TJ's Top Tournament Takes for MLB DFS on FanDuel - October 4th
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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October 4th
Our last week of regular season MLB DFS brings us a nicely sized 8-game slate prior to the final day of the season. The Milwaukee Brewers lost their shot at playoffs last night, so we’re down to teams just battling it out for positioning on the final days.
Top Tournament Pitchers on FanDuel
Zac Gallen 10.5K – Of the high-priced pitchers tonight on the board, Gallen is the only one whose team isn’t in the playoffs. This is incredibly relevant, as teams like the Astros and Dodgers have no reason to push their starters prior to their playoff appearances. Gallen shouldn’t be limited in this one and Milwaukee will likely be deflated after being eliminated from playoff contention. While that last part may not be quantifiable, the 24.% strikeout rate in the Brewers’ projected lineup sure is. Should Milwaukee roll out their normal lineup, this is a high-upside spot for Gallen. However, we could end up seeing the Brewers unveiling a watered-down group of hitters tonight due to them being out of the playoffs.
Michael Lorenzen 8.3K – This one feels gross, but hear me out. Gallen is my optimal pitcher tonight, he’s who I’d go to in single entry and he’s the safest option on the board. However, there’s no chance I’m playing a chalky Manaea given how he’s been throwing the ball, and Lorenzen has actually been pitching pretty well lately. He’s struck out 6+ batters in 3 straight games, and get’s a matchup against Oakland, who although don’t strike out a ton with the current lineups they’ve been rolling out, don’t boast much power either. Lorenzen sees a park upgrade, and although he falls well below Gallen as my favorite option, he intrigues me as a play very few others will be on tonight. I don’t think there are many super high ceilings among pitchers tonight, so Lorenzen’s ground ball ability might be enough to do the trick.
Top Tournament Stacks on FanDuel
Los Angeles Dodgers – While this is by no means a tournament pivot as they’ll be the chalkiest team in the slate tonight, LA is clearly the top offense on the board tonight with a team total a full run above any others. We’re not sure what type of lineup they’ll run out tonight, however, we do know that Rockies pitcher Ryan Feltner gets hit hard 43% of the time from both sides of the plate, with a sub-20% strikeout rate and limited abilities to keep the ball on the ground. While we may see a few veterans sit out tonight and it’ll be necessary to keep our eyes on reports about potential pinch-hit risks, we can’t ignore the Dodgers. Last night although they disappointed, they were once again the chalkiest team, but Trayce Thompson who hit a solo home run was only 8% rostered. 7 of the 9 bats in the Dodgers projected lineup have hard-hit rates above 40%, and there’s no need to fear playing the back half of the lineup to try and get a small amount different. If you do want to play the chalkier Dodgers bats, that’s where Michael Lorenzen comes in for some salary relief and differentiation.
Los Angeles Angels – It’s a City of Angels night this evening. There’s nothing about Cole Irvin skillset against either side of the plate that worries me tonight, as he’s been terrible against righties and Shohei Ohtani can hit anyone. Mike Trout is my top bat on the board tonight with his .324 ISO, Taylor Ward is right alongside him in tournaments, and Anthony Rendon and Luis Rengifo provide nice salary-saving options to round out a stack. However, unlike the Dodgers, this isn’t likely a team I’ll be stacking from top to bottom. I love the Angels top bats tonight, however, the back half falls far below on my list of priorities tonight.
San Francisco Giants – We may as well keep it in Cali for all of our top stacks. While the Giants have nothing to play for, I can’t pass up the idea of picking on a chalky Sean Manaea. If we’re really going to see 20-plus percent of the field rostering the Padres lefty tonight, I’ll load up on the Giants despite the pinch hit risk. These bats are cheap enough that we can pair them with Dodgers, Angels and/or expensive pitching, and the matchup is sneakily one of the best on the slate. Manaea has been knocked around to the tune of a .228 ISO this year against right-handed bats while getting hit hard over 40% of the time. Austin Slater, Wilmer Flores, Thairo Estrada, JD Davis and David Villar are among my top salary-saving options tonight, and they also make for my favorite sneaky stack.