Russell Martin Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Most of the offensive attention tonight will likely be on the game at Coors Field, the Reds, and the Astros. Those are four relatively popular offenses that all carry implied team totals north of five runs this evening. The forgotten team with a high total will almost certainly be the Blue Jays, who have a total over five themselves and a good matchup against Corey Oswalt, who had an ERA over 5.30 at Triple-A this season and hasn't done anything at the major league level yet. I love the leverage play for low GPP ownership here, and the top four hitters from this Toronto lineup are all in play. You can also consider Russell Martin as a punt option at catcher. Justin Smoak is my favorite option for power upside, while Curtis Granderson is the safest option with his solid .375 wOBA vs. RHP this year.

If you are looking for a stack that will also allow you to spend up on the mound this evening, give the Blue Jays a look. They are very affordable on all sites, and they are extremely affordable on FanDuel. Andrew Cashner has been allowing more hard contact this year, still has a below average strikeout rate, and now has a walk rate over 10%. Both LHBs and RHBs have a .382 wOBA against him this season, so go for the top and middle of the order and/or value here. Curtis Granderson is a great value on FanDuel, while Russell Martin carries more value on DraftKings where you need a catcher. If you need to get more value out of this group, you could replace Smoak with Morales at first base. I love the price/upside combo here.

David Price has truly been mystifying over his last two years with the Red Sox as he has done his best Jekyll and Hyde impression - he'll string together a few strong performances only to get completely blown up. Price has allowed 5+ earned runs in 4 of 21 starts over the last two years and four runs in two other starts. His advanced run prevention metrics have him as a league average pitcher (4.05 SIERA in 2017; 4.11 SIERA in 2018) and I have no problem attacking a league average lefty with right handed power bats at Fenway.

There simply isn't much left in the tank as far as a skill set for Brett Anderson. He might still generate an above average ground ball rate, but that's about it. He doesn't blow the ball by anyone, he is walking more hitters these days, and there isn't anything to fear. RHBs have posted a .475 wOBA against him on the young season, and Toronto will probably stack up the RHBs tonight. They are a strong stack in all GPP formats, with the power of Josh Donaldson leading the way, and you can probably fit in some value or some mid-range plays to round out your GPP stack.

Mike Leake is yet another pitcher in decline, and we have a lot of those pitching tonight. This is very likely going to be a high scoring Thursday night DFS slate. Leake has never been a big strikeout pitcher, but he would get by with a decent amount of soft contact and ground balls. The ground ball rate has gone in the tank, he's allowing more hard contact than he ever has, and his numbers are suffering as a result. The Blue Jays are a sneaky GPP stack tonight, and outside of Donaldson they don't cost you a whole lot. Teoscar Hernandez has been a pleasant surprise for this team, and you can surround him with very affordable pieces as well.

Yes, the Blue Jays got no-hit by James Paxton last night. However, this is a fine spot for them to bounce back against a pedestrian lefty in Wade LeBlanc. The Jays do have some guys that are capable of hitting well against lefties and for some power, especially now that Josh Donaldson is back in the mix. There is some risk involved here, but I like the Blue Jays as a GPP stack this evening.

I think I have been higher on Mike Minor than most people this year but Friday seems to be a good spot to grab some cheap Blue Jay righties. Russell Martin leads my list of Blue Jay righties largely due to position (more pertinent on DK). Minor has been good as a starter this year but is living on an insane 28.6% ground ball rate. What does that mean? A lot of fly balls (53.6%). Fly balls = HRs, especially in hitter friendly stadiums. I wouldn't be surprised to see Minor stick around his current ERA throughout the year (3.86) but do think he'll give up the long ball when he's off. Look to Martin, and other Blue Jays, for a cheap source of power.

The absence of Josh Donaldson obviously weakens the Blue Jays offense significantly as a whole but they'll still enter Monday's slate with the highest implied run total (5.4) on the board. Outside of Smoak on DraftKings, every Jays hitter is priced under $4,000 and outside of Smoak + Solarte on FanDuel, every Jays hitter is priced under $3,000. Those cheap price tags allow you to get creative with GPP builds and allow you to spend up on both pitcher spots on DraftKings (too bad we don't have more high priced options).

I will never stop stacking against Andrew Cashner until he is no longer in the league. I still can't get over his 2017 season where he somehow lucked his way to a 3.40 ERA while having a walk rate (9.1%) that almost matched his strikeout rate (12.2%). Personal history aside, Cashner is the type of pitcher you want to stack against - a guy who can give up the dong (career double digit HR to flyball ratio) and a guy who can't control the run game (this matters a little less as Jays don't have many SB threats). Donaldson highlights the Blue Jays stack and makes for an excellent pivot off the chalky Nolan Arenado.