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
Recap
Let’s take a look at how our free squares did last night. Our pitcher free square was Bryan Mitchell who ended up with right around -5.35 DKFP which was good enough for right around -1.2x value. Our infielder free square was Justin Smoak who ended up with right around 0 DKFP. Our outfielder free square was Josh Reddick who ended up with right around 9 DKFP which was good enough for right around 2.7x value.
Today
Let’s takes a look at the MLB slate for tonight. The teams with the highest implied run total are the Toronto Blue Jays (5.18), Milwaukee Brewers (5.09), and the Houston Astros (5.06). The highest priced Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, and Chase Anderson. The Highest priced hitters on the slate are Bryce Harper, George Springer, and Mike Trout.
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Free Squares
- J.A. Happ P TOR ($7,900)
- J.A. Happ and the Toronto Blue Jays will take on the Chicago White Sox at home tonight. The White Sox have an implied total sitting at right around 3.82 runs and the Blue Jays are currently -182 favorites. The Rogers Centre was the 21st best hitters park last season. Happ had the following stats on the season so far this year: .236 wOBA given up to lefties, .317 wOBA given up to righties, 22.7 K%, 5.0 BB%, 2.92 xFIP, .302 BABIP, 4.11 SIERA, and 26.7 Hard%. The White Sox had the following numbers against left-handed pitchers last season: 29th in BB%, 18th in K%, 9th in OPS, 19th in ISO, 9th in wOBA, and 5th in wRC+. Happ had a pretty solid season last year and I like his price tonight in a low implied total night for the White Sox. Load him up as an SP2 on Draftkings tonight.
- Devon Travis 2B TOR ($3,100)
- Devon Travis and the Toronto Blue Jays will take on the Chicago White Sox and pitcher Miguel Gonzalez at home tonight. The Blue Jays have an implied total sitting at right around 5.18 runs and they are currently -182 favorites. The Rogers Centre was the 21st best hitters park last season. Travis is likely going to be batting 1st tonight in the batting order. Travis had the following numbers against right-handed pitching last season 1.9 BB%, 19.1 K%, .670 OPS, .158 ISO, .287 BABIP, .282 wOBA, 71 wRC+, and a 32.8 Hard%. Miguel Gonzalez had the following numbers vs. right-handed batters last season. .314 wOBA, 14.5 K%, 8.5 BB%, .271 BABIP, 5.57 xFIP, and a 30.9 Hard%. Travis didn’t have amazing numbers vs. righties last season but he draws a horrible pitcher in the highest implied total game of the night. He will likely bat first and get a ton of fantasy opportunities tonight. Load him up as a cheaper second baseman on Draftkings tonight.
- Joey Gallo 1B/OF TEX ($3,800)
- Joey Gallo and the Texas Rangers will take on the Oakland Athletics and pitcher Kendall Graveman on the road tonight. The Rangers have an implied total sitting at right around 4.18 runs and they are currently +124 underdogs. The O.co Coliseum was the 6th best hitters park last season. Gallo is likely going to be batting 2nd in the order tonight. He had the following numbers vs. right-handed pitchers last season: 14.4 BB%, 35.9 K%, .878 OPS, .350 ISO, .220 BABIP, .364 wOBA, 124 wRC+, and a 46.7 Hard%. He will face Kendall Graveman tonight who had the following numbers vs. lefties: .298 wOBA, 17.3 K%, 7.9 BB%, 4.89 xFIP, and a 32.5 Hard%. Gallo had extreme power numbers last season and we always love his upside. Graveman is an okay pitcher but he did have some struggles with lefties last season. Load Gallo up as either and infielder or an outfielder on Draftkings tonight.
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Free Square of the Night
We have a large slate tonight with some solid tournaments across the industry. I hope I have narrowed down some guys that we can look to target. 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 ultimate free square pick, I am going to go with Joey Gallo tonight! Good luck Army!
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