Daily Fantasy MLB Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Victiv 9/2/15

We've got a double slate rocking for this Wednesday. Some early games on a mini slate and a bigger evening one. There are a lot of decent and better arms going here so finding quality bats across the landscape will take some finesse. Also, hat tip to Ezequiel Paulino who chipped in for his first time on some of these picks. Looking forward to hearing more from him.

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Pitchers

Cole Hamels - FD 10700 DK 10800 Victiv
Opponent- SD (Kennedy) R Park- @SD
Cole Hammels is a solid option in cash games and tournaments. He’s been roughed up a bit since being traded to Texas, but that doesn’t take away his elite 9.37 ker p 9 on the year. His 3.42 sierra and 3.35 xfip are certainly respectable, if not completely elite. Though the latter matters a bit less because he isn't priced in the upper tier. The Padres are pretty much terrible to be honest, they rank 5th in k percentage at 21.9%, have a team wOBA below 300, and the game is in Petco Park, a nice park shift for Hamels. Overall the matchup with the Padres seems ideal.

Matt Harvey - FD 11500 DK 11900 Victiv
Opponent- Phi (Nola) R Park- @Nym
Matt Harvey is easily the top pitching option on the board across all formats. His possess an elite 23.7 k percentage, a solid 3.38 xfip, and a top tier k per 9 at 8.38. He’s pitched considerably better at Citi Field with a 7-2 record, 2.26 era, and an outstanding 0.94 whip. Over his last 7 starts he’s striking out 40 batters in 48.2 innings. The man has been lights out. The Phillies offense has fared better against left handed pitching this year, and pretty much have been abysmal versus righties. Harvey is listed as a -235 favorite; Vegas likes him, so do I, get him in your lineups.

Early Slate Special - For the dollars I'll roll Masahiro Tanaka against the Red Sox.

Catchers

Ooh man do I ever dislike catcher today. You'll see why in a second.

Yasmani Grandal - FD 2200 DK 3100 Victiv 4200
Opponent- SF (Leake) R Park- @Lad
See what I mean? He's been a mess for the second half of the season, with an increased strikeout rate and just being bad all around. Not exactly a ringing endorsement I know, but he is now basically a min-priced player so there floor on Grandal is acceptable considering the salaries. Even with the recent struggles, this is a guy with a nice walk rate who still owns an OPS over .800 for the season. There could be some injury issues here which would explain some of the increased GB%. I'm rolling the dice on his punt salaries and matchup against Leake.

Salvador Perez - FD 2300 DK 3500 Victiv 4500
Opponent- Det (Wolf) L Park- @KC
Another cheaper option who's basically on here because he's, well, cheap. Facing career journeyman Randy Wolf, Perez is coming at around the minimums. He's run bad in his platoon against lefties over the last couple of seasons with a .220 BABIP in that split. Doesn't explain all of the struggles, but it helps. Again, this is more about hating catcher as a whole than actually having a great deal in confidence in Perez. And when that's the case, go cheap my friends.

Early Slate Special - Miguel Montero - and get ready to see a bunch of Cubs as your "special"

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First base

Adrian Gonzalez - FD 3100 DK 3600 Victiv 4900
Opponent- SF (Leake) R Park- @Lad
He started off hotter than the sun at the beginning of the season and over the second half has turned into merely a good hitter rather than a Hall of Fame one. Gonzalez is priced so very low all over the place and yet his overall numbers remain rather strong. He's still a mid .800's OPS guy in the second half of the season. Mike Leake isn't a bad arm all things considered, but he does invite a great deal of contact. His K rate is in the mid 6's per nine. This is a price play on Gonzalez with many of the Dodgers priced in the basement because of their recent offensive ineptitude.

Chris Davis - FD 3800 DK 4400 Victiv 5600
Opponent- TB (Ramirez) R Park- @Bal
For tournaments, there's a lot to like about Crush today. He's playing at home in Camden Yard, a park only behind Coors Field in terms of lefty power. Davis' biggest weakness is obviously the strikeout, going down more than 34% of the time against righties over the last couple of seasons. But that's why we like targeting him against lower K pitchers like Erasmo Ramirez. Erasmo's not a total pushover, but the K rate is low and he allows a fair amount of fly balls. I like the power upside on a guy who's price, while not a total bargain, doesn't break the bank.

Early Slate Special - Anthony Rizzo against Raisiel Iglesias looks pretty tasty especially with the pitchers coming on the cheaper side

Second base

Neil Walker - FD 2600 DK 3600 Victiv 5100
Opponent- Mil (Davies) R Park- @Mil
The Pirates have shuffled him all over the order this season, so you never really know where he'll end up until those lineups are posted. But if he's anywhere in the top six or so (and definitely if he ever slides back into the two hole) Walker makes a fantastic play today against Zach Davies. Now Davies is a prospect for sure. So he isn't your average spot start call up. But he wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire in the minors up until this point. Walker's vastly better split is hitting against righties with a .811 OPS over the last two seasons and a 127 wRC+. Plus he's basically free on FanDuel and coming very cheap on DraftKings.

Brian Dozier - FD 3200 DK 5000 Victiv 5300
Opponent- CWS (Rodon) L Park- @Min
I'd really only consider him on FanDuel and even then you are playing the "Which Carlos Rodon shows up tonight?" sweepstakes. Rodon's high K rate makes things difficult for opposing hitters, though he eases the pain some by walking more than 4.5 per nine (one of the worst numbers in the majors). Dzoier isn't an extreme splits guy, but he does favor hitting lefties by a few percentage points. I'd avoid that price on DraftKings and Victiv, but on FanDuel he's almost too cheap to pass up out of the leadoff slot.

Early Slate Special - Chris Coghlan

Shortstop

Troy Tulowitzki - FD 3800 DK 4000 Victiv 5600
Opponent- Cle (Bauer) R Park- @Tor
Troy Tulowitzki has struggled at the plate as of late, but our projection system likes him in this matchup vs Trevor Bauer. Buying a player off of recent struggles is in fact one of the best times to take a little value because the market is artificially depressed. Bauer definitely has above average stuff (at times), but his horrendous 3.89 bb/9 has hurt him all year, it has limited his upside drastically. Tulo has hit right handed pitching well throughout his career with a lifetime 851 ops, 204 iso, and a 116 wRC+. He’s likely to break out of this slump soon; the guy is just too good a hitter. Due to his recent issues at the plate, his ownership percentage should not be too high, making him a great tournament play.

Jimmy Rollins - FD 2700 DK 3000 Victiv 4400
Opponent- SF (Leake) R Park- @Lad
At this point in his career Jimmy Rollins isn’t what he used to be, we all know that, but at the shortstop position that routinely lacks depth, Rollins is certainly a decent value play. He’s a little pricier on Draftkings at 3000 as opposed to Fanduel (2700), but the upside is there, he’s most likely going to get 4 or 5 at bats at the leadoff position. Rollins is a safe punt play in my book.

Early Slate Special - No one. If there was a turd priced at the minimum it'd be preferable to what's happening here.

Third base

Justin Turner - FD 2800 DK 3400 Victiv 3600
Opponent- SF (Leake) R Park- @Lad
Look, the Dodgers are all priced in the basement because they've been little slices of terrible over the short term. It's tough to get no-hit twice in less than two weeks. You need to try at that s@#$. But alas, here we are getting some of them at sick prices. And I'll take it with so many decent arms going on this slate. Turner's hit righties to an .817 OPS and 129 wRC+ over the last two seasons and he gets that extra little bump for hitting in and around the middle of the order. Picking on Mike Leake today for sure, but some of these prices just stand out.

Trevor Plouffe - FD 2500 DK 3900 Victiv 4500
Opponent- CWS (Rodon) L Park- @Min
Much like Dozier, you need to hope you get terrible Rodon and not a guy who looks like he'd strike out every batter in the majors (which admittedly isn't the norm, but he does have stuff). Twins will need to work counts and get Rodon to give up the free pass. Plouffe takes an 11% walk rate against lefties and that's just the right kind of patient profile that works in this matchup. He's much better than average over the last couple of seasons against lefties, even with a rough BABIP. Coming cheap against a could-be wild arm.
Early Slate Special

Outfield

Lorenzo Cain - FD 3600 DK 5000 Victiv 5000
Opponent- Det (Wolf) L Park- @KC
Lorenzo Cain is my favorite play at outfield in all formats especially on Fanduel. His numbers against left handed pitching are simply breathtaking. He comes in to this matchup with a 416 wOBA against southpaws, 219 iso, 169 wRC+ and a 979 ops. Lefties clearly don’t know what to do with him when he’s at the plate, and I don’t think journeyman Randy Wolf is going to slow him down. Cain is able (get it?) to get the job done here. And when you're done staring in awe at that play on words we can move on to the next guy.

Adam Jones - FD 3200 DK 4200 Victiv 5300
Opponent- TB (Ramirez) R Park- @Bal
Steve Pearce - FD 2200 DK 3000 Victiv 4600
Opponent- TB (Ramirez) R Park- @Bal
Let's get some righty on righty crime going here. All over some of the Orioles today and won't shy away from the reverse platoon splits. Jones has hit righties well for his career, though the last couple of seasons have been a little rougher for the guy though some of that is BABIP related. Pearce is another decent value play that will allow you to save up for some of the elite arms going tonight or if you’d like to get some power bats into your lineup, Steve Pearce is an interesting tournament and cash game option. He’s been hitting at the top of the order consistently, usually in the second spot, which means more plate appearances. Erasmo Ramirez has allowed a 788 ops to right handed hitters which isn’t all that great. Considering their price tags, Jones and Pearce make solid mid-tier and punt plays respectively.
Early Slate Special

Strongly consider Ben Zobrist to play with Cain

Early Slate Speciala - Dexter Fowler and Jay Bruce

And infinity cheap guys - for those, grab a free three day trial of our projection system. Good luck out there!

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