Month: May 2018

Going back to his DraftKings username Rotogut, Vlad Sedler relied on his instinct to trounce the field in Week 5 of Tout Daily. This marked the first week of Period 2, making Sedler, from Fantasy Guru Elite, the leader for the next set of Golden Tickets awarded to the top three scorers in each period.

With more than a deck of aces to choose, Sedler opted for Clayton Kershaw, supporting him with salary-saver Andrew Suarez, who outscored the future Hall or Famer. A Nationals mini-stack drove Sedler to the top as he was the only Tout to click in Matt Adams and his pair of homers while only three others used Trea Turner. Check out Rotogut’s complete roster below.

Wiseguy’s Gene McCaffrey finished 13 points off the lead, fueled by Justin Verlander’s outstanding effort. McCaffrey’s hitting was topped by Bryce Harper and Travis Shaw, each smacking a big fly.

Next was Rotowire’s Clay Link, posting the third highest total of the week. Link’s pitching was key with Max Scherzer and rookie Mike Soroka each eclipsing 20 points. Charlie Blackmon was the leading hitter.

Sedler, McCaffrey and Link have a leg up on the next three Golden Tickets while Todd Zola, Rick Wolf and Link remain the top three overall points scorers in the quest for the wild card entry into the Tout Daily Survivor Finals. Here’s the overall Leaderboard.

Be sure to check out the Tout Daily picks every Tuesday as the participants share a favorite pitcher and hitter for that night’s slate.

Here’s the Week 5 leading line-up:

Aces are wild on Tuesday’s slate, featuring Max Scherzer, Chris Sale, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander and Noah Syndergaard. There’s also the highly anticipated debut of Mike Soroka.

This is especially interesting since this is the first week of a new Tout Daily Period. What will everyone do, play it safe? Look for cheap pitching then load up on sticks?

Let’s find out.

Michael Rathburn (Rotowire, @FantasyRath)

Mike Soroka (ATL – SP) $4,000: $4000 allows me to grab an ace.

Lorenzo Cain (MIL – OF) $4,500: Brewers smash Homer(s) tonight.

Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis)

Chris Sale (BOS – SP) $12,400: You have to pay up if you want to a top quality pitcher. Sale has pitched OK in his last 2 starts, giving up 3 runs in his last 2 starts. I like him at home tonight against Kansas City.

Bryce Harper (WSH – OF) $5,300: Bryce Harper has not hit a home run since April 16th, but it’s time for him to warm up with the Washington, D.C. weather.

Mike Gianella (Baseball Prospectus, @MikeGianella)

Noah Syndergaard (NYM – SP) $10,800: Thor’s K/BB rate is fifth among MLB qualifiers and while the Braves offense has been hot I like Thor as a relatively cheap anchor compared to some of the other aces on the slate.

Tommy Pham (STL – OF) $4,900: I didn’t do a full stack against the White Sox James Shields but the Chicago hurler is in for a long night against the Cardinals’ more potent bats.

Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola)

Michael Wacha: Velocity up, needs better command. Warm and winds blowing out is a concern, but White Sox middling lineup without DH. Still waffling over my ace, but leaning Verlander for some salary relief and high K potential.

Travis Shaw: Not only is Homer Bailey a gas can, but after 5-for-5 stealing last night, Brewers aren’t afraid to run on Tucker Barnhart

Clay Link (Rotowire, @claywlink)

Mike Soroka (ATL – SP) $4,000: Too cheap to pass up.

Kris Bryant (CHC – 3B) $5,000: Think he will be lower-owned than he should be after the recent beaning. Only slugging .389 against RHP so far…seems like a good night for some positive regression with 16 mph winds blowing out at Wrigley.

Lawr Michaels (CreativeSports2, @lawrmichaels)

Jarlin Garcia: Kind of an unknown with just 27 innings hurled this season but an ERA of 1.00 to go with an 0.815 WHIP.

Jose Altuve: Buying cheap pitchers means stacking with big-time hitters, and Altuve, who leads the majors in hits with 40,