MLB Daily Fantasy Helper: Tuesday 9/1/15
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
Gerrit Cole -- To be clear, Chris Sale is our top-projected pitching option tonight, but for $2,800 less in salary on FanDuel, you can roster Cole in a good matchup against the Brewers. This year against righties, the Brewers own a wRC+ of just 86 (28th in the league) and a wOBA of .303 (25th). Cole's strikeout rate (24.30%) isn't quite on par with Sale's (33.20%), but given the Brewers' bats, the price discount, and Cole's top-12 xFIP (3.08), it's hard to fault rolling with him tonight.
Alternative Options: Chris Sale, Zack Greinke
Cost-Effective Pitcher
Andrew Cashner -- Cashner is projected as our fifth-highest scoring pitcher on the night and the second-best per-dollar play. Cashner's strikeout rate (19.90%) ranks him just 48th among 88 qualified pitchers, his xFIP (3.81) is 40th, and his swinging strike rate (7.70%) is 72nd. Oof. But on the season, the Rangers rank 20th in wRC+ against righties (96) and just got shut out last night. There are a lot of expensive options to plug in at starter, but if you want to save salary and be unique, Cashner is worth a shot according to our algorithms.
Alternative Options: Jonathon Niese, Matt Shoemaker
Top Hitters
High-Cost Hitters
Nelson Cruz -- Cruz is sporting a .394 wOBA against righties this year to go along with a .266 ISO and .911 OPS. Scott Feldman has thrown well enough lately and is coming off eight shutout innings against the Yankees, but he has topped six strikeouts just once all year. Plus, Cruz should be surrounded by capable lefties, and if they run hot, it could be a good night for Cruz, our highest projected non-Coors Field player.
Yoenis Cespedes -- Yep, another righty facing a righty, but it makes sense. Cespedes owns a .397 wOBA, .240 ISO, and .915 OPS against righties this year. Aaron Harang has walked 14 batters in his last five starts and struck out just 10. The Mets are a solid stack overall, so Cespedes could get some help around him, too.
Alternative Options: Rockies, Diamondbacks, Bryce Harper, Joey Votto
Cost-Effective Hitters
Kelly Johnson -- For just $2,300 on FanDuel, Johnson makes sense, especially in a less-obvious Mets stack. He's got an okay .312 wOBA against righties this year along with a .171 ISO. Even as a plus-one to a Coors stack, Johnson is hard to ignore at this price.
John Jaso -- Jaso has a good matchup tonight against Chris Tillman. Jaso owns a .352 wOBA and .805 OPS against right-handers this year. For the minimum salary, you could be getting a steal with Jaso, especially if he hits fourth. He's our second-best value bat of the entire slate.
Alternative Option: Rockies, Diamondbacks, Marwin Gonzalez
