Tout Daily Archives | Page 7 of 15

Another Friday Full of Tout Daily Picks!

We’re heading into the second week of the four-week Period Four of Tout Daily by RTSports.com. You can read the rules here.

After Week 1 Stephania Bell has the lead, with Scott Engel, Todd Zola, Ray Murphy and Tom Kessenich right behind her. You can see the leaderboard here.

Each week the touts send us their top picks for the week. You can follow tonight’s action at RTSports.com/tout-wars, and sign up there to play for prizes or fun.

LAWR MICHAELS

I like Chris Sale ($9,400 vs Atlanta) and Collin McHugh ($7,200 vs Oakland) as pitchers, and Giancarlo Stanton ($5,700 vs Cincinnati) and Odubel Herrera ($4,000 @ Colorado) as hitters!

PHIL HERTZ

Pitcher is Matt Shoemaker ($5,900 @ Baltimore), the hitter is Nolan Arenado ($6,800 vs Philadelphia).

HOWARD BENDER

Chris Sale ($9,400 vs Atlanta) I mean…come on. How do you not use a guy like Sale with this kind of match-up? Sure, it limits your Coors exposure with the bats but the Braves have a .256 wOBA with a 22-percent strikeout rate over the last week and a .273 wOBA with a 21-percent K-rate against southpaws this season. If he doesn’t hit double digit Ks and limit them to one run or fewer, it means the Touts and the baseball gods have conspired against me!

Adrian Gonzalez ($5,300 vs San Diego) He’s got five hits in his last three games and has hit safely in seven of his last 10 with five multi-hit games in that span. He also loves feasting on Andrew Cashner. Over 37 plate appearances against the Padres righty, he’s batting .344 (1.182 OPS) with four home runs, six RBI, eight runs scored and five walks. Giddy up!

CHARLIE WIEGERT

Sometimes you need to zig when everyone else zags. That’s my approach today, with a slate of top pitchers going demanding big salary commitment, I’m taking low priced pitchers and saving $ for hitters.

Top Pitchers…J.A. Happ ($6,300 vs Detroit) and Dan Straily ($3,100 @ Miami). Neither are impressive, but both are in situations where they should get 6-7 innings, 4-5 k’s and a win…I’m hoping for 12-15 points from each.

Top Hitters…yes I need some production. Josh Donaldson ($6,800 vs. Detroit) and Troy Tulowitzki ($4,900 vs. Detroit), Jose Altuve ($6,100 vs Oakland) and George Springer ($6,100 vs Oakland), and Rajai Davis ($4,700 vs New York) and Mike Napoli ($4,500 vs NY Yankees), all playing at home. My sleeper pick is Randall Grichuk ($3,700 @ Milwaukee) vs lefty Nelson. He’s looked sharp since his return from the minors, and went deep yesterday. I’m hoping for lightning to strike again!

JEFF BOGGIS

Jose Fernandez ($9,600 vs Cincinnati) Despite losing 3 out of his last 4 outings, Fernandez is my top pitcher for tonight’s contest. He is a much better pitcher at home and his home stats for this season back this up. At home, Fernandez is 7-1 with an ERA of 1.72 and and a K/BB ratio of 89/17.

Josh Donaldson ($6,800 vs Detroit) I love stacking Toronto players when they are at home for our Friday night contests and Donaldson is the best hitter on his team. Over the past 14 days, Donaldson has the best stats of any hitter with 18 runs, 5 home runs, 14 runs batted in, 1 stolen base, and a .429 batting average.

RAY MURPHY

Jonathan Gray ($6,000 vs Philadelphia) has been strong at Coors this year. Against a weak Phillies lineup, I’m willing to start him in thin air

Michael Saunders ($5,200 vs Detroit) faces the always-hittable Mike Pelfrey tonight, in Rogers Centre. Yes please!

MIKE GIANELLA

Top Pitcher Jose Fernandez ($9,600 vs Cincinnati) Fernandez has the highest whiff rate in the majors, and matches up well at home against a Cincinnati offense that has struggled on the road (fourth lowest wOBA in baseball).

Top Hitter – D.J. LeMahieu ($4,900 vs Philadelphia) Two weeks ago, I won the scoring period in Tout Daily by aggressively using lower profile hitters at Coors. With the Phillies in town, I thought I would repeat the strategy, allowing me to roster two high-end pitchers while taking advantage of the Coors factor. LeMahieu isn’t likely to knock the ball out of the park, but will hopefully put up a solid night anyway.

TIM HEANEY

Chris Sale ($9,400 vs Atlanta) MLB wins leader vs. league’s second-worst offense (.619 OPS) vs. LHP.

Carlos Gonzalez ($6,700 vs Philadelphia) High price is worth it. Among hitters, T-2nd-most HR (13), 3rd-highest OPS (1.112).

BRIAN WALTON

For $1000 less than top-dollared Jake Arrieta, I will go with Cole Hamels ($8,800 vs Minnesota), who draws the whiff-tastic Twins at home. His last outing was rocky, but Texas’ ace has been solid all season long.

Jake Lamb ($4800 @ San Francisco) is on a roll. During his active eight-game hitting streak, the Arizona third baseman has five home runs and 10 RBI. Against Friday’s night opponent Jeff Samardzija, Lamb is 3-for-6 including two doubles in his career.

Want to Win Tout Daily? A Breather Helps Ring the Bell.

Stephania Bell didn’t play Tout Daily by RTSports any of the four weeks of Period 3. She was busy, work and life got in the way, one has to prioritize. But when she was ready to play, in Week 1 of Period 4, her team exploded, popping into first place late in the evening on Johnny Cueto’s win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Cueto wasn’t Bell’s best pitcher. Reserve that spot for Michael Fulmer, whose 10 strikeout winning performance against Tampa Bay was the biggest scoring game on the night.

And some of her hitters contributed, too, mainly James Loney, owned by one percent of RTSports owners last night, had a homer and a double on his way to 12 much-needed points. Having Mike Trout didn’t hurt.

Bell finished just two points ahead of Scott Engel, who had also taken a leave of absence in Period 3. Engel got a fine night from Jaime Garcia, who won his game versus the Brewers, and strong hitting performances from Kendrys Morales (playing right field!), Chase d’Arnaud (who cost only $1.6K), and Mookie Betts. Brett Lawrie, Carlos Correa and George Springer contributed four points apiece.

Speaking of Springer, his name is on the roster of six of the top seven finishing teams on the night, though his four points (at a cost of $5.7K) was not particularly efficient. Perhaps it is telling that he was also the night’s last-place finisher’s roster.

Three teams missed the unusual 6:05pm early start of the week’s contest. They were not allowed to play for the night’s championship, but were allowed to submit rosters before the 7:05pm regular start so they could compete in Period 4 overall.

Top 10 pitching performances (pitchers on teams that finished in the Top 10): Johnny Cueto (16), Michael Fulmer (21), Jaime Garcia (17), Ian Kennedy (10), Bud Norris (18!), Julio Teheran (7.66), Steven Wright (8), Jacob deGrom (15).

One final note: It looked like a good night to stack hitters from the Texas teams, but it was not.

One extra final note: Eno Sarris finished 10th and got no, zero, nada, nunca points from his outfielders, Ryan Braun, Adam Jones and Angel Pagan.

See the whole Leaderboard here.

You can play RTSports.com’s daily fantasy games for prizes or fun every day of the week. Click here to start!

Tout Daily Picks, Canada Day Edition

We start Period 4 of Tout Daily by RTSports.com tonight. Everybody has a fresh beginning, we’re all equal, at least until tonight’s games start. For the game’s rules, check here.

But nine touts have golden tickets into the finals already. All honor to Brian Walton, Rob Leibowitz, Patrick Mayo, Jason Collette, Jeff Erickson, Patrick Davitt, Tristan Cockcroft, Rick Wolf and Tim Heaney.

Each week we ask who the touts are picking tonight. Their answers follow, and you can follow the night’s action (or play tonight’s game for prizes or for free) at RTSports.com/tout-wars.

Who are they picking?

Phil Hertz

I like Jacob DeGrom ($8,700 vs Cubs) at home. I rostered Danny Espinosa ($3,200 vs Cincinnati) BEFORE last night’s explosion; I’m sticking with him.

Gene McCaffrey

Tough night – risky pitchers abound. I’m going with Steven Wright ($6,800 vs Angels) at home vs. the Angels. If he can contain Trout he should post a good start. Hitter: Daniel Murphy ($4,900 vs Cincinnati) is still way too cheap.

Tim Heaney

1B Victor Martinez ($4,700 @ Tampa Bay): Coming off a six-homer June, he’ll face gopher-ball-plagued Drew Smyly. V-Mart boasts .931 OPS against southpaws.

SP Steven Wright ($6,800 vs. Angels): Sad Angels lineup a perfect target for the knuckleballer.

Jeff Boggis

Top Starting Pitchers Tanner Roark ($6,600 vs Cincinnati) and Ian Kennedy ($5,300 @ Philadelphia) I typically pay top dollar for starting pitching, but in tonight’s contest, I am taking a contrarian approach. I don’t see the value in paying top dollar to roster Johnny Cueto (SP-SF) at $9,000, especially after his latest outing where he gave up 6 earned runs and has a difficult opponent tonight at Arizona. The same also applies to rostering Jacob DeGrom (SP-NYM) at $8,700. His matchup tonight is a tough one at home against Jason Hammel of the Chicago Cubs. Plus there is a 75% chance of rain tonight in New York. Tanner Roark is at home versus Cincinnati and can be rostered for only $6,600. He’s won 3 out of his last 4 outings and has averaged 6 strikeouts per game over this time period. Ian Kennedy has a favorable matchup at Philadelphia and is coming of a great outing on June 26th versus Houston where he struck out 11 hitters.

Top Hitter Charlie Blackmon ($6,300 @ Dodgers) Charlie Blackmon is facing right-handed pitcher Bud Norris tonight in Los Angeles. Against right-handed starting pitchers, Charlie Blackmon is batting .310 with 9 nine home runs and 30 RBIs. Over the past week, Blackmon owns an OPS of 1.072.

Charlie Wiegert

A fresh start is what I need, along with some of that magic I had last year!
Top Pitcher, and the guy who won it for me last year was Clayton Kershaw, who is now on the DL. Maybe that is a sign I should take the pitcher who is taking his spot!?! Bud Norris ($4,400 vs Colorado) had been pitching well in ATL and getting some Ks, which when healthy he always has. Hoping for 8 tonight with 7 innings and a win, get me 20 Bud!

Top hitters..stacking Houston vs CWS and Marwin Gonzalez ($3,500), Jose Altuve ($5,900), Colby Rasmus ($4,200), Evan Gattis ($4,700) and Luis Valbuena ($3,100). Hoping Stro’s score in double digits and this group is productive.

Lawr Michaels

I like Jacob DeGrom ($8,700 vs Cubs) and Steven Wright ($6,800 vs. Angels) as pitchers, and Ian Desmond ($4,900 @ Minnesota) on the hitting end.

Mike Gianella

Top pitcher: Julio Teheran ($7,100 vs Miami) The Marlins offense has been good this year – and there are certainly softer match-ups tonight – but Teheran has pitched like an ace the last few weeks and is priced like a second-tier pitcher. He is one of the 10 best pitchers in baseball by Baseball Prospectus’ WARP. Even if he doesn’t throw another gem, I’ll take the bargain.

Top Hitter: David Ortiz ($6,700 vs Angels) Jhoulys Chacin has struggled away from Anaheim. A Red Sox stack with Ortiz front and center is just what the DFS doctor ordered this evening.

Stephania Bell

My fave picks:

Johnny Cueto ($9,000 @ Arizona) Last outing was an aberration

Michael Fulmer ($6,900 @ Tampa Bay) He’s been a great find this last month (June) and last outing was explained by his dehydration

Mike Trout ($6,700 @ Boston) Captain Obvious, I know. But he’s been on a hot streak even by the standards he sets.

I need a solid outing tonight. Counting on my band of misfits here.

Scott Swanay

Pitcher: Nathan Eovaldi ($6,600 @ San Diego) On a night devoid of appealing high-end options I’ll cast my lot with Eovaldi. He won’t be pitching at the All-Star game later this month in San Diego, but maybe the mystique and aura of Petco Park will inspire him to pitch like an All-Star for just one night.

Hitter: Mark Trumbo ($5,600 @ Seattle) I’m streaming A’s and O’s tonight, banking on some early holiday weekend fireworks, and hoping my luck will be better than Matt Davidson’s (and Jason Pierre Paul’s).

Mike Gianella Romps, Doesn’t Quite Make Finals in Tout Daily!

Week 4 of each Tout Daily by RTSports.com period is all about the finals. Who made it? Who fell short?

Mike Gianella made a run for it, with an 84.66 point week, finishing solidly ahead of Ray Murphy and Chris Liss, but wasn’t quite able to close the gap. He finished fourth overall for the period.

Golden Tickets to the August 26th Tout Daily Finals go to Tristan Cockcroft, the three week leader, Rick Wolf, who finished first in Week 1, and Tim Heaney, who held on after tying Wolf in Week 1 and winning Week 2 all on his own. Wolf and Heaney were Top 10 finishers in Week 4, and they needed it.

Screenshot 2016-06-25 08.43.49 — Click for a larger version.

Gianella rostered two of the game’s best pitchers, Max Scherzer and Danny Salazar, but it was outsized hitting from Jean Segura, Cheslor Cuthbert, Wil Myers, and Yasmany Tomas that carried him to victory.

Scherzer got the strikeouts against a Milwaukee team that produces strong winds by the lake, but wasn’t able to produce a victory.

Salazar was staked a nice lead against Detroit, but his command issues ran up his pitch count and cut his stint short. He took home a Win but struck out only three.

Other Top 10 pitchers on the week: Jake Peavy (13), Aaron Sanchez (8), Zach Davies (11), Jameson Taillon (2), Scherzer (11), Masahiro Tanaka (14), David Price (-2.67), Steven Matz (-1.67).

Scherzer was rostered by 80 percent of RTSports.com’s teams last night.

While the pitchers struggled, the hitters feasted. Other 10+ point earners were Willson Contreras (10), Melvin Upton (15), Jacob Lamb (10), James Loney (13), and Matt Joycer (11).

Yasmany Thomas’s 18 points was the big score of the night. The Cubs catcher Willson Contreras was rostered on 25 percent of teams and scored 10 points. The Diamondbacks Phillip Gosselin was rostered by 36 percent of teams and scored no points, going 0-5.

The Touts will gather next Friday for the start of Period 4 of Tout Daily by RTSports.com, the fourth of five four-week contests to distribute 15 tickets to the finals.

In addition to Cockcroft, Wolf, and Heaney, tickets have already gone to Jason Collette, Jeff Erickson, Brian Walton, Patrick Davitt, Rob Leibowitz, and Patrick Mayo.

You can follow all the action on Friday nights at RTSports.com. Use the same link all week long to play for prizes or fun.

The complete leaderboard is here. Next week we start over.

Period 3: Down to Wire Catching Tristan Cockcroft Edition!

Check out the leaderboard here.

There is one night of picks left, and Tristan Cockcroft has a 14.33 point lead over Tim Heaney, and 20.33 points over Phil Hertz (with a 20.34 lead over Howard Bender) in Tout Daily Period 3 by RTSports.com.

You can follow the night’s contest at RTSports.com. Use the link to join a league for prizes ($$$) or fun (free)!

As usual, some of the Touts have sent in their favorite picks for tonight. Here’s who they’re buying:

Phil Hertz

Recommending Aaron Sanchez ($7,000 @ Chicago White Sox) against the slumping White Sox. For hitting Paul Goldschmidt ($6,800 @ Colorado) is expensive, but he’s been hot and he’s playing at Coors.

Brian Walton

The reeling Mariners have the Cardinals coming to town, fresh off sweeping the Cubs at Wrigley. On Friday at Safeco, St. Louis’ best pitcher this season, Carlos Martinez ($8,100 @ Seattle), will take the mound. The 23-year-old has been especially good lately, having allowed just four runs in his last four starts (29 1/3 innings) for a 1.23 ERA to go with 24 strikeouts.

I am staying with St. Louis for my hitter. Perhaps baseball’s most underrated star, Matt Carpenter ($5,400 @ Seattle), is leading MLB in June on-base percentage at .514, and his .375 BA isn’t bad, either. I don’t see M’s starter Wade LeBlanc slowing the red-hot third baseman down. (As a side point, Carpenter is also now second base-eligible in many full-season leagues.)

Lawr Michaels

I am trying to exploit the lower end pitching to pick up some points, and Steven Matz ($7800 @ Atlanta) facing the Braves—no matter how hot they have been–coupled with Aaron Sanchez ($7,000 @ Chicago White Sox) facing the Pale Hose, coupled are my chosen path.

As for hitters, a pair of pinstripes—Carlos Beltran ($4500 vs Minnesota) and Didi Gregarious ($3600 vs Minnesota)—facing the Twins and lefty Tom Millone seem like great plays.

Scott Swanay

Aaron Sanchez ($7,000 @ Chicago White Sox) The end is near (at least for his days as a starting pitcher)! He’s been a revelation—experience the rapture before it’s too late!

Socrates Brito ($3,800 @ Colorado) Stacking hitters for a potential Coors Field slugfest is always a sound philosophy.

Charlie Wiegert

Steven Matz ($7800 @ Atlanta) Going against the grain with this pick as the two teams are going in opposite directions, but hoping Matz gets 8-10 k’s and the Mets can score so he can get a W.

As for hitters, stacking Nick Hundley ($3,900 vs Arizona) and Nolan Arenado ($6,800 vs Arizona) at Coors.

Mike Gianella

Max Scherzer ($9,800 @ Milwaukee) He burned many of us the last time he started on a Friday (May 27, against the Cardinals), but his high strikeout potential facing off against a Brewers lineup with the third-highest strikeout percentage in the majors is simply too much to pass up this week.

Jay Bruce ($5,300 vs San Diego) Bruce is a reliable stand by for me in DFS when I’m spending heavily on the pitching side. Bruce faces Colin Rea, who has a .470 SLG against away from Petco.

Jeff Boggis

Max Scherzer ($9,800 @ Milwaukee) By no surprise, Max Scherzer is the highest salaried pitcher in tonight’s contest at $9,800. He has a good matchup tonight as he goes on the road to face the Milwaukee Brewers. Over the past 4 starts, Scherzer has rewarded DFS managers who have paid up to roster him. For his 4 starts in June, Scherzer has 28 innings pitched, 3 wins, 4 earned runs, a K/BB ratio of 38/3, an ERA of 0.96 and a WHIP of 0.675. That’s money in the DFS bank.

Charlie Blackmon ($6,400 vs. Arizona) Over the past 14 days, Blackmon is hitting .288 with 12 runs scored, 4 home runs, 7 RBIs, and 2 stolen bases. He is at home tonight and faces left-handed pitcher Archie Bradly of Arizona, who owns a season ERA of 4.83. Charlie Blackmon has at least 2 hits per game in his last 4 games played.

Derek VanRiper

Peter O’Brien ($2,500 @ Colorado) It’s amazing that he’s tucked away as a catcher at this price, facing a lefty, and at Coors no less. While it’s extremely chalky, sometimes chalk is necessary.

Thanks to POB pricing, Max Scherzer ($9,800 @ Milwaukee) is much more reasonable as the most expensive pitcher on the board. Many of the top arms are on the road tonight, but the Brewers’ team K percentage is always appealing and the 7.5 O/U makes that matchup one of the lowest on the board in what figures to be a big run-scoring night around the league. I’d rather pay the extra money for Scherzer to get the max ceiling arm than try to navigate the other options in the top price tier.

Gene McCaffrey

Max Scherzer ($9,800 @ Milwaukee) against the Brewers should be a 10-K outing. Carlos Gonzalez ($6,500 vs Arizona) is expensive but worth it. Both are chalk picks but no sense losing to everyone. Beat them somewhere else. UPDATE: Cargo is out Friday night with a sprained wrist.

Tim Heaney

Max Scherzer ($9,800 @ Milwaukee) Going into today’s action, Milwaukee leads all teams with 506 K’s against right-handed pitching. That will send Mad Max charging down Fury Road.

Willson Contreras, ($2,400 @ Miami) Here’s hoping for a repeat of last week’s Peter O’Brien selection, with another underpriced big bat who qualifies at catcher but may not necessarily play there.

Jeff Erickson

Jameson Taillon ($4,800 vs LA Dodgers). I suspect at $4,800 he’ll be heavily owned, yet using him opens up the door to use one of the aces going tonight *and* pay up for a couple of elite hitters.

I’m going with cheap AZ hitters in Coors—Peter O’Brien ($2,500 @ Colorado), who should be roughly 98 percent owned with his price at catcher, and Phil Gosselin ($2,100 @ Colorado)—and then pay up for Encarnacion + Donaldson against LHP Carlos Rodon in Chicago.

Totally Buzzed! Bender Edges Moyer Inside on a Night Hitters Rule!

Pitchers on Top 10 Teams This Week and Points in Tout Daily by RTSports.com

Lance McCullers 10.66
Jose Quintana 11.66
Zach Davies 12
Matt Harvey 7
Joe Ross 13
Matt Shoemaker 12
Michael Fulmer 9.66
Jeff Samardzija 16
Jonathan Gray 8

This list, which we usually run at the end of the Tout Daily report, usually helps explains who won and who lost that week. This week is different. The only difference maker on the list, Jeff Samardzija, was rostered by only one Top 10 team, a team that finished tied for 10th on the evening.

The night’s winner, Howard Bender, had rostered two fine arms (McCullers, Quintana) who pitched two quality starts but didn’t earn wins.

The night’s second place finisher, 6.33 points behind, was Steve Moyer, who rostered Zach Davies (QS, no decision) and Matt Harvey (bad game).

What they had in common was Michael Saunders, whose three home run, eight RBI night was worth 23 points.

What Bender also had was three other double-digit earners on offense, in Peter O’Brien (owned by 30 percent of players), Paul Goldschmidt (13 percent), Saunders (16 percent) and Yasmany Tomas (3 percent).

Moyer also had Tomas.

Third place finisher Scott Pianowski owned O’Brien, Goldschmidt and Franklin Gutierez, whose two homers and six RBi was worth 19 points, the second biggest earner on the night (and owned by 11 percent of teams).

Sixth place Rick Wolf rostered Salvador Perez, who earned 11 points on the night.

Steve Gardner, in 10th place, unearthed a big night from Josh Donaldson worth 14 points. Donaldson was on 28 percent of rosters, but his huge price tag must have cost him some productive pairings.

This is how, on June 17th, the Tout Daily winners did it.

Bender’s big win, and Tim Heaney’s 26th-place finish on the night (he started with Matt Harvey and Matt Shoemaker, just like fifth place finisher Jeff Erickson, but was unable to find a complementary piece for Peter O’Brien) has stirred the Period 3 pot.

Tristan Cockcroft takes advantage of Heaney’s stumble to move into first place. Heaney is 14.33 points back in second, and six farther points behind are Phil Hertz, Howard Bender, and Rick Wolf.

A few points behind them are a bunch of teams who are going to have to have a big weeks to pass the many teams ahead of them. The Top 3 finishers in the period, after next week’s contest, win golden tickets to the August 26 final.

The complete leaderboard is here. (UPDATE: The board and story were corrected at 1:35 pm ET to reflect fixes to an editing error. Tristan Cockcroft and Scott Pianowski gained four points, and Brian Walton’s entry was entered.)

Follow the game each Friday here at ToutWars.com, where the touts reveal their picks on Friday afternoon, and at RTSports.com, where you can watch how the contest unfolds on Friday night.

You can also play for prizes or fun every day of the week at RTSports.com.

Touts Daily Ups! Who Are They Rostering? June 17 Edition.

Tim Heaney has won the first two weeks of Period 3 of Tout Daily by RTSports.com. Touts across the country have adopted the #anyonebutheaney hashtag, hoping to make up ground in this crucial week.

You can see the leaderboard here.

The Top 3 finishers in each period win a golden ticket to the August 26 finals.

Who are the Touts taking to take on Heaney tonight?

Phil Hertz is recommending Matt Shoemaker ($5,900 @ Oakland) and Yoenis Cespedes ($5,500 vs. Atlanta) tonight.

Jeff Boggis:

Matt Harvey ($8,200 vs. Atlanta) When I evaluate pitchers in DFS formats, I have three criteria. I want to roster a pitcher that is trending in the right direction as far as his performance. I also look at the best matchups in regard to the pitcher obtaining a win. Finally, I look at pitchers that have high strikeout rates. Matt Harvey meets all 3 criteria. He’s been pitching much better as of late with 3 consecutive quality starts. He has a great matchup tonight at home against the Atlanta Braves. And in his last 3 starts, Harvey is averaging almost 6 strikeouts per game.

Chris Davis ($6,400 vs. Toronto) I am rostering Chris Davis tonight based on his favorable matchup tonight against Aaron Sanchez. Lifetime, Chris Davis is batting .600 (6/10) with 3 home runs, 4 RBIs, and an on base percentage of .692.

Lawr Michaels:

Matt Shoemaker ($5,900 @ Oakland), who has resurrected himself with five straight quality starts, facing the injured and offensively anemic Athletics (it pains me to say this).

The last cycles I have been trying to milk—although in all honesty, unsuccessfully—the low-end pitchers by stacking my outfield with some big sticks, and the truth his, my hitters have indeed come through all over. That means Kole Calhoun ($5100 @ Oakland) facing Kendall Graveman seems too good to pass up, while Michael Conforto ($5000 vs. Atlanta) against the Braves John Gant (0-1, 5.62, 1.75 WHIP) similarly seems like potential fun.

On the low end, second sacker Whit Merrifield ($3500 vs. Detroit) has hit safely in nine of his last ten games and is hitting .344-2-4 this past week, so I am hoping the Royals new keystone man will keep it up for at least another day.

Mike Gianella:

Josh Donaldson ($6,600 @ Baltimore) With a relatively weak pitching slate tonight (and with my BFF Jake Arrieta unavailable because he’s pitching this afternoon), I decided to cut against the rain and go with cheap pitching and a hitter-heavy lineup. Donaldson leads the group with a tasty match-up against Mike Wright in hitter-friendly Camden Yards.

Robbie Ray ($6,000 @ Philadelphia) I’m not a big Ray believer, but the Phillies have been absolutely dreadful against southpaws this year and Ray is coming off of an impressive start against the Marlins. Only the Braves have a worse wOBA against lefties in 2016.

Scott Swanay:

Julio Urias ($5,400 vs Milwaukee) The Brewers strike out a lot, and if the Dodgers’ braintrust decides to let him throw more than 80 pitches tonight, he may even have a shot at a win!

Jaff Decker ($1,600 vs. San Francisco) Low-cost option who has some power, has some speed, and bats left-handed, which should be enough to earn him the start against Jeff Samardzija.

Charlie Wiegert

Matt Harvey ($8,200 vs. Atlanta) has been hot, and the Mets got some bats back, so he should get a win tonight against ATL, and 7-10 k’s.

Going with a couple hot hitters hoping they continue: Victor Martinez ($4,800 @ Kansas City), Kyle Seager ($5,700 @ Boston), Carlos Gomez ($4,700 vs. Cincinnati) and Will Myers ($4,300 vs Washington). If they all hit HR’s, I should have a good night.

Gene McCaffrey

Few look as good as Michael Fulmer ($6,500 @ Kansas City) these days, against a weakened KC attack.

Watch Pete O’Brien ($2,100 @ Philadelphia) strike out three times and hit a 450-foot home run.

Brian Walton

What is not to like about Joe Ross ($7,600 @ San Diego) and the first-place Nationals invading PETCO Park to take on the last-place Padres? At $7600, Ross is just the eighth most expensive pitcher of the day, performs especially well against right-handed heavy lineups and has three very strong outings in his last four.

I watched Jose Altuve ($6000 vs Cincinnati) go 3-for-7 in the Astros’ just-completed series at St. Louis and it is no fluke. The second baseman has multiple hits in seven of his last 10 games and feasts on lefties, such as very hittable Reds starter John Lamb, who gets the road start Friday night.

Tim Heaney

Matt Shoemaker ($5,900 @ Oakland) Love that he’s still this cheap after his recent ace-like run. Fly-ball concerns hardly exist when he visits spacious Oakland.

Pete O’Brien ($2,100 @ Philadelphia) Really hope no one notices this light-tower power hitter is still listed as catcher and is facing a southpaw. Oh, wait, they publish these tips, right? Zoinks.

Heaney-ous! Tim Wins Tout Daily Again!

Last week Tim Heaney had to be content to tie for first in Tout Daily by RTSports.com with Rick Wolf. This week Tim has the winner’s circle to himself.

At 11pm ET last night, the leaderboard looked totally different than the final results. Clayton Kershaw was just getting started pitching in San Francisco, and the top of Tout Daily standings for the day was filled with teams whose two pitchers were done for the night. But as Kershaw pitched, things changed.

By night’s end, eight of the top 10 teams had Kershaw on their roster, including Heaney. Only Gene McCaffrey, in third place, and Phil Hertz, in ninth, were Kershawless.

Heaney paired Kershaw with Jason Hammel, who had an off night against the Braves, but Tim managed to also roster Dae-Ho Lee and Wil Myers, the night’s two big hitters. He also received solid performances from Nolan Arenado, Adam Duvall and Marcell Ozuna.

Tristan Cockcroft finished second, pairing Kershaw with Matt Harvey, who had a fine night but was unable to gain the all important Win. Cockcroft also rostered Lee, and got a nice night from Melvin Upton.

Gene McCaffrey, notably, did not roster Kershaw. But his Stephen Strasburg was the third biggest earner among pitchers last night, and Matt Andriese earned the win and 11.33 points in his improbably win-laden streak so far this year.

Pitchers on Top 10 teams for the night were Kershaw, Harvey, Andriese, Hammel, Junior Guerra, Chris Sale, and Steven Wright (the second biggest earning pitcher on the night). Kershaw was owned by 44 percent of RTSports teams.

With two first place finishes in the first two weeks of Period Three of Tout Daily, Heaney has a solid lead over Glenn Colton and Tristan Cockcroft. You can see the whole leaderboard here. The top three finishers after four weeks will earn tickets to the August 26th Finals.

Thus far, Patrick Davitt, Jason Collette, Brian Walton, Patrick Mayo, Jeff Erickson and Rob Leibowitz have earned tickets to the finals.

The Touts play DFS together every Friday, and leave tips here at toutwars.com Friday afternoon for that evening’s plays.

You can play RTSports.com daily fantasy baseball every day, for prizes or for fun.

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