The Third round of the Dongers Club April Challenge is Tonight:
My retirement plan is to officially find out one day what logic FanDuel is using. Needless to say, I’m gonna just keep working for now. I messaged DK politely on Sunday night asking if we could have the main/featured slate tonight begin at 6:30 as there are quite a few games in the 6:30 to 7:00 pm window and there is zero logic in having them separated. DK did the right thing and politely responded back last night saying that they have included the games on the slate! Awesome, success!
FanDuel…..
No.
They didn’t do such a thing. Because when you are Fanduel you have to do exactly what is opposite of making sense for your customers. I know it’s a big week and all for the lads at ole FanDuel as they roll out a software update for their website and for their mobile apps which will implement geo-location verification steps. This means that finally in the year of 2021 they’re realizing that their state regulations on who can play and who cannot really is flawed if they aren’t accurately tracking where you login from and how often you login. This has allowed people who live in non eligible states to actually login and see how their contests are doing when someone from another state enters for them. You know, like if you live in say Arizona and have a degenerate buddy in … oh I dunno. Illinois? And they enter for you – then you can login and watch it all and tout how awesome you are. You can’t do that with DK because they actually implemented quality technology.
So FanDuel is rolling out an app upgrade! Awesome. They have been sending reminders to iOS users when you open the app that you need to go download from the …. wait for it — GOOGLE PLAY STORE! These morons don’t even know the difference between Android and iOS and I’m supposed to think that this plugin shit is going to work? Not a chance. RIP FanDuel.
WEATHER
Arizona @ Cincinnati
- Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. Rain in the forecast. Lots of it. And temps drop off considerably after first pitch. This is a wild one to project weather wise. I think they start it and get it over with quickly. I’m Avoiding SP’s
- Cincinnati has a long standing history of waiting games out because their field drains well. I can only assume that there is some Engineering going on here that drains it into the Ohio river, but if I am wrong then don’t tell me otherwise because it sounds great. If it PPD’s it will PPD before start, that’s my call.
Pirates @ Tigers
- I know, I know…. Like you, this is sad because we all wanted to stack this game. Lots of freezing rain here. Yes, freezing rain.
Mets @ Cubs
- Colder than my nipples when Taysom Hill scores vs the Falcons
Astros @ Rockies
- Cold but clear
Twins @ Athletics
- The Twins and Athletics are playing today at 6:30 PM EST which is 3:30 PM local time in Oakland. Not normally a shadow stadium because it’s so big but we could see some slight impact. Unfortunately, I cannot stomach either Shoemaker or Manaea so we’ll just move along here but the Twins haven’t seen live pitching since last Friday and now they might have some shadows to deal with so I could see Manaea getting out of this without major damage but the only positive he ever did in his career was convince Oakland scouts they should trade the Royals Ben Zobrist for him in 2015.
Orioles @ Marlins:
- Good chance roof is open in South Beach and it’s warm
CORBIN BURNES vs CHRIS PADDACK
Big difference between the two sites with these two tonight. Paddack is only $6900 on FanDuel because they only value what the pitcher has done this year and not the opponent. He’ll be the 50%+ owned player there and fading is entirely about leverage against the field. If you fade Paddack on FD, go Burnes, period. On DK though there’s a reason Burnes is more expensive than Paddack and quite simply put — it’s because he is better. However the difference between the opponents does sway things back in favor of Paddack but only slightly. I don’t like Burnes against Tatis and Machado, but the rest of the lineup is one he should get 7+ strikeouts against. Paddack to me is overhyped because of his flair (Kind of like Ric, only not as cool ya know). My preference is Burnes, but if building two lineups today one would be Burnes and one would be Paddack, it’s that even. Just remember to think of Jennifer Anniston if flare boy doesn’t get through 5 innings.
TAIJUAN WALKER
There is often no middle ground with Wrigley Field and all it took was for me to see Overcast, Temp below 40 degrees and wind breezing slightly in (meaning its not much wind at all and it’s coming in). Take the under here and feel comfortable going either pitcher — but Walker faces the much worse lineup and much higher strikeout upside, so at $7,600 he’s the pick.
BRAD KELLER
Happy Brad Keller day! If the slate wasn’t so starved for K upside plays outside of Burnes and Paddack we wouldn’t go here but Keller is on a path to pitch what we call the “Keller game” where he delivers a 7 inning performance with limited hits/walks and at most 1 ER if the defense behind him screws around. Keller’s better against lefties and gets more Swinging Strikes with his Slider vs LH batters, of which the Rays are the perfect opponent for him to continue to “get right”. Keller started horribly against the Rangers not making it out of the 2nd inning but has progressed more comfortably in his last two starts and in previous seasons has followed a similar trend before delivering a nice clean 7 inning game. Cool temps and a park that should play well for pitching once again has me on the Keller train as an SP2 tonight to pair with Burnes or Paddack.
Thoughts on other pitchers
- Shohei Ohtani: Has the training wheels back on
- Luis Castillo: Dicey Weather
- Zach Wheeler: Not seeing enough K upside in Giants lineup — but wouldn’t be shocked if he wound up with a decent score
Three Entry Max Combinations
- Burnes & Walker
- Paddack & Walker
- Burnes & Keller
NATIONALS
Bell / Turner / Schwarber / This guy named Soto doesn’t suck either.
You! Yes You! You are on the wrong side of this game. I can smell it a mile away. Patrick Corbin is coming off a game where they’re still counting the negative points. The Cardinals are coming off a game where they’re still counting the home runs and they’ve done that now in 2 of the last 3 games. You! Yes You! Stand Still Laddy!! Because Josh Bell and the Nationals are alive. They are here. Welcome to Nationals Night 2021 as the Nationals get to tee off on Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals up and down bullpen.
BLUE JAYS
Not bad weather for a mid April night game in Fenway Pawk tonight. Two lefties on the mound which is always a disaster in Fenway Pawk, so the game stack here has extra added value but the Blue Jays are an offense which is the ticking time bomb that should snap out of it very soon in a park they love to rake in. We’re missing out on Teoscar Hernandez annual trips to Fenway as he is on the IL, but Vladdy G, Bo Bichette and a sneaky Cavan Biggio in a L-L match-up should be the main guys we want some exposure too. The Jays have guys who can rake all over so consider going heavy on them if you go here and fill in with someone from a weak position to round out your stack (like DeJong last night).
DBACKS / REDS (Weather Concerns)
Many will see Gallen vs Castillo and move along from this game but neither bullpen is lock down right now, plus we have good wind conditions and a park that should have some good humidity in the air even with temps in the upper 40’s only. Good spot for some solo HR exposure to fill in your lineup at good values. Lean heavily on Escobar/Peralta/Smith for the Diamondbacks but Eugenio Suarez would like to have a word with you before you skip over him all series long.
Also interested in:
- Marlins: They’re tonight’s Giants team vs Harvey. So yeah, they’re in play.
- Giants: Back to the LH batters
- and yes …
- The Damn Yankees
CATCHER
- Jorge Alfaro – A $3,000 catcher who does have some pop against Matt Harvey in a game with warm temps.
- …
- Just play Alfaro or punt this position to save $
FIRST BASE
- Josh Bell
- Asdrubal Cabrera
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr
SECOND BASE
- DJ LeMahieu – Welcome to the season DJ. Nice to see you.
- Jean Segura – Nooooooooooooo! Why move up Jean Segura to the 2 hole?!?!? Whyyyy!! Sigh, hot streak might be ending.
- Josh Harrison
THIRD BASE
- Nolan Arenado … Nolan might appear as the “obvious” play here vs Corbin – but there’s quite a few good alternative and cheaper plays well depending upon weather.
- Eugenio Suarez
- Eduardo Escobar
- Alec Bohm
SHORTSTOP
- Trea Turner
- Beaux Bichette
- X gonna give it to ya Bogaerts
OUTFIELD – MT RUSHMORE
- JD Martinez
- Juan Soto
- Mike Yastrzemski
- Joey Gallo
OUTFIELD – TIER 2
I dont like the middle range on OF today, so lets just give this entire tier to Blockhead Schwarber
- Kyle Schwarber
OUTFIELD – Value
- Corey Dickerson
- Dylan Carlson
- David Peralta / Kole Calhoun
- Randal Grichuk
THE DONGERS CLUB
- Jorge Alfarro – Catcher – Marlins – Chairman of the Dongers Club
- DJ LeMahieu – 2B – Yankees
- Josh Bell – 1B – Nationals
- Kyle Schwarber – OF – Nationals
- Eugenio Suarez – 3B – Reds
- Bo Bichette – SS – Blue Jays
- Randal Grichuk – OF – Blue Jays
- Mike Yasztremski – OF – Giants
- BONUS …………………………… Joey Gallo – OF – Rangers
BETS
- Cubs/Mets UNDER 7.5
- Jays/Sox OVER 8
- Rockies ML