Alright, so some personal/editorial/logistics news and information here first.
I am going to be out of town for about 50% of this month, or what feels like 50% of the month and when I say out of town, I am going to be out of the timezone multiple times. In one of the instances (the end of the month) there’s no chance in hell I am doing any content at all. For the next 8-10 days though it’s kinda 50/50 but I am heavily leaning on no content after today until around August 13th.
Overall I have been working behind the scenes to turn what has always been a hobby site into more of a Platform that focuses on the Dashboards/Lineup Pages/Optimizers/Reports and enhancing and improving that entire foundation into something that is self-driving (as it kinda is already) across MLB, NFL, College, NHL, NBA and maybe if I ever get really aggressive some additional niche sports like Golf (sorry Farris!) and Tennis. The appetite for those is stronger, but it also is easier for me to work on the behind the scenes stuff than always committing to a content/article each day and for the football sports – weekly.
September usually slows down for MLB anyways and yes, College is my new favorite sport to dive into, so I’ll be eager for that when it rolls around, but as of now I am heavily leaning on really changing the NFL picks each week to be a different style content & maybe stepping away from the fall/winter sports for content beyond a cheat sheet in discord here or there.
I’ve always had the vision that one day I would draw the analogy of Forrest Gump deciding one day that he didn’t feel like running anymore and thats when the content would just stop. But to quote another movie I enjoy way too much …
TL;DR … Dont assume there is an article for the next 1-2 weeks for MLB. I’ll pop into discord, but I am going to be in a non DFS state for that period of time and shoot, the dashboard should serve you well anyways.
- 8/2: Probably can do article here.
- 8/3: No article
- 8/4: Not likely
- Rest TBD….
WEATHER
All clear with cooler temps around the league.
So many trades, so many guys in new lineups. Are teams just going to mail it in for a little bit here (Diamondbacks, Twins?) or is there just the continuous variance that we have come to love, like an Atlanta team blowing an 8 run lead in one inning although this one somehow came back to win in extra time.
LOGAN GILBERT (DK: $10k, FD: $10.2k)
Big time 7 inning, 1 HR, 3 hits, 8 strikeout game line from Gilbert type vibes coming on this game today. He is in one of his grooves with a 25 and 37 the last two starts while being healthy and drawing the Rangers offense which has certainly been better, but is still mediocre as it’s their pitching which has gotten them back into the race more than anything.
DAVID PETERSON (DK: $8300, FD: $9500)
I would strongly urge you to pay up for Gilbert on FanDuel, but we’re shopping for someone on DK that is a SP2 candidate here. Peterson doesn’t give up homers and against the Giants at home that should be an automatic 0 HR allowed. If he can get whiffs on Adames, Chapman & Ramos with his change-up then he’s got a solid night ahead of him. Chapman is the concern the most for me, but Peterson’s K% projection is 28% compared to just 14% for Gausman and the Royals should hit Gausman enough to not make him a high strikeout option today.
OTHER PITCHING THOUGHTS
- Hunter Brown … The rebound game is coming and it’s coming soon, but going here vs Boston in Fenway is too stupid on the fine line of being aggressive vs being stupid.
- Michael Wacha / Kevin Gausman … Both are candidates for 3a and 3b on this list just because they’ll be ‘clean’. Not a ton of upside.
- Carlos Rodon … Likely chalk, I don’t think you go here outside of finding value bats to pair him with Gilbert.
- Gavin Williams … Death, Taxes and the Twins hitting in Cleveland no matter who is in their lineup. Wait, who the hell are these guys? That’s gonna be the narrative among most minds today when looking at using Williams. I’m not really confident but I get the thought process.
PIRATES
Howritz, Reynolds, Cruz
What a way to kick off August by having Pirates and Rockies in Colorado as chalk. Awaiting their lineup but Howritz, Reynolds, Cruz the top guys with Henry Davis as a “why not” Catcher punt.
ASTROS
Correa, Altuve, Walker
They got Correa back and going into Fenway which is a park he loves, Altuve loves and should be a fun series with high scoring spots.
PADRES
Machado, Tatis, Laureano
Love the Cards/Padres game for an over tonight as well. Liberawhore should get smashed early.
LEVERAGE
TWINS
Larnach, Clemens, Wallner
Lefties in Cleveland is still a thing. They still have lefties despite trading away the entire roster, although the wind is blowing in and Gavin Williams is pitching well. Mostly a chalk/leverage play on a second/third lineup.
CATCHER
- Henry Davis
- Hunter Goodman
FIRST BASE
- Spencer Howritz
- Kyle Manzardo
- Shohei Ohtani
- Warming Bernabel … aka “The Brewery”
SECOND BASE
- Kody Clemens
- Ketel Marte
- Jose Altuve
THIRD BASE
- Manny Machado
- Alex Bregman
- Nolan Arenado
SHORTSTOP
- Bo Bichette
- Carlos Correa
- Bobby Witt Jr.
OUTFIELD – Mt. Rushmore
I am old enough to remember the days when the Pirates would go into Colorado and everyone was like, yippee, lets do a McCutchen-Marte-Polanco stack. Yes, Gregory Polanco. Remember him? Yeah, he went to Japan and made money playing Baseball there and now is nowhere to be found. Anyways. Lets stack the PIRATES OF in COORS!
- Giancarlo Stanton … Mr August. Mr Streaky. Mr back in Miami.
- Oneil Cruz
- Bryan Reynolds
- Tyler Soderstrom
OUTFIELD – Tier II
- Brenton Doyle
- Trevor Larnach
- Sir Thomas Pham
- Andrew McCutchen
- Carlos Correa – SS – Houston Astros – Chairman of The Dongers Club
- Oneil Cruz – OF – Pirates
- Jose Altuve – 2B – Astros
- Trevor Larnach – OF – Twins
- Nolan Arenado – 3B – Cardinals
- Giancarlo Stanton – OF – Yankees
- Hunter Goodman – C – Rockies
- Kyle Manzardo – 1B – Guardians
- BONUS … Shohei Ohtani
TOP BETS
- Texas / Seattle UNDER 7.5
- St. Louis / San Diego OVER 7.5