lay at the highest level -- | Forum

Position des Themas: Forum-Startseite » User Foren » Allgemeine Fragen
Mitglied
q123 Mai 7 '19
Here are our rankings and analysis to help you set lineups for the second-to-last Sunday of the regular season. Cheap Air Max Free Shipping .PitchingSolidSince the All-Star break, Jon Lester is sporting a nifty 1.46 ERA and 0.91 WHIP with 76 whiffs in 80? innings. This second-half surge has thrust the veteran lefty in contention for his first Cy Young award. Sunday might be the last chance Lester has to make his case in full, since hes likely to be lifted early from his final outing of the season next week. Opposing the Cubs southpaw will be the St. Louis Cardinals in the finale of a weekend set at Wrigley Field. The Redbirds hit lefties hard, but they are extremely strikeout prone in this scenario, making Lester an upside GPP option.While the Cubs are biding their time until the postseason, the Cardinals are fighting tooth and nail to get there. Their de facto ace, Carlos Martinez, is tasked with keeping the vaunted Cubs offense in check while his teammates try to scratch out a few tallies against Lester. As his ownership is apt to be low, theres ample strikeout upside to use Martinez as a contrarian option, especially if the NL Central winners give some regulars the day off.Robert Gsellman might only have two wins, but the job the 22-year-old has done for an injury-riddled New York Mets staff is integral to their wild-card push. The rookie right-hander takes the hill at Citi Field, closing out a weekend set with the Philadelphia Phillies. Gsellman faces a lineup with an above-average strikeout rate against righties, putting him in play both cash and GPP contests.The Jekyll and Hyde nature of Michael Pineda has been discussed quite often in this space over the second half of the season. Sundays date with the Toronto Blue Jays north of the border is the ultimate meeting of high risk with high reward. Of the top offenses, the Jays offer the highest strikeout potential. The upside puts Pineda in play for GPP; just beware that his outing, and your sweat, could be cut short if he struggles.It might be surprising to learn that the Dodgers are the weakest team in the league facing southpaws, at least in terms of weighted on base average (wOBA). This puts the Rockies Tyler Anderson in a good spot, as hell take the hill in Dodger Stadium. Consider Anderson viable in all DFS formats.Taijuan Walker has been tinkering with his mechanics with mixed results. After a complete-game blanking of the Angels, the Blue Jays picked up three runs in 5? innings against the Mariners righty. Since Toronto does at least that to most hurlers, lets call Walker a work in progress. Next up for Walker are the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. The hosts have been scuffling lately, adding Walker to the list of intriguing GPP picks.StreamersEven on the high-profile Boston Red Sox, Eduardo Rodriguez is only owned in 19 percent of ESPN leagues. Granted, its late in the season, which impacts ownership, but still, thats low. Rodriguez is battling Clay Buchholz and Drew Pomeranz for a spot in the playoff rotation and is in a great position to improve his chances against the Tampa Bay Rays. In fact, the combination of low wOBA and high whiff rate against southpaws for Tampa Bay not only makes Rodriguez a great streamer but also puts him in play for DFS.Despite rumors of an innings cap for Brandon Finnegan, the Cincinnati Reds young southpaw will get the ball one more time. If this is Finnegans last start of the season, theres a good chance he will go out on a high note in squaring off with the Milwaukee Brewers. Just be aware that hes not likely to pitch more than five or maybe six frames.Need a win? Joe Musgrove and the Houston Astros face the Los Angeles Angels at Minute Maid Park, where theyll be decided favorites against Daniel Wright.Similarly, Josh Tomlin and the Cleveland Indians host the underdog Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field. Despite losing a couple of their top starters, the Indians are in the thick of things for home field advantage throughout the American League playoffs.Matt Boyd is coming off of his best outing of the season after shutting down the Twins for eight innings, allowing just one run with seven strikeouts. The Detroit Tigers southpaw is in a good spot for another strong outing with the Kansas City Royals in town. The guests have been whiffing versus southpaws, putting Boyd in DFS consideration.AvoidIn what could be the most important day in head-to-head leagues, everyone is in play, depending on the scenario. That said, the three hurlers landing in the avoid range --?Colby Lewis, Braden Shipley and Wily Peralta?--?are all huge risks to ratios. Of the three, Lewis in Oakland is the safest.HittingThe Astros grab the top spot with a prime matchup against Daniel Wright and the Angels. The clash is at homer-friendly Minute Maid Park. In 27 frames, Wright has allowed five homers after surrendering 10 in 83 innings before being summoned by the Halos. The Astros are dangerous versus righties, even without the platoon edge, so dont be shy about building around George Springer, Yulieski Gurriel, Carlos Correa and Evan Gattis.Another hurler with a penchant for allowing the long ball is Braden Shipley, who draws the unenviable task of keeping the Baltimore Orioles under wraps at Camden Yards. Shipleys 1.8 HR/9 does not match up well with the club thats bashed more homers versus righties than anyone. Adam Jones, Chris Davis, Manny Machado, Mark Trumbo, Pedro Alvarez and Jonathan Schoop are all power threats.The Mets draw rookie righty Jake Thompson at Citi Field. The hosts vary their lefty hitters, so be sure to check lineups. The top four is very likely to be Jose Reyes, Asdrubal Cabrera, Yoenis Cespedes and Curtis Granderson, all of whom are in play. Some combination of Kelly Johnson, Michael Conforto, Lucas Duda, James Loney and Alejandro De Aza comprise the better ancillary parts.Wily Peralta has been throwing well for the past month, so a full-on Reds stack is ill-advised. That said, lefties Joey Votto and Scott Schebler are an intriguing ministack or useful as stand-alone options.Similarly, piling on Colby Lewis isnt the most efficient use of resources as the Athletics, as a team, dont have the punch to take full advantage of Lewiss fly ball offerings. However, catcher Stephen Vogt and slugger Khris Davis are in play.Most likely to hit a homer: Sometimes we get fancy and look for an under-the-radar option to feature, but with Shipley being very susceptible to left-handed power, Chris Davis is the chalk play.Most likely to steal a base: Trea Turner has nine pilfers in September and is in a great place to hit double digits, facing a Pirates club that is one of the easiest to run on in the league. Discount Air Max Shoes .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. Cheap Air Max From China .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. http://www.cheapairmaxfromchina.us/ . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. It was a bright, gorgeous November afternoon at Soldier Field and every seat was filled.Chants of USA! USA! rolled across an NFL stadium transformed for one day into the rugby capital of America.The U.S. national team, the Eagles, charged onto the field to battle the All Blacks of New Zealand, the worlds best (and best-known) team. The crowd of 61,500 nearly tripled the record for a rugby game in the U.S.The atmosphere that fall day in 2014 was electric, says longtime U.S. team member Chris Wyles. He could hardly believe it.It was amazing to play at such an iconic stadium in the U.S. and then to have pretty much a packed-out stadium, Wyles says. It was just an awesome experience, and it shows you what kind of support rugby could have in the States. It was incredible. I always say, if you expose American sports fans to rugby, theyll fall in love with it.Unfortunately for the Eagles, it was the best and worst of days. The All Blacks scored early and often, silencing the chants en route to a 74-6 victory. It not only was an example of the potential interest in the sport in the U.S., but also how far the U.S. mens national team must go to compete with the likes of New Zealand or have World Cup success.Yet when the All Blacks return to Soldier Field to play Ireland on Saturday in front of what is expected to be another big crowd -- a day after the Eagles are to play the New Zealand Maori All Blacks at Chicagos Toyota Park and three months after the sports long-awaited return to the Olympics -- the rugby landscape in the U.S. is much different than it was two years ago. Wyles says the game in America is potentially at a turning point.Expansive and massive growthDan Payne, who recently took over as CEO of USA Rugby, is an enthusiastic former player and coach who says hell wake up at 4 a.m. to talk to anybody about rugby.He believes recent developments will add up to big things in the U.S. over the next decade.Were on the cusp of some really expansive and massive growth, he says.To Payne, youth programs are the key to long-term success.For years, the main entry point to rugby was at the college level. Now, USA Rugby is focusing on growth in youth and high school programs. Payne says USA Rugby now has 50,000 registered youth athletes in addition to many more in the 5-12 age bracket who arent registered. The game is now played by 35,000 high school athletes in the U.S., 10 times more than a decade ago.In January, USA Rugby will kick off a new nationwide program to spark youth participation.Were going to use all the energy and momentum and buzz thats been created to gain as much traction as we can and really drag the game forward, he says.Because American kids have plenty of sports options, he says rugby must be introduced before kids start to specialize at age 12 or 13.Of course, some parents may have second thoughts about allowing their kids to play rugby because its a contact sport. Concerns about concussions in American football can carry over to rugby, Payne says, because theres always potential for injury.But he argues that because rugby players dont wear helmets or pads, the game is safer because tackling techniques are different. Players are taught to lead with their shoulders, not heads, in contact. The first couple of years in youth rugby are devoted to teaching safe techniques, Payne says.In fact, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has been a longtime proponent of teaching rugby tackling techniques to his football players as a way to mitigate head injuries.A USA Rugby study of collegiate rugby put the concussion rate at less than half that of football (2.0 to 4.5 per 1,000 player exposures). Another 2014 study put the rate at 2.5. Some other studies put it higher. Its an issue that World Rugby and USA Rugby have been addressing with safety protocols and education programs.Olympic sparkNate Ebner, who played rugby long before he turned to football at Ohio State and became a special-teams ace for the New England Patriots, believes the sports exposure at the Rio Olympics (rugby hadnt been part of the Games since 1924) will funnel kids into the game. He has noted a big jump in participation and skill at the youth and high school levels.You can tell kids are picking up the sport at a much younger age, says Ebner, who was on the U.S. team that finished ninth in Rio, where the fast-paced, seven-a-side version of rugby was played.The inclusion of rugby in the Olympics is massive, says Wyles, also an Olympian. The exposure that rugby gets is fantastic. Its something that kids have watched and seen and gone, Hold on a second, maybe this is a sport I can play.Wyles thinks the game sells itself if kids are exposed to it.Theres a lot of movement, big athleticism, big hits, attacking play, and it all happens one after another, he says. You can go from attack to defense in the space of a second.The impact of better youth programs and morre exposure is also being felt on the womens side. Cheap Air Max Wholesale. Kelly Griffin, captain of the U.S. womens Olympic team which finished fifth in Rio, has been part of the national program since 2006. She has played rugby union, the traditional 15-a-side version of the game, but has been part of the national sevens residence program since 2012.Although most members of the U.S. womens team in Rio didnt start playing rugby until college or later, Griffin cites young Olympians Richelle Stephens, 20, and Lilly Durbin, 17, as proof that high-impact talent is in the pipeline. That shows its growing at the younger level, she says.The U.S. women are thriving in both sevens and 15s, where they rank seventh in the world (the U.S. men are No. 17), and Griffin sees that success as part of a larger trend.With Title IX and how much the U.S. supports women playing sports, it shows not just in rugby but across all sports, she says.Time to go proWhile the game can be grown from the bottom up, it can also grow from the top down. Thats one of the hopes of Doug Schoninger, CEO of PRO Rugby North America, the first fully professional U.S.-based rugby league.PRO Rugby debuted in April -- with teams in Denver, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and Columbus, Ohio -- at what Schoninger believed was just the right time: after the 2015 World Cup and before the Olympics.For the first time, American rugby players have the chance to play professionally without going overseas. In the leagues first year, there were 16 international players (including former All Blacks fullback Mils Muliaina and Italian stalwart Mirco Bergamasco) and more than 100 from the U.S.Ninety-five percent of them had never been paid to play rugby, Schoninger says of the Americans.Its part of American rugby shifting gears toward a more professional approach, Schoninger says. He predicts tremendous growth over the next decade to the point where one big event could light a fire under the U.S. game similar to what happened when Japan registered a huge upset at the 2015 World Cup.Theres no question well have a Japanese moment like Japan, on the game after they beat South Africa, where they played Samoa and a quarter of their country watched, he says. That will happen.By the time the 2019 or 2023 World Cups come along -- and especially if the U.S. bid to host the 2027 World Cup succeeds -- hes certain the country will be primed to take advantage of such a moment.Still plenty of work to be doneSuccess on the sports biggest stage, mens 15s, is the steepest hill to climb. As Wyles noted, he has been in three World Cups and won just one game. U.S. victories on the field havent matched the sports growth here.For now, he cant foresee the Eagles beating the All Blacks.I think were a long way from that, he says. In terms of tangible success on the pitch, the 15s team is going to be something that takes a long time and will be a bit more of a slow burner. I think sevens is something where the guys are almost there anyway. Things can be accelerated much quicker.Japan and Argentina are two nations that have built strong 15s programs in recent years, which gives the U.S. optimism.Ebner, for one, believes 100 percent that the U.S. will one day be at a level with New Zealand, England, Australia, South Africa, Wales, Ireland, France and Scotland at the top of the rugby ladder.Especially with the amount of talent we have in the country, he says. Look at all the amazing athletes that dont make it in the NFL. Imagine if those guys were playing rugby growing up.Payne also notes the potential of athletes from other sports migrating to rugby. If former college football or soccer players express interest, theyre channeled into a fast-track development plan. Mens sevens standouts Carlin Isles and Perry Baker are examples. Isles was a track and football standout; Baker played football in college and professionally in the Arena League.We have crossover athletes that are coming from other sports because theyve seen what Carlins done and theyve seen what Perry Bakers done, two of the guys that are some of the best sevens players in the world, Payne says.As Wyles looks ahead, he knows the U.S. is making progress. But more evolution is needed.The All Blacks are playing, week in and week out, at an extremely high level of rugby in the Super 15 [Super Rugby], whereas some of our guys are amateurs, he says.To illustrate that gap, Wyles points to Mike Petri, a New York teacher who has more than 50 caps with the U.S. national team.A week and a half before he was playing the best rugby team in the world [the All Blacks] -- who are all professional and play at the highest level -- he was teaching in Manhattan at Xavier High School, he says. Thats a clear example of how different the situation is. ' ' '