DFS Alerts
Strong Mid-Tier
In lineups where you can’t pay up for an ace, we are not lacking for decent pitchers in the mid-tier. While I want to keep an eye on ownership, Frankie Montas is the first name that jumps out in this group. His matchup against Seattle is strong from a strikeout perspective, as Montas looks to get back to his solid 26.1% K rate from 2019. If the ownership gets too extreme, I’d spread out to others in this tier, but Montas is my starting point and cash game option.
Top Of The Aces
This is a good pitching slate in both the top tier and the mid-tier. The way the salary cap works out, it’s possible to pay up for one pitcher on DK, but not two. And on FD, the bats are cheap enough to go whichever way you prefer. There’s not much to separate Gerrit Cole and Jacob deGrom in real life, but for DFS purposes, I’ll side with the bigger strikeout upside of Cole. We’ve also got some potential boost from the Phillies having sat out the last week, further separating Cole’s matchup from deGrom against Atlanta.
Soft Tossing Lefty
With so many great spots on this slate, I don’t think a lot of people will be stacking the White Sox. Brett Anderson is a soft tossing lefty with no strikeout pitch. He will be making his first start of 2020 tonight. He had a .330 wOBA with a 12.9% strikeout rate against right-handed hitters in 2019. He gives up a lot of hard contact while trying to induce groundballs. With his low strikeout rate, I like to target teams with power against him. Moncada, Abreu, Encarnacion, Jimenez, and McCann all have an ISO over .200 against left-handed pitching since the start of the 2019 season. On FanDuel, I like the fact that you can play Abreu and Encarnacion in your stack together.
Other tagged players: Jose Abreu, Eloy Jimenez, Yoan Moncada
My Top Stack On This Slate
If you’re not stacking in Coors, I think Minnesota is the next best option on this slate. Overall, they’re my favorite stack on this slate. Holland has 280 PA against right-handed hitters since the start of 2019. He has a .401 wOBA with a .318 ISO on 49.7% flyballs with a 48% hard-hit rate in that span. This team was one of the best teams in baseball against left-handed pitching last season. Sano, Cruz, and Garver all have an ISO over .300 against left-handed pitching since the start of 2019. Don’t be afraid to include some of these lefties when stacking this team. I think a lot of people will just stack the righties, which gives you some leverage inside of your stack.
Other tagged players: Mitch Garver, Miguel Sano, Marwin Gonzalez, Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler Chasing His Ceiling In This Matchup
With Braun on the IL and Cain opting out, this Brewers lineup looks really weak on paper. With some chalky options in this price range, I’m hoping Rodon comes in a little lower owned on this slate. I still don’t think he’s a safe option, but we are chasing the ceiling he presents when he’s pitching well. He has a 28.6% strikeout rate with a 12.1% swinging strike rate since the start of the 2019 season. He walks a lot of hitters, which won’t hurt you on FanDuel, but that’s the downside to playing Rodon. The projected Brewers lineup has a .173 ISO with a .342 wOBA and a 23.3% strikeout rate against left-handed pitching since the start of 2019.
Tough Pricing Makes Him Playable
I’m not going to try to sell that Danny Duffy is an above average pitcher. I personally don’t think he is. This is some of the toughest pricing we’ve had all season on DraftKings, and we need some cheaper options. We have wind blowing in at Wrigley, and a Cubs lineup without Kris Bryant. It’s still a scary lineup, but there is enough upside to take the risk in this spot. They have six guys with strikeout rates over 20% against left-handed pitching since the start of 2019. They also have seven hitters with groundball rates over 50% against left-handed pitching in that same span. I don’t think Duffy is safe, but I think he’s worth the risk on a slate with tough pricing.
Rio Ruiz (undisclosed) scratched Sunday; Patrick Valaika replaces
Ruiz has been scratched from the Baltimore Orioles original confirmed lineup and will not start in Sunday’s matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays due to a presently unknown reason. He’ll be replaced in the lineup by Patrick Valaika, who will now play third base and slot into the seventh spot in the order, which bumps Chance Sisco up two spots to fifth and Pedro Severino up to fourth, respectively. However, the remainder of the Orioles lineup will stay intact offensively as they face off against right-hander Yonny Chirinos at home this afternoon.
As reported by: Jon Meoli via Twitter Other tagged players: Patrick Valaika
A contrarian option with high upside
With Coors Field garnering a ton of attention today, the Cubs are another stack that could go overlooked. Baez and his teammates get to go up against left-handed Steven Brault and they project very well. The right handed bats of Baez and Bryant lead the way, but Schwarber and even Happ (if he makes the lineup) have quietly been hitting very well. Baez has an ISO of .231 and wOBA of .333 and the top of the order projects to put up some runs today.
Contrarian Play
With a juicy matchup in Coors Field today, there will be some good players that simply get overlooked and Ramirez is one of them. Cleveland has a strong line-up with Lindor and Santana also projecting well, but it is Ramirez that has started the season batting .375 with 2 home runs. He also has a .348 wOBA and .232 ISO. He makes a great contrarian play when most people will look at getting Machado and Arenado in their line-ups.
Under the radar stack
Analysis coming soon.
Chalk Stack
Let’s try this one last time. The Padres disappointed big time on Saturday night but should be a primary focus of your lineups once again on Sunday against Antonio Senzatela. Senzatela is basically everything we want to target in a pitcher, with the inability to miss bats (16 K%; 7.4 SwStr%) and a poor batted ball profile to boot. Add in the fact that this game is being played at the very hitter friendly Coors Park and the Padres are your top stack of the slate.
Other tagged players: Manny Machado, Tommy Pham, Trent Grisham
Get Some Exposure To This Offense
The White Sox gave us a nice reminder on Saturday that they are a high upside fantasy offense, and they have a good chance to do so again on Sunday. The Royals are starting Jake Junis today, but he is making his first start of the year after a positive COVID test. He is prone to hard contact, which should play into this offense’s hands. Luis Robert thrived out of the leadoff spot last night, while Eloy Jimenez blasted a first inning three-run home run. Let price be your guide here. I like both players, but I have tagged Robert on FD/Yahoo and Jimenez on DK as the core plays.
Other tagged players: Eloy Jimenez
Leverage Stack
Pitching is beyond atrocious on Sunday’s main slate and as a result we’ll likely see a ton of ownership concentrated on Aaron Civale after his excellent performance against the White Sox to start the season. Civale is a fine overall pitcher, especially in the context of this slate, but it’s safe to assume he won’t carry a high strikeout rate throughout the season and there’s plenty of indication he’s not nearly as good of a pitcher as his current Big League ERA tells you he is. Civale ended last year with a 2.34 ERA over 57.2 IP but his 4.61 xFIP viewed him much less favorably, largely due to a poor batted ball profile paired with some batted ball luck. Furthermore, this Twins lineup that is chock full of power is likely to see extremely low ownership due to Civale’s high expected ownership, creating an excellent leverage spot for Twins stacks.
Other tagged players: Eddie Rosario, Miguel Sano, Max Kepler Great Spot Against a Bad Pitcher
As the leadoff hitter on a road team that is playing at Coors Field, we can bank on Tatis for five at bats today. He has been thriving in the early going with a wOBA of .417 and a massive hard hit rate. He should continue to mash against a low strikeout RHP in Senzatela, and you should have the salary available to fit Tatis in there — since spending at pitching simply isn’t a necessity today. He is my top core play this afternoon.
Take A Shot On A Live Arm
Cease has a live arm and was getting some buzz for a breakout year during spring training and summer camp. He didn’t pitch well against the Indians in his first start of the year, but a more favorable matchup awaits today against the Royals. Even though his first full MLB season did not go well, Cease still managed a strikeout rate that was above league average at 25%. As long as he continues to attack hitters, results will follow. I’m on board given the thin nature of pitching today.