DFS Alerts
Minimum Priced Catcher With Power
Since the player pool at catcher is typically a garbage heap, the popular strategy is often to pay down and hope for the best. Dini was recently called up by the Royals from AAA where he’s sported a .384 wOBA, .269 ISO, 49.7% FB with only a 13.6% K rate. Whether that will translate to the major league game is yet to be seen, but for the minimum price $2000 on DraftKings, it seems like a much better punt option at the position than the Max Stassi and Jeff Mathis’ of the world. I’m willing to take a shot holding the platoon advantage on the road against a league average pitcher in Daniel Norris.
Elite Offensive Spot
Once again, we can definitely load up on the Astros on this Sunday slate. They scored a ridiculous 23 runs on Saturday and have a massive team total against the woeful Orioles. Six of their regulars have wOBA marks above .360 against RHP this year, and Brantley is a fixture in the middle of the order. He doesn’t have the power flash of Alvarez or Springer, but the floor is elite for an MLB hitter. You can’t go wrong with any of these guys, but I’ll highlight Brantley again given his role and salary.
Lefty Masher Alert!
The Astros will obviously get a ton of attention today after scoring 23 runs on Saturday, and you can certainly consider a Houston hitter as the top bat on the slate. However, I’ll side with J.D. Martinez. He gets to face a young lefty in Sandoval today, and Martinez’ splits against LHP are simply ridiculous. He is hitting .400 against lefties this year with a .538 wOBA and .476 ISO. He owns a career .408 wOBA against lefties. He is an elite play in all formats.
Sunday's Top Arm
In terms of a combination of floor and ceiling, Verlander is definitely the top pitching option on the board. While he does have the issue with home runs, the rest of his profile is elite. His command is impeccable with 34% strikeouts and under 6% walks, and his ERA, SIERA, and xFIP all sit under 3.50. A matchup against the feeble Orioles makes him an even better option, and Verlander sits as a ridiculous -390 road favorite in Vegas. I will try to find a way to make the salary work.
Sneaky Stack
My favorite stack in tournaments is the Texas Rangers. They face Jordan Lyles in Milwaukee which is a great park for left handed hitters. Lyles struggles a lot more to lefty bats this year giving up a 272 ISO, 406 wOBA, and a 40% fly ball rate. I like most of the left handed bats for Texas but my top four are Santana, Choo, Odor, and Calhoun.
Other tagged players: Willie Calhoun, Danny Santana, Rougned Odor
Top One Off Bat
Mike Trout is my favorite bat to spend up for. He gets Andrew Cashner who this season has struggled more to righties giving up a 225 ISO, 375 wOBA, 34% hard hit rate. Cashner has also given up multi home run games in 3 of his last 5 outings. Trout against right handed pitching this year has a 392 ISO, 52% fly ball rate, and a 48% hard hit rate. He is definitely worth the high price tag in this matchup today.
Pivot Off The Chalk SP2
Foltynewicz should be the chalk SP2 being that he is cheap and going up against the Marlins in Miami. I think Jacob Junis is a great pivot off of Foltynewicz in tournaments. Junis gets just as good of a matchup against the Detroit Tigers who are 3rd in strikeout rate at 26%, 28th in ISO, and 29th in wOBA to right handed pitching this year. He is a little more expensive and should be half the ownership of Foltynewicz in GPPs.
Contrarian SP1 Spend Up
With Verlander and deGrom on this slate most people will want to spend up for one of them. A great pivot in GPPs is Luis Castillo. Castillo this season has a 29.5% strikeout rate with a 16.5% swinging strike rate, which is the highest on this slate. The Cubs are not the easiest matchup but we have seen Castillo dominate in tough matchups. He has the talent to give you double digit strikeouts and I think we get him at lower ownership in GPPs.
Start of CLE- MIN will be delayed due to rain Saturday
The start of the matchup between the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins on Saturday 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 Twins 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 Jake Odorizzi 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 a significant initial weather delay.
As reported by: the Minnesota Twins via Twitter
Cheap Stack Against Blowup Prone Pitcher
While he’s had several strong outings recently, Reynaldo Lopez is no stranger to completely imploding in a given game. Oakland has a 5.2 implied run total and you can easily make a 5-man stack for under $20k total on DraftKings. Playing two of Davis, Piscotty, Grossman alongside Olson & Chapman makes a lot of sense, and make sure not to forget about Profar (.209 ISO vs. righties) for $3500 at a scarcer 2B position. Although the wind will be blowing in at 10+ mph tonight that sours the appeal for these bats in GPP, that fact may potentially decrease their ownership in the process.
Other tagged players: Stephen Piscotty, Jurickson Profar, Robbie Grossman Cheap Stack Against HR Prone Pitcher
The Cardinals will be quite off the board despite their 5.1 implied run total, but they’re facing a fairly high variance pitcher in Joe Musgrove, who has surrendered 2+ home runs in his past 3 starts and is getting a bit of a ballpark downgrade on the road. The 5-man stack is frugal, coming in at under $20k total and fills a scarce SS position. Being that Musgrove is much weaker to lefties, Dexter Fowler & Matt Carpenter are prime targets for the stack in GPP, and are currently projected to be under 5% owned.
Other tagged players: Marcell Ozuna, Paul Goldschmidt, Paul DeJong, Dexter Fowler Matchup + Price + Strikeouts
There’s not a ton that separates Saturday’s top pitching options in Patrick Corbin, Charlie Morton, and Noah Syndergaard but it’s Corbin who draws the best combination of matchup and price tag of the trio. The Mets have posted better offensive numbers against left-handed pitchers this season but also profile as more strikeout prone against southpaws which helps raise Corbin’s ceiling a bit. Corbin is having a solid season with a strong 28.7% strikeout rate and has had success this season in missing bats against the Mets as he’s racked up 31 strikeouts over 25 innings pitched, including an eight inning, 11 strikeout outing back in May.
Favorite Mid Tier Arm In GPPs
Reynaldo Lopez has looked pretty good over his last 5 games. Over this five game stretch his strikeout rate has gone up to 25% and his swinging strike rate is at 14%. Most of Oakland’s power comes from the right side of the plate which is good for Lopez because he has been much better against righties this season. He definitely has the upside we look for in tournaments and is my favorite option in that mid tier.
Worth The High Price Tag
Charlie Morton is the top pitcher on the slate with a great matchup against the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners over the last month are 1st in strikeout rate at 29%, 24th in ISO, and 27th in wOBA. Morton has the highest strikeout rate on the slate at 30.2% and the third highest swinging strike rate at 13.3%. Morton is the most expensive pitcher on both Draftkings and Fanduel, but he is definitely worth the high price tag.
Power Bat On Top Offense
Houston is the top team to target on Saturday’s main slate and Alex Bregman is the Astros hitter I’m finding in the majority of my lineups. While Bregman won’t have the platoon advantage against Aaron Brooks, he has mashed same handed pitching this season as the owner of a 147 wRC+ and .243 ISO. This is a great power matchup for Bregman as Brooks is the owner of a massive 17.6% HR-to-flyball rate and the Orioles bullpen owns the highest HR/9 (1.97) in the league.