DraftKings are running a baseball Friday Mega Perfect Game so we have come up with five selections to include in your roster for this evening’s matches. The fantasy website has decided to increase its partnership with Major League Baseball. The company will offer the official daily fantasy game for MLB. DraftKings will offer daily games like today’s and a unique fan experience.
Disney Invest in DraftKings
Walt Disney Co. will be investing $250 million in the fantasy sports operator that will value the company at about $900 million. There will be a large advertising spend on ESPN, the sports broadcaster partly owned by Disney. This deal will not prevent FanDuel advertising on ESPN but DraftKings will have access to premium positions. In a move tieing in both deals DraftKings will become an official sponsor of showpiece MLB matches and events.
Yahoo Enter Fantasy Sports Market
Multinational internet corporation Yahoo are also getting more involved in fantasy sports. The company will be competing with DraftKings and FanDuel who are the two most prominent fantasy websites in the United States. Yahoo will be counting on existing search business to get traffic to its games. With fantasy sport and sports betting markets expanding due to more relaxed regulations others could be following Yahoo’s lead in entering the fantasy sports space.
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Friday’s Selections
DraftKings are offering $50K to the winner of their Mega Perfect Game. Pitchers will win points based on the following categories: inning pitched, strike out, win, complete game, complete game shut out and no hitter. Points will be lost in these aspects of pitching: earned run allowed, hit against, base on balls against and hit batsmen. Hitting statistics for pitchers will not be counted. Due to the fact that Mega Perfect is a day game there will be no trading of players. The final results are determined at the discretion of DraftKings.
To get an edge and make selections based on sound criteria a player’s Total Runs Average (TRA) should be calculated. For any pitcher this figure represents the total average number of runs a team concedes when a particular pitcher is playing for them. So, here are five selections for today’s roster:
Trevor Bauer (Cleveland Indians at Seattle Mariners) has been playing major league baseball for three years and his earned run average is more than one point better this season than for the whole of his career. That suggests this player is going places in the context of pitching at the highest level of the sport of baseball. He has almost a five total runs earned advantage over Taijuan Walker who is first up pitching for Seattle this evening. Bauer has conceded just 19 runs in 56.2 innings pitched which gives the Indians an edge over the Mariners later today.
John Lackey (St Louis Cardinals hosting Los Angeles Dodgers) is now in his 13th season playing major league baseball and is one of the most experienced pitchers in the league. He gave up three runs from six hits in five innings in his side’s loss to the Royals last Saturday night. That game was abandoned before the completion of the sixth because of heavy rain and the game against the Dodgers will be Lackey’s next opportunity. Mike Bolsinger is pitching for LA and he is at the other end of the experience spectrum as this is only his second season in MLB.
Sonny Gray (Oakland Athletics hosting New York Yankees) and his side have the lowest total runs earned mark of the teams playing tonight. Home advantage can be key to determining the outcome of the match when the Yankees are in town. Gray has two year’s experience at this level and is another pitcher whose 2015 ERA is much better than the figure for his entire career. Gray was in the bullpen on Tuesday when an injured ankle held up well. His next game will be this Friday after he was put on the injured list as a precaution. He has an edge over Chris Capuano pitching for New York.
Hector Santiago (Los Angeles Angels hosting Detroit Tigers) is in his fifth season as an MLB pitcher. He has 3-3 win-loss record this season and an earned run average of 2.47 which is almost one below his career mark. He has conceded 17 runs in 54.2 innings pitched this season and has a decent record in allowing batters to reach base. His TRA advantage over Anibal Sanchez for Detroit is more than three points and that edge can be significant in securing the win. In Santiago’s latest game he allowed three runs from seven hits in 6.2 innings when his side lost to the Red Sox last Sunday.
Cole Hamels (Philadelphia Phillies hosting Colorado Rockies) is playing his tenth season in MLB and has a career win-loss record of 113-86 which makes him one of the most competent pitchers of the last decade. His overall record of allowing batters to walk is almost identical this year to his overall measure. He has given up 23 runs from just over 66 innings this season and those runs have been scored from 51 hits. Last Saturday he allowed just one run in eight innings and that record has helped him to record four wins from his last four starts. He has a one point TRA edge over Chad Bettis who will be pitching for Colorado tonight.
