Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, DraftDay and StarStreet 7/22/14

Brian McCann - FD 2700 DK 3700 DD 7100 SS 5200
Get ready to see a lot of Yanks on this list tonight. That’s because Nick Martinez probably shouldn’t be in the major leagues. His xFIP is close to six and he strikes out less guys than he walks. (3.90 to 4.16). These are atrocious numbers and McCann meets them perfectly because he’s been running bad this season keeping the price low. He is so far and away the best per $ play in our system tonight that I’m not even recommending anyone else. That’s how confident I am in this play. Never done that before, but hey, what good is making picks if you can’t put your money where you mouth is.

Wilson Ramos - FD 2900 DK 4200 DD 8950 SS 5600
Ah screw it, I’ll recommend one more guy. This is mostly only is Capuano starts for the Rockies today, but he works if Flande is in there too. I knew I couldn’t hold true to my self-imposed one catcher pick today. I’m so weak.

First Basemen

Was going to have Teixeira as my top play here until it was reported he's going to sit with back pain. Position gets a little tougher now.

Miguel Cabrera - FD 4600 DK 6000 DD 12000 SS 9600
In the face of uncertainty I'll typically default to the best hitter at the position and have the rest of it come out in the wash. Not having a "Miggy-like" season by any stretch but is playing against an average righty in a great hitter's park. The second piece is key as I, whenever possible, want to align park and opponent against a guy even if the price is steep. It's probably worth paying up for him considering the rest of the position is full of question marks.

Adrian Gonzalez - FD 2800 DK 4300 DD 9800 SS 6300
Our system, for better or worse, is consistently high on Adrian Gonzalez and continues to be this way as the price drops and drops. He's in a really nice spot today against Vance Worley, who while not bad necessarily, doesn't have big swing and miss stuff and plays to a lot of contact. This works well for Gonzo's skillset as he should be able to drive balls into the gaps. Not loving his power upside because of the park. But should be safer for cash games.

Consider Lucas Duda

Second Basemen

Dustin Pedroia - FD 2800 DK 4500 DD 8350 SS 7000
The Red Sox broke out last night against Hutchison and have a great opportunity to do something similar against Happ tonight. J.A’s peripherals are garbage at about 2:1 and his xFIP is in the mid-4’s. Pedroia isn’t looking fantastic in this platoon split as compared to his career numbers, but I still want to believe. He still doesn’t strike out against lefties, which is a great place to start against Happ. I like the Sox putting up some more runs tonight.

Daniel Murphy - FD 2700 DK 4000 DD 8150 SS 6600
Erasmo Ramirez is pretty terrible. Though he can occasionally strike batters out, he spends a lot of time walking them as well. Murphy is a contact hitter, but the added chance to get on base through the walk while already having a limited K potential is attractive today. I’m mostly targeting the opposition here in that Ramirez is so sub standard that having some Mets exposure could pay dividends.

Strongly consider Anthony Rendon

Shortstops

Starlin Castro - FD 2800 DK 4100 DD 7850 SS 6100
Having a solid year and is hitting lefties particularly well considering it’s coming out of the shortstop position. His 130 wRC+ in that split is pretty damned good even if Babip is helping him to a fair extent. Eric Stults is worse than league average and Castro offers a nice value play at a position that’s typically tough to fill.

Ian Desmond - FD 3300 DK 4600 DD 9100 SS 7000
As of writing this it wasn’t totally clear who would be pitching for the Rockies today, Capuano or Flande. News flash: they both stink. The Nats are all in play again today with the bump coming from Coors and mediocre pitchers abounding. Desmond is fairly platoon neutral all things considered and makes a great option with the ballpark making home runs easy.

Consider Jake Peavy

Third Basemen

Mike Olt - FD 2400 DK 3300 DD 5100 SS NA
Olt is an interesting case. On the one hand he hits lefties to the tune of a .760 OPS which doesn’t seem that great until you look at the .121 Babip. That number is so crazy low that I don’t even know how to handle it. Of course the dude strikes out an obscene amount. But his prices are so low that I’m taking him against a low K guy in Stults and some Babip regression. And of course, this is assuming he gets the start.

Ryan Zimmerman - FD 3700 DK 5100 DD 10450 SS 7900
Tough to not recommend him considering the mediocre arms he’ll be facing and the ballpark that couldn't contain one of my patented uppercut swings. I like him considerably more if it's Capuano, but I'll take him against Flande as well. He's having a solid season and though injuries are always a concern for the guy, he appears healthy and driving the ball.

David Wright - FD 3400 DK 4500 DD 9800 SS 7400
He's another guy I'd much rather run out there against lefties, but as I stated before Erasmo Ramirez is about as bad as you'll see on the mound. Wish this games was almost anywhere but in Seattle.

Consider Pedro Alvarez as Josh Beckett is considerably worse against lefties.

Outfielders

Jacoby Ellsbury - FD 4000 DK 4700 DD 10650 SS 8600
I want so badly to believe in Ellsbury this season (about the time I was writing this line he hit home run). Our system sure does. But everything hasn’t clicking and his fantasy value has taken a hit because of it. But he’s still stealing a ton of bases in his spare time. That part of his game raises his floor considerably. But the wRC+ and wOBA just aren’t there. That’s why the baseball gods created someone like Nick Martinez. The price on Jacoby is there and I’ll be on him a bunch with other Pinstripes today.

Carlos Beltran - FD 3100 DK 4200 DD 8600 SS 6200
Brett Gardner - FD 3500 DK 4400 DD 8400 SS 7600
Have you been able to figure out how much our system hates Nick Martinez? I hope so. These two guys rate slightly below Ellsbury, but are still coming at solid value. Really can’t say enough about the Yankees tonight.

Shin-Soo Choo - FD 2700 DK 4300 DD 8250 SS 6900
Even in a down season he still gets on base 35% of the time. That’s down from his career averages but the price has dropped accordingly.

Alex Gordon - FD 2800 DK 4300 DD 8050 SS 6400
Haven't picked too much on Scott Carroll in this one. Dude's been a little better lately, but is still struggling to strike people out and that's an issue against the Royals who are among the toughest in the league to send down on strikes. Gordon should have plenty of opportunity to put the bat on the ball today and strikes me as a solid cash game play with a 119 wRC+ against righties this season.

Jose Bautista - FD 3500 DK 5000 DD 10700 SS 8700
On sites like FanDuel he's still coming way too low for what he can bring.

Consider Gregory Polanco and Austin Jackson

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