Daily Fantasy MLB picks for Sunday, July 16

It’s been awhile since I could, hold my head up—I mean, it’s been awhile since my last effort. The All-Star Break was pretty relaxing for my family. I hope you and yours took advantage of the time off. I obviously listened to a little post-grunge.

Now it’s back to the grind, though. All statistics used in this effort come from Baseball Savant. It’s a nice way to dig a little deeper into BvP—considering XBHs (Extra Base Hits) and aEV (Average Exit Velocity) is more useful than merely looking at batting average. Will it offer results? Only one way to be sure. We’ll go position-by-position. Note that C.C. Sabathia and Chris O’Grady were late switches, and some of this article was written prior to those announcements. I have italicized those changes below.

Catcher

Brian McCann ($3,000) vs. Kyle Gibson: 2 for 6, 2 BB, 1 SO, 1 single, 1 HR (1 XBH), 96.0 aEV

First Base

Brandon Moss ($2,100) vs. Yu Darvish: 7 of 26, 2 BB, 8 SO, 2 singles, 1 double, 4 HR (5 XBH), 88.5 aEV

Second Base

Robinson Cano ($3,600) vs. LHP Derek Holland: 16 of 49, 3 BB, 9 SO, 10 singles, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 2 HR (6 XBH), 85.1 aEV

Brian Dozier ($3,300) vs. Mike Fiers: 5 of 17, 2 BB, 1 SO, 2 singles, 1 double, 2 HR (3 XBH), 86.6 aEV

Third Base

Justin Turner ($3,800) vs. Edinson Volquez: 6 of 12, 1 BB, 2 SO, 3 singles, 2 doubles, 1 HR (3 XBH)

**Note: Volquez was removed and now LHP Chris O’Grady is getting the start today.**

Shortstop

Xander Bogaerts ($3,300) vs. Masahiro Tanaka: 7 of 30, 2 BB, 6 SO, 5 singles, 1 double, 1 HR (2 XBH), 91.0 aEV

**Tanaka was removed for C.C. Sabathia. Bogaerts is hitting .182 in 22 AB (1 HR) against C.C.**

Outfield

Jacoby Ellsbury ($2,900) vs. Rick Porcello: 12 of 34, 3 BB, 3 SO, 6 singles, 2 doubles, 4 HR (6 XBH), 89.9 aEV

Brett Gardner ($3,700) vs. Rick Porcello: 13 of 38, 3 BB, 7 SO, 9 singles, 3 doubles, 1 HR (4 XBH), 93.7 aEV

Gregory Polanco ($2,900) vs. Carlos Martinez: 11 of 21, 8 BB, 3 SO, 6 singles, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 HR (5 XBH), 91.8 aEV

Adam Jones ($3,100) vs. LHP Jose Quintana: 7 of 12, 3 BB, 2 SO, 3 singles, 2 doubles, 2 HR (4 XBH)

Pitcher

If you need to pay down and want to peruse PvB as a guide, there are two options:

Marco Estrada ($7,400) @ Detroit Tigers

AVG: 0.229 (11 for 48), BABIP: .314, K%: 25.5, BB%: 3.9, FIP: 1.55

Ian Kennedy ($7,400) vs. Texas Rangers

AVG: 0.209 (31 for 148), BABIP: .265, K%: 27.7, BB%: 9.0, FIP: 3.66

I’ve been enjoying loading up on the best hitters (according to BvP) and then rolling with the highest-priced pitcher in a great matchup that I can find. Here’s one iteration:

Carlos Martinez, Brian McCann, Brandon Moss, Robinson Cano, Justin Turner, Xander Bogaerts, Gregory Polanco, Brett Gardner, Adam Jones

However, there is no guarantee that Moss grabs a start today. So if we drop down to Ian Kennedy we get our choice of Goldschmidt, Rizzo, or Votto. I like Rizzo in that park against Ubaldo Jimenez, so here’s a second effort:

Ian Kennedy, McCann, Anthony Rizzo, Cano, Turner, Bogaerts, Polanco, Gardner, Jones

And that’s all for today. Good luck out there today, ladies and gents. I’ll post my final BvP lineup in the comment form prior to lock. I’ll be scouting out BvP-themed hitters for third base and shortstop—right now I’m considering Chase Headley (.400, 25 AB, HR) against Porcello and having some lesser-owned Yankee bats. Cheers!