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.
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Tonight
We have a moderate 8-game slate ahead of us to start the week. On the pitching side of things, we are led by Carlos Carrasco, Zack Greinke, Kenta Maeda. On the hitting side of things, the teams with the highest implied run totals are as follows: Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Let’s dive into the slate:
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Free Squares
- Kenta Maeda SP LAD ($9,900)
- Kenta Maeda and the Los Angeles Dodgers will take on the San Francisco Giants tonight at AT&T Park. The Dodgers are currently -215 favorites and the Giants have an implied run total sitting at right around 3.30 runs. Maeda has had a very solid and consistent year and has a great matchup tonight against the Giants. He has the following advanced stats on the season: .310 wOBA given up to lefties, .279 wOBA given up to righties, 25.2 K%, 6.0 BB%, .304 BABIP, 28.5 Hard%, 3.78 SIERA, and a 3.87 xFIP. He will face the Giants tonight who have been averaging right around 3.98 runs per game this season. The Giants have the following ranks against right handed pitching on the season: 25th in BB%, 25th in K%, 30th in OPS, 30th in ISO, 30th in wOBA, and 30th in wRC+. Maeda is a bit pricey tonight but I do not see how he doesn’t reach value tonight against a poor Giants team. I like him as either an SP1 or an SP2 tonight on Draftkings.
- Chris Iannetta C ARI ($3,600)
- Chris Iannetta and the Arizona Diamondbacks will take on the Colorado Rockies and Pitcher Kyle Freeland tonight at Chase Field. The Diamondbacks have an implied run total sitting at right around 5.22 runs. Iannetta has been one of the better hitting catchers this season and he draws a great matchup against Kyle Freeland tonight. He has the following advanced stats against left handed pitchers on the year: 13.3 BB%, 22.7 K%, .945 OPS, .265 ISO, .372 BABIP, .404 wOBA, 145 wRC+, and a 27.7 Hard%. He will take on Kyle Freeland who has the following numbers against right handed batters this season: 1.05 HR/9, 12.4 K%, 10.0 BB%, .293 BABIP, 4.99 xFIP, and a 30.1 Hard%. This is a great matchup, price, and park factors set up for Iannetta tonight. I love him as a one off catcher and you can definitely load up a Diamondbacks stack tonight.
- Domingo Santana MIL OF ($3,800)
- Domingo Santana and the Milwaukee Brewers will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates and pitcher Steven Brault tonight at Miller Field. The Brewers have an implied run total sitting at right around 5.12 runs tonight. Santana has had a solid year in the outfield for the Brewers this year. He has the following advanced numbers vs. left handed pitchers on the season: 14.2 BB%, 24.6 K%, .872 OPS, .211 ISO, .351 BABIP, .368 wOBA, and a 123 wRC+. He will face Steven Brault tonight who has the following numbers against right handed hitters: 10.5 K%, 9.0 BB%, .415 BABIP, 6.57 xFIP, and a 37.7 Hard%. The Brewers are one of my favorite stacks of the night and that definitely includes Santana tonight. Load him up as an affordable outfielder with a ton of upside.
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Short slate to start the week. The MLB season is winding down so let’s take full advantage of each slate. 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 Brewers outfielder Domingo Santana tonight! Good luck Army!
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