DFS Alerts
Favorite stack of the day
The Astros are far and away my favorite stack of the day! Coors is too expensive and Houston is in just as good a spot to go off as the A’s or Rockies.. Maybe better. Colorado and Oaklands bullpens are improving where the Rangers are still awful and Ariel Jurado starting just makes me feel better against a disciplined power offense like the Astros. I like everyone 1 through 9 in this spot so if you are making multiple stacks I wouldn’t lesve one player out. The priorities should be the usual suspects, Springer, Bregman, Altuve, Gattis, Reddick but like I said, I will have plenty of variations of this stack as I expect the Astros to be the highest scoring team of the night.
Other tagged players: Jose Altuve, Evan Gattis, George Springer, Max Stassi, Josh Reddick, Yulieski Gurriel, Marwin Gonzalez, Alex Bregman
My favorite pitcher for GPP's on the slate
I love Corbin today for GPP’s! While the Padres are in fact better vs lefties than righties they still have a 24.8% K rate vs the opposite hand. Couple that with the fact that Corbin has a 31.1% K rate vs righties and it’s not hard to see a double digit strikeout game in the mix for the DBacks lefty. Add the pitcher friendly park, probable low ownership, with the upside to be the highest scoring pitcher on the slate and you have my favorite GPP pitcher taking the mound this evening.
Value OF
With Coors + expensive SP1’s you’re going to have to find value somewhere and Josh Reddick jumps out as a cheap option across the industry. Reddick is quietly having a productive season and has always performed well when given the platoon advantage – he’s the owner of a career 116 wRC+ versus righties and has shown a little pop with a .183 ISO. Ariel Jurado has little experience over AA ball as he’s never thrown in AAA and his only Big League action came earlier this season in a spot start where he gave up 4 ER in 4.2 IP against the White Sox. Jurado has shown little to be afraid of in AA and I’ll be looking to attack him with value bats like Reddick.
Lefty in Coors
Sure, it’s boring, but it’s necessary to state even if it’s obvious: always play Nolan Arenado against a lefty in Coors. Honestly, the caliber of the lefty Arenado faces is almost irrelevant with how insane his splits are (career 150 wRC+, .290 ISO; 225 wRC+, .425 ISO vs LHP L2 years) but Brett Anderson is not good. Arenado’s high price tag will be a little difficult to fit into lineups alongside deGrom or Verlander but there should be enough value available (Blue Jays are still cheap) where playing Arenado should be a priority.
Don't Be Fooled
Make no mistake: despite posting solid fantasy performances in each of his last three starts, Lucas Giolito is still bad at pitching. Despite a 3.77 ERA over his past 5 starts, Gioltio’s advanced metrics are brutal (5.57 xFIP, 5.70 SIERA). Over that span, most of Gioltio’s underlying stats have remained terrible (15.3 K%, 13 BB%, 1.74 HR/9, 40.7 FB%) but he’s been extremely lucky with a .184 BABIP and 85.4 LOB%. The Blue Jays posted 10 runs on Friday night and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a repeat on Saturday, starting with Granderson who should once again lead off for Toronto and find himself with plenty of run producing opportunities.
Pending Lineups
Typically when there are two aces to decide between, I’ll automatically just side with the NL pitcher that doesn’t have to face a DH, but the Pirates are just pesky enough that I’m leaning toward paying up for Verlander in a home matchup against the Rangers. The Rangers put in work against Dallas Keuchel on Friday night but have been poor against right handed pitching all season long – they own the fourth highest strikeout rate (25.3%) and bottom third wRC+ (90) versus righties. It is worth monitoring lineups closely as deGrom could make the jump to my favorite SP1 if Starling Marte and Corey Dickerson both remain out for the Pirates.
Matchup Exploitation
Things that are fun: winning money. Things that are not fun: rostering Gio Gonzalez. Unfortunately for us, it appears that we may have to endure the latter to enjoy the former. SP2 gets a little hairy on Saturday night so it makes sense to exploit matchups where possible. Gio has one of the most favorable matchups a lefty can draw as he’ll toe the rubber against the Marlins (21.6 K%, 80 wRC+ vs LHP) down in Miami. Gio has been unimpressive most of the year, largely due to a near career high walk rate (11.3%) but he’s held a strikeout rate near league average (21.1%) and does have some upside in this spot simply due to the matchup. The other option in this price range is to bet on Johnny Cueto’s health but there’s enough concern around Cueto that I think he’s best left as a GPP play.
Ryan Rua (back) scratched Friday; Isiah Kiner-Falefa replaces
Rua has been scratched from the Texas Rangers original confirmed lineup and will not start in Friday’s matchup against the Houston Astros due to back tightness. He’ll be replaced in the lineup by Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who will play third base and slot directly into Rua’s vacated eighth spot in the order, which moves Shin-soo Choo to right field and allows Adrian Beltre to take over the designated hitter duties. However, the remainder of the Rangers lineup will stay intact as they face off against left-hander Dallas Keuchel on the road this evening.
As reported by: Evan Grant via Twitter
Start of Friday's TBR-BAL game will be delayed due to rain
The start of the matchup between the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles on Friday night will be delayed due to rain. There’s yet to be any confirmation of an official start time, and the Orioles have not yet committed to a specific timeline for providing further updates. Since the status of Chris Archer is a bit up in the air following the comments of manager Kevin Cash regarding a possible bullpen game, starting pitchers from this contest shouldn’t be heavily targeted options in daily fantasy formats, so the late start obviously doesn’t do much to add to their overall appeal. However, the delay could still be a positive sign for hitters if the teams and Major League Baseball are willing to wait out the severe thunderstorms and heavy rain currently surrounding the area.
As reported by: Roch Kubatko via Twitter Start of Friday's KCR-NYY game will be delayed due to rain
The start of the matchup between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees on Friday night will be delayed due to rain. There’s yet to be any confirmation of an official start time, and the Yankees have not committed to a specific timeline for providing further updates. The confirmed late start is better news for the prospects of starting pitchers like CC Sabathia not being pulled from their starts early because of a mid-game delay, but as Kevin Roth detailed in the latest update to his MLB weather forecast, severe scattered thunderstorms and batches of heavy rain could possibly put this contest in jeopardy of a late postponement.
As reported by: Jeffrey Flanagan via Twitter Tyler Naquin (hip) scratched Friday; Rajai Davis replaces
Naquin has been scratched from the Cleveland Indians original confirmed lineup and will not start in Friday’s matchup against the Detroit Tigers due to right hip discomfort. He’ll be replaced in the lineup by Rajai Davis, who will play center field and slot directly into Naquin’s vacated ninth spot in the order. However, the remainder of the Indians lineup will stay intact as they face off against right-hander Mike Fiers on the road this evening.
As reported by: Jordan Bastian via Twitter Asdrubal Cabrera officially scratched Friday; Jose Reyes replaces
Cabrera will be sent to the Philadelphia Phillies as part of a one-for-one deal for minor league prospect Franklyn Kilome, meaning Cabrera has been scratched from the New York Mets original confirmed lineup and won’t start in Friday’s matchup with the Pittsburgh Pirates due to the aforementioned trade. He’ll be replaced in the lineup by Jose Reyes, who will play third base and slot into the eighth spot in the order, which bumps Brandon Nimmo all the way up to the two-hole, Wilmer Flores to the three-hole, and Jose Bautista, Jeff McNeil, and Kevin Plawecki each up one batting position, respectively. It goes without saying that there have been some noteworthy changes to this Mets order, so be sure to check out the updated lineup on the Starting Lineups page as they face off against right-hander Ivan Nova on the road this evening.
As reported by: Tim Healey via Twitter Eduardo Escobar officially scratched Friday; Jake Cave replaces
Escobar will be sent to the Arizona Diamondbacks as part of a four-player deal, meaning he has been scratched from the Minnesota Twins original confirmed lineup and won’t start in Friday’s matchup with the Boston Red Sox due to the aforementioned trade. He’ll be replaced in the lineup by Jake Cave, who will play centerfield and slot into the ninth spot in the order, which bumps Mitch Garver, Logan Morrison, Ehire Adrianza, Max Kepler, and Robbie Grossman all up one batting position, respectively, while Grossman will now handle the designated hitter duties. It goes without saying that there have been some noteworthy changes to this Twins order, so be sure to check out the updated lineup on the Starting Lineups page as they face off against left-hander Chris Sale on the road this evening.
As reported by: Rhett Bollinger via Twitter One game in jeopardy on Friday night
David is in for Kevin this weekend and has updated his forecast for Friday evening. Much the same as this morning, the game in Baltimore is in serious jeopardy. Players can read the full update on the Weather page right now.
Cheap, well projected lineup could pave a patch towards top end pitching
Jason Vargas is back from the DL tonight. He has a 10.5 SwStr% and 85.4 mph aEV which would normally project nice results, but not in this case. He has just a 17.8 K% and .372 xwOBA. His results have been bad…really, bad. He’s also not been allowed to pitch in the sixth inning all season, which means the Mets’ bullpen should get some work tonight. They’ve been bad…really bad. The Pirates will line up with seven RHBs and a 4.86 implied run line at home. While Pittsburgh suppresses RH power, it’s not terrible for RH offense overall and this is a tandem the Pirates should be able to run on, should they chose to. Jordan Luplow (79 wRC+, .263 ISO vs LHP last calendar year), Josh Harrison (83 wRC+, .160 ISO) and Elias Diaz (148 wRC+, .218 ISO) all bat in the top half of the lineup with a top cost of $3.8K on DK and $2.7K on FD. Cheap Buccos could pave a patch to a Cy Young hopeful tonight. The Pirates have a 4.86 implied run line in this spot.
Other tagged players: Jordan Luplow, Josh Harrison