I'm not gonna lie: today might just be my favorite day of the year. We have BBQs, hot-dog-eating contests, and over twelve hours of baseball games to watch! First pitch is an early one at 11:00 AM EDT, so get them lineups in ASAP! As always, check lineups and weather before first pitch!
SP: Julio Teheran ($7500) Teheran comes into today's game vs the Marlins as a HUGE favorite. The young Brave has really been pitching well lately, with 23 K in his last 18 IP while only allowing two earned runs. Throw in the fact that he's 4-1 at home this year with an ERA slightly over 2.00 and you have a bona fide stud for a reasonable price.
C: Wilin Rosario ($3500) Rosario comes into the game on a seven-game hitting streak. Though it's a rather small sample size, versus Capuano he has hit to the tune of a .600 BA and 1.800 SLG with two homers in five at-bats. He also seems to love hitting at night: he's smacked 10 of his 13 HR under the lights.
1B: Allen Craig ($4100) Here is your stud of the day. Everything about Craig today screams "advantage," from his splits to his BvP. Hes 3-4 with two homers and 4 RBI against Blanton. Not enough? He's batting .327 at night with seven of his nine homers. Need more? Eight of his nine home runs have come on the road... Yeah, start him.
2B: Ian Kinsler ($3500) As I'm writing this, I just watched Ian launch his first homer in a while. I feel a hot streak coming, and facing Iwakuma against whom Kinsler is 6-for-12 with three homers, a double and a stolen base, the matchup looks promising.
3B: Pablo Sandoval ($2400) The Kung Fu Panda has been struggling lately, but $2400? Really? He is literally sandwiched (haha it's funny 'cause he's fat!) on the Fanduel price list between whomever Juan Diaz and Michael Martinez are. Sandoval is 7-10 with two homers and two doubles in his career versus Mike Leake, while also hitting seven of his eight 2013 homeruns against right-handed pitching. Looks like great value to me.
OF: Matt Holliday ($3600) I already told you how much I love Craig today. Well, I love Matt Holliday almost as much. He's batting .385 against Blanton in his career with two homers, and he's hit all 11 of his 2013 homers versus right-handed pitching, with ten of those 11 coming under the lights. Look for the Cards to score a bunch, and for Holliday to be in the middle of most of it.
OF: Alfonso Soriano ($3500) Don't look now but Alfonso has three homers in his last four games, and watching his at bats, he looks totally locked-in. What's more, he has another Cubs day game, and Soriano tends to thrive in the natural sunlight-- he has hit seven of his 10 homers and 23 of his 32 extra-base hits on the year during the daytime.
As always, remember to check your MLB 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!