Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks for ScoreStreak 8/11/14

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Total Bases

Nelson Cruz
Chris Capuano has kept up an 8.17 K/9 which is slightly higher than his career average with an xFIP right around four. All told, he's an ok pitcher but not someone we'd expressly avoid in any scenario. Especially when we're talking about Nelson Cruz who's systematically mashed lefty pitching this season with a 162 wRC+. The only thing scaring me off Cruz in this format is that he does walk a ton against lefty pitching, something we aren't interested in at all in this format. That being said, the upside is too great considering the platoons and the ballpark.

Adrian Beltre
Could honestly go Adam Jones here as well and I'll have shares of both Orioles today. But it's worth throwing out Beltre as well considering the spot he's in against Smyly. Beltre's wOBA is close to .400 against lefties this season with an OPS in the mid .900's. Smyly doesn't have big swing and miss stuff which keeps Beltre's total base expectation high. And don't forget about the ballpark in Arlington boosting power all around.
 

Hits

Ben Zobrist
James Loney
Going for a pair of teammates in this spot today. Both face Colby Lewis in the Texas. Lewis isn't as bad as the 5.50 ERA (xFIP a full run lower) but he's still no good. He doesn't strike out more than eight batters per nine and has some big time nuclear disaster blow up in him. Both Zobrist and Loney have solid contact rates against righties and should have the ball in play today. I'm happy to pick on Lewis in this spot and there's definitely some benefit to having a mini-stack even in the ScoreStreak format especially in the six-man leagues.
 

Strikeouts

Good luck. This spot is a disaster.
Felix Hernandez
You can't fade him completely here simply because's by far the best pitcher going on the day (most days). But he faces the Blue Jays who rank number one in the league against righty pitching and are awfully tough to strike out. No way I'm putting Felix in the nine K slot, opting instead to throw him in the lower tier for some safety. I don't need to go through his resume. He's been amazing this season. But I just don't see there being huge K upside for him today.

Drew Hutchison
I think he stands a good shot at getting up to six or seven K's against the Mariners today. Seattle is a midrange team that K's around 20% of the time against righty pitching. Hutchison is fine enough and has gone seven or more K's in four of his last seven starts. And there you go, I've talked myself into the guy.