I have two questions for you.
First I would like to ask you if you have signed up for our $1000 MLB Opening Day Free Roll at FanDuel.com yet? If not, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? All you have to do is click the “Play Now” button below (or click here), create an account, and pick one player at each position from any of the 14 MLB teams in action on Opening Day, April 5th. Just remember to stay within the salary cap. You can track your team’s progress through FanDuel’s live updated stats and at the end of the day, the team with the most points wins! The top 100 contestants will be awarded a cash prize that will be paid out to your account at the conclusion of the day’s games. The top prize is $200.
It’s a great way to kick off the 2012 MLB season, and best of all, IT’S FREE!
Who should I pick as my pitcher for the contest?
At the moment the following pitchers have officially been named as starters for April 5th by their respective teams: Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox; Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers; Justin Masterson, Cleveland Indians; Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies; Erik Bedard, Pittsburgh Pirates; Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals; Ryan Dempster, Chicago Cubs; Johnny Cueto, Cincinnati Reds; Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers.
As for the teams that have yet to name their starters, for now we’ll carry on based on the assumption that the Toronto Blue Jays will be starting Ricky Romero, the Marlins will be starting Josh Johnson, and the Padres will start Tim Stauffer. As for the Braves and Mets, they seem to be toss-ups at this point, so we’ll opt to stay away for the time being.
The highest priced pitchers of the above mentioned are Kershaw and Verlander, who each cost $9,500. As for the lowest priced pitcher, that would be the Padres’ Tim Stauffer, at $5,200. Pitchers earn five points for the win, one point for every strikeout and inning pitched, and they are deducted a point for every earned run allowed. This scoring system makes pitchers the most valuable position on any roster, as a pitcher that goes deep into the ballgame and earns the win could earn your team almost 20 points (to put that into perspective, a player that hits for the cycle and bats in five runs would earn 15 points).
So does this make it worth spending top dollar on your pitcher to ensure you get a good one? Or is it a better idea to try and grab a good deal at the pitching position, while saving yourself some extra cash so that you can create a solid group of hitters? In my opinion, pitching is one area where you have to spend the money if you want to win the money. With that being said, here are my top three pitchers for April 5th’s games.
- Clayton Kershaw, $9,500
- Roy Halladay, $9,000
- Stephen Strasburg, $6,900.
All three of these men are top quality pitchers with favorable match-ups, making them the best bets to pitch deep into the game, record plenty of strikeouts, and earn the win. But with Halladay looking shaky at times during spring training and questions still surrounding Strasburg’s stamina on the mound, I’d opt to spend the dough on Kershaw. Coming off a Cy Young season, the Dodgers’ lefty has look sharp during spring training, recording a 1.47 ERA in 18.1 innings pitched. He is 7-3 against the Padres in his career with a 2.32 ERA and 67 strikeouts, so don’t be surprised to see him sitting down the Padres’ batters one-by-one on April 5th.
Think I don’t know what I’m talking about? Do you think you know more than I do about baseball? Care to prove it? Sign up for the FanDuel Free Roll and see if you can beat my team. I’m “Icisic83.” See you at the top of the standings!