Daily Dime: Going with Carlos Martinez, Joey Votto, Troy Tulowitzki and even Mike Trout
Here are 10 DFS recommendations for Saturday but be sure to double-check the weather and lineups before first pitch approaches.
Carlos Martinez, SP, vs. SD (Despaigne), $10000 at FanDuel: His control could still use some improvement, but Martinez has a 25.9 K% combined with a 2.20 GB/FB ratio this season. He also sports a 10.4 SwStr%, so he’s become an elite pitcher, thanks mostly to his newfound ability to get left handers out. The Cardinals are one of the most favored teams Saturday (-185), while the Padres’ .668 OPS against RHP has been the fifth worst in all of baseball this season.
Joey Votto, 1B, vs. Mil (Nelson), $3400: He has nine homers over 127 at bats with a .406 OBP and a .504 SLG at home this year. In fact, he has more walks (31) than strikeouts (30) at GAB. Jimmy Nelson has allowed a .308 BAA with a 1.76 WHIP when facing LHB.
Robinson Cano, 2B, at Oak (Graveman), $2700: He’s 7-for-14 with two doubles and a homer over his past three games, so I’m going to continue to go with someone with such a strong track record at such a cheap price.
Adrian Beltre, 3B, vs. Tex (Santiago), $2600: Speaking of bargains with strong track records, Beltre hasn’t had an OPS lower than .879 over his previous five seasons before this one, and yet he’s not priced as a top-25 third baseman here. He also owns a career 1.335 OPS over 20 at bats versus Hector Santiago.
Ryan Raburn, OF, at Pit (Locke), $2400: It’s back to the well with Raburn, who’s batting .313/.402/.563 versus southpaws this season. He also usually hits cleanup against them, while Jeff Locke has a 1.57 WHIP when facing righties this year.
Alex Gordon, OF, vs. Min (Pelfrey), $2400: It’s not ideal where Gordon has been hitting in Kansas City’s lineup, but he owns a .392 OBP against RHP this season and a 1.212 OPS against Mike Pelfrey during his career.
Carlos Ruiz, C, at ATL (Wood), $2300: Cameron Rupp might very well be taking over the Phillies’ main catching job, but Ruiz is batting .333/.400/.476 against lefties this season, so he’s a bargain here assuming he’s back in Philadelphia’s lineup. Ruiz is also 6-for-9 with a walk and five RBI with no strikeouts against Travis Wood during his career.
Troy Tulowitzki, SS, at Ari (Corbin), $3700: He’s been a disappointment this year and typically is much better at home, but Tulowitzki has hit .424/.435/.661 against lefties this season, and he’ll be facing a southpaw Saturday who will be making his first start since 2013. Chase Field is also a great hitter’s park, and shortstop remains a really thin position, so this seems like a no brainer.
Mike Trout, OF, at Tex (Rodriguez), $5100: Just to let you know, Trout is really good at baseball, but he also owns a 1.036 OPS against LHP this season. To be clear, if you used the lineup listed so far with some big names, there would still be $400 available on FanDuel.
Manny Machado, 3B, at CHW (Samardzija), $4100: He’s 5-for-6 with two homers during his career versus Jeff Samardzija, which is both a small sample size yet pretty impressive nevertheless.
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