Updated 7:14 PM
Welcome to a new installment at the Wrightway Sports Network where I give you daily fantasy sports advice. All the prices will be based from DraftKings and their classic format where you have $50,000 to select a lineup of 10 players (2 starting pitchers and 8 position players). For today’s 14 games 7:05 PM EDT slate, I have a couple of plays that you can make.
Value Starting Pitching
SP John Means – BAL @ TB – $8,400: Griffin Canning was the original choice for this pick, but he was a late scratch, so Baltimore Orioles starter John Means takes his place. Means is not the ideal candidate with a 7.61 K/9, but he will have to due with Canning being scratched so close to the start. You can expect position players to be scratched, but a starting pitcher being removed from your lineup is completely unexpected. Means may not compile a ton of strikeouts, but he should do a good job at keeping runners off the bases.
SP Mike Clevinger – CLE @ KC – $9,700: Clevinger is a little pricey, but the pitching options in today’s slate are not that great. This will be Clevinger’s fifth start of the season, and it has been a rough going with a 5.89 ERA, but his 15.22 K/9 lights up the board. In his last start, Clevinger allowed 7 runs in 1.2 innings against the Baltimore Orioles, but this could be the start that sets him right. That 15.22 K/9 is just too good to ignore.
C Yadier Molina – STL @ SEA – $3,300: I never like to spend on my catcher, because I do not think this position provides consistent production. I cannot justify spending $4,500 on a player here, so I look for value, and I think Yadier Molina can do just that. $3,300 is a good price for someone who provides 6.1 FPPG.
1B Daniel Murphy – HOU @ COL – $4,300: I built this lineup behind the Astros/Rockies game. There has been an explosion of runs at Coors Field in the past week, and I expect this game to be no different. I advise stacking as many Astros and Rockies in tonight’s game as you can as I do not expect starting pitchers Wade Miley and Peter Lambert to keep runs off the scoreboard. I am expecting a good game from Daniel Murphy, but you could also go with Astros 1B Yuli Gurriel who is a little more expensive.
2B Jose Altuve – HOU @ COL – $4,600: The Astros and Rockies are difficult teams to stack as they have so many good players that are priced pretty high. Altuve is having a down year, but $4,600 is still a great price for him considering there are far more expensive second basemen available. Altuve just had a four hit game last night at Coors, and he should have similar production tonight.
3B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – BOS @ TOR – $3,300: The options at third base in the Houston/Colorado game are Nolan Arenado and Alex Bregman, and they are the two most expensive 3B options, so it would be very difficult to fit them into this lineup. I decided to go with value with this pick and Vladdy Jr. is a steal at $3,300 even though he is facing Chris Sale tonight. Guerrero Jr. can still produce, and that $3,300 price tag is hard to say no to.
SS Trevor Story – HOU @ COL – $4,500: This is another fairly expensive pick, but it’s Trevor Story playing at home. Story is not even close to the most expensive option at SS, which makes this pick even better. Trevor Story should certainly be priced higher, so you should take advantage of this pick. Story should have a great game tonight.
OF Ian Desmond – HOU @ COL – $4,500: With Myles Straw not in the lineup and with the salary saved from switching to John Means, we were able to upgrade to Ian Desmond in the outfield. Desmond has higher potential and is also playing at Coors Field, so this is a welcomed change.
OF Luis Arraez – MIN @ OAK – $3,400: This is the second and hopefully last change of the day. Marwin Gonzalez was a late scratch in the lineup. The easy switch would have been to add Robbie Grossman to the lineup as he is the same salary as Gonzalez, but I was not a fan of that selection. Instead, I went with Luis Arraez who is batting fifth for the Twins and could find himself in better situations than Grossman.
OF Chris Taylor – ARI @ LAD – $3,900: I added Chris Taylor back to the lineup instead of Michael Conforto as Taylor is in the lineup tonight for the Dodgers and is batting third. Taylor is a steal at $3,900 as he is batting .316 with a .969 OPS in his last 30 games. He is in a good matchup against the Diamondbacks tonight, and should provide plenty of points.
That is one full lineup that I have available for tonight’s games. One makeshift lineup you could do is to go all in on starting pitching and choose Chris Sale and Walker Buehler as your starters.
That would leave you thin on salary for the rest of your team, but stacking the Cardinals would help you fill out your team. DraftKings allows you to stack 5 players from one team and there are plenty of great and cheap Cardinals available. The Cards are facing Mike Leake tonight, who they are familiar with, so I would not be surprised if they had an offensive explosion.
