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Daily Dime: Keuchel at home, Ross against the scuffling Braves

Scott Pianowski
Fantasy analyst
Daily Dime: Keuchel at home, Ross against the scuffling Braves

Here's a stab at a Sunday lineup, staying within the $200 Yahoo DFS budget. Be sure to double-check the weather and lineups before you go to post.

Joe Ross, SP, vs. ATL (Banuelos), $39: Ross didn’t have it in his last turn, but he can get back on the beam with this cushy draw. The Braves are the lowest-scoring team in the second half, by far - they’re 36 runs behind the Angels. Ross’s price looks downright reasonable for a -239 favorite, the heaviest on the Sunday card.

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Dallas Keuchel, SP, vs. MIN (Duffey), $61: It’s certainly not a cheap price and the Twins have some hitters who prefer lefties, but Keuchel’s home resume justifies the expenditure. He’s carrying a 1.35 ERA and 0.91 WHIP at home, with 111 strikeouts in 106.2 innings. And look at where some of the other aces find themselves for Sunday: Madison Bumgarner is at Colorado, Chris Archer is in the Bronx. Johnny Cueto hasn’t looked right for his last few turns, either. If I’m paying up for a big name Sunday, it has to be the bearded one in Houston.

John Jaso, C, at NYY (Nova), $10: There’s nothing exciting about Jaso, but he’ll lead off Sunday in a decent hitter’s park, especially for a lefty swinger. You won’t get much pop from him, but he does have a .283 average and a .354 OBP against right-handed pitching.

Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, at SD (Cashner), $16: It’s a later game so you’ll have to make sure Gonzalez is in the lineup, though I can’t imagine the Dodgers want to sit this matchup out (straight Cashner, homey). Gonzalez had a three-homer game against Andrew Cashner back in April, and Petco Park has been more homer-friendly than in recent years.

Rougned Odor, 2B, at LAA (Santiago), $11: You don’t see many reverse platoon guys who bat left-handed, but Odor is one of them: his OPS is 32 points higher against the southpaws. He has a solid history against Hector Santiago (7-for-13), and Santiago looked out of gas over his last two starts (7 IP, 10 R, 6 BB, 7 K, 3 HR).

Francisco Lindor, SS, at. DET (Verlander), $14: If you take “not really a shortstop” Miguel Sano out of the equation, Lindor is the top roto shortstop over the last month (.390-18-2-12-5). I wish I saw this one coming, as I had a few chances to acquire him cheaply in trades. If you made the right play here, take your victory lap in the comments.

Yunel Escobar, 3B, vs. ATL (Banuelos), $11: Although his better form comes out against right-handers, I like Escobar in the cleanup spot for Sunday, behind OBP machine Bryce Harper and facing a pitch-to-contact arm like Manny Banuelos. The Nats didn’t do anything with Banuelos in the first draw, but now they’ve seen him and can make adjustments. Escobar’s tidy price enables us to do some spending at other spots. (Where's Nolan Arenado, you ask? Given his cost and matchup, hello Madison Bumgarner, I'm not cutting the check. Heck, he's only slugging .382 against lefties.)

Khris Davis, OF, at CIN (Lorenzen), $16: I want some exposure to the Michael Lorenzen Experience (5.66 ERA, 1.65 WHIP); if you wanted to add in some Milwaukee infielders, I will not question you. Davis doesn’t have a pretty average, but he clocked 10 homers in August, with a .576 slugging percentage. He also has an .855 OPS against right-handed pitching.

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David Peralta, OF, at CHC (Hendricks), $13: His better form has come at home, which is true for most players, but Peralta nonetheless grabs our attention when he’s in the platoon advantage (.314/.370/.544, 14 homers). He’s in the friendly cleanup spot for Sunday, behind Pollock and Goldschmidt and ahead of Castillo. Location, location, location.

Angel Pagan, OF, at COL (Flande), $8: Just eight bucks for a likely leadoff man in a Coors Field game? Sign me up. Pagan is 7-for-20 since returning to action, and he had a homer Saturday. Yohan Flande hasn’t been a horror show at home, though he’s somehow skating by with a K/BB ratio that’s barely over two at Coors (and under two overall); correction is likely to hit soon.