The first thing out of you are thinking after reading this headline, “What the hell is Athletes Unlimited?” It is a new startup league finishing up its first successful softball season. With the cancelation of the Olympics, there was an opening for all the world-class softball players. Just like AU stepped up for the players, DraftKings has stepped up for degen nation in the last weekend of play. If you want to play in the Athletes Unlimited DraftKings Free Play this weekend, here are your picks to help you win. As always, when you signup on DraftKings use code SGP for a bonus.
Athletes Unlimited DraftKings Picks
Position of the Top Scorer
You have to understand just how Athletes Unlimited is scored to win this pick. There are three categories of points that athletes can win points in, Stats, MVP, and Wins. Wins is not just a whole game win, but also winning an inning. There are points on the line in each inning, each at-bat, and each ball put in play. So far this tournament has been all about the veteran pitcher Cat Osterman. Osterman is the most experienced player in the AU field and the most dominant pitcher so far. She has a 400 point lead on her next closest rival and is in prime position to win the whole thing.
Although Osterman seems like she will win the whole contest, it is not a guarantee that she will win the weekend. Corner-infielder Jessica Warren has been hitting at a torrid pace and seems to just win innings and games with ease. If Warren gets hot and puts a few out of the park, she could steal the weekend. Similarly, Aleshia Ocasio would be more of a threat to win the overall tournament if she had not missed a week of contests. Ocasio is a hitting pitcher so she has double the chances to win the weekend. The pick here is to take a pitcher to win the week in points, but if you are looking for a contrarian play, corner-infielder is a good bet as well.
First Player Drafted Win MVP Points
The pick here is a resounding “Yes.“ There are three games over the course of the weekend and multiple opportunities to win MVP points each game. Top picks Haylie Wagner, Sahvanna Jaquish, Danielle O’Toole, and Jessica Burroughs have all won MVP points throughout the tournament. This is an easy pick and not worthy of a contrarian play.
Team Captain to win MVP Points
Just like with the first draft pick to win MVP Points, hit yes and do not even question it. Multiple MVPs per game and four team captains who have been killing it all tournament. Just pick “Yes” and keep on moving.
Over 15 Home Runs on the Week
So far this tournament there have been 69 home runs hit by all players combined, an average of 2.8 per game. The thing to keep in mind is that these athletes have been seeing the same pitching each weekend and the homerun numbers each weekend have been creeping up. Take the over on this one and enjoy the dinger-fest all weekend. Pick “Yes” on more than 15 home runs over the weekend.
Any player hit 3 or more Home Runs
Other than the first week of play, there has been at least one athlete to hit three home runs each weekend. In week two, Erika Piancastelli hit three over the fence, and in week three Hannah Flippen hit three as well. Last week, there were two athletes who hit 3+ dingers. Jaquish and Haylie McCleney had four and three home runs respectively. There have also been 10 athletes who have hit two home runs on a weekend as well. This is an easy lock for the Athletes Unlimited DraftKings pool, pick “yes” on a single athlete to hit three or more home runs.
No-Hitter this Week
So far over the course of the whole season, only Osterman has managed to throw a shutout game. She has two shutouts to her name so far, but with the hitting getting better and better each week, this is an easy pick to go “no” on. Although Osterman has been dominant throughout the tournament, she cannot keep these hitters off anymore. Pick “No” on a no-hitter this weekend, there is just too much firepower on all the rosters.
Team Warren beats Team Osterman
Last week, Team Warren throttled Team Osterman 11-0, but Cat Osterman was not on the mound. This is the premier game of the week taking place Monday at 8:00 pm and Osterman should be on the mound for her squad. Over the course of the tournament, Osterman has a 1.02 ERA over her 8 starts and has been absolutely dominant. She has won almost every pitching duel, except one against Haylie Wagner last week. This week, Team Warren has two solid pitchers in Danielle O’Toole and Kelly Barnhill, but they have not been the force Osterman has been. If Barnhill and O’Toole can come out dealing, Team Warren has a shot. Pick Team Osterman to win in the last game of this Athletes Unlimited season.
Extra Innings Game
It is highly unlikely given all the talent on the field that a game goes to extra innings. So far over the course of this tournament, there have been no games go to extra-innings yet. There have been some nailbiters, but this seems like the weekend that we finally get some free softball. Pick yes on extra-innings this weekend.
Player Hits a Grand Slam
There will be plenty of balls leaving the yard this weekend and there have been plenty of base runners and offense all tournament. With all the firepower on the field, and all the hitters starting to figure the pitchers out, this one feels like another lock. 28 players have hit a home run so far this tournament so there is power up and down the lineup. This is an easy “yes” pick again with dangerous hitting starting to emerge in the last two weeks.
Player Caught Stealing
With all the power to go around, you might not expect there to be thievery on the basepaths. However, there have been 41 attempted steals and 35 successful steals over this season. With an average of 10.2 steal attempts per weekend and 1.5 caught stealing per weekend, this is another lock. With world-class athletes all over the field, this is another easy pick to make. Wrapup your Athletes Unlimited DraftKings picks by picking “yes” on a player caught stealing.
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