TJ's Top Tournament Takes for MLB DFS on FanDuel - September 20th
TJ Zwarych is one of the top up-and-coming Daily Fantasy Sports players in the world, and recently qualified for FanDuel’s World Fantasy Baseball Championship Live Final in Chicago. Not only is he a long-time RotoGrinders member with multiple 6-figure DFS wins, but he is also the Editor-In-Chief of TV & Film media outlet the Agents of Fandom and host of their podcast. A few times per week, TJ will give his top tournament takes for FanDuel to help you take down tournaments.
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September 20th
We have a beautiful 11-game slate on this fine Tuesday evening with no weather concerns to cloud our view. With Coors Field on the slate alongside some clear pitching chalk, there may be some straightforward cash game plays but we will need to find ways to differentiate in tournaments.
Top Tournament Pitchers on FanDuel
Luis Castillo and Charlie Morton project as by far the top two pitching options on the slate. Since we can only roster one on Fanduel, my lean in single entries, if I’m going with one of the two, it’s Castillo. He has struck out 8+ in 4 of his last 6 games and gets the more favorable pitching matchup between the two. I’m fine with eating the Castillo chalk in tournaments, and if I’m MMEing I’ll definitely still get to Morton as well. However, there are still a few other options I like in tournaments to differentiate from the field.
Dylan Cease 10.6K – The matchup against the Guardians is pretty awful, with a 17% strikeout percentage across the projected lineup. Thankfully, this combined with the high price tag is keeping the field away from playing any Cease. At a sub-10 % projection, it’ll be incredibly easy to get at least double the field on Cease if multi-entering. If Cease can get through Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor unscathed, his 31.8% strikeout rate should be able to dominate the back half of the lineup. I don’t think Castillo and Morton will fail, so if I’m pivoting, I need to target upside. Dylan Cease is one of the best pitchers in the American League and has flashed a 55+ point ceiling twice over his last three games.
Nestor Cortes 9.5K – Cortes is in the polar opposite situation as Dylan Cease tonight. Although he’s also a talented pitcher the field isn’t getting too often tonight, he has a terrific matchup against the Pirates, but we’re concerned about the performance. Cortes started the year incredibly well, fell off, went to the injured list and is now working his way back. He made it back up to 65 pitches in his last start en route to 5 innings and 7 strikeouts, and we can hopefully expect that to ramp up to the 80-90 pitch range tonight. This wouldn’t be all that enticing if it weren’t for the matchup. While Cortes isn’t as opposing to right-handed batters as the opposite side of the plate, the projected Pirates lineup strikes out 27.1% of the time, the highest clip on the slate. You’re hoping and praying he squeaks out an efficient night for 6 innings and that quality start. However, if he makes it there, it may come along with double-digit strikeouts.
Carlos Carrasco 9.1K – I wouldn’t want to touch him in single-entry stuff, but Carrasco is a high-risk, high-reward play in tournaments tonight. The Brewers lineup boasts some incredible power, however, most of their top power bats also come along with 25% strikeout rates. Carrasco flashed his ceiling last game against a weaker Pirates lineup, and although we can’t expect the road to be as easy tonight against a powerful Milwaukee team, he still has the ability to put up a score up to par with the previous 4 pitchers mentioned. He’s projected to be played by the field at the lowest rate among all the named pitchers in the article and he also is tagged with the lowest price. If you’re feeling extra ambitious tonight, take some shots on Carrasco.
Top Tournament Stacks on FanDuel
Surprise, surprise, the two top stacks on the board tonight are in Coors Field. Outside of Coors, the Dodgers and Braves also project very well, however, DFS players tonight are seeing that and are all over both of these teams tonight. While the Giants are my highest projected option, especially considering their prices, our first exploitable spot in tournaments tonight comes with the home team.
Colorado Rockies – At this stage in the day, the Rockies are projected to be rostered at an incredibly low rate, and I don’t really understand why. John Brebbia isn’t showing any skills I’m worried about, as he’s getting hit incredibly hard by left-handed batters while both sides are getting the ball up in the air. Ball + In Air + Coors Field = Home Runs. That’s the only fancy math I need to like this spot. Charlie Blackmon been hitting the ball better as of late with Ryan McMahon holding down the leadoff spot, and this is my favorite stack of the night as it’s being significantly underplayed at this stage of the day.
It would be doing a disservice today to continue to write up other teams portrayed in the same way as how I view the Rockies. From a raw points perspective, I like the Giants, Dodgers and Braves just as much as the Rockies. Where Colorado separates themselves tonight, is the field isn’t getting to them nearly as much as these other top-tier teams. I plan to differentiate at pitcher in my lineups that use chalky stacks, while my favorite option is to pair Castillo with a full Rockies stack, with some mini stacks of these other highly projected teams. In MME builds, my tier two tonight consists of the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angles and Kansas City Royals. Outside of these stacks, I wouldn’t be getting much more than just a 5% sprinkle of each, specifically paired with my Luis Castillo and Charlie Morton builds.