Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks for ScoreStreak 8/15/14

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Quick note: I had this entire post locked and loaded until it was deleted on a refresh. So if I seem pissed and truncated you know why.

Total Bases

Jose Bautista
The real story with Joey Bats here is his matchup with Hector Noesi. Noesi is getting shelled this season by righties with a (Babip fueled, but still) .850 OPS against that side of the split. Bautista is for sure better against lefties, but it's not like he's David Eckstein in this platoon either. U.S. Cellular Field plays up power to all sides and I'm loving some Blue Jays today. Bautista is a great total bases play.

Mike Trout
Keeping it close though is Trout. Always great to pick on Nick Martinez who's the equivalent to a batting practice machine that also decides to issue some walks here and there. Trout, hitting second in the lineup and just kind of being the best baseball player of the last generation or two for sure helps and we aren't worried about the righty/ righty platoon as he's better on that side. Though saying he's better against righties is like saying the bottle of Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva 2004 is better than the Château Canon-La Gaffelière. Right?

Hits

Kole Calhoun
Erick Aybar
Speaking of picking on Nick Martinez, here are two more guys I'll have as plays in the hits column. Though I should say that I'll be playing Calhoun and Aybar for slightly different reasons. Calhoun, in the leadoff spot, has had a solid season against righty pitching with a mid .800's OPS and a nice run of late. Grabbing hits guys in the leadoff spot has the compounding advantage of grabbing extra PAs especially in a scenario where the Angels don't bat in the bottom of the ninth. I want every chance to snag that extra hit.

Meanwhile, Aybar is a contact fiend. He K's less than 9% of the time against righties and walks 6% meaning around 84% of his PAs result in him putting the bat on the ball. That's all we can ask for when looking strictly for hits on a given day. Martinez allows so much contact that this seems a match made in Heaven (Angels reference).

Strikeouts

Corey Kluber
Been such a stud this season ranking among the top pitchers in a ll of baseball. I'm tempted to say he's done this rather "quietly" only because so many arms are having Cy Young seasons as well. But Kluber strikes out more than a batter an inning and limits the walks allowing him to post 10 K's in four of his last seven games. The Orioles are no pushovers but I like that this game is in Cleveland where power is a little tougher to come by. Think I'll put Kluber in the 7K slot to be safe, but the upside is for sure there.

Madison Bumgarner
I'm a big fan of the guy even if he's not a fan of pitching at home. For his career he's been much better on the road which is more than a little confusing. I'm not sure exactly what to make of that, but the matchup against the Phillies still has me wanting to buy on the guy. He strikes out around 8.5 batters per nine and the Phils K around 21% of the time against LHP. Seems like a safe bet to reach 6 K's and I'll put him in that third slot without thinking too hard about it.