Fantasy Baseball Today: DFS plays and a top waiver wire pickup for Monday
Fantasy baseball analyst Fred Zinkie reveals his top waiver wire add for Monday's slate, as well as a couple of daily fantasy picks.
Pickup of the Day
Jeffrey Springs (SP/RP, Tampa Bay Rays, 33 percent rostered)
Have the Rays pitching gurus done in again? Springs is 29 years old and had virtually no starting experience until late April, but he has been effective as a starter (2.35 ERA) after tossing 10.1 scoreless innings as a reliever. Springs has thrown 11.2 innings across his past two starts, which should silence concerns about volume. And he has walked a batter in just one of his five starts.
I would grab him for a favorable Wednesday start at Texas and then evaluate him after that outing.
DFS Plays of the Day
Freddie Freeman (1B, Los Angeles Dodgers, $22)
For the second week in a row, I love Freeman as part of a Dodgers stack in a Monday matchup against a right-handed starter. This week he will face Zach Thompson (5.50 ERA, 1.54 WHIP) and a mediocre Pirates bullpen. The lefty-swinging Freeman has long fared best against righties, and in his brief career, Thompson has struggled against southpaw sluggers.
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Drew Rasmussen (SP, Tampa Bay Rays, $41)
For his salary, Rasmussen is by far my favorite starter on a small Monday night slate. Rasmussen has been excellent this year, collecting five wins while posting a 2.68 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP across nine starts. The right-hander should succeed against a Rangers lineup that ranks 27th in the Majors with a .637 OPS vs. righties.
Need-to-Know Notes
· Tommy Pham (OF, Cincinnati Reds) is in the midst of a three-game suspension due to a combination of a lack of emotional control and a poor understanding of basic fantasy football strategies.
· Nick Pivetta (SP, Boston Red Sox) won a fourth straight start by allowing one run over six innings. The right-hander owns a 1.59 ERA and a 0.76 WHIP this month.
· Victor Robles (OF, Washington Nationals) stayed hot by going 2-for-4 with two stolen bases on Sunday. Fantasy managers love to dream about Robles’ potential, and he has produced seven hits, a homer, six RBIs and four steals in his past four games.
· Sonny Gray (SP, Minnesota Twins) left his Sunday start with right pectoral soreness. An IL stint seems likely.
· Tim Anderson (2B, Chicago White Sox) left Sunday’s game with a groin strain and is headed to the IL.
· Royce Lewis (SS, Minnesota Twins) was called up on Sunday morning but left the game later that day with knee pain and will be placed on the IL.
· Jose Berrios gave up six runs over 2.1 innings on Sunday. The right-hander has struggled for much of the season and should be benched until he figures things out.
