Week 3 Period 3 Tout Wars Daily Roundup, with Picks!

Entering week 3 of the contest hosted by Draft Kings, Derek Carty (who already has a ticket to the September 1 finals, has a strong 39 point lead. He’s the only Tout to finish in the Top 5 each of the period’s first two weeks.

In second place is Vlad Sedler, closely followed by Jeff Boggis, Andrea LaMont and Todd Zola. Zola has another of the four tickets to the final handed out so far.

Some of the Tout sent in pick for tonight’s contest.

LAWR MICHAELS

Jimmy Nelson ($8500): Despite a price-tag increase of $1700 from last week to this, Nelson has been so solid, coming off a 10-whiff complete game shutout at the hands of the Padres. The Braves are tougher, but young, and another team Nelson can exploit.

Steven Souza ($4200): Souza has been beyond steady, averaging 8.8 points per game, and going up against Ubaldo Jimenez and his 6.25 ERA and 1.50 WHIP with 14 homers allowed over 63.3 frames.

PHIL HERTZ

I like Seth Lugo‘s price, especially given the Giants were playing past 12:30 am this morning in Atlanta.  I also like Yoenis Cespedes to have a big game against a lefty.

JEFF BOGGIS

2017 Tout Daily – Top Pitchers and Hitters

Stephen Strasburg (WAS) $11,700 vs. Cincinnati – Strasburg is always good for a lot of strikeouts, and is 8-2 on the season. He has 4 games this season with 10+ strikeouts per game. Roster Stephen Strasburg tonight if you want to beat Lawr Michaels in period 3, week 3 of our Tout Wars DFS contest! #BeatLawr

Andrew McCutchen (PIT) $4,500 at St. Louis – McCutchen faces starting pitcher Adam Wainwright tonight. Over his career against Wainwright, McCutchen is batting .298 with 2 home runs and 8 RBI. Over the past 14 days, McCutchen is batting .444 with 5 home runs and 14 RBI. Roster Andrew McCutchen tonight if you want to beat Lawr Michaels in period 3, week 3 of our Tout Wars DFS contest! #BeatLawr

Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire) @JeffBoggis

TIM HEANEY

J.A. Happ ($8,000) at KC: If you want to play the midrange SP ploy tonight, choose the lefty at pitcher-friendly Kauffman Stadium.

Corey Dickerson ($4,700) vs. BAL: Ubaldo Jimenez is starting for the O’s. Talk about fuel for a big night for the surprise AL fantasy MVP candidate.

CHARLIE WIEGERT

Top Pitchers…savings some $ with Ty Blach and Trevor Bauer.  Blach should dominate a weak Met line-up pitching at home, and Bauer should do well at home against the scuffling Twins.

Top hitters…mini stack with Goldschmidt, Lamb and Peralta at home vs Leiter, going hot hitters in Sal Perez and Bellinger, and budget picks Diaz & Kinsler.

The Touts Tout Tonight’s Tout Daily Picks from Draft Kings!

Period 3 Week 2.

Here are the Tout’s picks (a raw dump this time, because time is short):

LAWR MICHAELS

Joe Biagini ($6900): Coming off a pair of pretty good starts over which he went seven innings each time, the Jays righty faces a White Sox team that is in the middle of the pack with respect to efficiency against right-handers. The Sox have some weapons, but I am guessing Biagini can pull off a quality start.

Jose Ramirez ($4000): Switch-hitting Ramirez, who is under-valued, faces Nik Turley, a lefty who has made one start, allowing eight hits and four runs over four innings.

GENE MCCAFFREY

Pitcher – A very tough slate with several good but no great choices. I’m inclined to go cheaper with two lefties at home, Steven Matz and Sean Manaea. Both have been sharp lately although both face tough lineups. Oh well, they always told me that good pitching beats good hitting. That’s not really true but dominant pitching does.

Hitter – Another tough call with an abundance of excellent possibilities even for a Friday. Pay up for Nolan Arenado against Samardzija and a depleted Giant bullpen. Arenado’s numbers are about to get that summer boost that Coors Field always provides.

BRIAN WALTON

While many will be loading up on a strong SP1 in Max Scherzer ($12,900), I am instead using the money on hitting and leading my starters with Alex Wood ($9100). Wood, who is striking out 11.2 batters per nine to go with a 2.01 ERA this season, draws the struggling Reds at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

Getting Miguel Cabrera for just $3800 is a bargain I just cannot pass up. Detroit’s first sacker drew a lot of attention with his four doubles and a home run on Thursday, but also had multiple hits in his three prior contests. Rays starter Erasmo Ramirez could be in for a long night.

PHIL HERTZ

I’m going with Carlos Martinez against the struggling O’s and Brandon Crawford at Coors.

JEFF BOGGIS

Luis Severino (NYY) $11,500 at Oakland – There are much better starting pitcher choices tonight versus last Friday night. He’s not cheap at $11,500, making him the 2nd highest salaried starting pitcher in tonight’s contest. In his last 5 starts, Severino has posted either 7 or 8 strikeouts per game, and has won 3 out of his last 5. He’s going deep in games, averaging 7 IP per game over his last 5 starts. He travels to Oakland and takes on a weak A’s roster tonight. In Severino’s last 5 games, he’s averaged only 1 earned run per game. Roster Luis Severino tonight if you want to beat Lawr Michaels in period 3, week 2 of our Tout Wars DFS contest! #BeatLawr

Aaron Judge (NYY) $5,000 at Oakland – Over the past 2 weeks, Judge is the hottest hitter in baseball with 17 runs scored, 5 home runs, 11 RBI, 2 stolen bases, and a .365 batting average. Judge will face left-handed pitcher Sean Manaea tonight. Judge is batting .341 with 4 home runs and 9 RBI against left-handed pitching this season. Roster Aaron Judge tonight if you want to beat Lawr Michaels in period 3, week 2 of our Tout Wars DFS contest! #BeatLawr

Carty and Zola Draw First Tout Daily Blood. Again.

Derek Carty already has a ticket to the Tout Daily finals. So does Todd Zola. These two finished 1-2 in Week 1 Period 3 of the Tout Daily contest hosted by Draft Kings.

Howard Bender also has a ticket to the finals, and he finished fourth on the week, eight points behind Zola.

Sandwiched between the ticket holders was Steve Gardner, looking for a ticket of his own.

A csv file with each team’s picks and totals, plus point totals and draft percentage for all players, can be found at the link: contest-standings-41499229

The Top 2 finishers in each four week period win golden tickets to the September 1 finals.

Tout Daily Picks for June 9, 2017

The Tout Daily gang starts fresh in Period 3 of the contest hosted at Draft Kings.

So far, Todd Zola, Lenny Melnick, Howard Bender and Derek Carty have tickets to the September 1 final.

If you’re moved to try out Draft Kings, who are hosting Tout Daily this year, they have a special offer for new signups. Deposit $5 and gain free entry to a $3 contest. Click here to for more details and how to sign up.

Here are the picks from this week’s Touts:

CHARLIE WIEGERT

Top Pitchers…Not a lot of really good options today, so I’m going with Rich Hill ($8,100 vs. Cincinnati) against the Reds.  I’m hoping a blister does not pop up, and the Reds will be a little jet lagged flying to the West coast.  Montgomery is pitching at home against a Baltimore team that strikes out a lot, and he’s been really good lately, so I hope he has another stellar performance in him.

Top hitters…Aaron Judge ($5,300 vs. Baltimore) has been hot, he’s my money play.  Matt Adams has been hot too, and Matt Harvey has been giving up homers, hope that clicks also.  Justin Smoak returns to Seattle with 17 HR’s, perhaps he might have a little revenge in mind and hit #18!

PHIL HERTZ

Tanner Roark ($8,200 vs Texas) and Josh Donaldson ($4,800 @Seattle).

JEFF BOGGIS (@JeffBoggis)

Brian Johnson ($6,500 vs. Detroit) – If tonight’s starting pitcher was a movie, it would be called “Night of the living dead”. There are just no standout options and there are landmines everywhere. I wanted to roster Corey Kluber tonight, but there is a 70% chance of rain and I can take that chance. Rolling the dice on Brian Johnson for only $6,500. Let’s hope my team gets “back in black” in the DFS points total tonight! Roster Brian Johnson tonight if you want to beat Lawr Michaels in period 3, week 1 of our Tout Wars DFS contest! #BeatLawr

Bryce Harper ($5,300 vs. Texas) – Harper takes on right-handed pitcher, Andrew Cashner tonight. Harper is batting .314 with 14 HRs and 40 RBI against right-handed pitching this season. Roster Bryce Harper tonight if you want to beat Lawr Michaels in period 3, week 1 of our Tout Wars DFS contest! #BeatLawr

TIM HEANEY

Brad Peacock ($7,900 vs. LA Angels) Methinks I will not be the only one to list him as a tournament play. The Angels’ lineup has no wings without Mike Trout, and Peacock is showing off with strikeouts.

Jay Bruce ($4,700 @Atlanta) Sure, this is spending up, but a powerful LHB like Bruce against the scuffling Julio Teheran, who also has allowed 8 HR at SunTrust Park already, feels like a safe floor.

RICK WOLF

Brad Peacock ($7,900 vs. LA Angels) He has 17Ks in two games with less than 11 IP.  He throws sliders for strikes in his first pitch 45.8% of the time keeping batters off guard.  He has allowed .111 SLG, .311 OPS, .200 OBP with a K rate of 42.4%.  I get it that it is only 30 plate appearances for his opponents, but why should we think that his groove isn’t the best in his third start.  They face a Troutless Angels team so this seems like a good start.

He has 17Ks in two games with less than 11 IP.  He throws sliders for strikes in his first pitch 45.8% of the time keeping batters off guard.  He has allowed .111 SLG, .311 OPS, .200 OBP with a K rate of 42.4%.  I get it that it is only 30 plate appearances for his opponents, but why should we think that his groove isn’t the best in his third start.  They face a Troutless Angels team so this seems like a good start.

LAWR MICHAELS

Ervin Santana ($12,000 @San Francisco): Big Erv should rebound from his tough start and handle the young and struggling Giants in a pitcher’s venue.

John Jaso ($3300 vs. Miami): The lefty Jaso, who is a pretty good OBP guy (.329), going up against righty Vance Worley and his 6.59 ERA. Yum.

 

The June 5 Tout Wars FAAB Reports Links!

Todd Zola and his merry band weigh in on this week’s pickups in all the Tout Wars leagues. Be forewarned, one goofball thought picking up Dinelson Lamet and Adam Wainwright were good ideas. As the Pink Panther once said, The Goofball? C’est moi!

Mike Gianella’s Expert League FAAB Roundup is a weekly gem. Good analysis, goodly humor, an excellent analysis of Eric Young Jr. this week, with historical context. Plus details about a man named Cactus, and another man named Anthony. This week is a particularly good one. Even if you didn’t care for baseball you might enjoy it. Though, probably not.

 

Zola and Melnick Take Tickets in Tout Daily Period 2!

Todd Zola put up more than 150 points in Tout Daily at DraftKings for the second week in a row, which was enough to land him atop the standings in Period 2 of the contest, and win him a golden ticket to the finals.

Lenny Melnick, the third-week winner, finished second for the period, 11 points ahead of Vlad Sedler, whose hot streak ended with a crash in Week 4, when he finished with just 81.8 points, in 23rd place for the week. Sedler finished third for the period, tantalizingly close.

In what is becoming a theme, Zola rostered two aces (Kershaw—32 percent of teams did—and Strasburg—64 percent rostered him) and then relied on the kindness of lesser hitters. This week it was Yangervis Solarte, Nick Castellanos, and Franchy Cordero who left a mark.

The week’s winner was actually Tim Heaney, who finished Top 5 for the first time in the period, which left him in 12th overall. He started with Ty Blach (12 percent) and Michael Fulmer (32 percent), and then got big nights from a Detroit stack (Miguel Cabrera and JD Martinez) and Nolan Arenado.

We start Period 3 next Friday with a clean slate.

Period 1 winner, Derek Carty, has the most points overall so far this year. The overall points winner will earn an extra golden ticket to the finals.

You can see the whole leaderboard right here.

If you’re moved to try out Draft Kings, who are hosting Tout Daily this year, they have a special offer for new signups. Deposit $5 and gain free entry to a $3 contest. Click here to for more details and how to sign up.

Tout Daily: Hitter and Pitcher Picks for Period 2, Week 4

Two more Golden Tickets will be awarded at the conclusion of Friday night’s games. Vlad Sedler has a comfortable 20 point lead with Michael Beller, Lenny Melnick and Todd Zola all within two points for the second entry the period into the Tout Daily Finals. Derek Carty and Howard Bender already earned Golden Tickets finishing first and second in Period 1.

Of course, an outstanding performance from a lesser owned player can propel someone into the top-two. Here’s who the Touts are hoping do just that.

Michael Beller, SI.com

Pitcher: Stephen Strasburg is an easy pick for me this week. He has 26 strikeouts in his last 14 2/3 innings, and is facing an A’s team that has a 25.3% strikeout rate, second highest in the league. I’m hoping that Kershaw’s presence keeps Strasburg’s ownership rate relatively low.

Hitter: I’m stacking Reds against Mike Foltynewicz, and Joey Votto is at the center of that. It appears to be a great night to hit in Cincinnati, with the temperature in the low 80s, and the wind blowing out to right-center. Of course, it’s always a good night to hit when you’re Joey Votto.

Charlie Wiegert, CDM Sports

Top Pitchers…It’s hard to resist the “big name” pitchers going tonight, but I am.  I’ll try to get close to the same points they’ll earn with a couple young pitchers throwing very well right now, Michael Fulmer against the White Sox and Ty Blach against the Phillies.  Both could get 10+ k’s, go at least 7 innings and be in line for a W!

Top Hitters….Using the $’s saved on pitching to roster Goldschmidt and Lamb against Urena and a hot Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks against Liriarno, Also Neil Walker, who likes to show his old team (Pit) they should have kept him!

Tim Heaney, Rotowire

Ty Blach ($7,300 at PHI): I assume I won’t be the only one to list him, but I’ll slide in the control-minded southpaw against the woephul Phillies.

Scott Schebler ($4,200 vs. ATL): Mike Foltynewicz yet again has been blown up by the long ball, and the NL leader in home runs — still feels weird to type that — has a fine chance to pile on top of those issues.

Lawr Michaels, Mastersball

Stephen Strasburg ($12,000): Strasburg whiffed 15 his last start and last week, Oakland set a four-game series team record, whiffing 59 times. That means over 108 at-bats, the team struck out 55% of the time. For Strasburg, that should be shooting fish in a ballpark barrel.

J.D. Martinez ($5500): Derek Holland is having a nice year, but I will take the uber-efficient Martinez banging against the lefty and be plenty happy.

Gene McCaffrey, Wise Guy Baseball

Pitcher – Strasburg is at the top of his game, at home against a bad, high-K team, so he’ at least as good a points bet as Kershaw and cheaper.

Hitter – Typical Friday, loaded with good choices. I’m always looking for the guy with the best chance to hit TWO home runs, and Chris Davis at home against Porcello is right up there. Nice $4000 price too.

Phil Hertz, Baseball HQ

I like Fullmer at home against the White Sox and Ryan Zimmerman, heating up again, against Triggs.

Jeff Boggis, Fantasy Football Empire

Dallas Keuchel (HOU) $10,900 at Texas – I can’t fault anyone that starts Clayton Kershaw ($13,100) and Stephen Strasburg ($12,000), but by doing this you are allocating roughly 50% of your salary cap. This would leave your roster with an average salary of $3,112.50 to roster your 8 hitters. Dallas Keuchel is a logical alternative as he can be rostered for $10,900, saving you $2,200 versus Kershaw and $1,100 versus Strasburg. Dallas Keuchel has been outstanding this season with a record of 8-0 with a 1.81 ERA and 0.88 WHIP. Roster Dallas Keuchel tonight if you want to beat Lawr Michaels in period 2, week 4 of our Tout Wars DFS contest! #BeatLawr

Top Hitter

Eric Young Jr. (LAA) $2,400 versus Minnesota – If you are rostering one of the high salaried starting pitchers tonight, you are going to have to look for value and Eric Young Jr. is a player that you want to roster for tonight’s contest. The Los Angeles Angels recalled Eric Young, Jr. due to the injury to Mike Trout. We have a small sample size, but in his 4 games played, Young is 5 for 15 with 2 runs scored, 1 home run, 2 RBIs, and 2 stolen bases. Roster Eric Young Jr. tonight if you want to beat Lawr Michaels in period 2, week 4 of our Tout Wars DFS contest! #BeatLawr

The Legend, Lenny Melnick Wins Week 3 Period 2 of Tout Daily!

Lenny Melnick paid the price, rostered Max Scherzer and Chris Archer, two of the most expensive pitchers, and rode them to victory in Tout Daily’s Period 2 Week 3 contest.

With all that dough tied up in dominant arms that dominated, Lenny looked to Mike Trout and Kendrys Morales for offense, but the two combined for just 23 points.

It was, in fact, Martin Maldonado and Devon Travis, who put the legs into legend, scored 51 points between them and squeaked out a victory over Todd Zola.

Vlad Sedler had his third Top 5 finish in Period 2, and still leads the field in the season’s second contest. The period’s Top 2 finishers will win golden tickets to the season finale and a chance to vie for the championship, which is interesting because this period’s top two finishers, Melnick and Todd Zola, are tied for third right now, two points behind Michael Beller.

You can see the whole leaderboard right here.