MLB Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 7/10/13
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelby Miller | SP | 32.87 | $28,900 | 1.14 |
| Rick Porcello | SP | 21.12 | $21,900 | 0.96 |
| Robinson Cano | 2B | 15.31 | 7900 | 1.94 |
| Hanley Ramirez | SS | 13.45 | $6,500 | 2.07 |
| Ian Desmond | SS | 13.95 | $5,700 | 2.45 |
| Carl Crawford | LF | 13.8 | $5,500 | 2.51 |
| Nick Markakis | RF | 12.46 | $5,100 | 2.44 |
| Manny Machado | 3B | 13.15 | $5,100 | 2.58 |
| Zoilo Almonte | LF | 11.72 | $4,600 | 2.55 |
| Darin Ruf | 1B | 11.49 | $4,500 | 2.55 |
| A.J. Pierzynski | C | 10.9 | $4,300 | 2.53 |
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
Shelby Miller - Let's just say that I'm not particularly ecstatic about today's pitching choices. Cliff Lee? Meh, his price is astronomically high, making him less of a value proposition. Jeremy Hellickson? Sure, the matchup and the record are nice, but look at his ERA and WHIP, then get back to me. Matt Cain? Sike, he's an early game. But Shelby Miller... that's the good stuff right there. He's going against the second-worst offense in baseball (Miami is objectively the worst), holds a 1.074 WHIP, and has a 26.8 percent strikeout rate (while Houston strikes out the most in the majors). Now that's the recipe for fantasy goodness.
Francisco Liriano - Let's get the bad news off the bat: there is rain in the forecast, so you'll have to keep an eye on him up until game time. But if you like living on the edge, you can certainly do worse with a mid-range pitcher than Liriano. Even after cooling off slightly, his strikeout rate is a (sustainable, may I add) 25.4 percent, his walk rate isn't terrible at 9.3 percent, and he simply doesn't give up homeruns with his 1.0 percent homerun rate. Sure, his .303 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) allowed is a little high, but that's what matchups are for: Oakland's .286 team BABIP is 23rd in the majors.
Rick Porcello - Justin Verlander did so well through the first seven innings last night too. But just because the White Sox roughed up the Tigers' pitching in the eighth last night doesn't mean they're magically some Grade A offense I want to stay away from. On the contrary: their .299 OBP (28th) and .382 slugging (25th) still makes them a great matchup. Rick Porcello may have the perception of the weakest of the Detroit pitchers (and he has a cost to match), but the reality is his 1.264 WHIP and low 4.9 percent walk rate make him an extremely likely candidate to get the win.
Top High-Priced Hitters
Robinson Cano - Once again, your weekly reminder that for Daily Fantasy purposes, Robinson Cano is the God of Second Base and we worship at the altar of his exceedingly rare 2B homerun power. Or something. Anyway, Wade Davis: 1.751 WHIP, 30 percent line drive rate and an excruciatingly high .384 BABIP, and a below-average 19.6 percent walk rate. Yeah, I like those numbers. This is a great matchup for the entire Yankees lineup, let alone Cano. Robbie's just the one who plays at a position without many other value options.
Ian Desmond - But it's Cliff Lee?!? How can you go against Cliff Lee?!? Easy: when his 1.8 percent homerun rate is his lowest since 2008 and due to rise, and when his 24 percent line drive rate allowed indicates a much higher BABIP than his current .275 mark (which would also be the lowest of his career). With those outlier numbers in mind, Ian Desmond's 4.1 percent homerun rate and .322 BABIP begin to look a little bit stronger. He's our highest-FP producing shortstop today, which isn't bad when he's only a medium-high cost almost across the board.
Mid-Range Cost-Effective Hitters
Manny Machado - So we proclaim our love for Manny Machado, depriving Adrian Beltre of our optimized rosters for the first time in a while. And what happens? Beltre goes off for two homeruns and 5 RBI. So naturally, we now... continue to proclaim our love for Machado. We're long-term thinkers here, folks. And long-term, Machado's strong hitting ability and .367 BABIP just looks too strong against Josh Lindblom's 28 percent line drive rate allowed and below-average 18.4 percent strikeout rate.
Victor Martinez - White Sox starter Dylan Axelrod has a 1.516 WHIP, 12.8 percent strikeout rate, and 4.2 percent homeruns allowed rate. So naturally, the Tigers slugger I want to select is... Victor Martinez. Yup, that makes sense. But when no other catcher comes close to his 0.70 projected runs scored (Pierzynski is second with 0.65) and only Yadier Molina beats his .315 projected average, yeah, I'm going to take that value. I also like that he nearly has as many projected walks (0.47) as strikeouts (0.48). Given his low cost in most formats, I'll absolutely take the catcher hitting fifth in this lineup with an advantageous matchup, thank you.
