Category: News

It’s Full Moon on a Full Moon This Week! Plus, Tout Daily Finals Field Is Set!

Screenshot 2016-08-20 09.20.23Last night’s full “sturgeon moon” was anything but a fish for Rick Wolf’s Full Moon Tout Daily entry.

Launched by Cole Hamel’s dominant win and brought home by Masahiro Tanaka’s equally strong performance, Rick’s team danced in the moonlight to a 17 point victory.

Full Moon’s offense was powered by stalwart Joey Votto, the surprising Keon Broxton, this year’s biggest surprise Jonathan Villar, and youthful powerhouse Gary Sanchez.

full-moon-2Last night’s contest, the last of the Tout Daily regular season, determined the winners of the final three golden tickets to the Tout Daily finals, which will be held next Friday, August 26th, at RTSports.com/tout-wars.

Brian Walton finished 11th on the week and first for Period 5, winning his second ticket to the finals. He’ll have two entries next week, having also finished first in Period 1.

Todd Zola finished third on the week, and second for Period 5, winning his second ticket to the finals. He finished first in Period 4.

Mastersball partners Zola and Walton also finished first and second in Total Points over the 20 weeks of Tout Daily. There’s no award for that, apart from the special satisfaction of a job well done.

Eno Sarris finished 12th on the week, and third for Period 5, winning his first ticket to the finals. He finished 19th overall, demonstrating that there are many paths to the staging ground for the assault on the pinnacle (otherwise known at the 2016 Tout Daily Championship).

The estimable Charlie Wiegert is the reigning Tout Daily Champion, and he will pass his crown next week to one of these on the full roster of Tout Daily Finalists (sorted by Total Points on the season):

Todd Zola X 2
Brian Walton X 2
Mike Gianella
Jeff Erickson X 2
Tim Heaney
Tristan Cockcroft
Rick Wolf
Jason Collette
Eno Sarris
Patrick Davitt
Rob Leibowitz
Patrick Mayo

You may follow along live next Friday night, or check in on the results at RTSports.com/tout-wars. And check ToutWars.com for a preview of the night’s contest, and the game story on Saturday morning.

Use the RTSports.com/tout-wars link to sign up to play daily fantasy baseball games for free for fun or enter pay contests to win prizes.

The regular season final leaderboard can be found here.

The state of the moon on August 26th will be Waning Crescent.

 

August 15 Tout Wars FAAB Reports Posted Now!

Mastersball weighs in on all five TW Leagues, plus Todd offers a nice hat tip to our friends at Baseball HQ.

Mike Gianella’s FAAB report at Baseball Prospectus covers AL and NL Tout, as well as LABR Mixed (with references to the Tout wars prices in mixed).

 

 

Sarris Crushes Tout Wars Daily Field! Walton Takes Big Lead!

Screenshot 2016-08-13 10.13.58Eno Sarris got a monster game from Charlie Blackmon in Philadelphia (his three solo homers added up to 19 points on the night) and a solid game from Rajai Davis (his three steals were owned by just one percent of RTSports players), plus nice games from Dylan Bundy and Evan Longoria to lap all the Tout Daily by RTSports.com field except Todd Zola.

Zola finished six points behind Sarris, riding Yu Davish’s first 100+ pitch game since starting his recovery from TJ, Hanley Ramirez’s rout (two homers, six RBI) and Longoria’s nice game, plus solid contributions from Stephen Vogt, Jabari Blash, and Billy Hamilton (3 steals on one hit, one walk, three strikeouts).

Derek VanRiper led the rest of the pack, 13 points behind Sarris, with Brian Walton in fourth. Walton’s strong finish vaulted him to the top of the Period 3 standings, 19 points ahead of second place Steve Moyer.

Moyer’s lead after period two was erased following his weak performance in week 3 (Christian Yelich, for example, was 0-4 with four strikeouts), and he is now in a dogfight with VanRiper and Sarris for the final two golden tickets to the finals, about 15 points ahead of the next pack of contenders led by Zola, Adam Ronis, Jake Ciely and Lawr Michaels.

Ronis (fourth) and Ciely (sixth) have the most total points in the Tout Daily series in 2016, without earning a ticket to the finals. Next Friday’s contest is their last chance this year. Before the season Ciely was a strong advocate for giving the highest scoring team to not earn a ticket a ticket into the finals. What did he know then?

Walton and Zola are the only contenders who already have tickets to the finals.

See the complete leaderboard here.

Join us next Friday for the final week of the final period of Tout Daily by RTSports.com.

And join us August 26th, when 15 teams compete for the title of Tout Daily 2016 Champion!

August 8 Tout FAABaganza Commentaries.

The big trading-deadline FAAB bids have been made. Who are the winners? Who are the losers?

Mastersball has all the action here.

George Bissell of Baseball Prospectus takes on Tout AL and NL, plus LABR mixed, with his commentary here.

The Second Week of the Final Period of Tout Daily is Tonight!

Steve Moyer looks to build on a 10 point lead, as the rest of the field–notably Chis Liss, Brian Walton and Derek VanRiper–looks to finish in the Top 3 in the Period’s four weeks of Tout Daily at RTSport.com.

Click the link to follow along with tonight’s action live, starting at 7:05 ET, see the final results, or get to the entry page, where you can play for prizes or fun!

In tonight’s contest the Touts like:

TIM HEANEY

OF Giancarlo Stanton ($5,700 @ Colorado): Chalk? Perhaps. But it’s at Coors Field, versus Jorge De La Rosa. Stanton boasts a .960 OPS against left-handed pitchers.

SP Anthony DeSclafani ($6,500 @ Pittsburgh).

PHIL HERTZ

I’ll go with rookie Jameson Taillon ($5,100 vs. Cincinnati) and veteran Nelson Cruz ($6,300 vs. LA Angels).

JEFF BOGGIS

Justin Verlander ($7,800 vs. NY Mets) Verlander is the fifth highest salary at $7,800 and is facing the highest salaried pitcher tonight in Noah Syndergaard at $9,500. I’ll save the $1,700 and invest it an SP2 or hitter. Verlander has allowed 2 earned runs or less in his last 6 starts. He has averaged 18 fantasy points per game in his last 4 outings.

Edwin Encarnacion ($6,700 @ Kansas City) As much as I would like to start Miguel Cabrera at first base tonight, his poor matchup against Noah Syndergaard concerns me enough to go with Edwin Encarnacion. Encarnacion faces Dillon Gee and his 4.66 ERA and 1.58 WHIP tonight. Encarnacion is batting .280 against right handed pitchers this season.

LAWR MICHAELS

I like King Felix Hernandez ($8,500 vs LA Angels) and Big Ervin Santana ($6,500 @ Tampa Bay) as pitchers and Adeiny Hechavarria ($3,000 @ Colorado) and Martin Prado ($3,600 @ Colorado) facing de la Rosa in the Rockies…

MIKE GIANELLA

Top Pitcher: Noah Syndergaard ($9,500 @ Detroit). The perception is that Syndergaard has slipped because of a bone spur in his elbow, but the ERA is still solid and his strikeout rate remains one of the highest in baseball. Most of the Tigers lineup has never faced Syndergaard, which should work to the big Norseman’s advantage

Top Hitter: Charlie Blackmon ($6,600 vs. Miami). The Rockies are facing converted reliever David Phelps at Coors. If you’re not using at least a couple of Rockies hitters tonight, it is to your detriment.

JEFF ERICKSON

Pitcher: Anthony DeSclafani ($6,500 @ Pittsburgh), going vs. Team Financial Flexibility. DeSclafani is averaging nearly 12 RT Daily points per start, so that makes him a pretty good bargain at $6,500.

Hitter: Aaron Altherr, ($3,500 vs. Philadelphia) and Christian Friedrich. Because someone besides Todd Zola has to use him!

Steve Moyer for the Win in Tout Daily by RTSports.com!

Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge

He made it look easy. Steve Moyer cruised to a 10.33 point victory in Period 5 Week 1 of Tout Daily.

Moyer rostered both of the night’s best pitchers, Max Scherzer and Junior Guerra, and got explosive nights from Rougned Odor and Thomas Pham.

He’ll bring his big lead into next Friday’s Week 2 contest, vying for one of the three remaining available Golden Tickets.

The players trailing Moyer are Chris Liss, Brian Walton, Derek VanRiper, Peter Kreutzer, and Jake Ciely.

Other productive pitchers on the night were Tyler Chatwood, Jake Odorizzi and Jose Quintana.

Look for our weekly preview next Friday here at toutwars.com, and get the latest results and follow along at rtsports.com/tout-wars.

 

The Final Countdown For Tout Daily!

It’s Week 1 of Period 5 in Tout Wars Daily, by RTSports.com.

All the Touts start fresh, though 11 of them hold tickets to the August 26th Tout Daily Finals. Jeff Erickson has two tickets already, and is pursuing a third. Follow the action tonight at RTSportsc.om/tout-wars.

We asked the Touts who they were picking in tonight’s contest:

JEFF BOGGIS

I’m rolling with Jose Quintana ($7,800 @ Minnesota) at starting pitcher and Josh Donaldson ($6,800 vs. Baltimore) as my top hitter.

LAWR MICHAELS

I like Jose Quintana ($7,800 @ Minnesota) and Vincent Velasquez ($6,800 @ Atlanta) as starters. Well, I picked them and hope I like them in the morning.

As for hitters, Joey Votto ($6,500 @ San Diego) and Tucker Barnhart ($2,500 @ San Diego) going against Edwin Jackson.

CHARLIE WIEGERT

Top Pitchers..still trying to find a diamond in the rough, I’m going with Ivan Nova ($4,500 @ Tampa Bay). Hoping he’ll put up a good game for all the scouts that will be watching. Staying on the cheap, Kendall Graveman ($5,100 @ Cleveland) has been good his last three starts, hoping for one more at Cleveland.

Top Hitters…Riding some hot hands; Freddie Freeman ($5,500 vs. Philadelphia), Justin Turner ($4,200 vs. Arizona), Neil Walker ($4,200 vs. Colorado) and Aledmys Diaz ($4,300 @ Miami). And went big in the OF with Matt Kemp ($5,400 vs. Cincinnati), Mark Trumbo ($5,700 @ Toronto) and Andrew MuCutchen ($5,500 @ Milwaukee).

MIKE GIANELLA

Top Pitcher: Max Scherzer ($9,800 @ San Francisco) – After some bumps in the road earlier in the year, Scherzer has been a near-automatic points machine in DFS. There is a risk he doesn’t cash in on the win in a tough matchup in San Francisco, but he is worth the start anyway.

Top Hitter: Trevor Story ($5,900 @ NY Mets). Story’s pedestrian numbers on the road bury a significant split against left-handers and right-handers away from Coors. His match-up against Steven Matz looks very favorable for Story in this light, and while it is a high price to pay, Story is a strong play this evening.

SCOTT SWANAY

Pitcher: Vincent Velasquez ($6,800 @ Atlanta) – one of the few times all season the Phillies should be heavy favorites on the road; facing Atlanta will do that for you.

Hitter: Jay Bruce ($5,300 @ San Diego)– assuming he isn’t traded by game time, he’ll get to take batting practice against Edwin Jackson for at least a few innings.

BRIAN WALTON

Phillies starter Vincent Velasquez ($6,800 @ Atlanta) is a steal at just the 10th-most expensive pitcher. After averaging 13 points over his last five outings, the right-hander draws the power-free Braves Friday night and his mates should tee off on rookie Tyrell Jenkins.

I had been looking at Milwaukee shortstop Jonathan Villar’s ($4,700 vs. Pittsburgh) splits closely, as I just acquired the National League steals leader in NL LABR on Thursday. Villar has a stellar .910 OPS this season against lefties and draws one in Bucs’ rookie Steven Brault Friday night.

GENE McCAFFREY

Pitcher: Steven Matz ($7,800 vs. Colorado) at home against the Rox, who are better vs. righties.

Hitter: Tim Lincecum is begging to be hit, let Travis Shaw ($4,300 @ LA Angels) answer the call.

JEFF ERICKSON

Going with Mad Max Scherzer ($9,800 @ San Francisco) and Ivan Nova ($4,500 @ Tampa Bay), who’s been surprisingly capable lately and allows me to afford right-handed Red Sox, who get their turn to paste Tim Lincecum.