DFS Alerts
Hard Contact Incoming
VanMeter continues to hit in the heart of this lineup, and he’s still a great value option on FanDuel. Wacha has a .351 wOBA with a .216 ISO and only a 19.1% strikeout rate against left-handed hitters this season. He also has a very high 29.6% hard to soft contact ratio against lefties. VanMeter has a .202 ISO with a 47.1% hard-hit rate against right-handed pitching since being called up. Expecting a lot of hard contact in this spot, and that’s exactly what we’re looking for in this ballpark.
This Lineup Doesn't Scare Anyone
Alex Young has struggled in a lot of spots this season, but with the limited options in this price range, he’s one of my favorite plays on this slate. The Giants projected starting lineup has a .155 ISO with a .321 wOBA against left-handed pitching this season. They’ve been a bottom five offense against lefties all season. Young has a .283 wOBA with a .115 ISO and a 53% ground ball rate against right-handed hitters this season. This lineup is filled with powerless righties.
Target the Power Bats
Mike Fiers has really good surface numbers this season, but he has gotten extraordinarily lucky by pitching to an opposing BABIP around .240. While that is somewhat expected for a pitcher with fly ball ways like Fiers, it’s unreasonable to expect the good fortune at that level. The power bats for the Astros match up very well against Fiers, who is allowing hard contact roughly 37-38% of the time to hitters from each side of the plate. Yordan Alvarez is obviously a great option, but he’s extermely expensive on every site now. I’ll side with Springer as my elite GPP option of the night, and it’s a near certainty that one of these Houston power bats is able to take Fiers deep.
Other tagged players: Alex Bregman, Michael Brantley, Yordan Alvarez
Two Elite Arms
It’s a really close call between Gray and Darvish at the top tonight, and you really can’t go wrong either way. I’ve tagged both as elite GPP options, especially since Darvish has shown much better command of late. However, I’ll side with Gray as the slightly safer option, especially since he is the one pitching at home. Since the beginning of July, Gray has posted a 1.59 ERA over seven starts, and he has faced some dangerous offenses in that stretch — two starts against the Cubs, one start against Atlanta, one start against Milwaukee, and even a start at Coors Field. Gray owns a 28% strikeout rate for the year and draws a reasonable matchup against a Cardinals offense that has underwhelmed all year. Fire him up with confidence this evening.
Other tagged players: Yu Darvish Just Too Cheap
I prefer Yu Darvish and Sonny Gray on this slate because of the innings question around Andrew Heaney. But they are a clear top three, and on FD, Heaney has an extreme discount that makes him the top points per dollar option and playable in all formats. He threw 74 pitches in his first start off the IL, so we should be able to look for 80+ here, which should be good for five, maybe six innings against the low walk White Sox, who also offer plenty of strikeout upside.
High Priority Offense
The Yankees and Twins standout as the top offenses on this slate. The Yankees are best for power hunting while the Twins travel to Texas to face a young right-handed pitcher with poor control in front of a bad bullpen. I am more interested in making sure I get some access to the top of the Twins lineup, so spending on Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario, while great, is not a must on this slate. We can save a little salary, while keeping power and contact with Jorge Polanco and also filling a tougher SS position. Polanco also keeps the platoon edge with his switch hitting against all the lefties in the Texas bullpen.
All The Power
Cleveland’s Adam Plutko is the wrong kind of pitcher for Yankee Stadium. He throws a ton of strikes without swing and miss ability while allowing 5% fly balls to both sides of the plate. Gary Sanchez is a clear standout at the catcher position with his .284 ISO and 45% hard hits, but even on FD and FDRFT, he’s my favorite first baseman on this slate.
Ace Level Skills At A Discount
The start of the season was so rough for Darvish that his salary has remained low. But since the start of June, his skills are as elite as almost any pitcher in the league. Over his last 10 starts, we’re looking at a 33.2% K rate with just 3% walks and 29% hard hits allowed. That 30.2% K-BB% is second only to Justin Verlander among all pitchers in that span. The Phillies are not an easy matchup, but essentially average in strikeouts, and with only one real lefty power threat. Darvish is my top pitcher in all formats on all sites tonight.
Start of NYM-ATL will be delayed due to rain Wednesday
The start of the matchup between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves on Wednesday evening will be delayed due to rain currently in the area. There’s yet to be any confirmation of an official start time, and the Braves have not yet committed to a specific timeline for providing further updates. The definitive late start is potentially better news for the prospects of starting pitchers like Dallas Keuchel not being pulled from the game early because of a mid-game stoppage, and as Kevin Roth detailed in the latest update to his MLB weather forecast, he believes this game should play through to conclusion following the initial weather delay.
As reported by: Matt Ehalt via Twitter
Jacob Stallings (migraine) scratched Wednesday; Erik Gonzalez replaces
Stallings has been scratched from the Pittsburgh Pirates original confirmed lineup and will not start in Wednesday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Angels due to a migraine. He’ll be replaced in the lineup by Erik Gonzalez, who will now play third base and slot into the ninth spot in the order, which bumps Colin Moran and Adam Frazier up to sixth and eighth, respectively. However, the remainder of the Pirates lineup will stay intact offensively as they face off against left-hander Dillon Peters on the road this evening.
As reported by: Rob Biertempfel via Twitter Other tagged players: Erik Gonzalez Jason Heyward (knee) scratched Wednesday; Tony Kemp replaces
Heyward has been scratched from the Chicago Cubs original confirmed lineup and will not start in Wednesday’s matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies due to left knee inflammation. He’ll be replaced in the lineup by Tony Kemp, who will now play second base and slot directly into Heyward’s vacated leadoff spot in the order. However, the remainder of the Cubs lineup will stay intact offensively as they face off against Aaron Nola on the road this evening.
As reported by: the Chicago Cubs via Twitter Other tagged players: Tony Kemp Value Arm
Hudson is nothing sexy and won’t rack up a ton of strikeouts, but he has SP2 appeal for me tonight on the multi-pitcher sites. There’s not a ton of cheap pitching to love, and he gets to face a Royals team that simply lacks punch right now. They also lack any semblance of elite left-handed hitting, especially with Alex Gordon slumping. That’s good news for Hudson, who has a massive 65% ground ball rate against RHBs this year. It’s difficult to see him getting blown up, and a respectable score is all we need from our SP2 on this relatively ugly slate for arms.
Rounding Into Form
In the early portion of the season, it looked like Kershaw was simply a less dominant version of his former self. Sure, the numbers were still solid, but the strikeouts weren’t there, and the command wasn’t as sharp as what we usually see from him. The good news is that his recent trends have been very positive. He has 49 strikeouts over his last 38 innings. He has still managed to pitch at least six innings in all of his starts this year. Oh, and he faces the Marlins tonight. He’s sure to be popular, but it’s tough to fade Kershaw on a short slate.
Taking Advance of an Awful Pitcher
The Mariners are not an elite offense, but every offense has a chance to have an elite night when they are facing Edwin Jackson. Yes, this is the same Edwin Jackson that has now pitched for more than half the league and owns an ERA over nine and a 6.19 xFIP this season. He is allowing hard contact over 42% of the time. It’s a joke that he has a rotation spot at this point. Fire up the Mariners with confidence here. Vogelbach is the prime upside target for his power against RHP, while Mallex Smith offers plenty of upside with his speed. This lineup is stackable from top to bottom.
Other tagged players: J.P. Crawford, Mallex Smith Don't Be Fooled
Edwin Jackson survived his first start back in the majors, and ruined many a stack in the process. But don’t be fooled by the surface stats. In that start, he allowed 47% hard hits with just 8.5% swinging strikes, but lucked into a low .167 BABIP. For the season, he’s struck out just 14.7% of lefties while allowing a .269 ISO on 39% fly balls and hard hits. Dan Vogelbach is the biggest power threat for Seattle with a .282 ISO and 45% fly balls against right-handed pitching. Typically a better tournament play, with the low strikeouts of Jackson, I’d even play Vogelbach in cash games tonight.