It's nice to write one of these blogs after I have a good week in the RotoWire/FanDuel Fantasy Baseball Championship, and I did just that last week, taking third place due to big performances from the likes of Bryce Harper, Joe Panik, Travis Shaw and Aledmys Diaz. Thanks to a couple disastrous weeks early on, I'm still buried in the overall rankings, but hey, it's still just mid-late May, right?
As you've probably noticed already, every Friday from April 8 to July 15, FanDuel will run a $10, multi-entry contest exclusively for RotoWire users — and all you have to do to money is finish in the top half, with a top-10 finish in any week earning you a ticket to the championship round, which takes place July 22. Click here to get in on the action!
Going back to the topic of Week 6, AJ Scholz finished in first place — just six points ahead of me — despite taking a pair of zeroes from Chase Utley and Josh Donaldson, showing that even a lineup with holes can win on any given night as long as everyone else's lineups are riddled with holes as well. Jeff Samardzija, Yasiel Puig, Troy Tulowitzki and Harper (hey, he was 50 percent owned) did the bulk of the damage for AJ. You can check out the full expert leaderboard here, but here's the current top 10:
1. Joel Bartilotta (joelbartilotta) — 817.70
2. Chris Benzine (crispy272001) — 789.70
3. Aaron Quinn (aaronq) — 788.80
4. Peter Merrill (black26) — 782.30
5. Ronny Mor (ronnymor2) — 779.80
6. Josh Fathollahi (jashfath) — 770.60
7. James Anderson (realjranderson) — 757.70
8. Jake Letarski (rotojakeski) — 754.20
9. Scott Jenstad (oaktownsj) — 743.90
10. Eric Caturia (etcat30) — 735.60
... 31. Andrew Fiorentino (akf1986) — 631.40
Don't worry, I'll catch up eventually.
Strategy Tip
Pick the guys who are going to play well.
Just kidding.
Well, actually, now that I mention it, you should definitely do that. Why wouldn't you do that? Come on. We're all counting on you.
Getting serious now, when you're playing big tournaments like this, you need to aim for the stars — particularly if you don't have a leaderboard to hold you accountable like I do, you're obliged to chase upside at the expense of floor. Slow and steady doesn't win this race; you need to use the tools available to you to find a pitcher who's going to rack up strikeouts, and you need your hitters to hit homers above all else. (Well, steals are good too.) Identify fly-ball pitchers in homer-friendly parks and stack your lineup with the best bats you can afford who are facing them.
And now, some select selections to be selected for Week 7; be sure to check back before game time to ensure that everyone's starting here, as Friday's lineups were not yet released when I wrote this sentence.
Value Picks
SPMatt Wisler, Atlanta Braves @ Philadelphia Phillies
FanDuel Price: $6,200
For the sake of honesty, I should start this with an admission that I don't have the cojones to go with Wisler myself here — I'm going with a more expensive option this time. That said, I did get paid off last week for saving my shekels by rolling out the cheapest starter, Brandon Finnegan (also against the Phillies), although that was because of the savings he afforded me rather than any sort of impressive pitching performance. In any case, Wisler has turned in three consecutive sparkling outings, including eight strong innings 10 days ago against these same Phillies. I'm usually wary of starters who are facing a team for the second time in a short period — it's a lot easier for hitters to adjust under those circumstances — but the fact remains that Philadelphia effectively has two MLB-caliber hitters, and one of them is hurting right now, as Odubel Herrera sat out Wednesday with back soreness. That cap-friendly price will let you stack your lineup with better hitters than the motley crew I'll be rolling out Friday night.
C Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals @ Chicago White Sox
FanDuel Price: $2,900
The batter vs. pitcher stats for this contest don't give us a whole lot to work with, but one name that sticks out from the crowd is Perez, who's seen a whole lot of opposing starter Jose Quintana. Over 45 at-bats against the lefty, Perez has managed 17 hits (.378), including a pair of homers. As mentioned, this is a homer chase, and U.S. Cellular Field is a good place to hit 'em. And although it's been a slow year for Perez on the whole, he's hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, making him a high-floor option as well.
3B Danny Valencia, Oakland A's vs. New York Yankees
FanDuel Price: $3,300
It'd be even sweeter if Valencia and the A's were playing at homer-friendly Yankee Stadium, but this matchup play works in any ballpark. A noted lefty killer — how's .393 with a 1.309 OPS in 2016 strike you? — the hot-corner veteran gets to tee off against southpaw CC Sabathia, who's coming off a DL stint and is far removed from his golden years. It doesn't hurt one bit that Valencia's been taking all comers this year, as he owns a startling .352 batting average for the season as well as six homers in his last seven games. The stars are aligned for more production.
Sleeper
OF Yasiel Puig, Los Angeles Dodgers @ San Diego Padres
FanDuel Price: $2,300
His name brand means Puig's hard to forget, but it's easy to miss him going down Friday's price list, as the 25-year-old Cuban is priced in straight-up scrub territory. Of course, he's earned that tag with a tough start to 2016 that's included a recent demotion to eighth in the batting order, but he's also facing an unimposing lefty starter in Christian Friedrich, who walked more batters than he struck out in his season debut last week and was a below-average bullpen arm for the Rockies last season. Despite Puig's struggles, there's value to be found here.
High Risk Floor, High Reward
OF Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals @ Miami Marlins
FanDuel Price: $4,300
Surprise, surprise. I know, this is usually the "High Risk, High Reward" section, but there wasn't a particularly good fit there and honestly, the risk isn't nearly high enough here, relatively speaking — Harper's tied for seventh-most-expensive among hitters Friday, and his price has consistently been too low lately, hovering right around this mark. That surely takes into consideration his meager .172 average and five RBI over his last 21 games, but opposing teams have issued him a metric ton of walks, and the likelihood of a base on balls putting him on and giving him a chance to steal a bag (as he did Thursday) leaves Harper owners with a nice floor. Then there's the upside — yes, this is a lefty-on-lefty matchup with Justin Nicolino on the mound for Florida Miami, but Harper hit .318 with .986 OPS against lefties last year and has a .987 OPS against them this year. Even so, managers and pitchers seem less inclined to pitch around the league's top hitter when they get that lefty-lefty situation, which means Harper may actually see enough at-bats to do some real damage for once.
Steer Clear
OF Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies @ Pittsburgh Pirates
FanDuel Price: $4,100
Sure, he's coming off a nice series in St. Louis, but we all know the main source of Blackmon's fantasy value: Coors Field, where he's a career .333 hitter with an .885 OPS. Unfortunately, this game is on the road, where Blackmon owns a rather poor .660 OPS for his career, and even worse, it's against Pirates ace Gerrit Cole. Blackmon does have the lefty-righty working in his favor, but that's it; you could spend that money both more safely and with greater expectations for return on investment elsewhere.
Express all your happiness and/or rage concerning these picks on Twitter: @akfiorentino.