MLB Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 5/31/13
We know that people play all sorts of fantasy platforms, not just from from our friends at StarStreet but on other platforms such as FanDuel, Draft Kings, and Fantasy Feud as well. So once again, we have four optimized rosters, all for you, the numberFire reader. One is for free here; the others can be found in our Premium section.
As always, the full tables for today's action are available at our Daily Fantasy Projections page. Make sure to check it out to see where the best values are for your team.
Our baseball projections are updated throughout the day, so make sure to come back to double-check your optimized rosters for any last-minute lineup changes. Since most action happens later in the day, we will be ignoring the early games (if there are any) and focusing solely on the late contests. That way, you can use and tinker with our optimized rosters throughout the day.
StarStreet Optimized Roster
| Player | Position | Projected FP | Cost | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derek Holland | SP | 23.5 | $26,300 | 0.89 |
| Jason Marquis | SP | 17.22 | $18,800 | 0.92 |
| Mike Trout | CF | 15.68 | $8,100 | 1.94 |
| Carlos Gonzalez | LF | 14.71 | $7,000 | 2.10 |
| David Wright | 3B | 13.28 | $6,500 | 2.04 |
| Albert Pujols | 1B | 12.48 | $6,300 | 1.98 |
| Robinson Cano | 2B | 14.16 | $6,300 | 2.25 |
| Carlos Santana | C | 11.64 | $5,500 | 2.12 |
| Jimmy Rollins | SS | 11.67 | $5,400 | 2.16 |
| Chase Headley | 3B | 12.4 | $5,300 | 2.34 |
| Michael Saunders | CF | 10.83 | $4,400 | 2.46 |
Fan Duel, Draft Kings, and Fantasy Feud Optimized Rosters
For the optimal rosters for the other main players, be sure to check out our brand new Daily Fantasy Optimized Rosters for our Premium members. We know that you're killing it with our picks; maybe now you'll help us continue to help you win each night, every night.
Access to the optimal rosters is immediate, and you'll have it constantly updated for the latest injury news and updates from around the league. The best news of all? For new subscribers, you can use the promo code WELCOME and get it 50% off what was already the reduced price. Think of the savings!
The Three Top Pitchers
Derek Holland - See, here's the thing: the Royals aren't actually that bad at batting. They only strike out on 17.3 percent of their plate appearances (fourth-least), and they hold a .307 batting average on balls in play (seventh-best). But then, of course, they only draw walks on a second-least 6.5 percent of plate appearances and hit a second-least 1.5 percent homerun rate. It takes a high-strikeout pitcher to take advantage of the free swingers, and Holland's 23.6 percent K rate this season should do the trick.
CC Sabathia - Ah, the old Red Sox/Yankees rivalry. Normally, I'd be a bit bullish about taking on Boston and their second-best .345 OBP. But Sabathia has had a down year in only two areas: strikeout rate (Boston is in the top ten highest in the league) and homerun rate (Boston is exactly league-average). The Red Sox may hold the major's second-highest walk rate at 10.3 percent, but Sabathia's own 5.1 percent rate should act as a nice counter.
Tommy Hanson - You thought yesterday was confusing? Out of nine possible pitching slots on our optimized rosters today, there are seven different pitchers featured, with Sabathia and Holland the two multiples. So yeah, that's fun. You could have Miller or Scherzer or Kluber or Marquis depending on format, but I personally like Hanson. His 0.52 projected wins are the second-most of any pitcher tonight behind Holland, and his low 2013 strikeout rate should be fixed nicely by Houston's 25.3 percent team rate.
Top High-Priced Hitters
Robinson Cano - Sure, Jon Lester may be 6-1. He may hold the lowest WHIP, lowest walk rate, highest strikeout rate, and lowest BABIP of his career. Those things could very well mean he has grown as a pitcher. Or, the more likely scenario, he's due to regress closer to his career average the rest of the way, and those numbers will cower back towards those averages. Yeah, stats say I should take the second one. Don't be scared of facing him with Cano's 8 for 21 past five games.
David Murphy - David Murphy holds a career-best 3.9 percent homerun rate, career-best 23 percent line drive rate, and... a .223 BABIP has led him to a career-worst .269 OBP. Well, that makes no sense. Expect the numbers to start making sense soon and for Murphy to regress closer to his .310 BABIP career average, especially facing Wade Davis's .392 BABIP in 242 opposing plate appearances.
Mid-Range Cost-Effective Hitters
Chase Headley - We don't have much data to go on for Blue Jays starter Chad Jenkins. It's possible he's a great pitcher. Or, as the stats say through less than a season so far, he could allow a career 25 percent line drive rate and only strike out 11.0 percent of the batters he faces. For tonight's purposes, I'm going to tend towards the latter and expect Headley's 23.2 percent K rate to not be a problem and his 28 percent line drive rate to be the guiding light.
A.J. Pierzynski - Another hitter, another way to take advantage of Wade Davis's absurdly high .392 BABIP. Davis has allowed a staggering 31 percent of balls in play against him this season to be hit for line drives. I don't think Pierzynski sees anything wrong with that: he should be able to take advantage with a 26 percent line drive rate of his own. (The league average is at 22 percent.)
