Two teams may share a city, but they have completely different fantasy outlooks for tonight’s action.
Value plays:
Lance Berkman - The Big Puma owns a solid .292 career average against Ryan Dempster, but the stat in which I’m putting the most value in is his OBP. Berkman has reached base 43.2% of the time, and with a team batting average of .307 against Dempster, getting on base is a sure way to gain value in daily fantasy baseball games. Look for the scoreless streak to come to an end, with Berkman being in the middle of run production.
Los Angeles Angels – Seven current Angels are batting at least .280 against Derek Holland for their careers, indicating that there should be plenty of run scoring opportunities tonight in LA. One player who has never faced Holland is Albert Pujols, and he is beginning to look like “The Machine” again. This has the makings of a high scoring game for the Halos, with high priced options like Mike Trout and Albert Pujols leading the way and cheaper options like Erick Aybar and Howard Kendrick also providing plenty of bang for you buck in daily fantasy baseball leagues.
Adam Lind – The Blue Jays simply can’t catch a break health wise, but Lind has been a bright spot as the team has limped through the past week. He is having his best month of the season and faces a pitcher today in Josh Beckett that he has had loads of success against. Lind is a .421 lifetime hitter against Beckett with 62.5% of his hits going for extra bases, resulting in a .789 slugging percentage. One final odd stat to consider: Beckett’s ERA is 1.82 runs higher when he pitches in night games.
Players to avoid:
Paul Konerko and Adam Dunn - Facing Justin Verlander is reason enough to avoid most players, but especially strikeout prone sluggers. The White Sox duo is batting only .167 against the reigning MVP and has struck out more often than they have reached base. Verlander owns a remarkable 1.61 ERA at home, and that number figures to drop against the all or nothing approach of the White Sox. If you’re chasing power, look elsewhere, as these two simply have very little shot against Verlander tonight.
Los Angeles Dodgers – Johan Santana is a very good pitcher, but few teams have struggled against the Mets lefty like the Dodgers. He has held the current Dodgers to a .150 career batting average with Mark Ellis, Andre Ethier , Jerry Hariston Jr, and James Loney combining for only 2 hits in 47 at bats. Matt Kemp is great, but when he is the only threat to do damage, I’ll side with Santana to limit the damage Kemp can do. This will be a low scoring affair, and one to avoid for daily fantasy baseball owners.
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