Daily Fantasy Baseball: Mr. Fantasy’s Daily Diamonds for July 5

Daily Fantasy Baseball By Dave Del Grande @DaveDelGrande TIP OF THE DAY Try something new. Let’s be honest: It’s early on the day after a holiday. America’s big birthday party, no less. You really don’t feel like diving head-first into a high-stakes, big-jackpot contest. Then don’t. Ever tried a head-to-head game? Sunday would be the perfect day for it. Lookie here: FantasyAces is offering up a bunch of them for a wide variety of prices. What do you know about the competition? Sometimes you don’t know anything at all. That’s generally not a good thing. On this particular day, however, it comes down to this: Who’s feeling the effects of Saturday’s celebration more: You or the other guy? For a couple of bucks, I believe it’s worth your while to find out. MUST PLAY Mike Bolsinger, P, Dodgers (FantasyAces $5,600). If you haven’t pitched Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke against the Mets the last two days, it had to be because of the hefty price. That’s not an issue Sunday, and you absolutely have to take advantage. But this isn’t all about the price, which, by the way, is nice. Bolsinger has compiled a 0.91 WHIP at home this season, the best among all of Sunday’s starters. Yep, that’s even better than what you’ll get from the Pirates’ Gerrit Cole (FantasyAces $7,750), and you’ll save upward of $2,000 at the same time. Told you the price was nice. And let’s not forget about Sunday’s opponent, the Mets. They stopped hitting well before Kershaw and Greinke limited them to one run on nine hits over 14 innings on Friday and Saturday. Bolsinger, now fully recovered from a bout with food poisoning last week, has to be one of your pitchers Sunday. MUST AVOID All Athletics. Maybe Josh Reddick was on to something. You did hear the left-handed-hitting outfielder’s criticism of Billy Beane the other day, right? In a nutshell, Reddick was disappointed because he’d been told by manager Bob Melvin that he’d be starting against a left-handed pitcher, only later to find his name conspicuously absent from the lineup card. He blamed an intervention from the platoon-happy Beane. No doubt, Beane not-so-subtly will want a lot of righties in the lineup against Mariners left-hander Mike Montgomery on Sunday, and that would be a mistake. The young standout has dominated right-handed hitters in his six starts, allowing a Clayton Kershaw-esque .447 OPS. Note to Billy: Reddick should be playing Sunday. Then again, it probably won’t matter. Montgomery has been tough on lefties (.617 OPS), too. Come to think of it, Montgomery (FantasyAces $5,550) against a team that’s hit .239 against left-handers all season would be a nice pitching complement to the aforementioned Mike Bolsinger. HISTORY LESSON Angels first baseman Albert Pujols (.916) and outfielders Matt Joyce (1.012) and Mike Trout (1.258) all have high OPS numbers in their careers against the Rangers’ starter Sunday, right-hander Colby Lewis. But those marks are dwarfed by teammate Kole Calhoun’s ownage of Lewis. Calhoun is 8-for-16 with two doubles, a triple and a home run in his career against Lewis. That’s a 1.438 OPS to go with a .500 batting average. I can’t recommend stacking Angels on Sunday as Lewis has an impressive 0.99 WHIP at home this season. But you’d be wise to find room in your lineup at least for Calhoun (FantasyAces $4,600). TODAY’S STACK PACK Astros right-handed hitters vs. Red Sox lefty Eduardo Rodriguez. Stack Packs work best when you tie together players of complementary skills. That’s exactly what you’ll get if you put Astros high-average middle infielders Jose Altuve (FantasyAces $5,500) and Carlos Correa (FantasyAces $5,000) alongside slugging first baseman Chris Carter (FantasyAces $4,900). Altuve and Correa should be on base all day long against Rodriguez, whose home WHIP (1.43) and June ERA (4.81) are a bit on the high side. Altuve brings a 12-game hitting streak into the game. He’s been especially hot of late, having gone 7-for-13 in July. Correa isn’t far behind. He’s ripped 14 hits in his last 10 games and four in 10 at-bats this month. When they’re on base Sunday, Carter is bound to drive them in. That’s because he’s due for a home run — he’s hit one in alternating starts his last six games, with Saturday having been one of his homerless days. They bat second, third and fifth for a team that leads everyone in home runs and total bases against left-handed pitching. The Astros figure to add to those impressive figures Sunday. ULTIMATE SLEEPER Tommy Pham, OF, Cardinals (FantasyAces $3,000). I instructed you Saturday to jump on a prospect as soon as he demonstrates he’s figured out major league pitching. Pham appears to have done Saturday. After an 0-for-3 debut the night before, Pham doubled, stole a base and scored twice out of the leadoff spot against the Padres on Saturday. I expect bigger and better things Sunday, when he faces Ian Kennedy, a rare pitcher with OPS numbers over .800 against both lefties (.828) and righties (.900). Pham is priced at rock bottom, meaning even meager production will make him a worthwhile investment. I expect a whole lot more than that. INJURY ALERT The Astros’ aforementioned numbers against left-handed pitching figure to take a hit with outfield George Springer out of the lineup with a wrist injury. Fortunately, Jake Marisnick (FantasyAces $4,300) is ready to return from a disabled list stint caused by a hamstring issue. Marisnick adds a right-handed bat to the Houston attack just when it needs it. He’s a Stack Pack candidate Sunday if you’re scared away by Chris Carter’s .197 batting average. Here’s one advantage Marisnick, who hit .379 in April when given a similar opportunity, gives you over Carter: He comes significantly cheaper.

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About Mr. Fantasy Dave Del Grande didn’t invent fantasy sports–it only seems that way. Dave was the first to have a weekly column devoted entirely to fantasy sports published in a daily newspaper, The Oakland Tribune, the birthplace of fantasy football. He also was the first to have a fantasy-sports column syndicated nationally by Universal Press. He authored the original “Ask Mr. Fantasy” column for ESPN.com and also helped launch the highly successful fantasy endeavors of USA Today Sports Weekly and NFL.com. In the meantime, Dave was an award-winning NBA basketball reporter, covering the Golden State Warriors, and continues to cover the Warriors and San Francisco Giants for The Sports Xchange. To comment on this post please visit our popular posting forums and don’t forget to check out our newest website, HHFantasy, to play in some of our fantasy sports contests where thousands of dollars are given away on a daily basis,