NBA Postseason Best Bets (5/3)
Alex Christenson
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If you’re interested in competing against me and others on Bettle, check out the invite below. I’ll be around each week of the fantasy baseball season. Make sure you import your best roster to compete with mine. Let me tell you about the pros and cons of my squad.
You don’t have to wait until Monday to compete with me. You can sign up today and compete with me May 26-28. Here’s the way my lineup shakes up for the weekend!
Batters
Nolan Arenado is my hottest hitter at the moment. He’s the sixth-best fantasy baseball player over the last two weeks: 19/52, 6 HR, 16 RBI, 10 R and 1 SB. Over the last 14 days, Arenado is hitting .365 with a .393 OBP. The same can’t be said for Taylor Ward, who is hitting .194 over the last two weeks and he lost his job atop the Angels’ lineup. Mike Yastrzemski has also been cold since returning from the IL. He has to stay in the lineup for now as Tyler O’Neill and Eloy Jiménez remain on the sidelines. Power certainly doesn’t exist on my team at the moment and Arenado is my only hitter with more than two homers over the past 14 days. I’m giving Javier Báez two more weeks before I toss him to the curb. He’s actually starting to come around a bit.
Pitchers
I’m not going to lie to you — my pitching staff has upside. Shohei Ohtani has a start at home Sunday against the lowly Miami Marlins. Ohtani has a solid 2.45 ERA over 33 innings at Angels Stadium this season. He has 41 punchouts over that span and opponents are slashing .131/.262/.243 with a .241 wOBA. If you think that’s solid, last year Ohtani rocked a 1.82 ERA in 89 home innings (119 strikeouts). I’d be shocked if the Angels’ superstar didn’t rack up 8+ strikeouts against a Miami squad that ranks 25th in wOBA and 14th in SwStr%.
Hunter Greene is my other high-strikeout pitcher but he’s good for a home run or two. Greene has 69 strikeouts in 50 innings, but he’s allowed eight homers and he coughed up 24 over 125.2 innings last season. The Reds’ ace has a 47% fly ball rate for his career and he’s walking nearly four batters per nine innings. Greene has issued eight walks in his last three starts and he’s given up seven homers over his last four outings. I’m rolling him out in Chicago against the Cubs this weekend, but not with confidence. The Cubs rank sixth in team wOBA and they’re in the top 10 in home runs.
Other starting pitchers I have scheduled to start this weekend included George Kirby at home to Pittsburgh, Charlie Morton at home against Philadelphia and Kevin Gausman on the road in Minnesota.
Let’s play ball.
To make it more interesting, the teams that compete with me and beat me will be featured on Mean Streets, which airs daily on Game+ Network. Sign up and claim your team here.
