RADIO
Major League Baseball starts the week with 10 games on this Monday, June 10, and there are definitely some matchups to take advantage of if you are looking to succeed in daily fantasy baseball.
This is my first post for RotoBaller.com and I’m excited to join the coverage team for daily league picks and advice. Throughout the week, you can find my coverage at www.SportsReelBoston.com and follow me on twitter @ZT_Sports for updates as lineups come out. If you've got a question or a tip, definitely let me know on twitter and we'll work together to continue our daily-league dominance.
Here are my picks for June 10, 2013, with a high-price and big-value selection at each position. To create your roster, find the perfect blend based on your game’s salary cap, and swing for the fences in tonight’s action.
Starting Pitchers (SP)
High Price: Clayton Kershaw (LAD): Kershaw is the biggest name out there Monday as he and the Dodgers host Arizona. He hasn't been lights-out in his last few starts, allowing multiple runs in his last three outings. He also allowed three runs in Arizona in a loss earlier this season. He still is a great option, obviously, with a 1.93 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. He piles up strikeouts with 91 in his 93.1 innings so far this season, and he did have 9 K his last time out. He’s going to cost you a big chunk of your salary cap so you need to weigh how confident you are, and whether the investment is worth the downgrade at another position.
High Price: Hisashi Iwakuma (SEA): Iwakuma is coming off back-to-back shutout starts during which he went 15.2 innings and allowed 10 hits and just 2 walks, striking out 10; he and Seattle host Houston in a nice matchup tonight.
Big Value: Doug Fister (DET): Fister was excellent in his last start, going eight scoreless innings before being charged with 3 ER in the ninth and taking a tough-luck loss. The start before that, he struck out 12 at Pittsburgh in seven shutout innings. Tonight he starts against the Royals who rank 23rd in runs scored in the major leagues. This is the epitome of a value play as the Tigers expect a strong performance from Fister today.
Big Value: Julio Teheran (ATL): Teheran has allowed three earned runs or fewer in eight straight starts and zero or one in three of his last four. Pitching at Petco against the Padres usually presents a nice matchup, and given his recent strikeout numbers (20 in his last two starts over 14.2 IP) , Teheran makes for an excellent value play tonight.
Catchers (C)
High Price: Jonathan Lucroy (MIL): Lucroy rested Sunday, but in his previous nine games was 12-42 with two doubles, three home runs, and even a triple while driving in 10 runs. He and the Brew-Crew visit the Marlins tonight.
Big Value: Salvador Perez (KC): Perez isn't in a great matchup against Fister tonight, but he's been playing well since returning from the bereavement list. He’s hit in five straight going 8-21 with 4 RBI and a home run during that span.
First Base (1B)
High Price: Edwin Encarnacion (TOR): Encarnacion has hit in six straight games as the Jays head to Chicago to take on the White Sox. Tonight he faces Dylan Axelrod against whom he is 2-5 in his career with a home run and two RBI. Against Chicago this year, Encarnacion is 8-14.
Big Value: Freddie Freeman (ATL): Still vastly undervalued in many formats, Freeman has hit safely in seven of his last eight with multiple hits in three of those games including Sunday's 2-5 with a double and three RBI. Against Padre starter Jason Marquis, Freeman is 2-4 with 2 BB in his career.
Second Base (2B)
High Price: Howie Kendrick (LAA): Kendrick went 0-4 on Sunday but had four multi-hit games in a row before that, going 12-23. Right now, he is the Angels most consistent bat and has good numbers against Baltimore starter Freddy Garcia: 5-12 with a double, a triple, a home run and three RBI.
Big Value: Omar Infante (DET): The Tigers are at Kauffman Stadium as they open a three-game set with the Royals. Infante had hit in five in a row before going 0-3 yesterday and is 2-7 with a home run off Jeremy Guthrie in his career.
Third Base (3B)
High Price: Miguel Cabrera (DET): It’s hard to ever go wrong with Cabrera if you can afford his salary. He’s 9-26 (.346) against Guthrie with a pair of home runs and six RBI. With Cabrera the question isn't “can he produce?” but is more “can you work your other salaries around him?” in daily leagues.
Big Value: Danny Valencia (BAL): Valencia was mashing at Triple-A and has now hit in four straight starts with extra-base hits in his last three. He’s been in and out of the lineup, but when he’s in there he has produced making him a low-salary option at a thin 3B position on Monday.
Shortstop (SS)
High Price: Erick Aybar (LAA): Against Freddy Garcia, whom he faces today, Aybar is 6-11 in his career with a walk. He’s had a solid start to the month going 8-30 with a double, two RBI, and three runs scored.
Big Value: Jose Iglesias (BOS): Iglesias has hit incredibly well in the majors all year. He has hit in 13 straight games with seven multi-hit games during that span. He’s hitting .446 on the season with a stolen base, a home run, seven doubles, and seven RBI in his 22 games played.
Outfield (OF)
High Price: Mark Trumbo (LAA): Trumbo has three homers in his last seven games and four straight games with at least one RBI. I think he and LAA will have a good game against the O’s and Freddy Garcia so if you’re going to spend big on an outfielder, he’s a fine choice.
High Price: Carlos Gomez (MIL): Gomez is heating up again, having hit safely in seven of eight with two triples, a home run, four RBI and six runs scored during that time. He homered Sunday against the Phillies and is 1-3 with a home run against Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco.
High Price: Alex Rios (CHW): On Sunday, Rios hit his eleventh homer of the year and hit safely for his fifth game in a row. Tonight, he’ll face R.A. Dickey who he has a pair of career home runs against while going 4-12.
Big Value: Yasiel Puig (LAD): You didn’t think you could get through a whole fantasy article without getting Puig-ed did you? Until major league pitchers figure a way to consistently get this guy out, Yasiel Puig will continue to be a value option. He’s hitting .464 (13-28) in his first seven games in the majors with a sick OPS of 1.447. Six of his 13 hits have gone for extra bases with four home runs and two doubles to go with his 10 RBI and four runs scored.
Big Value: Kyle Blanks (SD): In his last seven games, Blanks has come alive going 11-27 with three doubles, three home runs, and seven RBI. Tonight he has a tough matchup against Julio Teheran, but he’s been heating up lately and is definitely worth considering in daily formats.
Big Value: Logan Morrison (MIA): Lo-Mo is back from the 60-day DL and went 2-4 with a walk in his first game back Sunday. He’ll face the struggling Yovani Gallardo tonight and makes a nice low-budget add.
As always, remember to check your daily lineups before they lock and make sure you are doing your own research, too, for optimal performance! The most successful daily leaguers are grinders who are constantly tweaking their lineups as the day goes on and fantasy news gets released. Good luck today, RotoBallers!
