Billy Burns Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Should we pick on Martin Perez this evening? He tends to fare a bit better at home but he'll pitch in a very favorable park for hurlers, and the spacious setting will allow him even more leeway than usual. Perez does a very good job of keeping the ball on the ground (GB% over 50.0), but he still allows plenty of hard contact to RH bats (34.6%) and his GB% has actually gone down some from last season. His FIP and xFIP are right around 5.00 against RH bats so it's very possible that the A's continue their hot hitting from last night. If that occurs, it's likely that Danny Valencia (.542 wOBA, .419 ISO, 51.4 hard%) will be a big reason why. Khris Davis is coming off of a monster performance and remains in the clean-up spot behind Valencia, making him a fine GPP target, especially if you pair him up with a combination of Valencia, Burns, Lowrie, Butler or Phegley. All of the RH bats are squarely in play tonight.

Tyler Duffey has allowed 11 ERs and 18 hits over his last 12.1 IP, but his peripherals were only poor in one of those starts. While contact has been a bit harder this year (16.3 Hard-Soft% vs 11.2% last year), his 14.0 K-BB% is more than respectable and continues the pace he set last season. He's also pitched into the 7th inning in four of his last five starts with 5.2 innings his low mark. He faces a below average Oakland lineup in a pitcher friendly park and could serve as a lower cost compliment on two pitcher sites. The A's have no real above average LH bats with Stephen Vogt dropping to a 102 wRC+, .146 ISO vs RHP this year, which might be another factor in Duffey's favor. Danny Valencia now had a 105 wRC+ and just .100 ISO vs RHP this year as well. The one scary bat here is Khris Davis, who has just a 105 wRC+ vs RHP this year, but a .259 ISO. He has a 212 wRC+ and 62.5 Hard% over the last week and costs less than $4K on either site. A struggling Billy Burns has been dropped to 9th with Jed Lowrie (115 wRC+, .066 ISO vs RHP this year) being moved up to 2nd with everyone else jumping a spot behind Valencia.

Mike Pelfrey has somehow turned a -5.6 K-BB%, .367 BABIP, and 16.7 HR/FB into a 3.68 ERA with estimators over two runs higher. He has allowed a .382 wOBA to LHBs last year and is definitely a pitcher we want to target tonight with the team projected to score the 2nd most runs tonight (4.8) even with a game at Coors. The prime target should be Chris Coughlan (124 wRC+, .220 ISO vs RHP since last season) at a low price in the two slot. Stephen Vogt (125 wRC+, .205 ISO vs RHP) is also usually a popular catcher choice at a similarly low price, while Josh Reddick (134 wRC+, .205 ISO vs RHP) plays the OF and costs a bit more, but performs equally well. Billy Burns (95 wRC+ vs RHP) isn't a great bat, but is the most likely to steal a base and score some runs ahead of the pack.

Stephen Vogt has been a streaky hitter, but when he making good contact, he is viable option against right-handed pitching. Vogt and his 0.353 wOBA versus RHP in 2015 will face Drew Hutchison in Toronto. Hutchison was actually worse against right-handed batters in 2015, but still posted a wOBA of 0.325 against LHB. Pairing Vogt with Billy Burns, Mark Canha, or Josh Reddick batting 1,2, and 3 would not be a poor strategy.

Kris Medlen isn't an intimidating force to line up across from, and his strong 2013 season seems like a distant memory at this point. He's struggled to stay healthy since then but has found a home at the back of the Royals rotation, although if he continues to serve up a high number of walks and can't go deep into games it'll be a matter of time before he's replaced. The Royals bullpen is one of the best in baseball which does slightly limit the A's upside, but the price tags on the 1-6 hitters are almost laughably low in this spot. Billy Burns and Coco Crisp ($2,500 and $2,400 on FanDuel) both offer nice speed upside at the top of the lineup, especially considering Salvador Perez hasn't been very good at neutralizing runners (.305 CS% last season). Josh Reddick is the most expensive of the A's starters at $3,100 on FanDuel, and his upside against RHP makes him a solid GPP target, although there are safer options in that range (Piscotty and Grichuk for example). Danny Valencia slots into the clean-up spot and although we prefer to target him against LHP, he's still in a favorable spot against Medlen considering Valencia's .374 wOBA/.271 ISO against RHP last year. Stephen Vogt and Chris Coghlan are both strong dollar per point targets. Evan Gattis is the preferred play at catcher over Vogt given that Gattis is not only cheaper but is also facing a HR prone righty. Coghlan is priced at the bare minimum on FanDuel, and while he'll get pulled if KC goes to a lefty, it's tough to argue with his .355 wOBA/.212 ISO against RHs last year.