WEATHER All Clear   TOP SELECTIONS Tarik Skubal (DK: $10.9k, FD: $11.5k) Pablo Lopez (DK: $8600, FD: $9500) Michael King (DK: $9800, FD: $10.3k) ALSO SHOULD PITCH JUST FINE Clayton Kershaw – Still on a PC limit Ky Bush – This might be the best take a shot cheap arm tonight   TOP TEAM Phillies (Castellanos, Stott, Harper) SECOND TIER Guardians (Naylors, Ramirez) Nationals … We’re due for a bad Morton first five innings.   CATCHER Keibert Ruiz Bo Naylor PUNT   FIRST BASE Josh Naylor Bryce Harper   SECOND BASE Xander Bogaerts Gavin Lux Bryson Stott   THIRD BASE Maikel Garcia Donovan Solano Jose Ramirez   SHORTSTOP Corey Seager Corey Seager Corey Seager   OUTFIELD – Mt. Rushmore Nick Castellanos Michael Harris II Trevor Larnach Teoscar Hernandez     Corey Seager – SS – Texas Rangers – Chairman of The Dongers Club Nick Castellanos – OF – Phillies Bryce Harper – 1B – Phillies Bo Naylor – C – Guardians   TOP BETS Rangers/Guardians OVER 8.5 Phillies ML Cardinals/Twins UNDER 7.5 Nationals +150 ML

I don’t know how much full writing I am going to do for CFB this season and NFL specifically I am dialing the content way back while focusing on just the tools here on the site.  But come Saturday’s in the fall I know, and you know, and we all know that we’re gonna be […]

SLATE THOUGHTS Now this is my kind of slate, with 14 games on a Friday night.  The only thing better would have been if the one island game was the Cubs at 2:20 this afternoon but we’ll just have to use that time to plan for College Football tomorrow instead. WEATHER All Clear   TOP TWO SELECTIONS CARLOS RODON (DK: $9700, FD: $9700) … Congrats if you are a contrarian single entry player.  This is gold here because Rodon is a sometimes risky pick who is surely gonna be near the highest owned SP tonight.  The Rockies outside of Coors are an easy target and they aren’t that great vs LHP either.  Rodon’s been a steady arm for the Yankees in the second half prior to his last start at Detroit.  I don’t see any major blow up coming tonight and a great chance for a 7+ strikeout start.  But yeah, if you wanna just swim against the main stream, he’s your fade. JP SEARS (DK: $8300, FD: $9200) … Milwaukee will have a .323 xWOBA against Sears tonight and is hitting sub .200 against LHP over the last 10 days.  Big park for lots of pop-up foul ball outs as well off the Milwaukee bats to help Sears who is coming off a 105 PC game.  But it’s late August and he’s been steady all season long as he has proven to now be a full time starter for a second year in a row.  Side note here, if you are in seasonal leagues next season buy into Sears as lefties generally take longer to get it figured out but his near 40% ground ball rate and dropping WHIP is going to make him a very appealing arm in mid rounds of drafts next season. ALSO SHOULD PITCH JUST FINE Chris Bassitt Chris Sale (Dont see him blowing away Rodon for almost 2k more) Hunter Brown Aaron Civale MacKenzie Gore   TOP TEAM Arizona Diamondbacks … They gotta Ambush Bello who has struggled big time with LHH and that’s a core of what Arizona will be able to throw at him tonight.  Past Bello you have a terrible bullpen and favorable hitting conditions in Fenway.  Love Jake McCarthy, and certainly Corbin Carroll being able to steal bases left and right   SECOND TIER Toronto Blue Jays … Popular again tonight.  Everything starts and ends with a Springer Dinger leading […]

WEATHER All Clear   SLATE THOUGHTS There are three games tonight on this short 5 game slate which have the feelings of high stress/brawl type games.  Reds/Pirates, Astros/Orioles and Bryce Harper/Orlando Arcia.  Damn good slate my friends and then of course we have to realize that the Angels and Blue Jays are probably the two teams who decide the winning lineups tonight.  Awesome.   Two pitchers coming off HORRIFIC starts are capable of putting up good lines but neither should be used.  Those guys would be Nick Lodolo and Corbin Burnes.  Really, the Skenes/Cease combination should be a high ownership play tonight to pay up and then just go with cheap Angels/Jays bats.  It seems too simple. DYLAN CEASE (DK: $9400, FD: $10.1k) PAUL SKENES (DK: $9900, FD: $10.9k)   TOP TEAM ANGELS Zack Neto, Nolan Schanuel, Logan O’Hoppe, Anthony Rendon The Blue Jays will be heavier owned and not a bad idea to go Springer/Varsho/Vlad/Wagner as a top of the lineup stack for certain, but the Angels are going to feast on the Jays pen just as much. SECOND TIER PHILLIES … Harper, Bohm, Turner PIRATES … De La Cruz, Reynolds, Bart, Cruz   CATCHER Logan O’Hoppe Joseph Bart Victor Caratini   FIRST BASE Nolan Schanuel Jake Cronenworth Harper, Bryce   SECOND BASE Jackson Holliday Will Wagner Jose Altuve   THIRD BASE Alec Bohm Anthony Rendon Alex Bregman   SHORTSTOP Zack Neto Trea Turner Gunnar Henderson   OUTFIELD – Mt. Rushmore Bryan De La Cruz Bryan Reynolds Marcell Ozuna Jackson Merrill   Jackson Holliday – 2B – Baltimore Orioles – Chairman of The Dongers Club Logan O’Hoppe – C – Angels Nolan Schanuel – 1B – Angels Marcell Ozuna – OF – Braves Bryan Reynolds – OF – Pirates Trea Turner – SS – Phillies   TOP BETS Angels/Jays OVER 8.5

WEATHER All Clear   Normally Nola on the road is a dangerous spot and on the road in Atlanta is also scary.  The Braves offense though is just a soft landing spot for someone who hasn’t been getting the strikeouts of late.  He should be contrarian and I like his chances tonight. Nestor Cortes sucks.  He’s at home though and the Yankees really need depth from him tonight. Aaron Nola Nestor Cortes Michael Lorenzen   TOP TEAMS Welcome back Johnny Cueto.  You were a key to the Royals in the playoffs in 2015 and tonight you’ll be a key to them returning in 2024. Royals … Pasquantino steps in with 2 men on and that ball is out of here. Brewers … Everything hinges on Turang and Mitchell Rays/Athletics … Two VERY low scoring games.  Ride the due theory today with Lawrence Butler/Rooker for Oakland and Lowe/Lowe for the Rays   CATCHER Salvador Perez Shea Langeliers JT Realmuto   FIRST BASE Vinnie Pasquantino SHohei Ohtani Yandy Diaz   SECOND BASE Brice Turang Brandon Lowe Mike Massey   THIRD BASE Addison Barger Santiago Espinal Max Muncy   SHORTSTOP Bobby Witt Jr. Willy Adames Elly De La Cruz   OUTFIELD – Mt. Rushmore Aaron Judge Josh Lowe Lawrence Butler Jackson Chourio   Vinnie Pasquantino – 1B – Kansas City Royals – Chairman of The Dongers Club   TOP BETS Phillies ML Rays/Athletics over 7.5

WEATHER All Clear   THE TOP TWO COLE RAGANS (DK: $9500, FD: $10.8k) … Ragans is dominating RHH with a 30%+ strikeout rate and gets a bunch of bad ones tonight.. ZACK WHEELER (DK: $9300, FD: $10.5k) SECOND TIER SHANE BAZ (DK: $7600) … Sometimes I gotta use guys I don’t like …. Expect for Kikuchi and Tanner Roark back in the day of course.   Tonight, Baz is definitely that guy worth using. JOSE BERRIOS (DK: $8000, FD: $9300) … Contrarian option which is better on a second lineup tonight.   TOP TEAMS GUARDIANS (Naylor, Ramirez, Kwan) … Burned me big time in Milwaukee but good teams coming off a sweep is a +EV play.  Dont ask me for the data, just trust me here. BREWERS / CARDINALS … Love both sides here, not sure why the total is just 7.5.  That should go over by inning 3.   CATCHER Bo Naylor Joey Bart William Contreras   FIRST BASE Paul Goldschmidt Harper, Bryce Ryan Mountcastle   SECOND BASE Brice Turang Brendan Donovan Andres Gimenez   THIRD BASE Jose Ramirez … Multi-HR game coming Nolan Arenado Paul DeJong   SHORTSTOP Francisco Lindor Elly De La Cruz Willy Adames   OUTFIELD – Mt. Rushmore Jackson Chourio Kyle Schwarber Steven Kwan Alec Burleson     Jose Ramirez – 3B – Cleveland Guardians – Chairman of The Dongers Club   TOP BETS Guardians ML MIL/STL over 7.5 Mets ML -122

WEATHER All Clear   THE TOP TWO SETH LUGO (DK: $9500, FD: $9400) … Lugo brings his kitchen sink arsenal back to the K, a spot where the Royals are very good and should favor Lugo to get back on track. MICHAEL KING (DK: $10k, FD: $10.6k) … Way more expensive than Gausman and folks could get a little gun-shy.   He’s a good pivot for the same upside. CHEAPER / RISKIER Gavin Stone Taj Bradley   TOP TWO TEAMS BLUE JAYS (Springer, Vladdy, Howitz, Varsho) ROYALS (Witt, Perez, Pasquantino) RED SOX (Jansen, Refsnyder, O’Neil, Gonzalez) CONTRARIAN SPOTS PIRATES (Cruz, Reynolds, Bart)   CATCHER Danny Jansen   FIRST BASE Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Pete Alonso Vinnie Pasquantino   SECOND BASE Spencer Howitz Michael Massey Jake Cronenworth   THIRD BASE Mark Vientos Ramon Urias Rafael Devers   SHORTSTOP Bobby Witt Jr. Oneil Cruz Jeremy Pena   OUTFIELD – Mt. Rushmore JD Martinez Yordan Alvarez Joey Loperfido Rob Refsnyder   OUTFIELD – Tier II Michael Conforto Eloy Jimenez George Springer Shohei Ohtani   Danny Jansen – C – Boston Red Sox – Chairman of The Dongers Club Joey Loperfido – OF – Blue Jays JD Martinez – OF – Mets Bobby Witt – SS – Royals Jake Cronenworth – 2B – Padres   TOP BETS Blue Jays (-170) + Royals (-205) ML Parlay Orioles/Mets UNDER 9 Red Sox/Astros OVER 8

Finally done with some traveling (famous last words).  It honestly feels like it’s September already so I am kinda happy we have another two weeks of quiet August Baseball.   WEATHER Nats at Phillies/Red Sox at Orioles:  Both these games can see afternoon storms/rain delays   We start with Framber Valdez, a guy who we’re fairly confident is going to deliver against the lowly White Sox.  Even if he gets hit a little, he’s gonna find a way to get to 100 PC and 7+ strikeouts.  No reason to over think that one.  After him it gets a little dicey.  Shota Imanaga is one play against Toronto who isn’t hitting LHP much outside of Vlad/Springer and has the wind blowing in as well to help things out. The Lopez vs Mahle game to me is going to either be a 1-0 spot if I stack it, or 9-7 if I use both pitchers.  So, I guess I’ll fade it entirely?  I really like the hitters in that one though.  So with a chalky Valdez, on DK it becomes a matter of going with his ownership and then finding someone who might fly under the radar.  Oh, hey there Singer — yeah, no, not him. All things considered, this slate looks like a low scoring one for offense, but no easy button pitching options. FRAMBER VALDEZ (DK: $8900, FD: $10.6k) SHOTA IMANAGA (DK: $9400, FD: $9400) ALBERT SUAREZ (DK: $6500)   SUNDAY SLEEPERS Taijuan Walker Clayton Kershaw   ORIOLES Cutter Crawford is gonna have to go through a lot of LHH today and that’s not good for him.  Nor is the Boston bullpen consistently good, so Baltimore after losing two straight to Boston and being no-hit for a while last night is going to pop off today Colton Coswer, Anthony Santander, Ryan O’Hearn, Cedric Mullins GUARDIANS They are ice cold but I still bite here.  I don’t think that Rea can get Kwan out, so he gets on and you have a scenario where some big early innings happen Kwan + Brennan + Naylor & Ramirez ROYALS / REDS Great spot to pluck some one off homers. Elly De La Cruz, Jake Fraley Bobby Witt Jr, Salvy, Renfroe   CATCHER JT Realmuto Cal Raleigh Salvador Perez   FIRST BASE Bryce Harper Josh Naylor Josh Bell   SECOND BASE Jose Altuve Jackson Holliday Maikel Garcia   THIRD BASE Josh Jung Nolan Arenado Alec […]

WEATHER Boston at Baltimore:  Severe Storms possible here.   I think the best pairing could be Brown and Miller.  Sale’s more of a FD play. Chris Sale (DK: $11k, FD: $11k) Hunter Brown (DK: $9100, FD: $9900) Bobby Miller (DK: $7500, FD: $7300)     ASTROS ORIOLES GUARDIANS   CATCHER Yainer Diaz Sean Murphy Jonah Heim   FIRST BASE Rhys Hoskins Josh Naylor Seth Brown   SECOND BASE Marcus Semien Andres Gimenez Gavin Lux   THIRD BASE Jose Ramirez Josh Jung Austin Riley   SHORTSTOP Gunnar Henderson Jeremy Pena Willy Adames   OUTFIELD – Mt. Rushmore Yordan Alvarez Anthony Santander Marcell Ozuna JJ Bleday     Rhys Hoskins – 1B – Brewers – Chairman of The Dongers Club   TOP BETS Guardians/Brewers over 7.5 Oakland ML

Not the optimal configuration for a Friday night as two teams aren’t playing and DraftKings whiffed on making this a big MAIN slate tonight.  FanDuel got it right with the 6:40 games on the MAIN slate, but DK is just 8 games.   WEATHER All clear on the DK main slate of games.  Yankees/Tigers on FanDuel could see rain delay.   Could tonight be a record breaking night where I use not one but two guys named Spencer?  Let’s just throw in a little Spencer Steer too while we are at it — oh wait, that’s Turbo slate.  Any ways you have Schwellenbach and Arrighetti that are both going to be popular options today on DK. Spencer Arrigheti (DK: $8500, FD: $9500) Corbin Burnes (DK: $9700, FD: $10k) Spencer Schwellenbach (DK: $9800, FD: $9700) Gavin Williams (DK: $6600)   BRAVES Michael Harris II, Matt Olson lead the way for a couple lefties I like from the Braves.  Harris SHOULD get locked back into that lead off spot & dont sleep on Ramon Laureano if he gets the start — he hits well here. Harris & Olson PADRES One of the best line drive hitting teams getting Quantrill in Coors.  Should turn into a night with lots of innings that have crooked numbers. Merrill, Cronenworth & Bogaerts METS Roddery Munoz last 4 starts:  15 ER, 6 HR and that includes one good start vs Tampa.  He’s just so bad. Nimmo, Alonso, Alvarez, Winker   CATCHER Francisco Alvarez Sean Murphy David Fry   FIRST BASE Matt Olson Pete Alonso Jake Cronenworth   SECOND BASE Jose Altuve Xander Bogaerts Kyle Farmer   THIRD BASE Royce Lewis Jake Burger Ryan McMahon   SHORTSTOP Mookie Betts Orlando Arcia Bryan Rocchio   OUTFIELD – Mt. Rushmore Michael Harris II Jackson Merrill Anthony Santander Adolis Garcia   OUTFIELD – Tier II David Peralta Will Brennan Jesse Winker / Brandon Nimmo … If the Mets go off they’ll do something. Ramon Laureano   Matt Olson – 1B – Atlanta Braves – Chairman of The Dongers Club Mookie Betts – SS – Dodgers Pete Alonso – 1B – Mets Anthony Santander – OF – Orioles Jackson Merrill – OF – Padres   TOP BETS Cleveland Guardians ML (-118) Dodgers/Cardinals OVER 9.5