PGA Quicken Loans Weekend Outlook

So we started the week with 16 golfers in four different lineups.  As we hit the weekend, 11 golfers have survived to play on Saturday.  Not great.  And no single lineup got all six golfers through the cut.  Two lineups, including my cash lineup, got five through.  The other two lineups are essentially toast, getting four and three through respectively.  Here's the two lineups that have a shot at cashing.

From our core eight players who were in two of the four lineups, six made it to the weekend while two missed the cut.  Those two were John Senden and Andy Sullivan.  Senden shot a 74 on Thursday which included an eight on the par-4 12th hole.  He came back on Friday and fired a uninspiring 71 to miss the cut by five strokes.  Easily the most disappointing golfer for me this week.  Sullivan shot an opening round 65 and was seemingly safe for the weekend, but he followed up his good start with a second round 76 to miss the cut by one stroke.

Jimmy Walker played just the opposite of Sullivan, flirting with the cut-line by firing a even par 71 on Thursday, but coming back guns blazing on Friday to fire an 8-under 63.  He heads to the weekend tied for 5th, three shots off the lead.  Two other core players, Pat Perez and David Lingmerth, are also looking strong.  Perez is T5 and Lingmerth is alone in 4th place at 9-under.

Vegas favorite Justin Rose followed up his opening round 66 with and even par 71 in round two.  He sits within striking distance, six strokes off the lead.  The other two core players, Hudson Swafford and Vaughn Taylor, just squeaked into the weekend by landing on the cut-line at -2.

As for the singles, three missed the cut.  Scott Brown never got going in his first round and finished with a 74.  He didn't make up enough in his second round and missed the cut by a three strokes.  Stewart Cink fell victim to the same hole Senden endured, the 12th, posting a triple-bogey in his first round.  He never recovered and missed the cut by two.  Johnson Wagner fired back-to-back 71's and also missed by a couple.  Cink happened to be in my cash lineup which hurts.

The remaining five are all chugging along within striking distance.  Jason Bohn just continues being Jason Bohn, firing consecutive 67's.  He's T5, three shots back.  Youngster Ollie Schniederjans sits alone in 14th at -7.  Russell Knox is right there at -6.  Harris English is at -5 and Will Wilcox is at -3.

Saturday is moving day.  Hoping to keep Lingmerth, Perez and Walker at the top while guys like Rose, Bohn and Knox make a move.  Need the guys firing on all cylinders since the lineups are short one golfer heading home.

MLB Friday 7/31/15

Running two lineups tonight, one for cash and one in the $50k Hot Corner tournament on DraftKings.  Here's a quick breakdown on who I like tonight.

Clayton Kershaw was originally scheduled to pitch tonight but he was scratched late so we don't have to try and fit his salary into the lineup.  Rolling with Madison Bumgarner at $10,300 in both my cash and GPP lineups.  I like his price and he gets a Rangers team who is markedly worse against southpaws, with a K% of 23.1%.  He has double-digit strikeout potential in this one I believe.  For my 2nd starter, I'm going with Gio Gonzalez at $8,700 in my cash lineup, and Michael Wacha at $9,000 for the GPP.  Gonzalez has been on a bit of a run of late, allowing two earned runs or fewer in eight of his last ten starts.  He faces a Mets team who he limited to two runs on six hits 10 days ago.  Wacha is pitching against a Tulo-less Rockies at home where he usually pitches well.  After a slow start, Wacha has has averaged a K an inning over his last 80 frames.

I'm going with AJ Pierzynski at $3,000 in both lineups.  I like his price and he's hitting cleanup against the Phillies.  David Buchanan is a reverse-splits pitcher, but that doesn't mean he's good against lefties.  I like AJs chances.

As far as the rest of the lineup is concerned, I'm running some stacks out there, both in the cash lineup and the GPP.  In cash, I'm targeting the IF of the Cardinals, rostering Kolten Wong ($4,100), Matt Carpenter ($4,100) and Jhonny Peralta ($3,700).  I like Wong and Carpenter as left-handed bats against Kyle Kendrick, who has been destroyed by lefties to the tune of a .382 wOBA and .886 OPS.  He's not much better against right-handed batters, so going with Peralta too even though he's been scuffling lately.

Filling out my cash lineup with a mini-stack of Adam Eaton ($4,00) and Melky Cabrera ($3,900) from the White Sox.  Been using them lately and they've been killing it.  Eaton has a .490 wOBA over the past two weeks.  Cabrera is at .465 wOBA over the same span.  They are going up against Nathan Eovaldi and the Yankees.  Eovaldi has given up a .363 wOBA to right-handed batters this season.

The final two guys in the cash lineup are also in the GPP lineup.  I've targeted Todd Frazier at $5,000 against lefty Jeff Locke, and Chris Young, who is batting 2nd in the lineup, against lefty Carlos Rodon.  Both of these two crush LHP.  Frazier has a .371 wOBA and .267 ISO agains southpaws, Young a .353 wOBA, including a .530 mark over the past two weeks.

I'm running a couple of three player stacks in the GPP lineup.  Targeting the game at Great America Ballpark in Cincinnati.  For the home team, I'm rolling out Frazier, Joey Votto ($5,000) and Marlon Byrd ($3,400).  I really like Bryd at his price.  For the Pirates, I'm going with Gregory Polanco ($3,500), Neil Walker ($3,700) and Jung Ho Kang ($3,900).  Wind is blowing out at 15mph, and Reds starter Michael Lorenzen has given up over two dongs per nine innings over the past month.

Both of these lineups performed quite well.  The cash game lineup obviously cashed in all contests.  The GPP lineup barely hang on to get in the money despite scoring 138.10 points (I spoke too soon.  Mike Trout hit a 9th inning homer and dropped this lineup out of the money  Argh!!!).  Madison Bumgarner nearly sunk both lineups by giving up six runs in his first couple innings of work.  He eventually settled down and struck out eight in seven innings of work to post a respectable yet disappointing 14.35 points.  All of my stacks performed pretty well.  Todd Frazier was a general disappointment with only two singles and six points.  Hard to complain too much with a pair of lineups topping 135 points.  On a bit of a roll with successful lineups.  Hope to keep it going tomorrow.

PGA Quicken Loans Strategy and Picks

Before I get started with my thoughts on this weeks PGA Tour stop, let me disclose a little something about me and DFS golf - I'm not very good at it.  It's my worst DFS sport as far as ROI is concerned by far.  I'm not exactly sure why?  I feel like I should be pretty good at it.  I always feel confident with my lineups when the guys tee off on Thursday.  But you know what?  Golf is pretty damn hard to predict.  Sure it's easy to roster a guy like Jordan Speith and expect him to make the cut or even contend.  Those guys are easy.  It's the middle of the pack guys that bite me in the butt all the damn time.  Hitting on those guys is critical, because in DFS golf, you have to get guys through to the weekend.  Missed cuts means donated money to your competition.

I study and read everything I can.  I plug stats into my spreadsheet.  I make all of the right decisions before Thursday.  Then play starts.  Sometimes it's the weather that dooms me in, like at the Open Championship or earlier in the year at the Texas Open.  Sometimes it's a guy who withdraws before the tournament starts while I'm slumbering away in the early morning hours.  Sometimes it's a guy who withdraws due to injury or poor play or whatever reason.  And sometimes it's just plain old bad play.  Regardless, I've put together plenty of lineups that I thought were locks on Wednesday that didn't stand a chance to cash by Thursday night.

Now I obviously can't afford to keep losing money forever.  I've really been killed by the three majors, actually not cashing a single lineup at the Open Championship, which was kinda hard to do considering I had 12 lineups in play.  I've been encouraged by my picks at some of the "lesser" tournaments, and this week at the Quicken Loans National qualifies as one of those weeks.  I'm taking a different approach this week and trying to go a little more contrarian with my picks to differentiate me from the masses with a few of my picks.  Let's see how it all shakes out.  Onto the picks!

The Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia

I'm running just four lineups this week on Draftkings.  Putting all four in the $100k Drive the Green.  One of the lineups will be reserved for cash games.  16 golfers in play, eight of which make more than one lineup.  Here are the guys in 50% of the lineups:

THE CORE
Justin Rose ($12,200) - He's the class of the field and has won this event at Congressional and Aronimink.  He has four top 6's in his last seven tournaments, including the Open Championship and the Masters.  It's hard not to like Rose this week, regarless of his price.

Jimmy Walker ($11,000) - He may not be in the best form, but in this weak field he doesn't have to be.  Walker can pop off at any time.  He's 15th in all-around ranking and 9th in scoring average.  I'm riding class over form with this pick.  Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he won this week.

Pat Perez ($8,400) - Perez is a no-brainer cash game play for me.  He's 16 of 17 making cuts in 2015, and has finished in the top 26 in eight of his last ten events.  That's good form right there.  Will continue to roll with Perez until his price gets out-of-hand.

Andy Sullivan ($8,100) - Here is a guy who I hope people overlook this week.  Sullivan has been killing it across the pond with top 30's in five of his last seven.  He missed the cut over here at the US Open (forgivable).  His only other start he finished 12th at the Memorial.  He's ranked 55th worldwide and I'm expecting a high finish this week.

John Senden ($8,000) - Senden has really turned his season around since the Match Play Championship back in May.  He's rattled off a streak of eight of nine cuts worldwide with three top 10's.  I like his form and his stats match up here. Love him as a GPP play.

David Lingmerth ($7,800) - This is my contrarian pick of the week.  Not sure why this guy seems to get no love.  Haven't read nary a word about him this week, which is fine by me.  In his last four tournaments, he's only had two rounds over par, and one of those was Monday at St. Andrews.  He won in a playoff earlier in the year against Justin Rose at the Memorial.  And he should be well rested having taken last week off.  He's my under $8k pick-to-click this week!

Vaughn Taylor ($6,400) - Taylor has made eight of nine cuts this year, with two top 20's in his last four.  Excellent value at his price.

Hudson Swafford ($5,900) - I'm back on the Hudson Swafford roller-coaster one more week.  This guys has all the stats to compete week-in-week-out.  He's been making cuts, eight of his last ten to be exact.  He was in contention last week before he blew up on Sunday and posted a 79 (thanks again man!).  One of these weeks he's going to keep it all together for all four rounds and post a top-10.  I'm hoping this is the week.

THE OTHERS
Will Wilcox ($8,900) - His stats are always impressive, and he's #1 on Tour in the All-Around category.  Hoping people will be off of him after he withdrew last week with a wrist injury.  He commented on Twitter that he just wanted to give it an extra week of rest, so I'm not overly worried.  He has has solo 2nd and T8 in his last two.  My only concern is his price.  Wish it was $1,000 less.  But then everyone would be on him.

Johnson Wagner ($8,700) - Another guy who is a little pricey for me, but also a guy in good form.  Wagner has two top 10's and three top 18's in his last four.  He's a streaky player and I'm hoping to ride his hot streak for one more week.

Russell Knox ($8,500) - Knox has missed two straight cuts on Tour, but he was T10 at the Scottish Open, and T8 in Memphis before that.  His stats are looking good - 23rd in SGTG, 27th in Ball Striking, 61st in Total Driving, 4th in Proximity.  I like his chances this week.

Harris English ($8,300) - English is making cuts per usual.  He's just not popping off with any high finishes.  That could change at any time with this guy.  His stats are decent and his price is right.

Jason Bohn ($8,100) - This guy just continues to rack up the finishes, making six of seven cuts, including two top 10's and four top 13's.  His statistics look good as well - 39th in SGTG, 42nd in Ball Striking, 83rd in Total Driving, 2nd in Proximity.  He's in my cash game lineup.

Stewart Cink ($7,800) - Cink has made five of seven cuts, and the two he missed in that stretch, he was on the line.  He put up a T5 last week in Canada, and that included a 73 on Friday.  At this point we're trying to focus on guys who will make it to the weekend and Cink is a good bet to do that.

Ollie Schniederjans ($7,700) - The kids last two are T22  at the RBC and T12 at the Open Championship.  He also made the cut at the US Open, finishing T42.  He's not going to be under $8k for much longer so got to get him while we can.

Scott Brown ($6,400) - He missed the cut at the John Deere, but was 10 of 11 before that.  Hoping he's still in form.  Just need him to make the cut at his price.

MLB Wednesday 7/29/15

Only nine games on the DraftKings slate tonight.  Clayton Kershaw was scheduled to pitch tonight but he was scratched.  All of the other "aces" went in the day games (Archer, Lester, Kluber, King Felix).  Let's take a look at how I plan to attack what's leftover.

STARTING PITCHERS
With Kershaw out of the mix, that leaves only a few options to really choose from.  Tyson Ross is the most expensive guys on the slate at $10,800.  I usually only target him at home in Petco, but he does draw a fantastic matchup against the Mets on the road.  Masahio Tanaka is next expensive at $10,200.  He draws a more difficult matchup against the Rangers in Arlington, but he has pitched extremely well of late, registering over 23 points his last three starts.  The rest of the SPs to consider are a little shaky.  Garrett Richards ($9,300) is on the road in Houston, Lance McCullers ($8,800) opposes him, Jose Quintana ($8,300) is on the road in Boston.  None of those guys stand out to me with the exception of McCullers, who is intriguing with Trout announced out of the lineup.  For my money, I'm rostering John Lackey, who at $8,600 is a great value and a safe play for cash.  He's at home, where he has a 1.97 ERA in 11 starts.  He's also allowed two or fewer earned runs in eight consecutive starts.  That trend continues tonight in my estimation.

So what pitchers are we gonna try and target tonight.  I got my eyes on Jerome Williams pitching at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, as well as Mike Foltynewicz in Baltimore and Rick Porcello at home against the surging White Sox offense.

CATCHER
I'm going back to the well once again and saving a spot for Matt Wieters.  He's facing Mike Foltynewicz who has given it up this year to lefties to the tune of a .424 wOBA.  Plus he's still bargain priced at only $2,900.  Sold!  Others of interest include Yasmani Grandal, AJ Pierzynski and Stephen Vogt.

FIRST BASE
My original plan was to roster Edwin Encarnacion, but he was scratched with a jammed finger.  So I'm heading back to the Jose Abreu well once again.  This guy almost never lets me down.  Very consistent for cash game play.  He came through with a 28 point effort last night.  He faces off against Rick Porcello, who hasn't been particularly effective against hitters from either side of the plate.  Will be pairing Abreu with a couple of his teammates to employ a mini-stack.

Chris Davis ($4,200) is another option I like today against the righty Foltynewicz.

SECOND BASE
Nobody stands out at 2B in my eyes.  Going with Kolton Wong.  He has a decent matchup against righty Andrew DeSclafani, who has allowed a .352 wOBA to left-handed batters.  Wong, for his part, has been decent lately, with hits in six straight games.  Plus he bats leadoff.

THIRD BASE
Another position where nobody jumped off the page.  I like A-Rod of course, but his pricetag is a little steep for my cash game liking at $5,000 in a matchup against a RHP.  Kinda like Xander Bogaerts at his bargain price of $3,400 against lefty Quintana in Boston.  Also looking at Matt Carpenter at $3,900 against DeSclafani, but he's not been swinging a hot bat of late.  In the end, gonna bite the bullet and lock in A-Rod, who has been scorching hot of late with a .437 wOBA and six HRs over his last 10 games.

SHORTSTOP
As soon as I saw the pricing, I locked in Troy Tulowitski as my SS.  End of story.  Not only the narrative of his first game in Toronto, but facing a gas can like Jerome Williams who has given up a .362 wOBA to right-handed hitters since the start of 2014.  Tulo hasn't been hitting like Tulo of late, but does have a .373 wOBA against RHP since the start of 2014.  And at only $4,100, he's a no-brainer to me.  Lock and load!

OUTFIELD
In the OF my plan is to pair Adam Eaton ($4,000) and Melky Cabrera ($3,800) with Abreu in a stack against Porcello in Boston, then spend whatever is left on the best available OF option.  Both Eaton (.463 wOBA) and Cabrera (.430 wOBA) have been on fire the past couple weeks.  Cabrera especially, with six multi-hit games in a row and eight of his last ten.  Pairing these two with Abreu just makes sense.  For my final spot, I got lucky with Will Venable ($2,700) being available for the exact amount I had left.  He's not an auto-play by any means, but he will be hitting leadoff tonight and faces a righty in Bartolo Colon.

Other guys I considered in the OF were Brett Gardner, Jason Heyward and Josh Reddick.  I actually really liked Reddick, and if Encarnacion would have played he would have been in the lineup instead of Venable.

Another good night as the lineup nearly cracks 140 points, despite Tanaka pitching like crap in Texas.  My main targets of Tulo and the White Sox trio all pretty much came through.  Tulo launched a bomb in his first game as a Blue Jay.  Cabrera kept his multi-hit streak alive with three knocks.  And Eaton stayed hot with three hits and a homer.  The pivot to Venable worked out as he scored 17 points.  Wong and A-Rod the only real disappointments, with Wong putting up the goose egg.  Lineup of course cashed in all H2H's, double-ups and 50/50s.  Gonna look to keep the hot streak alive tomorrow.

MLB First Thoughts - TUE 7/28/15

DraftKings is offering a 15 games slate tonight, and an intriguing on in that with several good matchups to exploit.  Let's take a look at how I plan to attack the games.

STARTING PITCHER
As I look at the starting pitching today, several names peak my interest.  First and foremost is Jose Fernandez, who has picked up right where he left off following his Tommy John surgery.  The big right-hander has an insane 33.2K% and holds a 2.16 SIERA.  He gets a home starts against a Nationals team who is middle of the pack in wOBA against RHP, but the rank 24th in K%.  Anthony Rendon obviously helps the Nats with his return to the lineup, but I still love Fernandez in this spot tonight, even at his elevated salary of $12,700.

The other pitcher I plan on rostering is Noah Syndegard at home against the Padres.  Syndergaard, at $10,700, has been very good in his last seven starts sporting a 2.05 earned run average with a 0.98 WHIP and 48 strikeouts in 44 innings pitched.   He's facing a San Diego club that strikes out 22.6-percent of the time, ranking 27th in the league. And despite an off-season of adding bats to the roster the Padres offense has been one of the worst of 2015, with a 663 OPS and .291 wOBA, also ranking 27th in the league.

I'm going to try and lock those two arms into my cash lineup tonight.  I really like David Price ($12,800) as well, but he's more expensive than Fernandez and Syndegard, and I like them both a little better.  A couple of intriguing guys who are less expensive are Hisashi Iwakuma ($8,300) at home against the D-Backs, and Jordan Zimmerman (7,700) on the road in Miami.  Iwakuma has been looking more like the Iwakuma of the past couple years in his last three starts, with a 1.74 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 20.2 innings.  Those three starts were against a surging Angels team at home, and the Tigers and Yankess on the road.  Now is the time to hop on the Iwakuma train before his price takes a big jump (it actually did take a large jump tonight, but I'm talking into the $10k+ range).

The Nationals have won the last six of Zimmerman starts.  While that streak my be hard to continue tonight against Fernandez and the Marlins, he gets to faces a Stanton-less squad who are ranked 27th in wOBA and 18th in K% on the year.  While Zim's upside is normally limited by his low K rate, he has actually improved to a 22.0K% over the last month of play, striking out 30 while only walking two.

CATCHER
I've been burned by this guy a couple time in the past week, but I'm going back to the well once again with Matt Wieters at only $2,600.  His opponent, Julio Tehran, has struggled on the road in his career (6.95 ERA this year) and owns a .328 wOBA against left-handed hitters.  Wieters had three hits last night including a walk-off HR.  (NOTE: Wieters is not in the lineup today)

Other guys I like are Russell Martin ($4,200) and Josh Phegley ($3,100)

FIRST BASE
If I'm gonna roster both Fernandez and Syndegard tonight, I'm going to have to find value at every turn.  One guy that stands out at 1B is Jose Abreu at only $4,200.  The White Sox are in Boston to face left-hander Wade Miley tonight, and he's shown an inability to get right-handed batters out, compiling a .388 wOBA against them since the start of 2014.  Abreu, for his part, has a .412 wOBA against LHP since the start of 2014.

Other guys I like include Prince Fielder ($4,900), Todd Frazier ($4,900), David Ortiz ($4,100), Brandon Belt ($3,900) and Lucas Duda ($3,600).  Fielder and Frazier are gonna be too expensive to fit into the lineup tonight.  I do really like Big Papi, who has been on fire.  I just like Abreu a little more.  Belt has a great matchup against Wily Peralta.  Duda is a cheap option who could go deep tonight.

SECOND BASE
Middle infield is where I'm gonna find good value tonight, and most nights for that matter.  Tonight I really like Cesar Hernandez hitting at the top of the Phillies order against lefty Felix Doubront in Toronto.  He's only $3,200 and has hit well against LHP.  He's also been hitting well of late with four multi-hit games in the last week.

Other guys I'm looking at are Jose Altuve ($4,700), Devon Travis ($4,200) and DJ LeMahieu ($4,000).  Altuve is another guy too expensive to fit into the lineup if I want to roster the two expensive pitchers.  BUt he faces a LHP is normally just plug-and-play time with him.  Travis is not a guy I usually roster, especially over 4k, but with Reyes moving onto Colorado in the Tulo trade, he may hit leadoff, and if so is on my radar.  Travis has been hot lately (.364 BA in July) and he crushes LHP (.397 wOBA).  LeMahieu is rolling right now with a 17 game hit streak.  Not overly impressed with Dallas Beeler, who the Cubs throw against him tonight.

THIRD BASE
There are several intriguing options at 3B tonight, but most are priced to the point they will be hard for me to roster.  The guy I'm settling on is Tyler Saladino at only $2,400.  He's hitting 2nd in the ChiSox lineup, right ahead of Abreu.  I love employing these little mini-stacks in cash games with guys at the top of a lineup.  Saladino has been playing quite well recently with a .355 wOBA and a pair of homers in his last ten games.  He also gets to face Wade Miley which is also a factor.

Othey guys I like at 3B include Josh Donaldson ($5,800), A-Rod ($5,200), Mikael Franco ($4,300) and Matt Carpenter ($3,800)

SHORTSTOP
I would really love to roster Carlos Correa tonght, but again, his price is just too high.  My second option is Brandon Crawford at $3,800 against the Brewers at home.  He's been on fire lately with hits in each of his past seven games, including three homers.  He's going against Wily Peralta, who hasn't started a game since May and has had a history of problems retiring left-handed batters.  My only concern with Crawford is his spot in the lineup, which is usually in the bottom half (tonight he bats 7th).

Other SS I considered were Correa ($4,700) and Jung Ho Kang ($3,700).

OUTFIELD
When glancing at the salaires, I realized almost immediately that I wanted to stack a couple of Colorado bats in Carlos Gonzalez ($4,400)and Corey Dickerson ($3,400).  CarGo is the hottest hitter in baseball right now with three two HR games in his last four.  Dickerson is woefully under-priced at only 3.4k.  Both get to face Dallas Beeler, who has allowed a .444 wOBA to left-handed batters in his two starts this season.  My other OF spot is going to Darrin Ruf, who has a .417 wOBA against LHP since the beginning of 2014. He also gives me a couple of Phils in the lineup in a plus matchup at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

As you can see, this lineup rocked, even with Cesar Hernandez throwing up an egg.  It obviously cashed in all the the H2H and 50/50 contests I entered.  I threw it into the $3 Moonshot, and it cashed there as well.  The Yankess went apeshit and scored 21 runs on the night so no chance of a big score, but made money nonetheless.  The best play of the night was the pivot/punt play of Geovany Soto, who I was forced to switch in when Wieters wasn't in the lineup.  Him and teammate Abreu combined for a healthy 59 points.

And although I didn't roster him anywhere, I did call Lucas Duda going deep.  Just saying.

NASCAR Lineup Thoughts - Brickyard 400

Been having a tough time with DFS Nascar since DraftKings began running it a couple of months ago.  Still trying to figure out the scoring and which drivers to target on a weekly basis.  With the series heading to my home track in Indianapolis this week, I'm hoping to change my fortunes and return some positive results.  Going to target place differential with my drivers this week and hopefully rack up some points that way. Running two lineups this week with three core drivers, and playing mostly cash games.  Here's who I got.

THE CORE THREE
I really like Kyle Busch for the win this week.  He's been running so strong lately with three wins in his last four races.  He also won the Xfinity race yesterday at the track.  In ten career starts at the Brickyard, he has notched eight top-10 finishes, incuding a series-leading five straight.  Busch has finished 2nd in two of the last three races at Indy, and his 98.5 driver rating is 6th best for the track.

Brad Keselowski and Ryan Newman are almost must-plays based on their starting positions.  Keselowski will roll off 31st and Newman starts 43rd after his car failed the safety inspection after qualifying.  Both have legitimate shots at turning in a top-10 performance, which would rack up a ton of place differential points along the way.  Kesolowski has had a rough season to date, but his team is turning it around lately.  And his owner, Roger Penske, is a legend at the track.  Newman is a former winner here, has finished in the top-15 in six of his last seven trips to Indy, and owns the 4th best driver rating.  Both will be highly owned, but in a cash game, I don't really care.

THE RINGERS
Jeff Gordon is my favorite driver, and the Brickyard is one of his most successful tracks, and that's saying a lot based on his illustrious career.  He has five wins here with an average finish of 8.4 in 21 starts, which include 17 top-10s.  He rolls off the grid 19th, allowing him the opportunity to rack up some of the sought after place differential points.  This will be his final trip to Indy, and there could be no better place for him to pick up a win to clinch his place in the Chase in his final season.

Kasey Kahne makes the lineup for the same reason Keselowski made it - place differential.  Kahne rolls off 27th.  He led 70 laps and finished 6th last year.  His Hendrick power will have him moving towards the front right from the start in this one.  Love him this week.

THE PUNTS
The theme this week is position differential, and that's how Cole Whitt and Brian Scott come into the fold.  Whitt rolls off 41st and is dirt cheap at only $6,700.  If he can work his way into the top-25, he'll pay off his salary and then some.  Same goes for Scott, who starts 36th.  I really like his chances to move forward today, running with RCR power.  Again, if he can crack the top-25, he'll pay off his pricetag.

MLB Lineup Deconstruction - SAT 7/25/15

Ten game slate tonight on Draftkings.  With Chris Sale pitching, he's a lock for the lineup, even at his $13,400 price.  He has an insane 31.4K% over the past two years and he's topped 30 DK points in eight of his last ten games.  Carlos Martinez is the preferred option as my SP2, but his $9,300 pricetag may be a little to high to pair with Sale.  Most likely I'll go down to one of two value plays, either AJ Burnett at home against the Nationals at $8,800 or Ian Kennedy in Petco against the Marlins at $7,300.  Kennedy is the more likely of two as he's #1, less expensive, and #2 in a better park, and #3 in a better matchup.

When targeting hitters, my first choice is to plug and play Jose Altuve against a LHP.  He's pretty much an automatic selection for me when going against a lefty depending on his price.  And at $4,600 he's affordable.   The other player I would love to roster tonight is Todd Frazier facing a lefty in Coors Field, but at $5,900 he's gonna be hard to afford.

One guy that stands out because of his price is Corey Dickerson.  At only $3,300, he seems like a steal to me playing in Coors.  I know he's facing a tough pitcher in Johnny Cueto, and I normally wouldn't target anyone against the Cincy right-hander, but Dickerson owns a .408 wOBA against RHP since the beginning of 2014.  He came back from injury last night and had two hits and a walk.  He's routinely priced in the mid $4000 range, so it's hard to pass him up so cheap.

I also like Adrian Beltre at his $3,500 pricetag.  He's obviously not having a typical Beltre type of year,.but he's been hitting better of late with a .400 wOBA over the past two weeks.  He also has good success against Hector Santiago, going 7-for-22 with two doubles and three HRs.  Santiago is also an extreme fly-ball pitcher so I like Beltre's chances to go deep tonight.

One pitcher I'd like to target is Rubby DeLaRosa, who has been getting murdered by left-handed bat this year to the tune of a .389 wOBA and .902 OPS.  I initially think of Adam Lind, but I don't like his $4,500 price, especially with some of the names that are cheaper than him at 1B.  The other guy I like is Gerardo Parra.  He's been really playing well this year and owns a .497 wOBA over the past two weeks.  His price is only $4,100 so he makes the lineup for sure.

So with four guys locked into the lineup, it's time to fill in around them.  I'm thinking I want to get Mike Trout back in the lineup tonight as he did well for me last night.  His price is high at $5,000, but for him that price is actually a bargain.  He routinely is priced in the mid $5000s.  Gonna try to pair him with Albert Pujols, who is also under-priced in my estimation at only $4,100.  I also like Kole Calhoun at only $3,700.  I like their matchup against Yovani Gallardo, who has been getting lucky lately with a SIERA a full three runs higher than his ERA over the last month.

The final two positions I'm gonna have to hunt for value.  At catcher, the guy that stands out is Kurt Suzuki.  I don't roster him often, but at only $2,600 facing a lefty in CC Sabathia, he seems like the best option.  Plus he's had some success against Sabathia in the past, launching four homers against him in his career.  That leaves only $2,100 left for a SS.  Fortunately, Tyler Saladino is that price and hitting 2nd in the White Sox lineup tonight against Carlos Carrasco and the Indians.  Don't love the matchup, but at that price and hitting that high in the lineup, he's an obvious fit.  That leaves me just enough to roster Kennedy as my 2nd SP and the lineup is locked and loaded.

Another solid effort as the lineup cashed in all of it's entries.  Both Sale and Kennedy had solid performances and both picked up wins.  The offense was led by none other than Tyler Saladino with 15 points.  Gotta love it when your punt play is your leading scorer.  Trout and Pujols both had nice games as well.  Dickerson, Parra and Beltre all dissappointed.  So that's a three day cash streak.  Looking to keep the streak alive tomorrow!!

MLB Lineup Deconstruction - FRI 7/24/15

Let's start with the pitching.  I wanted to try and fit Max Scherzer into the lineup, but his $14,000 pricetag was too steep to afford.  I liked the other "Aces" going tonight in Corey Kluber, Chris Archer and Felix Hernandez.  Decided to pay up for Kluber in what I perceived as the best matchup of the three against the White Sox.  He started out pretty good, but fell apart in the 7th and ended up being tagged with six earned runs.  His 11.75 points were a disappointment.  Decided to go with Andrew Cashner as my 2nd pitcher at home against the Marlins.  As I mentioned in my First Thoughts, I always have Cashner (and teammate Tyson Ross) on my mind when pitching at home in Petco.  His $7,200 salary allowed me to pay up on a couple hitters I wanted to target.

So with the pitchers locked in, I wanted to start by locking down a couple guys I had targeted earlier in the day.  At 1B I loved Joey Votto at Coors.  His $5,700 salary is more than I usually like to spend for a cash game, but I knew I could find some value with a near full slate of games tonight.  The second guy I locked in was Ian Kinsler.  I mentioned he has been on fire in the First Thoughts, and at $4,400 he seemed like a good bargain.

A couple other guys peaked my interest.  At 3B, Evan Longoria was a steal in my estimation at only $3,200.  He had killed opposing pitcher Chris Tillman in the past, launching six HRs against him in 40 ABs.  I also really like how Kole Calhoun has been swinging the bat lately, and I liked his history against Colby Lewis.  I also really liked Carlos Gonzalez as a lefty against Andrew Desclafini in Coors.  At catcher, Jonathan LuCroy stood out, hitting 2nd in the lineup, at only $3,500 against a LHP in Patrick Corbin in Arizona.

I still needed to find some cheap bats.  First I thought of Ryan Raburn at $2,200, hitting cleanup against a LHP in Carlos Quintana.  Another option was Scott Van Slyke at $2,400, also hitting cleanup, against Jon Niese.  Either guy would do along with Calhoun and Cargo.  At SS, I liked Ruben Tejada at $2,600, who has been swinging a hot bat of late.

I realized I had enough to pair Cargo with Tulowitski, so I was off Tejada.  But when I put Tejada back in the lineup, I realized I had enough money to pay up for Mike Trout at $5,500.  Again, I don't usually pay that much for a player in a cash game, but the thought of both Votto at Coors and Trout against Colby Lewis was too good to pass up.  So Cargo and Tulo were out, Tejada and Trout were in and the lineup was locked down.

This lineup really fired on all cylinders.  Kluber was over 20 points at one point but fell apart in the 7th.  Cashner went a solid seven innings and with the win actually scored 23.55 points.  All of the bats came through with the exception of Calhoun and Van Slyke.  My main targets of Votto and Kinsler put up 20 and 19 points respectively.  Trout went yard and led the team with 21 points.  Thank goodness because Carlos Gonzalez, who was in the lineup until the last minute, launched two homers and had a huge night.  But Tulo did nothing, so the tandem of Tejada and Trout actually outscored Cargo and Tulo.

That's two nights in a row topping the 130 point barrier.  Not bad.  Will be looking to keep it up in tomorrow's full slate.

MLB Lineup First Thoughts - FRI 7/24/15

Fourteen game slate tonight on Draftkings, with a game at Coors as the Rockies host the Reds.  Definitely will want some exposure to that game.  Anthony DeSclafani has a career wOBA of .349 against lefties (with a 25% line drive rate, a 39% fly ball rate, and a 35% hard-hit rate).  This puts Charlie Blackmon, Carlos Gonzalez and Ben Paulson on the radar.  Blackmon's price tage of $5,300 may price him out of the lineup, but Gonzo at $4,400 and Paulson at only $3,100 look like must plays.  I also like Troy Tulowitski at only $4,400, but DeSclafani is markedly better against righties than lefties, so I'm on the fence with him.

On the other side of the diamond, the Reds square off against arguably the worst SP of the night in Eddie Butler, who has allowed a .439 wOBA to lefties and a .365 wOBA to righties.  I love, love, love Joey Votto in this spot as he's been raking lately (five multi-hit games in his last six).  His $5,700 pricetag may be hard to squeeze into the lineup but I'm gonna try to make it happen.  Todd Frazier would be awesome, but at $5,800 he's gonna be impossible to fit in along with Votto.  Marlon Byrd is reasonably priced at $4,300 playing in Coors.  Other options are Eugenio Suarez at $4,300.  I like Jay Bruce too, but I can't see paying his $5,100 pricetag.

The other hitter who I'm initially targeting is Ian Kinsler against Rick Porcello and the Red Sox.  Kinsler is on fire lately going 10 for his last 20 with four 2Bs.  His wOBA is .553 over the past two weeks.  He's also got a solid history against Porcello with six hits in 10 ABs.  I like to ride Kinsler while he's hot.

Another team I'd like to target tonight is the Angels at home against Colby Lewis and the Rangers.  Lewis is one of the most hittable starting pitchers in baseball, and he has a terrible history against a few of the Angels hitters.  Unfortunately, Mike Trout, who is 9-for-24 with four XBHs against Lewis, is probably priced out of the lineup at $5,500.  Albert Pujols at $4,300 is an option (9-for-20 with two HRs against Lewis).  The best value and the guy most likely to be in my lineup is Kole Calhoun.  He's favorably priced at only $3,900, he's been hitting well of late with a .511 wOBA in the past 14 days, and he's got a great history against Lewis, going 9-for-19 with four XBHs.

With a few solid targets for the lineup, I'm gonna try and fit Max Scherzer and his $14,000 into one of the pitcher spots, but it may be hard to do if I want to roster Votto.  Several good options though on the slate.  Corey Kluber at $11,500 looks like a good option, but he's been hit around in the past by a few of the White Sox batters (Abreu 9-25 2 HR, Cabrera 7-15 double and a triple, Eaton 6-23 three doubles, two triples).  Chris Archer gest the Orioles at home with a $11,400 pricetag.  Over the last month of play, Archer has a 3.10 SIERA with a strikeout rate of 27.0%. He draws a favorable matchup tonight against the Orioles, who have the third-highest strikeout rate against right-handed pitching this season.  And Felix Hernandez at $10,700 gets a home date against the Blue Jays.  While I don't normally target a pitcher against the high-powered Jays offense, King Felix has pretty much stymied all of the Toronto bats in the past, holding current Jays players to a .212 BA and .647 OPS in 165 career ABs.

A couple of lower-priced options I have my eye on are Andrew Cashner at $7,200 at home against the Marlins and Tim Cooney at $6,600 at home against the Braves.  Cashner is always a guy I look at when he pitches at Petco, especially in a plus-matchup like the one he has tonight against Miami.  Cooney is a considerable favorite pitching at home against a Braves team that is ranked 29th on the season in wOBA against LHP.

MLB Lineup Deconstruction - THU 7/23/15

Seven game slate tonight on Draftkings.  The lineup below is not the type of lineup I would typically construct for my cash game ventures.  Although I know the advantages of stacking when it comes to MLB lineup construction, I typically will go no more than two or three players from one team for my cash lineups.  When putting this particular lineup together, I kept falling upon Dodger bats and went that direction.  Probably not the smartest move as the game had a low total, and Bartolo Colon is not a pitcher I would normally target with SIX opposing batters.

When I first looked at the salaries, I was initially going to fade Clayton Kershaw because his salary was so high at $14,500.  I locked in on Tyson Ross right away at home against a lackluster Marlins squad.  Ross is always on my radar when he pitches in Petco.  For my second pitcher I initially decided to save the $5,800 and go with Trevor Bauer and his $8,700 salary.  This would allow me to load up on some bats for the lineup, and I liked Bauer's matchup against the White Sox at home.

The one hitter I knew I wanted was Jose Altuve.  Anytime he's going up against a LHP he's on my radar.  Altuve has a .408 wOBA against lefties since the beginning of 2014.  And when he's facing one like Wade Miley, who has given up a .332 wOBA against RHB this season, he's almost a must-play, depending on salary.  At only $4,400, he's a lock for the lineup tonight.  I originally had Altuve paired with SS Carlos Correa, although I wasn't thrilled with Correa's $4,700 pricetag.  The other batter I really wanted to get into the lineup was Adrian Gonzalez.  He's been killing it since the All-Star break, and he's had good success against Bartolo Colon in the past, going 9-21 with a pair of doubles and a pair of homers.

Once I had Gonzalez and Altuve locked in, it was time to build around them.  Problem was, there was nobody else standing out in the short slate of games.  So I pivoted off Bauer and did the smart thing and paid up for Kershaw.  Of course, rostering Kershaw means finding value in your lineup.  And the guys that stood out to me were all Dodgers.  Hence, the rare cash game six player team stack was born.

Andre Ethier was the first Dodger to catch my eye at his paltry $2,800 salary.  He was batting cleanup and been playing well lately.  Also loved Justin Turner at $3,400.  Rostering him gave me the 2-3-4 in the LA lineup.  Looking at the salaries, I liked the value Yasiel Puig brought to the table at only $3,200.  Puig was batting sixth, so I decided to roster the fifth place batter, Yasmani Grandal.  As much as I usually hate rolling out big stacks like this in cash games, this stack just seemed to be falling into place.  I knew I was limited budget wise for my final two roster spots, but then noticed Kike Hernandez, batting seventh in the Dodger lineup, was priced at the bare minimum of $2,000, leaving me with $3,400.  That gave me 2-7 in the LA lineup.  Last spot went to Jung Ho Kang to play 3B in a good matchup against Doug Fister.

As you can see by the final score, not a bad result.  But almost 40% of the overall total was contributed by Kershaw and his 49.45 points alone.  Dude was a beast and carried a perfect game into the 7th inning.  Good thing I got "smart" and put him back in the lineup.  Trevor Bauer had a rough go against the ChiSox, allowing six earned in six innings (although he did fan nine batters).

Jose Altuve hit a late HR to cap a huge 32 point night for him.  The Dodger stack was a complete dud, except for maybe Gonzalez and his three singles.  Ethier and Hernandez both threw up goose eggs.  Puig's only contribution was a sacrifice fly.  The six Dodgers combined fell 13 points short of Aluve's point total for the night.  Kang also contributed a good game with a pair of doubles.  All in all, a good result, but pretty much saved by the decision to roster Kershaw after initially planning on fading him, and locking in on Altuve in a prime matchup.  Those two alone accounted for 61% of the total team total.