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.
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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.
To get a general idea of who we're picking in tonight's slate, check out the video below, courtesy of Periscope. And be sure to follow us on there, @numberFire!
Top Pitchers
Jon Lester – Lester is our top pitching option tonight, facing a Reds' lineup that's pretty middle-of-the-road in terms of talent. Lester has the platoon split on the red-hot Joey Votto, and always has the upside of striking out eight or nine batters when he's on the bump. You're going to have to pay up to use him, but he's a good choice in cash games -- especially with a low over/under -- given the little locked-in pitching options we have in the night slate.
Andrew Cashner – Though Lester is the top play tonight at pitcher, I may be using Cashner more for some salary cap relief. It's always good to target pitching opponents -- like Arizona -- who play in a hitter's park when they go to play in a pitcher's park. That's exactly what's happening tonight, as they'll face Cashner and the Padres in San Diego. Vegas has the over/under of this game set at a low 6.5, and at home last year (75.1 innings), Cashner allowed a wOBA of just .216 (.356 on the road). That's not the biggest sample size, I know, but it's just a small glimpse of the impact Petco Park can have on pitchers.
Best High-Priced Hitters
Mike Trout - If you can fit Mike Trout into your lineups tonight, do it. The Angels take on Ross Detwiler, who has a career 4.33 FIP against right-handed batters, giving up nearly one home run per nine innings. His splits are actually kind of absurd, giving up just a .276 wOBA to lefties and a .341 wOBA to righties. Trout should definitely be on your radar -- it could be one of his big, big nights.
Anthony Rizzo - Rizzo's batting second tonight against Mike Leake, who has a career 4.21 FIP. Leake isn't necessarily a fly-ball pitcher, but he's given up a home run on 13.6% of his fly balls, which is in the "bad" territory for pitchers. Given the platoon split -- Rizzo hits righties to a .357 wOBA (.321 against lefties) -- you could do a lot worse with a higher-tiered option tonight.
Most Cost-Effective Hitters
Ike Davis - Against Scott Feldman with an 8.5 over/under, it's not a bad idea to stack the A's tonight. Ike Davis could be part of that stack -- he's hitting fifth in tonight's lineup -- who's got a favorable price tag for someone who hits to a .354 wOBA and .201 ISO against right-handed pitching. For the record, that's a wOBA jump of almost 93 points versus lefties. He's the ultimate platoon man, which generally means his price is lower on daily sites thanks to not being an everyday guy.
Asdrubal Cabrera - Typically when I'm in a bind and want to punt, I look towards Asdrubal Cabrera. He won't light the world on fire, but he's always reasonably priced across daily sites, and plays a punt-worthy position. Tonight he'll go up against RA Dickey, and the Rays have a team total hovering around four runs. He's been hitting third in Tampa's lineup, so opportunities should be there, especially if the knuckle ball isn't for Dickey.