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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Recap
For our pitcher free square we had Michael Wacha who ended up with 17.50 DKFP which was good enough for 2.5x value! For our infielder free square we had Salvador Perez who ended up with 0 DKFP. For our outfielder free square we had Denard Span who ended up with 22 DKFP which was good enough for 5.6x value!
Tonight
We have a huge 12 game slate ahead of us for this Wednesday night. On the pitching side of things, we are led by Carlos Carrasco, Gio Gonzalez, and Jose Quintana. On the hitting side of things, the teams with the highest implied run totals are as follows: Colorado Rockies, Boston Red Sox, and the San Francisco Giants. Let’s dive into the slate:
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Free Squares
- Lance McCullers SP HOU ($8,300)
- Lance McCullers and the Houston Astros will take on the Seattle Mariners tonight at SafeCo Field. The Astros are currently -160 favorites and the Mariners have an implied run total 4.23 runs. McCullers has had an interesting season so far as he was once one of the top pitchers in the league and then he was plagued by injuries. He has the following advanced stats this season: .259 wOBA given up to lefties, .317 wOBA given up to righties, 26.0 K%, 7.9 BB%, .331 BABIP, 26.2 Hard%, 3.32 SIERA, and a 3.05 xFIP. He will take on the Mariners who have been averaging right around 4.65 runs per game this season. They have the following ranks against right handed pitching this season: 25th in BB%, 17th in K%, 19th in OPS, 21st in ISO, 16th in wOBA, and 6th in wRC+. I think McCullers has a solid outing tonight and keeps the Mariners in check tonight. I love him as an SP2 option on Draftkings tonight.
- Nick Hundley C SFG ($3,300)
- Nick Hundley and the San Francisco Giants will take on the Colorado Rockies and pitcher Kyle Freeland tonight at Coors Field. The Giants have an implied run total sitting at right around 5.44 runs. Hundley has had an okay year and he draws a great ballpark and pitching match-up tonight. He has the following advanced stats against left handed pitchers: 7.2 BB%, 21.7 K%, 1.101 OPS, .303 ISO, .416 wOBA, and a 161 wRC+. He will take on Kyle Freeland and he has the following numbers against right handed batters on the season: .340 wOBA, 1.07 HR/9, 12.5 K%, 10.0 BB%, 5.00 xFIP, and a 34.4 Hard%. The Giants have one of the highest implied totals of the night and Hundley has solid numbers against left handed pitching. I am going to lock Hundley in at the catcher position on DraftKings tonight.
- Curtis Granderson LAD OF ($4,000)
- Curtis Granderson and the Los Angeles Dodgers will take on the Arizona Diamondbacks and pitcher Taijuan Walker tonight at Dodgers stadium. The Dodgers have an implied total sitting at right around 4.62 runs. Granderson has had a nice season so far and gets a favorable match-up at home tonight;. He has the following numbers vs. right handed pitching: 14.9 BB%, 23.7 K%, .799 OPS, .258 ISO, .339 wOBA, 111 wRC+, and a 34.4 Hard%. He will go up against Taijuan Walker who has the following numbers vs. left handed batters: .317 wOBA, 1.46 HR/9, 21.2 K%, 11.0 BB%, 4.87 xFIP, and a 34.4 Hard%. Granderson makes a great play as a one off in the outfield tonight on Draftkings and I like a lot of the lefties on the Dodgers team as well tonight.
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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 Giants catcher Nick Hundley tonight! Good luck Army!
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