Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, DraftDay and Draftster 9/7/14

Evan Gattis - FD 2500 DK 4000 DD 8400 DFSTR 3000
To be honest, I'm hesitant to even recommend any other catchers tonight, because this match-up is just too freaking good. If you haven't read our picks in the past, you might not know that Gattis has a downright Bondsian .469 wOBA against left handed pitching this year (which is good for a 1.094 OPS). AND! You might not know that Brad Hand is one of the least qualified left handed people in the world to pitch in the major leagues. Okay, that might be overdoing. But he's still super bad. This won't be pretty.

Derek Norris - FD 2400 DK 3200 DD 6900 DFSTR 3000
If you must look away from Gattis, I suppose you could do worse than gazing in Derek Norris' direction. The man's got a .398 wOBA against lefties himself, and absolutely has power to spare. But he's not as good as Gattis, and Keuchel is better than Hand. Why are you even continuing to read this. STOP READING THIS SECTION AND GO CHOOSE A FIRST BASEMAN.

Also considered: If you are trying to lose on purpose, you can choose someone else.

First Basemen

Albert Pujols - FD 3000 DK 4300 DD 9750 DFSTR 3600
You're going to see a theme in today's picks: Lots of Halos. There are a handful of bad lefties today, but he might be the very worst. Cousin posted a 4.91 FIP in AAA ball this year, and he thinks he's going to do anything against Pujols, Trout, et al? Another grizzly one that could be over before it starts.

Edwin Encarnacion - FD 3900 DK 4900 DD 11050 DFSTR 7900
E5 has been a solidly reverse platoon guy this year, and our projection system has nothing but nasty things to say about one Rubby De La Rosa. Perhaps it's his bad name, perhaps it's his poor pitching skills - but the system thinks Encarnacion will continue to build upon his 3 homer week with more damage against the Boston righty.

Justin Morneau - FD 2900 DK 4100 DD 8900 DFSTR 3000
Nobody's going to mistake this current version of Morneau from his early season MVP buzz form, but after last night's homer, he's still got an OPS north of .900 against right handed pitching this year. And I get that Tyson Ross is having a good year and all, but nobody's going to mistake Coors field for Petco, either.

Also considered: Mark Teixeira

Second Basemen

Dee Gordon - FD 2700 DK 4100 DD 8400 DFSTR 3000
I'm such an upside whore. Our system likes a few guys better than Gordon on a strict points per dollar basis, but I just can't help but get sucked in by the transcendent base stealing ability. Unless Cahill is a mighty-morphin'-power-ranger and can turn himself into someone else before game time, he'll be slinging his usual wild garbage, giving Gordon plenty of time to put balls in play or draw a walk. And if he does, I'll be waiting for the fireworks.

Howie Kendrick - FD 2300 DK 4000 DD 7400 DFSTR 4600
Super safe against Darnell, if only because he'll get an opportunity to put a handful of lasers in play. He's rarely an upside guy, but with the amount of guys that should be on base in front of him, I don't mind Kendrick as a stand alone in double ups or as part of an Angels' stack in big tourneys.

Jason Kipnis - FD 3000 DK 4000 DD 8700 DFSTR 3500
Kipnis has disappointed a lot of people this season. Not the least of which is John Gillis, a guy in our Scoresheet league who selfishly drafted Kipnis away from us before his break out season and has kept him every year. Take that, Gillis! Where was I? Right. Tonight's game. Man, are there some awful pitchers going. Scott Carroll is a frequent punching bag of our columns due to his league-worst strike out rate and accompanying high walk rate. Kipnis, for all of his struggles, is still a human being who can stand in the box, which is pretty much all you need to be a threat to Carroll. For real, though. Kipnis still has good power and speed upside, so I don't mind him in any format, really.

Also considered: Tommy La Stella, Jedd Gyorko

Shortstops

Hanley Ramirez - FD 3100 DK 3900 DD 9400 DFSTR 4100
I'm always so delighted to be the muse for the daily fantasy sports Gods' most cruel humor, so it is with that spirit of gratitude that I submit Hanley Ramirez as the top SS play of the day. I don't know what you want from me here - Hanley, for all of his faults, is still one of the top SS upside plays you can make on a given night, and Trevor Cahill has been awful this year. Take that, Fantasy Gods. You hear me? TAKE THAT!

Erick Aybar - FD 2800 DK 4100 DD 8000 DFSTR 5800
If Logan Darnell were a deadbeat Dad, Erick Aybar would be his 4th or 5th child. One of the ones that never gets to see him, who only vaguely knows that he might be in jail somewhere. Our system likes Aybar because it likes everyone that is facing Darnell today. At a position where upside hardly exists, this is probably more than enough reason to trot him out there.

Jose Reyes - FD 3600 DK 5000 DD 9150 DFSTR 8200
Full disclosure: I'll be playing the top two guys today. But if you want a guy with more conventional upside, you could do a lot worse than Jose. He's been slamming extra base hits and stealing bags recently, and showing flashes of his former MVP caliber self. Again, our system is very unimpressed with Rubby De La Rosa's 62 Ks against 31 BBs in 88 IP this year - so if you want to take a shot here, I don't blame you.

Also considered: Andrelton Simmons, Jed Lowrie

Third Basemen

Matt Carpenter - FD 3100 DK 4200 DD 9450 DFSTR 6800
The regular 3B that our system likes best is Matt Carpenter. If you're not inspired by his upside, however, we don't blame you. Carpenter has been the very definition of solid but unspectacular this year - posting single digit homers and steals and a roughly .750 OPS. Yawn. And Jimmy Nelson is basically league average on the other end. Still yawning. 3B is making me sleepy today. Must battle fatigue and keep writing.

Conor Gillaspie - FD 2300 DK 3100 DD 6800 DFSTR 3000
Our projection system thinks it's a day to punt at third base, and I'm starting to agree. Gillaspie has an .850 OPS against right handed pitching this year, and he'll be facing Carlos Carrasco in a good hitter's park. Carrasco has actually been quite solid this season, but the price is so low here that the downside of playing him and investing at a position where the big money guys have good multipliers is very low.

Yangervis Solarte - FD 2300 DK 3500 DD 6600 DFSTR 3000
If you're in the mood for a little risk/reward, consider Solarte. Dude was having a nice season before being sent to the third circle of hitting hell. He won't have any such worries in this one, as facing Franklin Morales in Coors Field is just about as good as it gets for a right handed hitter. Okay, so he's a switch hitter. But you feel me, I know you do.
 

Outfielders

Andrew McCutchen - FD 3700 DK 5200 DD 11050 DFSTR 3600
Starling Marte - FD 3400 DK 4300 DD 9000 DFSTR 3000
How can I put this delicately? Travis Wood is bad. And he's bad in exactly the kinds of ways you want him to be if you're playing McCutchen. He's wild (SB upside - check!), he is generally bad (4.57 xFIP), and allows a ton of fly balls (34.8% GB rate - puke worthy). McCutchen is one of the game's best lefty killers as well. All the makings of a monster outing. Marte isn't quite the hitter McCutchen is, but his .931 career OPS against lefties and his big steal upside is nothing to sneeze at.

Mike Trout - FD 4900 DK 5700 DD 13300 DFSTR 5000
Poor Logan Darnell. With the money you can save elsewhere, getting Trout in against this guy is basically like getting 4 batting practicMe at bats from the world' best player. It'd be hard to overprice Trout, here, though that hasn't stopped the sites from trying!

Michael Brantley - FD 3500 DK 4900 DD 9700 DFSTR 9000
Another shout-out to my man Scott Carroll. Seriously, with how bad he's pitched this year he must be pissed that only 2 Indians made the cut in this article today. Sorry, Scott. And listen, if the major league pitching thing falls through, we're looking to add some staff writers for baseball next year. Brantley! Brantley. He's a terrific play for both safety and upside on most nights. His .311 batting average means he's rarely off base for an entire game, and his 18 homers and 18 steals mean he can put up a monster as well as anyone. Love him in this contest.

Billy Hamilton - FD 3200 DK 4700 DD 8800 DFSTR 3100
Jay Bruce - FD 3200 DK 3700 DD 8250 DFSTR 3000
Zack Wheeler is a fine young pitcher, but both Hamilton and Bruce are frequently must plays at home against right handed pitching. The reasons are twofold. First, they're both priced to consider their performance against lefties and righties, and they're both god-awful against lefties. Second, their home park is a fine place to hit and a difficult place to pitch, putting opposing right handers behind the 8 ball to start things.

Yasiel Puig - FD 2600 DK 4200 DD 10850 DFSTR 3000
I guess I don't know why all the air has been let out of the Puig Bandwagon Sails. Sure, he's tailed off quite a bit from his unsustainably amazing start, but he still has an .860 OPS and as much potential as anyone in the game to absolutely go off on a given night. The price is just absurd here, and I won't hear anything else.

Give a follow on Twitter @dailyfantasysr and @dougnorrie.

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