RADIO
We've switched things up a little bit in our Daily League column: Instead of giving you an exact lineup, we'll be sharing top positional plays with quick analysis about why we like these guys. There is no set budget for these picks, so they may be star-studded-- the idea here is to give you an overview of some of the best plays at each position, including some value picks and some strong matchup plays.
June 21st marks the first day of summer. For many fantasy baseball players, it also marks the time the time when they stop paying attention to their full-season leagues. Injuries and ineffectiveness render many of us to the cellar. For the discerning baseball fan and fantasy owner, the only option is to wait patiently watching the waiver wire. Alternatively, you can try something new. Daily games have been around for awhile and they are certainly gaining in popularity. The advantages are clear for those that find themselves out of the playoff hunt in their full-season formats.
The prospect of getting over a single bad day is certainly appetizing. The problem is that it requires a completely different mindset from traditional fantasy baseball-- it requires a set of strategies that are very different from those employed in your conventional leagues. You will see a number of strategies suggested on different sites, and sometimes even within the same site. Some look at lefty/righty splits. Some look to play the hot hand. I personally look at the pitching matchups for the day and pick out four or five pitchers I think will do well and four or five pitchers I think will get tanked. Then, I pick the position players that are matching up against those pitchers. The players shown here are likely to be the cheaper options.
There is one platform I play in particular and they use a salary cap to pick players. Other games will handle that a little differently. It is easy to pick a bunch of superstars, but it takes some work to pick some lesser players for your team. So, the players listed below are all below-the-radar guys who I think will do well in today's games based on their pitching matchups.
| Postion | Player | Opposing SP | Notes |
| Catcher | A.J. Ellis | Clayton Richard | He is a very underrated OBP machine and Richard has an ERA north of 7.00 |
| First Base | Lyle Overbay | Roberto Hernandez | With Teixeira back on the shelf, it looks like Overbay gets more playing time. He's been fairly strong so far, and he's cheap. |
| Second Base | Brian Dozier | Scott Kazmir | Kazmir has been very inconsistent this year, so load up on Twins. |
| Third Base | Trevor Plouffe | Scott Kazmir | Part of a nice mini-stack against the ineffective Kazmir. |
| Shortstop | Pedro Florimon | Scott Kazmir | Another cheap option against Kazmir-- when you get a good matchup, you've got to go big or go home. |
| Outfield | Andre Ethier | Clayton Richard | He has struggled some, but he is showcasing his skills for another team. |
| Outfield | Ichiro Suzuki | Roberto Hernandez | He is not the player he once was but he is a decent play on days like today. |
| Outfield | Jason Heyward | Wily Peralta | He has been picking it up so far in June and Peralta has been hit hard of late. |
| Pitcher | Bartolo Colon | Seattle Mariners | The Mariners are one of the weaker, most strikeout-prone offenses in the American League, and Colon thrown strikes. |
| Pitcher | Johnny Cueto | Arizona Diamondbacks | Cueto has the lowest ERA in the NL since the beginning of the 2011 season. |
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!
