The Fight For First! Tout Daily Week 4 of Period 2 Commences! Touts Pick Picks!

For every winner there is a loser, but as we enter the final week of period two of the Tout Daily championship being run by RTSports.com, Patrick Davitt and Adam Ronis share first place. Not that either is safe.

Within 15 points sit Steve Gardner, Michael Beller, Ron Shandler, Mike Gianella, Scott Engel, Tom Kessenich, Bret Sayre, and Scott Pianowski, all of whom have a fair shot at finishing in the Top 3 for the past four weeks in tonight’s contest. The leaderboard is here.

You can watch tonight’s event here, and join your own game for free or for prize money if you’d like.

Some of the Touts have sent in their favorite picks for tonight. Here they are.

Phil Hertz is taking Robbie Ray ($6,000 vs San Diego) and Buster Posey ($5,600 @ Colorado) tonight.

Gene McCaffrey says that Jacob deGrom ($8,700 vs LA Dodgers) carries risk but plenty of reward too, at a reasonable price, while Jarrett Parker ($2,900 @ Colorado) has power and is cheap in Coors, ’nuff said. 

Brian Walton writes:

My top pitching pick is an easy one – Felix Hernandez ($8,800 vs Minnesota) against the Twins at home. Not only is King Felix off to a great beginning in 2016, he has dominated Minnesota over his career. His 1.93 ERA against them in 17 starts is his best mark versus any American League squad.

On offense, my recommendation is David Ortiz ($5,600 vs Toronto). Big Papi has been red-hot over his last five games, with 11 hits in 19 at-bats, including two home runs and 11 RBI. In limited career action against Toronto’s Aaron Sanchez, Ortiz is 4-for-8.

Lawr Michaels thinks:

There are some interesting pitching choices, and I have to default to Felix Hernandez ($8,800 vs Minnesota) against the Twins and their 335 whiffs (third worst in MLB) coupled with Adam Conley ($6100 @ Atlanta) facing the Braves who draw the most whiffs against Southpaws.

For hitters, as much as I try to align with the Athletics, rookie Sean Manaea faces the team and so I like Nick Castellanos ($4300 @ Oakland) and Victor Martinez ($4800 @ Oakland) to have the advantage.

Mike Gianella weighs in:

Top Hitter: Carlos Gonzalez ($6,100 vs San Francisco). He’s picked it up the last few games and while Matt Cain has been better of late, he’s a fly ball pitcher at Coors. Hopefully this is the beginning of a big streak for Cargo like he went on last year beginning in early June.

Top Pitcher: Max Scherzer ($9,800 vs St. Louis). The Cards are a tough assignment for any pitcher but when Max is on he can carry a DFS lineup all by himself. I’m willing to shell out the cash and take the moderate risk that he’s elite Scherzer tonight.

Jeff Boggis has some thoughts:

Top Starting Pitcher: Max Scherzer ($9,800 vs St. Louis) Scherzer is the highest salaried pitcher on RT Sports tonight, but this is not the week to get cute with starting pitchers. Since giving up 7 earned runs back on May 5th, Scherzer has returned to pitching like Mad Max. In his last 3 starts, Scherzer has averaged 2 earned runs, over 12 strikeouts, and a 0.79 WHIP.  He has won 2 out of his last 3 games pitched. The matchup is not a favorable one as he faces St. Louis tonight, but he does own a career .229 batting average versus their starting lineup. Back on May 1st, Scherzer faced the Cardinals on the road a picked up the win while striking out 9, yielding only 4 hits and 0 earned runs.

Value Pick – Robbie Ray (SP-COL) $6,800 at home vs. San Diego

Top Hitter: Josh Donaldson ($6,600 vs Boston) You may ask, why would anyone want to pay up and start Josh Donaldson tonight as he is tied for the 2nd highest starting salary at $6,600? Well, I have two words for you: Joe Kelly. Donaldson is at home tonight and facing Boston Red Sox pitcher Joe Kelly. For his career versus Joe Kelly, Donaldson is 9-17 with 1 home run and 6 RBIs. Need another reason to start Donaldson? If you take a closer look at his batting average splits, he is batting .278 at home versus .214 on the road.

Value Pick – Jackie Bradley (OF-BOS) $4,200 at Toronto – He should be pressing less now that his 29 game hitting streak came to an end last night, mostly because fellow Tout War manager Howard Bender jinxed Bradley by taking him in his DFS contest.

Tim Heaney writes:

Jarrett Parker ($2,900 @ Colorado). During your Coors stack, don’t forget the visiting team. Parker is cheap and suddenly owns a top=side platoon role, at least, to go with his intriguing power.
Adam Conley ($6,100 @ Atlanta). The Braves have the worst OPS vs. LHP. Conley boasts a 2.73 road ERA so far. Great combo.
Rotoman picks Jaime Garcia ($6,900 @ Washington), into Scherzer because he likes the price, and Jose Ramirez ($3,100 vs. Baltimore) because he’s cheap, hot, and is facing Mike Wright.
Charlie Wiegert goes long:
Top Pitcher Well, it’s time for some long shots.  going with Michael Fulmer ($5,800 @ Oakland) and Williams Perez ($4,400 @ Miami), both could be surprise sleepers, both pitched well last time out without good results.
Top hitters With my money saved from pitching, I’m loading up on both SF and Col, hoping the game is a slugfest.  If you see a 14-11 score, I might have a shot!