DFS Alerts
Site Pricing
Instead of telling you how great of plays Toronto hitters are against Andrew Cashner, I want to draw your attention to the pricing gap between Granderson and Hernandez on the two Major sites. Granderson offers fairly significant salary relief from Hernandez on FanDuel ($500) but there’s only a $200 difference between the two on DraftKings. Most people will just auto plug Granderson in because he owns the platoon advantage but it’s important to consider pinch hit risk when deciding between the two. Paying $200 extra on DK for Hernandez to almost completely eliminate PH risk is easily worth it and I would argue Hernandez is worth the extra money on FD as well if you have $500 to spare.
Other tagged players: Teoscar Hernandez
SP2 Decision
SP2 comes down to J.A. Happ and Chris Archer. You’re not going to feel comfortable playing either one as Happ has soured from his strong early season form and Archer really has never gotten into form. I side with Happ who will take on the Machado-less O’s offense at home. Happ has posted strong strikeout totals this year (26.5 K%) and the O’s bottom three wRC+ (80) vs LHP will likely stay stagnant, if not plummet, with the absence of Machado. Archer probably gives you a little bit more upside in a matchup against the Marlins but his inefficiency and lack of sharpness all season long means he’s probably best reserved for GPPs.
Other tagged players: Chris Archer Rinse Repeat
I realize at this point it may be getting old seeing Indians write-ups, but is there a better three-day stretch in baseball than facing Martin Perez, Bartolo Colon, and Yovani Gallardo? Doubtful. This team has crushed the weak Texas pitching thus far this series to the tune of 25 runs in the first two games, and there is no reason to expect anything different today on yet another 100+ degree day (108 at first pitch!) in Texas. Gallardo struggles especially against lefties, allowing a .415 wOBA to LHH. Lindor, Ramirez and Brantley are the top targets here, but all Indians are in play today. Don’t get cute – this is yet again the top stack on today’s slate.
Other tagged players: Jose Ramirez, Michael Brantley
Streaking
Things seem to be clicking for Corey Dickerson – he’s hit three HRs over the first two games of the Pirates series with the Reds and has hit a HR in three straight games going back before the All-Star Break. Dickerson has always had a strong skill-set versus right handed pitching (124 wRC+, .244 ISO) and gets another favorable matchup against Harvey in hitter friendly GAB. Despite his recent streak of success, Dickerson remains priced reasonably across the industry, and is especially a target on FanDuel where the absence of the CLE/TEX game leaves you with some salary to work with.
Toronto Power Looking to Tee Off on Home Run Prone Pitcher
Toronto has the highest implied run total on the slate today, facing Andrew Cashner and his 1.43 HR/9, which ranks 15th worst among qualified pitchers this season. Cashner has been particularly hittable on the road, where he is allowing a .544 slugging percentage (vs .447 at home) and to lefties (.510 slugging percentage allowed, versus .467 allowed to righties). Justin Smoak and Curtis Granderson are the primary targets from the left side of the plate today, while Yangervis Solarte also provides some savings as a left hitter. Randall Grichuk is a righty, but has hit right-handed pitching with power this season, with 10 HRs in 140 ABs on the year.
Toronto Power Looking to Tee Off on Home Run Prone Pitcher
Toronto has the highest implied run total on the slate today, facing Andrew Cashner and his 1.43 HR/9, which ranks 15th worst among qualified pitchers this season. Cashner has been particularly hittable on the road, where he is allowing a .544 slugging percentage (vs .447 at home) and to lefties (.510 slugging percentage allowed, versus .467 allowed to righties). Justin Smoak and Curtis Granderson are the primary targets from the left side of the plate today, while Yangervis Solarte also provides some savings as a left hitter. Randall Grichuk is a righty, but has hit right-handed pitching with power this season, with 10 HRs in 140 ABs on the year.
Yawn
Yawn. When Chris Sale takes the mound you roster him and his stellar 2.40 SIERA, 37.2 K%, and 16 SwStr%. Sale’s only competition this slate is Max Scherzer who will likely be dealing with weather issues – even mother nature won’t let you screw this one up. The Tigers offense has been pesky this year versus lefties but that’s essentially a moot point when rostering someone of Sale’s caliber.
Toronto Power Looking to Tee Off on Home Run Prone Pitcher
Toronto has the highest implied run total on the slate today, facing Andrew Cashner and his 1.43 HR/9, which ranks 15th worst among qualified pitchers this season. Cashner has been particularly hittable on the road, where he is allowing a .544 slugging percentage (vs .447 at home) and to lefties (.510 slugging percentage allowed, versus .467 allowed to righties). Justin Smoak and Curtis Granderson are the primary targets from the left side of the plate today, while Yangervis Solarte also provides some savings as a left hitter. Randall Grichuk is a righty, but has hit right-handed pitching with power this season, with 10 HRs in 140 ABs on the year.
Toronto Power Looking to Tee Off on Home Run Prone Pitcher
Toronto has the highest implied run total on the slate today, facing Andrew Cashner and his 1.43 HR/9, which ranks 15th worst among qualified pitchers this season. Cashner has been particularly hittable on the road, where he is allowing a .544 slugging percentage (vs .447 at home) and to lefties (.510 slugging percentage allowed, versus .467 allowed to righties). Justin Smoak and Curtis Granderson are the primary targets from the left side of the plate today, while Yangervis Solarte also provides some savings as a left hitter. Randall Grichuk is a righty, but has hit right-handed pitching with power this season, with 10 HRs in 140 ABs on the year.
Pittsburgh Hitters Get Big Ballpark Shift Against Inconsistent Pitcher
Matt Harvey has been excellent in July, with two wins and a 1.65 ERA over his three starts this month, but he still has a 4.63 ERA on the season and is giving up a .474 slugging percentage to left-handed hitters. The Pirates hitters are getting a big ballpark boost travelling to Cincinnati, so lefties like Gregory Polanco, Corey Dickerson, and Colin Moran are all in play as GPP targets. Starling Marte is a righty that I’ll have some interest in as well, with a grand slam already in this series.
Pittsburgh Hitters Get Big Ballpark Shift Against Inconsistent Pitcher
Matt Harvey has been excellent in July, with two wins and a 1.65 ERA over his three starts this month, but he still has a 4.63 ERA on the season and is giving up a .474 slugging percentage to left-handed hitters. The Pirates hitters are getting a big ballpark boost travelling to Cincinnati, so lefties like Gregory Polanco, Corey Dickerson, and Colin Moran are all in play as GPP targets. Starling Marte is a righty that I’ll have some interest in as well, with a grand slam already in this series.
Pittsburgh Hitters Get Big Ballpark Shift Against Inconsistent Pitcher
Matt Harvey has been excellent in July, with two wins and a 1.65 ERA over his three starts this month, but he still has a 4.63 ERA on the season and is giving up a .474 slugging percentage to left-handed hitters. The Pirates hitters are getting a big ballpark boost travelling to Cincinnati, so lefties like Gregory Polanco, Corey Dickerson, and Colin Moran are all in play as GPP targets. Starling Marte is a righty that I’ll have some interest in as well, with a grand slam already in this series.
Pittsburgh Hitters Get Big Ballpark Shift Against Inconsistent Pitcher
Matt Harvey has been excellent in July, with two wins and a 1.65 ERA over his three starts this month, but he still has a 4.63 ERA on the season and is giving up a .474 slugging percentage to left-handed hitters. The Pirates hitters are getting a big ballpark boost travelling to Cincinnati, so lefties like Gregory Polanco, Corey Dickerson, and Colin Moran are all in play as GPP targets. Starling Marte is a righty that I’ll have some interest in as well, with a grand slam already in this series.
Bartolo Colon sports a lowly 11.2% K% and 5.18 SIERA over his last eight starts
Colon has gone through stretches this season where he’s seemed like a competent starting pitcher at the big league level, but in recent weeks, the BABIP regression monster has begun to rear its ugly head, as his June/July ERA has ballooned to 6.23, fueled by a .329 BABIP that is much more in line with the .331 mark he posted over the course of the 2017 season. Not only has Colon recorded just 22 strikeouts in those eight starts, but his 41.9% hard-hit percentage should continue to become a larger problem in the rising Texas temperatures over the coming months, making it highly likely he will serve up some long balls to Cleveland Indian batters at Globe Life Park this evening. The Indians certainly can be an explosive offense versus right-handed pitching, as evidenced by Saturday’s starting lineup’s massive 0.196 ISO against righties this season, and any bust concerns should be largely mitigated by Colon’s strike-heavy approach on the mound and his minuscule 14.0% strikeout rate on the year, making a full Indians stack extremely viable in large-field tournament formats given tonight’s ideal hitting conditions. Jose Ramirez remains the clear-cut top target in this Cleveland lineup, as his skillset versus right-handed pitching is evident once examining his 0.447 xwOBA, 0.370 ISO, and 37.0% hard-hit percentage against righties to this point in the year. If aiming to surround Ramirez in lineups with some of his teammates, look no further than Francisco Lindor (40.5% HH%, 0.289 ISO, 0.473 xwOBA vs RHP), Michael Brantley (42.7% HH%, 0.206 ISO, 0.432 xwOBA vs RHP), and Edwin Encarnacion (39.5% HH%, 0.273 ISO, 0.485 xwOBA vs RHP), who sacrifices the platoon advantage in a matchup with Colon but still exhibits the necessary power and contact abilities to take advantage of his inefficiencies as a pitcher at this late stage in his career. The bottom half of the Indians has been a bit underwhelming thus far in the 2018 campaign, but Yonder Alonso (0.213 ISO, 0.453 xwOBA vs RHP since 2017) is still the most logical fifth member of the stack on FanDuel or even as a strategy to differentiate at first base on DraftKings from a likely popular offense on tonight’s main slate.
As reported by: FanGraphs Other tagged players: Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley, Edwin Encarnacion, Yonder Alonso, Bartolo Colon
Saturday's SDP-PHI game has been postponed due to inclement weather
The matchup between the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night has been postponed due to anticipated inclement weather throughout the evening. The teams have already announced that today’s previously scheduled game will be made up tomorrow, Sunday, July 22 at 6:05 pm EST as part of a split-admission doubleheader. Sunday’s regularly scheduled contest will be moved from 1:35 pm EST to 12:05 EST to accommodate the aforementioned makeup game. Players from this matchup will not accrue fantasy points on Saturday’s slates across the industry, so be sure to remove them from lineups as soon as possible.
As reported by: Todd Zolecki via Twitter