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.
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.