MLB Daily Fantasy Helper: Tuesday 4/30/13
We've been giving you basketball Daily Fantasy help all season, but with only two or three playoff games a day (if we're lucky), that season's just about done. We do love our basketball, but now, it's Baseball Time. And that means one thing: Baseball Optimized Rosters!
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.
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.
StarStreet Optimized Roster
| Player | Position | Projected FP | Cost | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Hammel | SP | 21.5 | $24,900 | 0.86 |
| Jaime Garcia | SP | 19.23 | $23,400 | 0.82 |
| Andrew McCutchen | CF | 12.77 | $6,400 | 2.00 |
| Ben Zobrist | 2B | 12.33 | $6,200 | 1.99 |
| Chase Headley | 3B | 13.3 | $6,100 | 2.18 |
| Dexter Fowler | CF | 12.75 | $6,000 | 2.13 |
| Buster Posey | C | 12.32 | $6,000 | 2.05 |
| Lance Berkman | DH | 14.22 | $5,700 | 2.49 |
| Alejandro De Aza | CF | 11.71 | $5,300 | 2.21 |
| Mike Napoli | 1B | 13.36 | $5,200 | 2.57 |
| Everth Cabrera | SS | 10.99 | $4,800 | 2.29 |
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
Yu Darvish - The White Sox aren't exactly a strong offensive team - I'd say their dead-last-in-the-AL .280 on-base-percentage is a solid indicator. They also aren't too patient at the plate, drawing the least total walks in the AL so far this season. That fits Darvish quite perfectly, considering he's so adept with the strikeout (6.71 of those projected today) but normally has a higher projected walk total than today's 2.31 BB mark.
Hiroki Kuroda - Continuing with the theme of hitters that make my eyes bleed, the Yankees take on the Houston Astros today. That's almost a guaranteed win - in fact, Kuroda's 0.58 projected wins are the highest of any projected pitcher today and only one of two starters (Verlander) projected over 0.5 wins. His three straight starts of at least 6.0 IP helps as well - his 6.58 projected innings pitched are the second-longest of any starter, giving time for more of those juicy strikeouts.
Jason Hammel - Seattle's 12-16 record might not look that bad, but their fifth-most strikeouts in the majors (219) leaves something to be desired. Hammel's 4.7 SO/9 should regress to the mean here soon; he's averaged 6.5 SO/9 for his career and averaged 8.6 SO/9 in 20 starts last season. This game would be a good bet for him to get his start back on that track.
Top High-Priced Hitters
Chase Headley - 2013 has not been Edwin Jackson's best ride. However, it could even be worse. Jackson's home run/fly ball rate only sits at 3.3 percent, way under his 7.3 percent career average. His percentage of hits that have gone for extra-bases only sits at 5.4 percent, way under his 8.0 percent career average. With those numbers so low, it's a testament to how poorly Jackson has been pitching that his ERA is at 4.76 and his WHIP at 1.412. Headley's the best of a Padres squad that could go off tonight.
Dexter Fowler - This is not a drill: Dexter Fowler home runs are a thing that happens. His round-tripper yesterday against the Dodgers marked his eighth on the season, good for fifth in the entire majors. Couple that with 19 total runs scored (No. 11), and Fowler as a top ten fantasy guy doesn't look too out of place. It also doesn't hurt that Dodgers starter Hyun-jin Ryu has allowed 26 percent of his allowed balls in play to be line drives, far above the league average of 21 percent.
Mid-Range Cost-Effective Hitters
Alejandro De Aza - True story: De Aza currently holds a five-game hitting streak and hits in eight of his previous nine games. Granted, all but one of those games was a one-hit affair, but at least he's consistently making contact. Even against our top starter Darvish, that has a good chance of holding true today. De Aza's current 30 percent strikeout rate is not a true indicator of his value (career 20 percent rate) and has driven his cost much lower than it should be across most platforms.
Mike Napoli - What if I told you that Mike Napoli is in the top five of projected batter fantasy points for four of the five platforms we currently cover? You may not believe me, but his 0.84 projected RBIs - third among all batters - says otherwise. Opposing starter Brandon Morrow has allowed 10.9 hits per nine so far this season in five starts, and although that number is likely to regress to the mean, his low 6.3 SO/9 isn't projected to get much better. Napoli's power with 0.29 projected homeruns gives him high upside as well.
