Searching For the Free Square
In the game of Bingo, every card gets an empty spot in the middle called the “Free Square”. Since it’s the middle square, the free square is essentially the ideal spot from which to build lines around. In DFS we define the Free Square as the player to build your line-ups around. Generally, this player represents the closest we can find to a sure thing for the slate. This column is all about trying to identify the free square for a particular slate. We are going to be searching most often for one SP, one OF, and one IF. The type of player we are looking for that allows us to load up the rest of our lineup with high salary studs. Occasionally it will be a high priced stud in a great spot, The goal of this column is to use quantitative data to identify the free square for the days Daily Fantasy Baseball slate. Each slate we will take a deep look at three or four players which represent outsized value on the day’s slate of games and choose the one which best represents the top value and floor play to earn the title of the slates Free Square of the night.
Want to try a free month of DFS Army VIP Membership? Find out how!
Recap
For our pitcher free square last night we had Eduardo Rodriguez who ended up with 10.60 DKFP which was right around 1.5x value. Fr our infielder free square we had Rougned Odor who ended up netting 10 DKFP which was good enough for 2.9x value! For our outfielder free square, we had Nick Markakis who ended up with 10 DKFP which was good enough for right around 2.5x value.
Tonight
We have a real short 5-game slate ahead of us for this Thursday main slate. On the pitching side of things, we are led by Luis Severino, Aaron Nola, and Jameson Taillon as the highest priced arms of the night. On the hitting side of things, the teams with the highest implied run totals are the Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Let’s dive right into this short slate:
Want to try a free month of DFS Army VIP Membership? Find out how!
Free Squares
- Jameson Taillon SP PIT ($9,500)
- Jameson Taillon and the Pittsburgh Pirates will take on the St. Louis Cardinals at home at PNC Park tonight. Taillon and the Pirates are currently -134 favorites and the Cardinals have an implied run total sitting at right around 4.23 runs. Taillon is having a pretty good season so far and he is coming off of two phenomenal back to back starts. He has the following advanced numbers on the season: .364 wOBA given up to lefties, .327 wOBA given up to righties, 22.4 K%, 7.1 BB%, .361 BABIP, 29.4 Hard%, 3.96 SIERA, and a 3.65 xFIP. He will take on the Cardinals tonight who have been averaging right around 4.66 runs per game this season. They have the following ranks against right handed pitching on the season: 9th in BB%, 15th in K%, 10th in OPS, 19th in ISO, 9th in wOBA, and a 13th in wRC+. Taillon is by no means a cheap play but pitching is such a dumpster fire on this short slate so I am going to go with a guy who I think is solid and can still exceed value tonight. I do not mind rolling Taillon out as an SP1 or SP2 on Draftkings tonight if you can afford him.
- Jason Kipnis 2B CLE ($3,900)
- Jason Kipnis and the Cleveland Indians will take on the Minnesota Twins and pitcher Aaron Slegers tonight at Target Field. The Indians have an implied total sitting at right around 5.14 runs per game. Kipnis has been having an average season so far but he draws a solid matchup tonight in Minnesota. He has the following numbers vs. right handed pitching on the season: 7.1 BB%, 19.9 K%, .688 OPS, .176 ISO, .257 BABIP, .319 wOBA, 79 wRC+, and a 31.5 Hard%. He will face minor leaguer Aaron Slegers tonight. There is not as much detailed information about Slegers but here are his numbers in AAA this season: 17.9 K%, 5.0 BB%. and a .311 BABIP, As of right now he is just an average AAA pitcher and Vegas predicts the Indians will score some runs on him tonight. I love Kipnis as a one off and do not mind rolling out a Indians stack against a pitcher making his major league debut.
- Jose Pirela OF SDP ($3,000)
- Jose Pirela and the San Diego Padres will take on the Washington Nationals and pitcher Edwin Jackson tonight at Petco Park. The Padres have an implied run total sitting at right around 4.36 runs. Pirela has had a decent year and has been particularly hot this last month. He has the following numbers vs. right handed pitching on the season: 6.4 BB%, 18.6 BB%, .888 OPS, .234 ISO, .351 BABIP, .373 wOBA, 132 wRC+, and a 33.6 Hard%. He will face Edwin Jackson who has the following numbers vs. right handed batters on the season: .368 wOBA, 2.20 HR/9, 15.1 K%, 8.2 BB%, .269 BABIP, 5.30 xFIP, and a 26.8 Hard%. I absolutely love Pirela’s matchup tonight and think he is a great one off play in the outfield. I actual do not mind a Padres stack as anything goes on a 5 game slate and Jackson doesn’t have the greatest numbers and gives up a ton of home runs.
(Sign up for a DFS ARMY VIP MEMBERSHIP today!)
Kind of a dumpster fire of a slate but I do not think it as a bad as I initially thought. I hope we narrowed down a few places or players we can target tonight. We have tons of tools and content available at the DFS Army this year for MLB so don’t miss out on all of those opportunities to make some money. Click the link “DFS Army VIP Membership” and sign up and join the Army today! With my free square pick, I am going to go with Padres outfielder Jose Pirela tonight! Good luck Army!
Do you want access to the most advanced Daily Fantasy Basketball MLB tools in the industry? How about the chance to talk player picks and lineups with our MLB DFS Pros and like-minded players? DFS Army VIP Members get all of that PLUS access to our best in the industry projections and optimization tools. Go to DFS Army VIP membership and join the Army today! You won’t find a better deal or a better DFS team to join!
