All picks are based off the slate of games from 4:05 PM PT/7:05 PM ET and all values are from Fanduel.com.
It’s another Wednesday folks and I’m back to give you my daily dose of awesomeness. Before I lay out my ridiculous picks for the day I just wanted to chime in on the DH or no DH for the N.L. debate. I know I’m a couple days or even a couple years late but it is what it is so here we go.
I obviously love baseball, as I take time out of my life to watch, read, and write about it, and I love the traditions that come along with the sport. However, I’m a big fan of replacing the pitcher in the lineup with the DH position in the N.L. Right now pitchers are hitting a robust .106/.128/.126 in about a month’s worth of games. Last year they hit .122/.153/.153 with a -19wRC+! League average is roughly 100. Yikes, that’s just terrible. I mean ripping a hole in your pants near the bum area while you have the runs and you’re still at work terrible. All I hear is the need to get more offense into the game to gain more popularity, but still the N.L. is trotting pitchers like Bartolo Colon out to the plate and the majority of the results aren’t pretty.
Sure the A.L. as a whole put up a 99 wRC+ while the N.L. had a 93 wRC+ last season so the difference is small, but try to explain that to someone paying $50 for a ticket to watch a pitcher act like he has never swung a bat before. But anyways, these are my picks for the day. As always this is my disclaimer stating I have no idea what I’m talking about 74% of the time.
LWOS DAILY FANTASY BASEBALL PICKS 05-06-15
Pitcher
Lance Lynn, St. Louis Cardinals, $8,300
Lynn has been a strikeout machine this year posting an 11.05 K/9 rate through 29.1 IP so far this season. If you don’t know already, I love to pick pitchers that do a good job of missing bats. The Cubs also like to swing and miss a lot posting a contact % that ranks in the bottom half of the league.
Catcher
Russell Martin, Toronto Blue Jays, $3,500
Martin got off to a bit of a slow start this season but has since been on fire with 9 H, 6 R, 3 HR, and 4 RBI through his last 19 AB. He even managed to chip in a stolen base. Look for him to continue that hot streak against C.C. Sabathia
First Base
Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves, $3,400
Freeman has been his usual self this season with all of his numbers (.283/.343/.495) pretty much lining up with his career line (.286/.365/.466). Taking a look at a Philadelphia Phillies team putting Jerome Williams on the hill and I’ll take Freeman at this price no questions asked.
Second Base
Devon Travis, Toronto Blue Jays, $3,600
Travis has been all the Blue Jays could ask for and more when they traded for him. I don’t think he will continue to slug over .600 but the man has shown some pop through his entire career and everything seems to be falling into place. I like the righty-lefty matchup as well.
Third Base
Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles, $3,400
Machado started off cold but has since turned up the heat. He has hit 4 HR in his last 9 games and looks to be settling into the long season. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that the young man is only 22-years-old, so there may be some more growing pains.
Shortstop
Jhonny Peralta, St. Louis Cardinals, $2,700
I still don’t know why Peralta is at such a low price but you’re not going to see me complaining. The power seems to be a little down this season (.126 ISO), but I’m just hoping it’s the small sample size and because the weather hasn’t quite warmed up yet.
Outfield
Jake Marisnick, Houston Astros, $3,200
The Houston Astros have been one of baseball’s hottest teams and Marisnick has been a big part of that. The power/speed combo is a strongly valued asset (3 HR and 9 SB in 79 PA) and at this price he looks to be a steal against a weak and injury riddled Texas Rangers pitching staff.
Kyle Blanks, Texas Rangers, $2,800
Blanks was recently called up when Mitch Moreland went out with an injury and he made his first start on April 29th. He has since been hitting the ball like it bullied him in grade school, pounding out 9 hits in his first 23 AB with 3 of those hits leaving the yard. He won’t keep this up for long but I’m definitely getting in line to receive my “Blanks” check (oh boy, please be gentle).
Josh Reddick, Oakland Athletics, $4,100
After reading my fellow co-worker Alex Levy’s article on Reddick I knew I had to have him in my lineup today. He has been crushing the ball and his line now sits at a beefy .389/.463/.639. He has also walked twice as much as he has struck out. Peripherals shows it won’t last but I’m all aboard the “Reddick Express” for now! Choo choo all aboard!
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