MLB Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 6/13/13
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yu Darvish | SP | 30.42 | $36,500 | 0.83 |
| Kevin Gausman | SP | 13.62 | $18,000 | 0.76 |
| Adrian Beltre | 3B | 12.72 | $5,900 | 2.16 |
| Buster Posey | C | 13.5 | $5,800 | 2.33 |
| Jimmy Rollins | SS | 11.15 | $5,400 | 2.06 |
| Ryan Howard | 1B | 11.71 | $5,200 | 2.25 |
| Jurickson Profar | 2B | 11.79 | $4,900 | 2.41 |
| Nate McLouth | LF | 11.7 | $4,800 | 2.44 |
| Will Middlebrooks | 3B | 10.94 | $4,600 | 2.38 |
| David Murphy | LF | 11.96 | $4,600 | 2.60 |
| Ben Revere | CF | 11.32 | $4,300 | 2.63 |
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 - It may be a little melodramatic to say that he's the only guy I trust in tonight's late games, but when it comes down to it, he's the only guy I trust in tonight's late games. I know that the Toronto Blue Jays are right around league-average in strikeout rate, walk rate, and OBP while being slightly above average for slugging, but Darvish himself is anything but average. 33.8 percent strikeout rates, especially when they amazingly don't seem like outliers, make me very happy. And Darvish's 2.6 percent homerun rate is actually below the MLB average, which you may not expect from a fireballer.
Matt Cain - Sure. Why not? Past Darvish, there is no single pitcher that wows me, and no other pitcher appears on more than one of our optimized rosters. But Cain provides stability along with his value - his 0.42 projected wins tonight are the third-most among late-game starters (Darvish and our next name are tied at No. 1). The Pirates' 22.5 percent strikeout rate is the fourth-highest in the majors, and both Pittsburgh's OBP and slugging are in the bottom ten of all major league teams. And opposing starter Charlie Morton is making his first MLB start of the season and has a career 1.557 WHIP. Not many downsides.
Jeremy Hellickson - Oh yeah, here's the other guy with 0.48 projected wins. But that's what can happen when you face a Kansas City team whose walk rate and homerun rate are both in the bottom five among all MLB teams. Hellickson and his below-average 18.9 percent strikeout rate (16.9 percent for his career) won't get you much else besides that low WHIP and the win column, but without many top options tonight, you may not need much else to prevail.
Top High-Priced Hitters
Ryan Howard - According to Jim's Twins analysis yesterday, Kevin Correia is probably Minnesota's second-best starter! Oh no! Except that Minnesota's second-best starter has a high 4.4 percent homerun rate and a very-low 11.4 percent strikeout rate. That seems like the perfect pitcher for Ryan Howard, he of the high homeruns and high strikeouts, to face.
Buster Posey - He's projected to get you about 10 percent more fantasy points than any other catcher in pretty much every format, yet he's lower priced than Joe Mauer or Jarrod Freaking Saltalamacchia almost across the board... why? Sometimes, I just don't get these pricing systems. But I guess I'll accept it when it leaves me such an exploitable inefficiency, especially against Morton and his aforementioned 1.557 career WHIP.
Mid-Range Cost-Effective Hitters
Jurickson Profar - I don't even think I need to issue a Small Sample Size Alert for you to know what's up here, but isn't he the ultimate low-cost sleeper? Top prospect, has hit leadoff or second in four of his past five games, getting full time because of Kinsler's injury, and going against Esmil Rogers' 16.0 percent strikeout rate and his 25 percent of allowed balls in play going for line drives. With Profar's .342 OBP through 19 MLB games, I think I'm willing to take the leap of faith.
Desmond Jennings - Remember everything I said about Desmond Jennings yesterday? Well, besides that whole leadoff deal (he hit sixth yesterday), it still rings true, even after his 0-3 night. Ervin Santana's 1.032 WHIP may not be my idea of a dream matchup, but Jennings' .435 slugging combined with his mid-range cost and the lack of other affordable outfield options still makes him a solid pick again tonight.
