Fantasy Baseball: Tuesday’s DFS advice – CBSSports.com

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It feels like I should start today’s article by giving a shoutout to Joe Panik, Danard Span and Jake Lamb. Monday started off disastrously with the Reds and White Sox combining for almost zero offense. The three studs from the late game mentioned above saved the lineup from yesterday and our bacon. Monday was frustrating because of the certainty surrounding Syndergaard’s ownership and the lack of good bats with good matchups. Tuesday presents a much different type of challenge.

I don’t see a traditional cash game pitcher on today’s slate, and the batter matchups are largely high-variance as well. I talk more about the best and worst matchups below, but the middling matchups are interesting too. Yordano Ventura, Michael Pineda and Drew Smyly are all high-variance plays. You could consider using them in tournaments or stacking against them in tournaments, and I wouldn’t think you’re crazy. I would be careful in both directions in cash games.

Alex Wood and Mat Latos are not what I would consider to be good pitchers, but you could argue that their matchups put them in play. We thought Julio Teheran was a good pitcher, especially at home, but his matchup is awful. What does this all mean? I would be a little bit more selective with my hitters in cash tonight, focusing even more on the truly bad pitchers, truly great hitters, or hopefully both.

Starting Pitchers

Vince Velasquez ($9,000, $9,600)

I fully expect Velasquez to be the chalk at pitcher tonight, but that’s about the only way that he’s a traditional cash pitcher. He’s not really a favorite, he’s in a bad park, and he’s facing a Mets team that is considerably better against RHP. He does possess huge K potential, but there are still questions about his control. I would use Velasquez in one of your cash lineups, but not 100 percent.

Stephen Strasburg ($11,300, $11,000)

Strasburg is a big favorite against a mediocre offense in a good ballpark, but I do feel like he’s slightly overpriced. The one thing that may hold his ownership down tonight is his history in Miami. Strasburg has made eight career starts at Marlins Park, and has a 5.45 ERA and a WHIP near 1.5. Early in the day he’s still my most likely second cash pitcher, but he may be an even better tournament play.

Francisco Liriano ($9,500, $9,800)

Liriano would feel much safer if it wasn’t for that pesky hamstring injury. He faces a bad Padres lineup and the opposing pitcher is Colin Rea. Liriano is the sixth biggest favorite of the day, and the Padres are projected to score less runs than any other offense. You just have to hope he’s healthy.

Stack Attack

Rangers vs. Astros

This isn’s all about Prince Fielder, but it certainly starts with him. I missed on Fielder several times last week, and he’s off to a horrendous start. He’s also now a $3,000 first baseman at home against Scott Feldman. That seems like too good a deal to pass on. On the flip side, Nomar Mazara’s price keeps rising, but I don’t think it’s high enough. I’m OK with playing any left-handed Rangers tonight plus Delino DeShields and Adrian Beltre.

Blue Jays @ Orioles

Mike Wright is one of the three worst pitchers on the slate by just about any measure, and he’s facing what we thought was one of the best offenses in baseball. The Blue Jays are off to kind of a slow start, but I’m not discouraged. The bigger part of the problem is the cost of Blue Jays. You’ll have to play one of the cheaper pitchers tonight if you want to stack the Jays.

Astros @ Rangers

Derek Holland is off to a good start, but he’s a player with huge splits over his career. He has given up a .774 OPS and a .336 wOBA to right-handed hitters over his career. The Astros are the perfect team to take advantage of a lefty like Holland. Jose Altuve, George Springer and Carlos Correa all have wOBAs north of .370 against LHP.

Addition: Left handed Dodgers vs. Williams Perez will rightly be a very popular pick. Perez has surrendered an .877 OPS to LHH since entering the league. Corey Seager is probably my favorite Dodger tonight but Chase Utley is in play now as well. This also raises Alex Wood’s win potential, which makes him one of the better cheap starting pitcher options.

Lineups

I’m going to offer my early take on a cash game lineup, but of course you should always check out our Sportsline projections for lineup changes right up to lock. Also, check out our podcast on iTunes for extended thoughts on each slate from Chris Towers, Mike McClure and myself.

FanDuel

P Vincent Velasquez $9,000
C Buster Posey $3,500
1B Prince Fielder $3,000
2B Jose Altuve $4,900
3B Adonis Garcia $2,300
SS Alcides Escobar $2,400
OF Carlos Gonzalez $4,400
OF Nomar Mazara $3,100
OF Aaron Hicks $2,400

DraftKings

P Vincent Velasquez $9,600
P Francisco Liriano $9,800
C Buster Posey $3,700
1B Paul Goldschmidt $4,500
2B Jean Segura $3,400
3B Jake Lamb $3,300
SS Zack Cozart $3,200
OF Carlos Gonzalez $4,700
OF Nomar Mazara $3,200
OF George Springer $4,600