MLB Daily Fantasy Helper: Monday 8/24/15
If you've never played daily fantasy baseball before, it's time to start. Unlike traditional leagues, you're able to select the players you want on that specific day only, giving you a different squad to root for each and every day.
And if you'd like, you can use our optimal lineups here at numberFire.com to crush the competition.
As for today's lineups -- those can be found here. The information below is to help you understand why particular players are being picked, because we don't want you going into the things completely blind. We want to help you. Keep in mind, however, that things often change up until the games start, so make sure you're refreshing the optimal lineups as close to the start of games as possible
Top Pitchers
High-Cost Pitcher
Jacob deGrom -- deGrom has been a beast this year. His 2.69 FIP is seventh best in baseball, and his 9.21 strikeout per nine ratio is 15th among relevant pitchers. Tonight he'll face a Phillies team that's 28th in wOBA against right-handed pitching, striking out at a 19.6% rate. He's the top pitcher for our algorithm, and should make it into your cash game lineups tonight.
Alternative Options: Corey Kluber
Cost-Effective Pitcher
Robbie Ray -- If you're trying to save a bit of cash -- perhaps in a GPP -- Robbie Ray isn't a bad look. He's in Arizona, so the park factor isn't great, and while the Cardinals may look a little fierce on paper, know that they've actually struggled against left-handed pitchers this year with a 23rd-ranked wOBA and a bottom six strikeout rate. Ray has a reasonable 7.77 K/9 rate this season, and in 88 innings, his FIP sits at a more-than-respectable 3.30. He's one of the best value plays tonight at the position.
Alternative Option: Felix Doubront
Top Hitters
High-Cost Hitters
Yoenis Cespedes -- It's sort of hard to ignore Cespedes right now, let alone in a matchup where he gets the platoon advantage. Many Mets are in play tonight against southpaw Adam Morgan, a rookie with a FIP north of 5.00. And when you add in the park shift that the Mets should see, and you've got a great matchup. Our algorithm thinks Cespedes is not only the top option on the team, but the best batter on tonight's slate as a result.
J.D. Martinez -- Martinez won't have the platoon advantage in Cincinnati, but it's important to note that his wOBA is actually better against right-handers than left-handers this year. And tonight the Tigers face Keyvius Sampson in Cincinnati -- Sampson has little experience, resulting in a four run Tigers projection from Vegas. Martinez may be a little more under the radar for some folks compared to other high-end bats, but our algorithm has him as the number-two option tonight.
Alternative Options: Nelson Cruz, Joey Votto
Cost-Effective Hitters
Stephen Piscotty -- Piscotty will probably have pretty high ownership numbers tonight thanks to a 3-for-4, 2 homer game yesterday, but there's reason to believe he's a good value tonight. The Cardinals, as noted, will face Robbie Ray in a hitter's park. Piscotty has the platoon advantage in that matchup, and is priced reasonably throughout the industry, specifically on FanDuel where he's just $2,700. Though our numbers don't mind Robbie Ray, they also don't mind the Cardinals' youngster.
Todd Frazier -- This is more of a FanDuel play, but Frazier's $2,900 price tag is pretty attractive over there. He's been sporadic of late -- and certainly not as strong over the season's second half -- but the Reds have a 4.5 team total tonight against pitcher George Farmer. Frazier's really not a bad look given his cost.
Alternative Options: Juan Uribe
