Daily Dime: They might be Giants, stacked at Milwaukee
As always when playing Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball, be sure to check the final lineups and the weather.
The San Francisco offense made a mark in its Opening Day laugher at Milwaukee. I’m surprised the outfield seats don’t have dents in it after the Giants took batting practice.
Let’s see if we can get something similar for Tuesday.
Jimmy Nelson, Milwaukee’s starting pitcher, can be vulnerable to left-handed bats. They slashed .302/.381/.495 against him last year, with 11 home runs. With that, it was pretty easy to dial up two inexpensive left-handed hitters at the top of the San Francisco lineup, Denard Span ($11) and Joe Panik ($11). To completely the stack, let’s throw Buster Posey ($19) into the mix, too.
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And so long as I like the Giants offense, why not roll with Johnny Cueto ($46) as well? He’s the fourth-biggest favorite on the card.
Justin Verlander is my second pitcher, the fifth-biggest favorite for Tuesday and a little bit of a value at $37. While the fences have come in and down in Miami, I’m still going to assume this is a pitcher’s park until it’s proven contrary. I like how Verlander adjusted to his stuff in the second half of last year, and he looked sharp in the spring.
Danny Valencia’s stats last year didn’t have a platoon tilt, though his career OPS is 118 points higher against southpaws. While I understand all the Jose Quintana steam this spring, Valencia is a nice value at $9.
Franklin Gutierrez ($12) is a more exciting platoon play, getting swings against the ordinary Martin Perez in Texas. Gutierrez clubbed eight homers in just 104 at-bats against southpaws last year.
One platoon-edge bat to consider: Wil Myers ($10) at home against the erratic Scott Kazmir, who is coming off a shaky spring (5.51 ERA, dip in velocity). Myers has been on my sleeper/breakout list all spring, someone to scoop up in the late rounds of standard fantasy drafts.
Why do we chase all those value bats? So we can add some stars in the lineup. Hey Paul Goldschmidt, hey Carlos Correa.
Here’s my full roster, pending any late audibles (always double-check the lineups and weather). Good luck with your plays.
SP: Justin Verlander $37
SP: Johnny Cueto $46
C: Buster Posey $19
1B: Paul Goldschmidt $24
2B: Joe Panik $10
3B: Danny Valencia $9
SS: Carlos Correa $21
OF: Franklin Gutierrez $12
OF: Denard Span $11
OF: Wil Myers $10
