DFS Alerts
Too Cheap For Leadoff Spot
The high end is loaded tonight in the outfield. I can’t honestly choose the one right guy out of Stanton, Judge, Betts, Martinez, Trout, Harper, etc. to call a Core Play when they are all so tightly bunched. Instead, I’m trying to find some values in order to fit in the elite high end plays, whichever of them you end up choosing. Joyce has outstanding patience, and he’ll force Andrew Cashner to throw him strikes. If he gets hittable pitches in the zone, he can hit them for power, and if he doesn’t, he’ll be on base for the big bats behind him. This is a solid cash game piece with enough upside for tournaments.
Affordable Piece Of The Elite Offense
I am not a fan of the way Gardner has looked recently. But this is a proven hitter leading off for the top offense of the night. Josh Tomlin has absolutely no strikeout ability and is a virtual lock to allow home runs to this Yankees team. While he is on the downside of his career, Gardner still has better than average plate skills against right-handed pitching and with his speed, his BABIP is not going to stay this low. He’s an easy fit at this salary on DK/FDRFT.
Power, Power, Power!
Josh Tomlin is a pitcher who has always been a massive fly ball guy. He is at the mercy of the home run ball on a nightly basis, and that’s not the type of pitcher you want to be when you are facing the Yankees. It also doesn’t help that Tomlin doesn’t miss any bats, and he’s been absolutely awful to start the season. As a team, the Yankees rank second in the league in ISO, and they obviously have a ton of power bats. Stanton is locked in right now, Sanchez is the top catcher play on sites where you need to roster one, and Gardner comes in at a nice discount. You can certainly also spend up for Gregorius at the shortstop position, as this team has the potential to absolutely hammer a pitcher like Tomlin.
Other tagged players: Brett Gardner, Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius
Targeting Lefty Power as a Late Night Stack
It’s often frustrating to stack against Andrew Cashner, but the A’s lefties make for a great stack in the late night games this evening. Cashner has often shown extreme splits with his batted balls, allowing a lot of hard contact and a lot of fly balls against left-handed hitters. That’s good news for a few of these power hitters for Oakland. While they have been a bit dormant at the plate lately, this is a perfect spot to buy low. Olson and Joyce come mega cheap, while Lowrie has been one of the best hitters in the American League so far this season. You can safely ignore the righties, but these three lefties make for a nice mini-stack in GPP formats.
Other tagged players: Jed Lowrie, Matt Olson Ready for a Rebound?
Berrios has really struggled over his last two starts, but he has the right matchup to get back on track tonight. Berrios had his best outing of the year a few weeks ago against this same White Sox team, as he struck out eleven hitters in a sparkling outing. The White Sox are throwing more left-handed hitters out there these days, so that is a bit of a concern, but Berrios still has immense upside. The matchup is also improved if Yoan Moncada misses another game. We are getting a great discount on Berrios, and he is absolutely in play for GPP contests this evening.
Continuing to Impress For His New Team
All Gerrit Cole does is go out and do his job every five days while racking up strikeouts like they are going out of style. He has 61 strikeouts in six starts this season, and he has pitched at least 6 2/3 innings in every start. Tonight’s matchup is a good one against a Diamondbacks team that ranks 4th in the league in strikeout rate so far this season, and their home park is playing much more pitcher-friendly this year thanks to the humidor. Everyone is fawning over J.A. Happ tonight, but Cole is my pick at the top for GPP formats.
To BvP or to not BvP? That is the question.
Brandon Crawford vs Folty. Crawford hitting an awful .204/.245/.306 to start the season, not a good look. But then we have todays matchup, Crawford has gone 6/12 with 3 home runs and a double vs Folty with a 1.872 OPS and .750 wOBA. Crawford could be riding a little momentum as he finally had a multi hit game in almost a month on Wednesday. If you’re a sucker for BvP I’d prefer Crawford as a one off in GPPs, as the Giants offer a middling team total of 4.2 on todays slate. With a price of $2800, he could be worth a punt if you are stacking some aces at the pitcher spot.
As reported by: ESPN
Dude Looks Like An Ace
It feels weird being this confident in J.A. Happ at this salary, but there is just nothing but brilliance in his skill set this season. He’s showing everything you could possibly want in a pitcher – high strikeouts at 34%, low walks at 4.8% and well below average hard contact at 27.6%. He has been an underrated pitcher in the past, and now that’s he’s learned how to add more lift that fastball, he has been untouchable. Add in a positive ballpark shift against a high strikeout Rays team, and it all lines up tonight.
Ignore the Noise, Play The Matchup
Berrios has back-to-back poor outings, but this is the perfect spot for a bounce back. It is somewhat dependent on the White Sox lineup, as Berrios has been absolutely elite against right-handed batters, but just OK against lefties. So far this season, he has a 31.8% K rate with just 1.6% BB and 19% hard contact allowed to right-handed bats, and we saw similar soft contact skills last season. If Yoan Moncada misses another game, Chicago has no left-handed power to hurt him, and there is a lot of strikeout upside in this matchup.
Fly-Ball Pitcher in a Favorable Park for Lefties
Free money Freddie is firmly in play again tonight, as the Braves take on Chris Stratton at home. Ever since they opened their new ballpark, we’ve been able to target left-handed hitters regularly in Atlanta. The park bodes well for Freeman, who is one of the best hitters in baseball against right-handed pitching. Meanwhile, Stratton has a below-average ground ball rate and has allowed a .327 xwOBA to lefties over the last two seasons.
Sneaky Matchup for this Offense
The A’s offense has been quiet over the last two weeks, but are in an excellent matchup tonight against Andrew Cashner. In the past, he hasn’t been a great pitcher to stack against because of his high ground ball rate, but that’s not an issue for the A’s, who have the highest fly-ball rate of any team in baseball. Matt Olson mashes right-handed pitching to the tune of a .391 xwOBA and a .348 ISO.
Stack 'Em up in New York
The Yankees are one of the top stacks on the board, which is something you will hear often this season. They are playing at home and they draw an excellent matchup against Josh Tomlin, who has allowed a .340+ xwOBA and a 35%+ hard contact rate to both left and right-handed hitters. Tomlin has one of the lowest ground ball rates in baseball, which is great for the home run upside of the Yankees. Leading the charge is Aaron Judge, who owns a .443 xwOBA against right-handed pitching.
Elite Upside at a Palatable Price Point
The total for the Twins/White Sox game is set at nine runs, which may help lower the ownership of Jose Berrios, who is pitching on the road. He has taken that next step in his first six starts this season, posting a 3.19 SIERA with a strikeout rate of 26% and a walk rate of only 4%. Chicago has some decent hitters in their lineup, but strikeout at one of the highest rates of any team in baseball.
Ace of the Slate
J.A. Happ and the word ace aren’t used in the same sentence very often, but he’s been an underrated pitcher for years. Through six starts this season, he owns a 2.49 SIERA with a strikeout rate of 34% and a walk rate of 5%. He limits hard contact and induces a lot of soft contact. He has one of the top matchups of the slate, as the Rays’ projected lineup has a .299 xwOBA and a 26% strikeout rate against left-handed pitching.
Jose Berrios faces a friendly foe
Coming off his worst performance of the season, look for Berrios to bounce back against the Chicago White Sox. Berrios has fared very well in his history vs the White Sox, averaging 28 DK fantasy points per game and a 100% consistency rating. The Twins are also seeing major early line movement in their favor as they opened at -150 and have already jumped to -170. When Berrios has been a high of a favorite on the road he has also hit at a 100% constancy rate. His volatility may be tough to stomach in cash, but his strikeout upside and high ceiling makes him a great GPP play on Friday.
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