On Saturday FanDuel is offering a slate of 11 games to choose from. The first game begins at 7:05pm Eastern and the last one starts at 9:10pm Eastern so please be sure and select players that you are absolutely certain will be playing on Saturday. Also please consult local weather for any possible delays or rainouts.
Tonight's slate does leaves us with some interesting pitching opportunities and since the inclement weather has made a mess of things I'll just discuss a few of the pitchers scheduled for the evening slate of games.
Pitching
Weather permitting Max Scherzer ($11,300) does battle with Matt Harvey ($10,100) tonight and that game should be a fun one to just sit back and watch with your favorite beverage. Over the last month with a minimum of 20 innings Harvey has been better than Scherzer has been but Scherzer has lasted 6 or more innings in his last 7 starts whereas Harvey may or may not pitch more than 6. If I had to choose I probably would go with Scherzer tonight.
Zack Greinke ($12,400) has been very good against the current Padres players and he is taking the hill tonight against them at home. Greinke has gone 6 or more innings in each of his last 5 starts and has whiffed 7.13, walked 2.04 and allowed just 0.76 bombs per nine innings pitched during those 5 starts. The Padres are limping to the finish line and have a 21 percent strikeout rate, .300 wOBA and wRC+ of 92 against righties this season.
Corey Kluber ($9,700) has been decent against this collection of Red Sox and he will end the 2015 campaign pitching against them at home on Saturday night. Over his last 3 starts Kluber has lasted 6 or more innings just once while striking out 11.20, walking 3.29 and allowing 1.89 bombs per nine innings pitched during those 3 starts. The Red Sox have a strikeout rate of 17 percent with a .321 wOBA and wRC+ of 98 against righties this season.
The sample size is awfully small but Collin McHugh ($9,000) has been good against this collection of Diamondbacks and he'll face them on the road Saturday night. Over his past 5 starts McHugh has gone 6 innings or more 3 times while whiffing 8.33, walking 2.59 and allowed 0.86 bombs per nine innings during those 5 starts. The Diamondbacks have a 20 percent strikeout rate, .318 wOBA and wRC+ of 96 against righthanders this season.
A.J. Burnett ($8,200) is also an interesting option tonight and over the course of his career against these current Reds he's pitched well and over his last four starts he's also pitched well: 8.14 strikeouts per nine, 3.68 walks and 1.23 bombs per nine well. The Reds have a 19.9 percent strikeout rate, wOBA of .307 and wRC+ of 90 against righthanders this season.
John Lackey ($9,000) has been extremely good against the current Atlanta Braves and he'll face them Saturday night in Atlanta. Lackey has gone 6 or more innings in each of his last 5 starts and struck out 9.17, walked 2.29 and allowed 1.02 bombs per nine innings over those last 5 starts. The Braves have a 17 percent strikeout rate, .299 wOBA and wRC+ of 87 against righties this season.
Out of those options I'm leaning toward starting Lackey in 50/50's as well as tournaments.
Good luck tonight Fantasy Baseball Owner!
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On this edition of Phil's Fantasy Sports Phil is giving away a 25 dollar pre-paid Visa card to one lucky listener per week for signing up at his new Daily Fantasy Sports site Draft Dragons. Rotowire NHL writer Brian Rutherford and Phil discuss Fantasy Hockey mid-tier forwards, Fake Teams Ray Guilfoyle joins Phil and the guys try and figure out who will be the #1 Fantasy Baseball player taken in next seasons draft as well as several Cubs players and pitchers and their possible 2016 values. Draft Kings Playbook writer Jason Walker joins Phil and the guys share their FanDuel and Draft Kings Fantasy Football picks and Rotowire NBA writer Alex Rikleen and Phil discuss Fantasy Basketball sleepers and busts at the Center position. You can download the show from my site or listen below.
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