MLB DFS: Welcome to the Friday Yahoo MLB DFS Picks and Strategy guide. As we head into the holiday weekend, do not forget all the fantastic Awesemo content, so before you lock in your baseball lineups, make sure to check out Awesemo’s MLB rankings and projections. Not a member? Sign up HERE.
For Friday’s free Spotlight Hitters and Stacks article click here
For Friday’s Spotlight Pitchers article click here
Don’t forget to check back in the hour before lock (6ET) for the aptly named Live Before Lock with Josh Engelman and Jake Hari.
Greetings Gamers! Let’s see what sort of fun we have on tap today!
Act fast as Yahoo is running a $4,500 prize pool contest with no management fee for just $3 per lineup with a maximum of ten that is rapidly filling up – they also have their marquee $15,000 with $2,000 top prize for Friday as well!
Click this link and use the promo code Awesemo when making your first deposit and you will be eligible for $30 of “free play” which Yahoo matches the first $30 of your deposit (Yahoo Sports Rewards Points, aka YSRP which can be used to enter any paid contest immediately).
We will utilize this series to point out the different nuances, tips and tricks to building a solid Yahoo! tournament lineup.
Salary Cap
Yahoo! has a similar roster setup as most of the two-pitcher formats, but their salary cap is quite a unique puzzle to tackle each day. It’s worthwhile to spend some time trying out different roster combinations – playing with how much of the salary cap you are allocating to pitching and hitting. The savvy gamer will be able to find some gems among the hitters in the $7-10 range which is crucial to working in some top-shelf talent.
Scoring System
For those of you new to the site, please note that the scoring has been tweaked since last season. When compared to the other popular scoring formats it’s more punitive for pitchers allowing base runners and is less rewarding for “team stacking” (i.e. taking three or more hitters from the same team in adjacent or nearly adjacent spots in the batting order). Yahoo offers discounts for runs and RBI, compared to individual batter scoring of slightly more points proportionally for extra base hits, walks and hit by pitch categories.
Basic Strategy
In the past, I’ve found that even though the Yahoo! format allows us to roster as many as six players from the same team, their unique pricing and two-pitcher format have somewhat muted the need for team stacking and as detailed above, the slight changes to their scoring system will continue to encourage that trend.
Target Pitchers
For those of you new to Yahoo!, learning how to read into the pitcher pricing is key to building competitive lineups. The minimum price for pitchers is $25 while we can see some of the top-shelf aces like Chris Sale, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander crest just over $60 depending on their recent performance and matchup.
RHP Justin Verlander at Oakland Athletics ($60) – 3.8 implied run total
While we are paying full price for RHP Justin Verlander who over his last five starts spanning 30.0 innings has averaged 11.4 strikeouts per outing including a masterful 101 pitch performance with six shutout innings and just four baserunners against these very same Athletics in Houston on July 24th culminating in 40.4 Yahoo points. While that is no promise of Friday’s actual performance, he has topped 33+ Yahoo points in four of his last five starts. We will have some discounted hitters recommended below that will help us get Verlander as the ace to anchor our rosters.
RHP Vincent Velasquez vs San Diego Padres ($33) – 4.6 implied run total
There are not really any standout cheapies among the Friday night hurlers, so we will be taking on a little risk on the lower end of the pricing list. RHP Vincent Velasquez does a pretty good job against same-handed hitters with a .311 wOBA, .166 ISO and a solid 27.7 K% over his last 527 batters faced; lefties are a different story as he has been tattooed with a .364 wOBA, .236 ISO though a decent 23.0 K% against his last 460 righty/lefty matchups. Fortunately the Padres will likely run out only Eric Hosmer and Josh Naylor with a potential appearance from Greg Garcia who is more noted for his glove work than his bat.
RHP Luis Castillo vs St Louis Cardinals ($49) – 4.2 implied runs
This is not an easy matchup against the Redbirds, but we can take solace in RHP Luis Castillo’s ability to shut down right handed hitters (last two seasons 626 TBF, .247 wOBA, .113 ISO, 26.0 K%) and his improvement this season against lefties (2019: 317 TBF, .307 wOBA, .166 ISO, 30.9 K% compared to 2018: 351 TBF, .375 wOBA, .241 ISO, 21.7 K%). There is risk, but also reward along with what should project to be a less than popular choice among THE MASSES.
Discount Dandies
As mentioned above, it is important to know how to find discounted hitters in solid situations and also understand what the “opportunity” cost may be by giving up a key power hitting position like 1B/3B for a discounted option who may not have a lot of power. For this purpose we will target the $7-$11 salary range.
C – Chance Sisco at RHP Rick Porcello ($7)
At this price point, pretty much any production from Chance Sisco would be gravy and something like an RBI double would be absolute gold. He is at the Yahoo minimum price and gets the platoon advantage against an at best league average RHP Rick Porcello. If he is not in the lineup, look to add the catcher to any of the teams you are stacking on Friday.
1B – Daniel Vogelbach at RHP Jacob Waguespack ($12)
While his .227 average is still 20 points below his listed weight, the 27 home runs and 15 doubles are what we are more concerned about along with his reasonable price and likely spot in the heart-of-the-order for the Mariners. Garrett Cooper – $11 will be the popular option as the Marlins are in Colorado on Friday night along with Rockies Daniel Murphy and Yonder Alonso who are both $12.
2B – Asdrubal Cabrera vs RHP Adrian Houser ($11)
After being released by the Rangers, the slumping Asdrubal Cabrera was picked up by the Nationals who were familiar with his work as he played for them briefly in 2014. He will likely platoon with Brian Dozier and serve as utility help giving days off to Trea Turner and Anthony Rendon. He has not been great at the plate, but he gets an excellent matchup against RHP Adrian Houser who has been more homer-prone than the Brewers were expecting as they have been trying him out in the starting rotation. Scooter Gennett – $8 will be the popular play against RHP Mike Leake in Arizona and if you need the three dollars in savings, do not hesitate to make that pivot.
3B – Jace Peterson at RHP Rick Porcello ($8)
Once again this is all about price and if he and teammate Chance Sisco – $7 both make the lineup, we have one heck of an extreme discount dandy pairing in a great matchup.
SS – J.P. Crawford at RHP Jacob Waguespack ($9)
While it is a little shocking, we now have a 307 at bat sample size with J.P Crawford doing solid work in lefty/righty matchups with a .345 wOBA and a .213 ISO and he should be in line for five at bats if he is in his customary second spot in the batting order… as long as the Mariners are not “no hit” for a third time this season of course.
OF – Coors Field Cheapies
With a 12.5 implied run total, there are some discounted options we can join THE MASSES in flocking to in the Mile High City on Friday with Harold Ramirez – $12, Curtis Granderson – $10 and Luis Brinson – $7 likely to be in the lineup for the Marlins and from the Rockies Ian Desmond – $11 Yonathan Daza – $7 at the minimum salary is going to do wonders for the rest of our roster.
OF – Eloy Jiminez at LHP Patrick Sandoval ($12)
The talented rookie should be in the middle-of-the-lineup and he is an option on both the main and late game sets for his reasonable price point and platoon advantage matchup against fellow youngster LHP Patrick Sandoval.
OF – David Peralta vs RHP Jeff Samardzija ($12)
This has been somewhat of a lost season for David Peralta who has been dealing with injuries and the loss of protection in the lineup with Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock now with other teams. Targeting against RHP Jeff Samardzija on the road is a savvy play and even though the roof will be closed for this home stand in Arizona which will serve to enhance the effects of the humidor, this is a great spot to take a chance on Peralta and we can add in teammate Jarrod Dyson – $11 on the late slate for some synergy.
As always, you can reach out to me in Awesemo.com Premium Slack or on Twitter @EMacDFS if you have any questions.
Good Luck Gamers! ~ EMac
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Awesemo’s MLB Projections
In addition to our MLB Projections, Awesemo’s ownership projections come out every day before lineup lock, as well as in the lead-up to night slate games. We also release a daily Top Stack projection, which takes a look at how likely each MLB stack is to be the highest scoring unit on the slate, relative to our projected ownership and value. Want a more in-depth look? Check out Data Central page, which tallies up every single bit of data we’ve collected over the course of the day, including chance of postponement.
