Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, DraftDay and Draftster 9/24/14

Early Games
Derek Norris - FD 2300 DK 3300 DD 7050 DFSTR 4300
Really nothing has changed from when I recommended him yesterday against LeBlanc. Hector Santiago is better, but not by much as he's allowed a .750 wOBA to righty hitters this season. Norris has hit lefties well all season and getting a middle of the order catcher at punt prices on the better side of his split is too good to pass up.

Late Games
Mike Zunino - FD 2400 DK 3300 DD 7200 DFSTR 4500
Even with an insane K rate, Zunino still has an 111 wRC+ against lefties this season. I like him against a guy like Mark Buehrle who's own K/9 is right around five. If we can lower the expectation of Zunino's biggest he starts to look like a nice punt play value in a hitter's park. Catcher is tougher in the late slate so I'm fine spending nothing and moving on.

Consider Jarrod Saltalamacchia
 

First Basemen

Early Games
Jose Abreu - FD 3700 DK 4800 DD 12200 DFSTR 4700
Verlander's been a bit better of late, but I'm still not totally buying it as the K numbers simply aren't there for the guy. Abreu's still coming at some advantageous prices considering his success against righty pitching this season where he's sported a .399 wOBA and 156 wRC+. His splits here don't look to be as lucky as what he's done on the lefty side of the platoon and I just think he offers enough safety at these prices to consider in all formats.

Consider Mark Teixeira

Late Games
Carlos Santana - FD 3300 DK 4200 DD 9150 DFSTR 5900
He's been pretty awesome against lefty pitching this season with a 149 wRC+ and .389 wOBA against lefty pitching. Jason Vargas is decidedly average and doesn't strike anyone out with consistency. Santana's midrange prices and high walk rate make him a pretty safe play in cash games all things considered.

Darin Ruf - FD 2400 DK 2500 DD 5800 DFSTR 3100
Haven't written about this guy all season long, but I actually would probably take a shot on him in the late slate. It's tough to pin down the position in this slate of games, but Ruf is intriguing. In limited run this season he actually has an .889 OPS against lefty pitching and Brad Hand is garbage. Ruf should be in the lineup with the lefty on the mound. I'll get my money in cheap here and move on.

Second Basemen

Early Games
Brian Dozier - FD 3400 DK 4700 DD 9900 DFSTR 9100
I'm willing to have him in my lineups almost any time there's a lefty on the mound and he's priced in the middle tier of players. Today is one of those days. In the short afternoon slate I don't see myself getting too far away from the guy. Even running a little bad he's sporting an .800 OPS against lefties and the speed and power combo gives him a high floor on any given day.

Late Games
Ben Zobrist - FD 2600 DK 4200 DD 8400 DFSTR 5800
I don't love the ballpark for lefties, but man does Anthony Ranaudo go a long way in making me get over that little inconvenience. The Red Sox don't care about winning, so they throw this guy out every once in a while to get rocked. He walks more guys than he strikes out and has a 5.83 XFIP on the season. Playing really any Ray seems safe today.

Consider Stephen Drew if you just want to punt
 

Shortstops

Early Games
The options at shortstop for the early slate are as grizzly a bunch as you'll ever see. I don't feel great about putting any of their names out there frankly. So brutal. Here are a few guys I'd consider at no cost, but honestly making a statistical case for anybody here is tough.

Jed Lowrie - FD 2200 DK 3200 DD 7050 DFSTR 3000
J.J. Hardy - FD 2400 DK 3200 DD 6000 DFSTR 3000

Late Games
Jose Reyes - FD 3700 DK 4900 DD 9650 DFSTR 9300
I really don't love this play because I think you'd be overpaying for the guy, but man is SS a sorry state of affairs today. Walker can dial up the K stuff, but he's prone to losing control and I think the Jays could get to him. Again, this is a stretch, but all things considered, the other options are just so bad that I think paying a little over value could be the way to go.
 

Third Basemen

Early Games
Trevor Plouffe - FD 3000 DK 4200 DD 8350 DFSTR 3000
He's not significantly better against lefties, but the splits are for sure there and on the season he's put up a 114 wRC+ and .334 wOBA. Neither of these numbers will wow you, but Plouffe is coming on the cheaper side against Vidal Nuno who gets lit up by righties. I don't love the ballpark for power expectation, but I think you need to take the value where it comes.

Conor Gillaspie - FD 2200 DK 3500 DD 6850 DFSTR 3400
He's been real solid against righties this season with an OPS over .800 and .357 wOBA. I like him against Verlander, mostly because I hate Verlander.

Strongly Consider Josh Donaldson

Late Games
Chris Johnson - FD 2200 DK 3100 DD 5850 DFSTR 3000
Jeff Locke is platoon neutral for his career, but is worse against righties this season. Meanwhile Chris Johnson has been one of the best bats in the game against lefty pitching. Granted that's with an insane .481 Babip so take it with a grain of salt, but you don't put up close to a 1K OPS on luck alone. He can hit lefties and he's coming cheap enough to get into lineups even assuming he's not a Hall of Famer against lefty pitching.

Consider Adrian Beltre

Outfielders

Early Games
Brett Gardner - FD 2800 DK 4100 DD 7650 DFSTR 4100
Hitting leadoff against Bud Norris in Yankee Stadium. Still coming very cheap because of a down month on the offensive side and Norris is worse against lefties. I really like Gardner in cash game because of his speed raising his floor some while the bits of power give him upside at these prices.

Nick Markakis - FD 2400 DK 3600 DD 7250 DFSTR 3300
Alejandro De Aza - FD 2900 DK 4000 DD 7900 DFSTR 5000
I'm not targeting all of the Orioles today, but Shane Greene's been much worse against lefties this season with an xFIP over 4 in that side of the split. These guys, if they are hitting 1-2 offer some nice value considering they are on the positive side of their platoon with a short porch beckoning out there in the right field.

Late Games
Marlon Byrd - FD 2800 DK 3700 DD 7500 DFSTR 3000
He strikes out too much but there's no doubt Byrd is better against lefty pitching. Brad Hand doesn't K anyone with any kind of consistency meaning Byrd's biggest weakness is tempered a bit today. He's got close to an .800 OPS on the season against lefties and should be hitting in the middle of the order against a weak lefty.

Billy Hamilton - FD 2700 DK 4100 DD 7600 DFSTR 3000
He's seen is price plummet over the last month or so as he's stopped getting on base. And because of that, stopped stealing bases. If you believe at all in the guy, or think that some of this is run bad (which it is to some degree) these prices (especially on FD) are great. Even this late in the DFS baseball season you can grab value on slumps. This is one of those times.

Austin Jackson - FD 2200 DK 3600 DD 7650 DFSTR 4100
Giving you some cheap options if you want to roll with Kershaw tonight. Jackson is above average against lefty pitching and facing Buehrle in a hitter's park. Coming super cheap across the board.

Give a follow on Twitter @dailyfantasysr and @dougnorrie.

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