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 Michael Wacha who ended up with 15.90 DKFP which was good enough for right around 2.1x value. For or infielder free square we had J.T Realmuto who ended up with 4 DKFP points last night which was 1.1x value! For our outfielder free square, we had Nick Williams who ended up with 0 DKFP.
Tonight
We have a huge 13-game slate ahead of us for Friday night. On the pitching side of things, we are led by Clayton Kershaw, Johny Cueto, and Gerrit Cole. On the hitting side of things, we are led by the Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondback, and the Baltimore Orioles. Let’s dive into this slate
Want to try a free month of DFS Army VIP Membership? Find out how!
Free Squares
- Mike Leake SP SEA ($7,500)
- Mike Leake and the Seattle Mariners will take on the Oakland Athletics tonight at SafeCo Field. The Mariners are currently -135 favorites and the Oakland Athletics have an implied run total sitting at right around 4.39 runs. Leake has had quite the up and down season all year but I like his price and matchup tonight against the Athletics. He has the following advanced stats on the season: .343 wOBA given up to lefties, .305 wOBA given up to righties, 15.8 K%, 5.4 BB%, .306 BABIP, 32.6 Hard%, 4.27 SIERA, and a 4.0 xFIP. He will take on the Athletics who have been averaging right around 4.41 runs per game this season. They have the following ranks against right handed pitching on the season: 7th in BB%, 3rd in K%, 16th in OPS, 3rd in ISO, 15th in wOBA, and 7th in wRC+. I really think Leake can limit the damage enough tonight and rack up enough K’s to make a solid option at SP2 tonight.
- Chris Iannetta C ARI ($3,500)
- Chris Iannetta and the Arizona Diamondbacks will take on the Colorado Rockies and pitcher Kyle Freeland tonight at Coors Field. The Diamondbacks have an implied run total sitting at right around 5.95 runs. Iannetta has been a solid hitting catcher for the Diamondbacks this season. Iannetta has the following advanced numbers vs, left handed pitchers: 10.4 BB%, 22.4 K%, .994 OPS, .237 ISO, .400 BABIP, 155 wRC+, and a 27.3 Hard%. He gets to take on Kyle Freeland tonight who has the following numbers vs. right handed batters this season: .336 wOBA, 1.10 HR/9, 12.5 K%, 9.9 BB%, 4.96 xFIP, and a 29.6 Hard%. Iannetta has been absolutely mashing lefties and he has a great matchup in a great hitters park tonight. I am going to load up on Iannetta tonight.
- Ryan Braun OF MIL ($3,300)
- Ryan Braun and the Milwaukee Brewers will take on the Washington Nationals and pitcher Tanner Roark tonight. The Brewers have an implied run total sitting at right around 4.87 runs. Braun has been pretty solid all year and the Brewers and draws a solid matchup tonight. He has the following numbers vs. righties on the season: 7.9 BB%, 20.8 K%, .815 OPS, .216 ISO, .344 wOBA, 107 wRC+, and a 38.8 Hard%. He gets to square off with Tanner Roark tonight who has the following numbers against right handed batters tonight: .263 wOBA, 22.1 K%, 6.2 BB%, 3.48 xFIP, and a 24.1 Hard%. Roark isn’t a bad pitcher by any means but I think the Brewers might surprise some people tonight and score a bunch of runs on the Nationals tonight. I love Braun’s cheap salary and potential upside tonight.
(Sign up for a DFS ARMY VIP MEMBERSHIP today!)
We have a really solid slate tonight and a ton of ways we can go in tournaments. In saying that 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 Diamondbacks catcher Chris Ianetta 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!
