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It's already Wednesday and this week has been full of great baseball. Congrats to Albert Pujols on hitting his 500th home run yesterday. Must suck to be Taylor Jordan, at least he is part of baseball history now. Now on to our business. DraftKings has split Wednesday's schedule in to two, so I will focus on the evening card. The weather tomorrow seems pretty good, so just double check before you select your team.
All players' prices based on DraftKings values
SP 1- Drew Smyly, Detroit Tigers, $6,200 - Smyly is a pitcher I loved coming in to this season. I see him as a poor man's Chris Sale. He got roughed up in his last outing, so the baseball Gods gave him a gift - the Chicago White Sox, a team who can't hit left handed pitching. Given Smylys' price, he is a must start in my book.
SP 2 - Michael Wacha, St. Louis Cardinals, $11,200 - See what taking Smyly did? It let us take the best pitcher on the board tonight (not named Greinke). Wacha will face the whiff happy New York Mets. I expect about seven to ten strikeouts here, and a win.
C - Ryan Hanigan, Tampa Bay Rays, $3,800 - I'm speculating that Hanigan gets the start tonight. The Rays take on Mike Pelfrey, a right handed pitcher who struggles against right handers. Consider a Tampa Bay stack for GPP's.
1B - Nick Swisher, Cleveland Indians, $3,800 - Didn't I say I hate this guy yesterday? Oh well, I'm throwing him in my lineup tonight again. He is batting .357 with two homers against Jason Vargas in his career, and with this price point I can't complain.
2B - Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds, $3,500 - This price is way too low for Phillips. I guess DraftKings still thinks he is injured. The Reds love hitting off of Charlie Morton, and they will be one of the stacks I use tonight for tournaments.
3B - Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays, $4,900 - This isn't the first Ray on my list, and he isn't the last. As mentioned before, Pelfrey struggles against right-handed hitters, and Longoria might be one of the most dangerous ones. He should be in all your lineups.
SS - Yunel Escobar, Tampa Bay Rays, $2,800 - Punt play, and I've already discussed why I'm stacking Rays.
OF 1 - Jay Bruce, Cincinnati Reds, $4,900 - As I mentioned yesterday, Bruce is on fire. He is producing at a great level. He also has two homers against Morton, and that's a good enough reason for me to roster him tonight.
OF 2 - Wil Myers, Tampa Bay Rays, $4,100 - You didn't think I would leave Myers off my list did you? He's had three at bats against Pelfrey, and has had two hits. Look for Myers to perform well tonight.
OF 3 - Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays, $5,200 - Bautista has been pretty good so far this year. Tonight a pitcher he is very familiar with strolls in to Toronto; Chris Tillman. Bautista is batting .300 with two homers, four RBIs and three walks against Tillman.
As always be sure to check the weather in the city your players are playing in. Don't forget to check lineups either, nothing worse than having a rostered player on your squad that isn't in the lineup.