Daily Fantasy Strategy – 7/10 – For Draftstreet

Rain, rain, go away.

While no MLB games have been postponed the last couple of days, unsettled weather has been threatening. Tonight is no different, and the spatial extent of the wet weather along the east coast should be greater than it was the last couple of days.

Both Pittsburgh and Cleveland appear to be under the gun for scattered strong to severe storms this evening. Nothing implies a total washout, however, guys interested in starting pitchers on the Pirates, Indians, A’s, or Jays might want to check the radar closer to 7 PM to see whether a rain delay or two might be in their future. Few things smart as much as having a starter go three scoreless innings with five punchouts only to get yanked because the tarp had to stay on the field for more than an hour.

Other hotspots of potential precipitation? Philly, Baltimore, and New York all have reasonably high rain chances at game time as diurnal heating kicks off scattered convection in the vicinity.

If the weather looks good in NY, start your big boppers on the Yankees and Royals as the wind is forecast to be blowing out to left center at more than 10 mph. Sames goes for the game at Comerica tonight, with the weather also helping give fly balls a bit of a push from behind.

While it would be more fun for hitters in Arizona if they kept the roof open (100+ degrees!), climate control should keep them in the high 70’s or low 80’s (those with tickets should say “thank you!”). Therefore, your weather “hotspot” today appears to be the aforementioned Orioles/Rangers game at Camden with highs in the mid-80’s at first pitch. Again, check the radar before game time, but assuming they play, there should be a couple nice offensive pieces of use on both sides.

The Daily Five

Giancarlo Stanton – $6,482

I know he’s having a down year, but Bryan touched on the potential value in home run boppers yesterday. At around the average cost of an outfielder, I’m OK taking a gamble on the guy who has a career .384 wOBA against left-handed pitching (Paul Maholm will be the southpaw tonight) over his brief big league career.

Matt Joyce – $7,037

One of my favorite platoon guys, the rightly-mashing Joyce has cooled off a bit lately and subsequently come down in value. But here’s a dirty little secret. Kevin Correia is right-handed and… well… not very good. Joyce is another great “mid-tier” outfield play.

Martin Prado – $6,445

Prado has hit the skids a bit in 2013 and I’ve seen him either sold low or even dumped in plenty of fantasy leagues because of it. He isn’t doing anything a whole lot differently this year than he did last (when he was a top-8 option at 3B in Draftstreet) — the biggest culprit appears to be a BABIP more than 50 points off his career average. Expect better things going forward.

Shelby Miller – $13,949

Shelby Miller has a 3.29 xFIP and a 27% K%. Shelby Miller faces the Houston Astros. The Houston Astros have the second worst wOBA in baseball. Ergo, start Shelby Miller and profit. No underpants needed.

Andrew Cashner – $9,052

Cashner (like Joyce) is another guy who has faded a bit recently. However, he has the friendly confines of Petco behind him and his fastball velocity (which had sagged below 95 mph) has been on the uptick his previous three starts. Not a terrible “cheap” option to help save a couple dollars for the hitting side of the ledger.

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