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 lineups 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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Recap
For our pitcher free square last night we had Chris Archer who managed to net 18.50 DKFP which was good enough for right around 2.3x value. For our infielder free square, we had Mike Zunino who had 3 DKFP which was good enough for 0.5x value. Last but not least was our outfielder free square Christian Yelich who had a great performance by managing to net us 14 DKFP which was good enough for right around 3.2x value!
Tonight
We have a solid 11-game slate ahead of us for Tuesday night. On the pitching side of things, we are led by Chris Sale, Robbie Ray, and Jon Lester. On the hitting side of things, the teams with the highest implied run totals are as follows: the Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Let’s dive into the slate:
Free Squares
- Brad Peacock SP HOU ($9,800)
- Brad Peacock and the Houston Astros will take on the Chicago White Sox tonight at Minute Maid Park. The Astros have are currently -300 favorites and the Chicago White Sox have an implied run total sitting at right around 3.50 runs. Peacock has had a pretty solid year this year and has an amazing matchup against the White Sox at home tonight. He has the following advanced stats on the season: .332 wOBA given up to lefties, .238 wOBA given up to righties, 30.4 K%, 10.7 BB%, .304 BABIP, 27.6 Hard%, 3.71 SIERA, and a 3.66 xFIP. He gets to face the White Sox who have averaged 4.41 runs per game this season. They have the following ranks against right-handed pitching on the season: 28th in BB%, 7th in K%, 27th in OPS, 23rd in ISO, 27th in wOBA, and 22nd in wRC+. This is a great matchup for Peacock tonight and he has a ton of upside potential tonight. I like him as either an SP1 or an SP2 on Draftkings tonight.
- Yasmani Grandal C LAD ($3,000)
- Yasmani Grandal and the Los Angeles Dodgers will take on the Philadelphia Phillies and pitcher Jake Thompson tonight at Citizens Bank Park. The Dodgers have an implied run total sitting at right around 5.24. Grandal has been one of the best offensive catchers this year and he draws a great matchup against Thompson on the road tonight. He has the following advanced stats against right-handed pitchers on the season: 7.4 BB%, 27.5 K%, .770 OPS, .225 ISO, .294 BABIP, .325 wOBA, 102 wRC+, and a 38.6 Hard%. He gets the matchup against Jake Thompson tonight who has the following numbers against left-handed batters on the season: 2.49 HR/9, 18.5 K%, 7.8 BB%, 5.31 xFIP, and a 34.3 Hard%. This is a great matchup for Grandal tonight and he has a relatively low salary tonight. I love him as a one-off at catcher and load him up in a Dodgers stack tonight.
- Josh Reddick OF HOU ($4,200)
- Josh Reddick and the Houston Astros will take on the Chicago White Sox and pitcher James Shields tonight at Minute Maid Park. The Astros have an implied run total sitting at right around 6.00 runs. Reddick has been a solid offensive player this year and draws a juicy matchup against James Shields tonight at home. He has the following numbers against right-handed pitchers on the season: 8.2 BB%, 12.1 K%, .870 OPS, .189 ISO, .331 BABIP, .364 wOBA, 131 wRC+, and a 33.0 Hard%. He gets to face James Shields tonight who has the following numbers vs left-handed batters on the season: 3.02 HR/9, 16.9 K%, 12.0 BB%, .276 BABIP, 6.04 xFIP, and a 32.5 Hard%. This is a great matchup for Reddick and all of the Astros lefties tonight. Fire him up as a one-off in the outfield and he is a must in Astros stacks tonight.
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Free Square of the Night
Good sized slate tonight and one that I think is perfect for tournaments. Hopefully, I narrowed down some guys to help start your research. 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 Astros pitcher Brad Peacock tonight! Good luck Army!
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