Second card is in and it's a different team. Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm and Austin Wells are all scratched — three left-handed bats — replaced by Amed Rosario, Max Schuemann and Ali Sanchez, all right-handed, against the lefty Cristopher Sanchez. Goldschmidt moves to leadoff. Sanchez's projection went up to 25.51 anyway. And Ben Rice is still sitting at 4.1%.
⚠️ LINEUP UPDATE — three Yankees scratched since the first card
- OUT since the earlier lineup: Cody Bellinger ($8,000, was batting 4th), Jazz Chisholm Jr. ($7,800, was 7th) and Austin Wells ($3,800, was 9th). All three bat left-handed. If you built off the first version of this playbook, those three are no longer valid — Chisholm was a top-5 captain and Wells was in every build.
- IN: Amed Rosario ($5,200) batting third, Max Schuemann ($5,800) seventh, Ali Sanchez ($3,400) ninth. All right-handed.
- Order shuffle: Goldschmidt 3rd → leadoff. Dominguez 6th → cleanup. Volpe 1st → 5th. Grisham 5th → 6th.
- Still out: Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Ryan McMahon, Paul DeJong, Seth Brown, Spencer Jones.
- Every build below is rebuilt on this card. Austin Wells was the $3,800 salary key in the previous version; Ali Sanchez ($3,400) replaces that role.
Game Theory — The Platoon Swap That Backfired
New York's move is legible: Cristopher Sanchez is a left-handed pitcher, so they benched three left-handed bats and replaced them with righties. Sanchez now sees seven right-handed hitters and two lefties instead of a lefty-heavy card.
His projection went up anyway — 23.80 to 25.51, with safety climbing 70 to 72. That's the whole story of this slate. The platoon edge New York bought cost them more in quality than it gained in handedness: Bellinger, Chisholm and Wells were replaced by a 7.93-projection Rosario, a 6.70 Schuemann and a 4.52 Ali Sanchez. Against the best arm on any board today, in a lineup already missing Judge and Stanton and implied for 3.3 runs.
What this means practically: the case for captaining Sanchez got stronger, not weaker. He's now nearly eleven projected points clear of the next-best play on the slate. At 50.8% owned he is chalk you should simply accept — the alternative is captaining something with a third of his projection to buy leverage you can get more cheaply in the five FLEX spots.
The field chased the new names
Ownership moved fast and badly:
- Amed Rosario is now the most-owned player on the slate at 52.9% — a $5,200 bat with a 9.70 ceiling and a leverage score of 2. He was scratched from the earlier card entirely; the moment he appeared batting third, half the field jammed him. He is the single worst ownership-to-upside play in the game.
- Ali Sanchez at 31.6% — a $3,400 ninth-place catcher with a 6.19 ceiling, also leverage 2. You may need him for salary, but understand a third of the field made the same call.
- Paul Goldschmidt 49.5% with an 8.88 ceiling, now leading off. Slightly less owned than before, still a bottom-tier ceiling at top-tier ownership.
- Gabriel Rincones Jr. 44.6%, 9.48 ceiling, leverage 2 — unchanged, still the Phillies salary-relief chalk.
Add it up: Rosario, Goldschmidt, Rincones and Ali Sanchez carry 178 points of combined ownership across four of the five lowest ceilings on the board. That is where the field is spending, and it is why this slate is beatable underneath the obvious captain.
Where the leverage is now
- Ben Rice — 4.1% owned, $9,400, 9.38 proj, 19.44 ceiling, leverage 82. Completely unchanged by the shuffle, and still the highest leverage figure in the pull. Second-best hitter projection and second-best ceiling on the slate, batting second, owned by one lineup in twenty-five. He's a lefty facing a good lefty — that's exactly why he's free, and exactly why he wins the tournament if New York does anything.
- Jose Caballero — 5.9% owned, 13.09 ceiling, leverage jumped 21 → 32. The biggest leverage gain on the update. His ownership fell from 9.0% to 5.9% while the field chased Rosario, and he's a right-handed bat with the platoon edge the field just paid up for elsewhere. Best value leverage play on the board.
- Trent Grisham — 11.5% owned, 14.62 ceiling, leverage 18. Third-best hitter ceiling on the slate, dropped to sixth in the order, still barely owned.
- Trea Turner — 21.5% owned, 9.64 proj, 21.50 ceiling. Still the best hitter on the board by both measures, still owned less than Schwarber, Harper, Rosario and Rincones. Unchanged and unchanged in its wrongness.
Top 8 Captains — Ranked (Updated)
1. Cristopher Sanchez — PHI SP LHP
$11,800 · CPT $17,700 · proj 25.51 · ceiling 39.30 · floor 5.87 · 50.8% owned · safety 72 — stronger than he was six hours ago. At 1.5x that's roughly 38 projected points with a ceiling near 59. New York's righty swap didn't dent him; it raised him. Captain him in cash, single-entry, and the clear majority of tournament builds and spend your creativity elsewhere.
2. Trea Turner — PHI SS R
$8,600 · CPT $12,900 · proj 9.64 · ceiling 21.50 · 21.5% owned · leverage 16 — the best bat-captain, unchanged. Highest hitter projection and highest hitter ceiling in the game, leading off for a -205 favorite, owned below four worse plays. If you're captaining a bat, it's this one.
3. Ben Rice — NYY 1B L leverage 82
$9,400 · CPT $14,100 · proj 9.38 · ceiling 19.44 · 4.1% owned · leverage 82 — the tournament-winner. Second-best projection and ceiling on the slate at one-in-twenty-five ownership, and the lineup shuffle left him completely untouched batting second. The bet is that New York beats a 3.3 implied against an excellent lefty and Rice is the one who does it. Low probability, enormous payoff, and almost nobody is there with you.
4. Jose Caballero — NYY SS R leverage 32 ↑
$7,000 · CPT $10,500 · proj 7.53 · ceiling 13.09 · 5.9% owned · leverage 32 (was 21) — the update's biggest riser and my favourite value captain. His ownership fell to 5.9% while the field chased Rosario, and he's a right-handed bat batting eighth — the exact platoon profile New York rebuilt its lineup around. A $10,500 captain tag is the cheapest of anyone worth captaining, which frees enough salary to hold Sanchez and Turner behind him.
5. Kyle Schwarber — PHI OF L
$9,800 · CPT $14,700 · proj 9.10 · ceiling 12.39 · 35.0% owned — the safe Phillies bat-captain. Third-best hitter projection, batting second for the favourite, with the power to end a game on one swing. The 12.39 ceiling is modest for the price and 35% is full retail — a floor captain, not a separator.
6. Trent Grisham — NYY OF L
$7,400 · CPT $11,100 · proj 6.94 · ceiling 14.62 · 11.5% owned · leverage 18 — third-best hitter ceiling on the slate at 11.5% owned. He slid to sixth in the order which cost him a little projection, but the ceiling and the ownership gap are intact. The middle option between Rice's extreme leverage and a captain you can defend out loud.
7. Brandon Marsh — PHI OF L
$7,600 · CPT $11,400 · proj 8.30 · ceiling 12.37 · 29.3% owned — cleanup for the heavy favourite with the fourth-best hitter projection. Ownership crept up from 25.9% to 29.3%. Middle-of-the-road: keeps you on the right side of the game without paying Schwarber money, but it won't separate you.
8. Alec Bohm — PHI 3B R
$6,800 · CPT $10,200 · proj 7.01 · ceiling 14.35 · 24.3% owned — the value captain. Second-cheapest captain tag worth using, fourth-best hitter ceiling, batting fifth for the favourite. Right-handed against a Yankees staff that's leaning left. Construction value — captaining him lets you fit Sanchez, Turner and Rice together.
🚫 Captains to avoid entirely
Amed Rosario (52.9%, 9.70 ceiling) is now the worst captain option on the board — the most-owned player in the game with the fourth-lowest ceiling. Paul Goldschmidt (49.5%, 8.88), Anthony Volpe (28.5%, 7.32 — lowest ceiling of any starter) and Ali Sanchez (31.6%, 6.19) round out the group. Captaining any of these means paying 1.5x salary for a play whose best case is roughly 10–15 points. Will Warren stays off the captain list too: a 1.42 floor at 1.5x salary ends your slate in the first inning.
Top 8 FLEX Plays (Updated)
| Player | Pos · Team | Salary | Proj | Ceil | Own% | Lev | Why FLEX |
|---|
| 1. Cristopher Sanchez LHP | SP · PHI | $11,800 | 25.5 | 39.3 | 50.8 | 20 | Mandatory whenever a bat is your captain. Eleven more projected points than anything else. |
| 2. Trea Turner R | SS · PHI | $8,600 | 9.6 | 21.5 | 21.5 | 16 | Best hitter projection and ceiling in the game, leadoff for the favourite, still underowned. |
| 3. Ben Rice L | 1B · NYY | $9,400 | 9.4 | 19.4 | 4.1 | 82 | 19.4 ceiling at 4.1%. Untouched by the shuffle. Your single biggest differentiator. |
| 4. Jose Caballero R | SS · NYY | $7,000 | 7.5 | 13.1 | 5.9 | 32 | Leverage rose 21→32 as ownership fell to 5.9%. Righty bat with the platoon edge. |
| 5. Alec Bohm R | 3B · PHI | $6,800 | 7.0 | 14.4 | 24.3 | 8 | Fourth-best hitter ceiling at a mid price. The Phillies bat that isn't chalk. |
| 6. Trent Grisham L | OF · NYY | $7,400 | 6.9 | 14.6 | 11.5 | 18 | Third-best ceiling on the board at 11.5% owned. |
| 7. Justin Crawford L | OF · PHI | $5,600 | 6.5 | 12.1 | 26.0 | 5 | Cheapest Phillies bat with a double-digit ceiling — salary relief on the correct side. |
| 8. Ali Sanchez R | C · NYY | $3,400 | 4.5 | 6.2 | 31.6 | 2 | The new salary key at $3,400 with Wells scratched — but 31.6% owned on a 6.19 ceiling. A necessary evil, not a play. |
🚫 The FLEX spots to fade
Amed Rosario (52.9%, 9.70 ceiling, leverage 2) and Paul Goldschmidt (49.5%, 8.88, leverage 3). Two of the three lowest-upside bats in the game at the two highest ownership figures on the slate. If you need cheap Yankees exposure, Jose Caballero ($7,000, 13.09 ceiling, 5.9%) and Max Schuemann ($5,800, 10.95 ceiling, 16.6%) both beat them on upside at a fraction of the ownership.
Who To Get Most Exposure To — 150-Max Portfolio
🥇 Cristopher Sanchez — 88-92% exposure
Captain in ~60%, FLEX in another ~30%. The update pushed him higher, not lower — 25.51 projected, 39.30 ceiling, 72 safety against a lineup that just got worse. Roster him almost everywhere. In a 150-max you don't need to be different on every axis, only where it's cheap, and Sanchez is not where it's cheap.
🥈 Ben Rice — 45-50% exposure
Unchanged by the shuffle and still the biggest edge in the portfolio: 19.44 ceiling at 4.1% owned, leverage 82. Roughly 70 of your 150 — captain in ~12-15, FLEX in the rest. Most nights he does nothing; the 150-max structure exists to hold the night he doesn't.
🥉 Trea Turner — 55-60% exposure
Best hitter on the board by projection and ceiling, at 21.5% owned — still less than Rosario, Harper, Schwarber and Rincones. Captain in ~15%, FLEX in the rest. He keeps the portfolio on the right side of the run environment.
➕ Jose Caballero — 40-45% (raised)
Raised on the update. Leverage climbed 21 → 32 and ownership fell to 5.9% while the field chased Rosario. A 13.09 ceiling, a right-handed platoon edge, and a $10,500 captain tag that unlocks the expensive builds. He's the second dart now that Chisholm is scratched.
📉 Hard caps
Amed Rosario — cap at 15% (field 52.9%). Paul Goldschmidt — cap at 15% (field 49.5%). Gabriel Rincones Jr. — cap at 20% (field 44.6%). Ali Sanchez — cap at 30% (field 31.6%, and you may genuinely need the $3,400). Those four hold 178 points of field ownership across four of the five lowest ceilings on the slate. Every entry under the field on them and over on Rice / Caballero / Turner is a lineup that beats the room the moment the game breaks.
Cap-Legal Sample Lineups (Rebuilt On The New Card)
DraftKings Showdown: 1 CPT (1.5x salary and points) + 5 FLEX, $50,000 cap, all builds in a $48,700–$50,000 window. Every player is in the updated lineup — no Bellinger, no Chisholm, no Wells.
🛡️ Cash / Single-Entry — highest floor
#1 — Sanchez CPT, both arms ($49,900 · proj 81.53 · ceiling 115.2 · own 265)
- CPT: Cristopher Sanchez $17,700 · FLEX: Will Warren $10,800 · Paul Goldschmidt $6,600 · Jasson Dominguez $6,200 · Amed Rosario $5,200 · Ali Sanchez $3,400
Highest projection on the board (81.53) — up from 76.81 before the update. Both arms plus the cheap bats. Deliberately the chalkiest build here: it's for cash and single-entry where ownership is irrelevant and you want maximum reliability. Do not fire this in a 150-max — 265 points of cumulative ownership is the field's lineup.
💎 GPP Balanced — max ceiling
#2 — Sanchez CPT, Phillies ceiling ($49,500 · proj 75.06 · ceiling 128.8 · own 202)
- CPT: Cristopher Sanchez $17,700 · FLEX: Trea Turner $8,600 · Alec Bohm $6,800 · Jasson Dominguez $6,200 · Justin Crawford $5,600 · Gabriel Rincones Jr. $4,600
Highest ceiling on the board (128.8). Correct captain, the best bat, the two highest-ceiling mid-priced Phillies, and the cheap bodies that make it fit. Sixty-three fewer ownership points than the cash build with only six less projection.
🎯 GPP Leverage — the one I'd run most
#3 — Sanchez CPT + Ben Rice ($49,900 · proj 76.25 · ceiling 127.9 · own 187)
- CPT: Cristopher Sanchez $17,700 · FLEX: Ben Rice $9,400 · Trea Turner $8,600 · Justin Crawford $5,600 · Amed Rosario $5,200 · Ali Sanchez $3,400
Second-highest projection and a 127.9 ceiling — within a point of the max — while holding Ben Rice at 4.1% and the slate's best bat. This is the largest share of a 150-max portfolio: right captain, right bat, biggest differentiator, and the salary works because Ali Sanchez is $3,400.
🚀 GPP Contrarian — Ben Rice captain
#4 — Rice CPT, the Yankees bet ($49,700 · proj 68.32 · ceiling 120.6 · own 169)
- CPT: Ben Rice $14,100 · FLEX: Cristopher Sanchez $11,800 · Trea Turner $8,600 · Jasson Dominguez $6,200 · Justin Crawford $5,600 · Ali Sanchez $3,400
The tournament-winner if New York does anything at all. You're putting 1.5x on a 4.1%-owned bat with a 19.44 ceiling while still holding Sanchez in FLEX — so a comfortable Phillies win doesn't kill you, and a Rice home run leaves you nearly alone at the top. Lowest ownership of the four builds. Small share of entries; this is what 150-max exists for.
Salary math, verified on the updated card: #1 = $49,900 · #2 = $49,500 · #3 = $49,900 · #4 = $49,700. All inside the $48,700–$50,000 window, all six spots filled from the confirmed lineup, CPT salary = round(base × 1.5), CPT points = base × 1.5.
Bottom Line
New York benched three left-handed bats to get a platoon edge on Cristopher Sanchez and made itself worse doing it — his projection rose to 25.51 and his safety score to 72. Captain him and don't overthink the 50.8% ownership; he's eleven projected points clear of the field. The edge is entirely underneath. The room reacted to the new card by jamming Amed Rosario to 52.9% on a 9.70 ceiling — now the most-owned player in the game — while Ben Rice sits untouched at 4.1% with a 19.44 ceiling and a leverage score of 82, Jose Caballero's leverage climbed to 32 at 5.9% owned, and Trea Turner, the best hitter on the board, still goes at 21.5%. Right captain, radically different underneath.
One-line takeaway: Bellinger, Chisholm and Wells are scratched — rebuild anything you made off the earlier card. Captain Sanchez in most of your 150, then win it underneath with Ben Rice (4.1%, leverage 82), Jose Caballero (5.9%, leverage up to 32) and Trea Turner (best bat, 21.5%), while capping Rosario, Goldschmidt, Rincones and Ali Sanchez — four plays carrying 178 points of field ownership across four of the five lowest ceilings on the slate.