Daily Dime: Starting Danny Salazar and looking for hitting bargains
Here are 10 DFS recommendations for Thursday but be sure to double-check the weather and lineups before first pitch approaches.
Danny Salazar, SP, vs. CHC (Hammel), $9100 at FanDuel: He’s facing a good team and a strong starter, but Salazar is the fifth-most expensive SP for Thursday despite the Indians currently being the most favored (-175) team of the day. He owns an impressive 24.5 K-BB% and 13.6 SwStr%, both of which rank in the top-eight among all starters in baseball. Salazar also sports a 34:4 K:BB ratio with a 0.90 WHIP over 25.2 innings at home this season.
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, vs. Tex (Lewis), $3200: He’s been in a slump, but Gonzalez is still on pace to finish with a .300-91-27-106 line yet is moderately priced among first basemen while facing a RHP on Thursday. He’s also 7-for-10 with two homers during his career against Colby Lewis.
Carlos Gonzalez, OF, vs. Hou (McHugh), $3900: He’s homered in back-to-back games and in three of the past five, so his early season struggles appear to be over. CarGo’s cost has risen as a result, but he’s still modestly priced for someone facing a RHP (he has eight homers against them this year despite a really sluggish start) with a career .971 OPS at Coors Field.
Preston Tucker, OF, at Col (Hale), $3500: He’s been batting cleanup and is facing a RHP in Coors Field on Thursday, so use him (and also Jason Castro if he gets the start at catcher).
Seth Smith, OF, vs. SF (Vogelsong), $2300: He’s hitting atop Seattle’s lineup and has an .812 OPS with five homers over 169 at bats versus right handed pitchers on the year. Ryan Vogelsong has yielded a .294 BAA with nine long balls allowed over 26.0 innings against LHB this season.
Brad Miller, SS, vs. SF (Vogelsong), $2400: He has six homers and five steals over 151 at bats against RHP, and as mentioned above, Vogelsong has struggled versus southpaws all year, ceding a 1.73 WHIP against them.
Robinson Cano, 2B, vs. SF (Vogelsong), $2300: I understand how bad Cano has been this season, but he has a favorable matchup and continues to hit atop the lineup, and this price is just so hard to ignore given his career .881 OPS against RHP. He’s still 32 years old.
Buster Posey, C, at Sea (Montgomery), $3600: It’s especially tricky recommending catchers so far in advance of lineups being available, but Posey should be in there with the DH also available. He owns a career .327/.387/.565 line against southpaws as well as a .916 OPS on the road.
Andre Ethier, OF, vs. Tex (Lewis), $3000: He has a .908 OPS with nine home runs over 159 at bats against southpaws this season and is hitting in a strong Dodgers lineup at an affordable price.
Manny Machado, 3B, vs. Phi (O’Sullivan), $4000: He has four homers over the past seven games, posting a 1:5 K:BB ratio over that span. Sean O’Sullivan is the cheapest pitcher available Thursday (ostensibly meaning he’s not good), and Machado is quietly on pace to finish the season with 32 homers, 105 runs, 82 RBI and 22 steals.
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