs. Minnesota) takes advantage of the hapless Twins. As for hitter, look for Xander Bogaerts ($5,100 vs. Houston) to give Lance McCullers a rude welcome back.

Ron Shandler bet on two starters from Chicago last night, and rode their sterling starts home to victory in Week Three of Period One of Tout Daily.

Shandler was also helped by Curtis Granderson’s two-home-run night, which led to 16 points in the Mets game versus Atlanta.

While Jose Quintana and Jon Lester were popular picks, only three percent of daily players at RTSports.com played Granderson last night. Of the Tout Daily Top 10 finishers, only Gene McCaffrey rostered Grandy.

On the other hand, second-place finisher Todd Zola rostered both Quintana and Lester, and third-place finisher Mike Gianella rostered Lester, along with Aaron Nola’s impressive bounce back from a recent pasting. Nola was the night’s highest-scoring pitcher.

None of the other Top 10 finishers owned Mike Moustakas, Shandler’s other big scorer.

Shandler’s victory was Brain Walton’s defeat. Walton had won the first two weeks of Period One of Tout Daily, but finished 32nd on the night, stacking the wrong Mets and Rays.

After three weeks in the four-week contest, Patrick Mayo has a slim lead over Walton, with Rob Leibowitz and Todd Zola battling for third place. Adam Ronis, Mike Gianella, Ron Shandler, and Jake Ciely are among the hopefuls of sneaking into the winning group for Period One.

The top three finishers in each period win a golden tickets to the Tout Daily Finals on August 26th, when a Tout Daily Champion for 2016 will be crowned.

You can see the whole leaderboard here.

Play fantasy baseball everyday at RTSports.com.

A look at the leaderboard shows Brian Walton out in front on the strength of two first-place finishes, and Patrick Mayo just behind him, based on his second and third-place finishes in the first two weeks. Then there’s a lot of folks fighting for third, or hoping for one of those two to collapse.

You can follow the races tonight at RTSports, and play a daily game yourself, for free or for cash.

Here’s who the Tout are picking tonight.

Brian Walton has always liked Matt Moore ($6700 @ Yankees), but he has had a long road back from Tommy John surgery. Last time out, the Rays’ lefty fanned 10 White Sox in 6 1/3 innings but he draws the Yankees in the Bronx Friday night. He still likes Moore as his second starter. On the offensive side, the Dodgers head to Coors for the weekend with lefty Jon Gray taking the ball for the Rockies. After taking Thursday off from his duties behind the plate, Yasmani Grandal ($4200 @ Colorado) should be in Friday’s lineup and has seven hits in his last five games.

Stephania Bell likes Felix Hernandez ($9200 @ Angels) and Bryce Harper ($6700 vs. Minnesota). BREAKING NEWS: King Felix is ill and his start is being pushed back!

Charlie Wiegert can go with Gio Gonzalez ($7100 vs Minnesota) and save a few $ and go with a hot pitcher against a weak hitting lineup. It’s time for Gio to get his first win this year, and at least 8 Ks. Evan Longoria ($5100 @ Yankees) has hit CC Sabathia like he owns him, and he’s on a hot streak right now also, so what’s not to like?  He’s Charlie’s top choice!

David Gonos’ top picks are Gio Gonzalez ($7100 vs Minnesota) and Yoenis Cespedes ($5500 @Atlanta).

Lawr Michaels says that coming off a couple of decent starts, Jeff Samardzija ($7600 vs Miami) gets to toss at home against the interesting Marlins. Miami has surely improved their plate numbers over last year, ranking sixth-best in batter strikeouts and posting a .327 OBP. Still, the Giants will be home and ready to take things out on someone, and the Fish seem to be the likely west coast victims. As for hitters, it is hard to not like the Dodgers batters in Colorado facing Jonathan Gray, who will be making his first start of the season. I like Yasmani Grandal ($4200 @Colorado), and also Robinson Cano ($5300 vs Anaheim) going against Nick Tropeano.

Gene McCaffrey thinks Brandon Barnes ($2400 vs Dodgers) should do a little something and lets you use more expensive hitters, so necessary tonight, while Aaron Sanchez ($6100 vs Oakland) is home against a weak lineup, and cheap.

Tim Heaney picks 1B Ryan Howard ($3900 @ Milwaukee) because homers have been flying out of Miller Park. He’ll take this clearance-priced chance Howard launches at least his fifth against Zach Davies. SP Adam Wainwright’s ($7900 @ San Diego) early struggles have lowered his price to a more rational point for someone of his diminishing skill. But … it’s Petco Park vs. a AAA lineup, so let’s go for it.

Jeff Erickson was a doubter for his season-long leagues, much to his chagrin, but Aaron Sanchez’s ($6100 vs Oakland) still priced affordably for daily. In a two-pitcher format, especially when you want to get some Coors, you need to find that cheaper option. Odubel Herrera ($4,100 @ Milwaukee) is batting leadoff against a gas can in a pretty good hitter’s park when the roof is closed. At $4,100, he also helps save some cash to afford a Dodgers stack.

Phil Hertz says Lucas Duda ($5200 @Atlanta) is heating up and faces Bud Norris, while Jeff Samardzija ($7600 vs Miami) at AT&T is enticing.

Jeff Boggis’s top starting pitcher on RTSports Friday night’s Tout Daily contest is Toronto’s Aaron Sanchez’s ($6100 vs Oakland). Through 20 innings pitched, he is 1-0 with a 20/7 K/BB ratio, a 1.35 ERA, and a 0.85 WHIP. The price is very favorable at only $6,100, ranking him as the 17^th highest salary. That is a savings of $3,100 compared to Felix Hernandez. Sanchez has averaged 13.7 fantasy points per game this season. Sanchez is at home, with a neutral matchup against the Oakland Athletics. He faces starting pitcher Sonny Gray, which is a tough matchup, but Boggis feels that Sanchez will get enough run support tonight from the Toronto offense. Boggis’s top starting hitter on RTSports is Bryce Harper ($6700 vs. Minnesota). Despite Harper being tied with Mike Trout as the highest priced outfielder, he is on a roll and can take over a daily fantasy contest on any given night. Harper is hitting .335 versus right handed pitchers and faces RHP Kyle Gibson, who has a 1.53 WHIP on the season.

Steve Moyer picks Francisco Cervelli ($3900 @ Arizona). Psst. There’s a catcher hitting .340 who’s still cheap. And Gio Gonzalez ($7100 vs Minnesota). Inside Edge, of course, likes Lester and Harvey better, but Gio’s the best balance between price and pitchability.

Mike Gianella went with Jon Lester ($8900 @ Cincinnati) and Jason Heyward ($5300 @ Cincinnati) this week.