MLB Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 5/30/13
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Minor | SP | 23.53 | $32,800 | 0.72 |
| Franklin Morales | RP | 14.06 | $15,000 | 0.94 |
| Carlos Gonzalez | LF | 14.82 | $8,300 | 1.79 |
| Mike Trout | CF | 15.57 | $8,100 | 1.92 |
| Troy Tulowitzki | SS | 13.98 | $6,600 | 2.12 |
| Robinson Cano | 2B | 14.44 | $6,200 | 2.33 |
| Carlos Santana | C | 11.64 | $5,400 | 2.16 |
| Mike Napoli | 1B | 12.52 | $5,000 | 2.50 |
| Andy Dirks | LF | 12.65 | $4,500 | 2.81 |
| Alcides Escobar | SS | 12.08 | $4,100 | 2.95 |
| Alberto Callaspo | 3B | 11.26 | $4,000 | 2.82 |
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
Mike Minor - Yeesh. Yesterday's projections fell face-first onto the floor after a solid run for a while. But that's part of the good thing about Daily Fantasy; you can just pick yourself up the next day and try again. I won't go into Mike Minor too much, as Alex Hampl did just that with expert precision yesterday afternoon. Considering Toronto is right about league average with OBP, strikeout rate, and walk rate, I'm expecting an average start from Minor today.
Doug Fister - Here's a quick secret: other than Mike Minor, there isn't a single starting pitcher tonight that is on more than one of our optimized rosters. This is one of those days where you're really going to want to check what format you're on and our values of each pitcher before proceeding. If you're looking to go on without a care in the world, however, Fister isn't a half bad choice. His 0.43 projected wins are third-most among late-game starters tonight, and his exceptionally low 3.7 percent walk rate won't be tested by Pittsburgh's No. 21 team rate.
Vidal Nuno - If low-priced is your game, why not Vidal Nuno? His 0.21 projected losses are the least of any starter tonight, and he's going against a Mets offense with the fourth-worst OBP and third-highest strikeout rate in the majors. OK, I know I made the exact same argument yesterday for Phelps, but here's the thing about statistics in baseball: they're mostly independent events. What happened yesterday is not a clear indicator of what's going to happen today. And just because the Mets roughed up the Yankees yesterday, I'm not sold it's going to happen again, even with a young, low strikeout starter.
Top High-Priced Hitters
Mike Napoli - Are you feeling lucky, punk? With Napoli, it seems like you're always guaranteed either an RBI-producing extra-base hit or a two-strikeout game or sometimes both. 54 percent of Napoli's hits have gone for extra-bases this year, which equates to 12.4 percent of his total plate appearances. He also holds an absurdly high .373 batting average on balls in play. That's a nice balance to striking out nearly one-third of his plate appearances, I'd say. Good thing that Jonathan Pettibone has only struck out 15.1 percent of opposing batters this year, five percent less than the MLB average.
Troy Tulowitzki - Gregorius has had a nice run as the shortstop du jour on our optimized rosters, but the D'Backs play at 2 PM EST today, while most daily fantasy platforms stay open until seven (as do our optimized rosters). And that means it's the Return of Tulo, who is the starting shortstop on three of the five daily fantasy platforms today. Sure he's high-priced, but facing Lucas Harrell's 1.759 WHIP, dead-even 1.00 SO/BB ratio, and 3.0 percent homerun rate makes it all worth it. Tulo is our fifth-highest point scorer on all platforms we cover.
Mid-Range Cost-Effective Hitters
Andy Dirks - He made most of our optimized rosters later in the day yesterday (updated by 6 PM EST every weekday!), and that's not really a surprise considering where he's batting in the order. Nailing down the leadoff spot with Hunter, Cabrera, and Fielder hitting behind you will pay huge dividends, and his projected 0.81 runs scored tonight (fifth-most among all batters) is no joke.
Neil Walker - I was a tiny bit surprised to see the second-baseman on our optimized rosters, but I shouldn't have been. After hitting in the bottom half of the lineup for most of the season, Walker has moved up to the two-hole in each of Pittsburgh's past four games. And considering he's 7-14 with 2 HR, 1 3B, 1 2B, 3 RBI, and 3 R over his last three games (all against Detroit), something tells me he'll stay there. Fister may not give up many walks or homeruns, but his .340 BABIP should play nicely into Walker's 25 percent line drive rate hands.
