Pitcher
Justin’s Pick: German Marquez
German Marquez will likely be a sexy pick tonight, and for good reason. He was a dominant pitcher outside of Coors last season, posting an 8-5 record with a 2.95 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP over 17 road starts. He also held his opponents to a .201 average with a .349 slugging percentage and a .265 wOBA on the road last season. Continuing the trend of dominating away from home, Marquez posted a 10.1 K/9 with a 0.9 HR/9 over 106.2 road innings. He gets an elite matchup against the Miami Marlins, who lead the slate in strikeouts per at-bat, while also ranking last in team wOBA. Marquez is a -152 favorite in a game set at 7.5 runs, and Miami only feature an implied total of 3.4 runs tonight. He’s a pitcher that can safely be used in all leagues.
Jason’s Reaction: Marquez is the most popular, but also best, pitching option available tonight. Great recommendation, if a bit dull.
Jason’s Pick: Derek Holland
Derek Holland makes for an interesting contrarian tournament option tonight at the pitcher position. The San Francisco Giants opened the season with a loss to the San Diego Padres, and it is quite clear that their offensive power is going to be awfully limited in 2019. That said, the San Diego Padres are also offensively diminished, despite signing Manny Machado this offseason. Holland gets a great matchup against one of the worst teams in the league in the best ballpark in the league for pitchers. It is actually supposed to be semi-cold for the end of March in San Diego tonight, and the wind will also be a minor factor. Holland has a very respective K/9 at 8.9, and his price tag is low enough to make stacking much easier. The Padres are expected to score slightly over four runs tonight, but that assumes a Padres victory. If the Giants win this game, expect the Padres to score three or less runs, which would be a great outing for Holland. While his upside is limited due to his stamina, the potential to go beyond value at such a low price tag is there.
Justin’s Reaction: I don’t mind Holland in GPPs because of his price tag, but if I have a say, I’d try to get to Joey Lucchesi if you’re attacking this game.
Infielder
Justin’s Pick: Matt Chapman
If you read my PrizePicks article, you know that I’m extremely bullish on Matt Chapman this season. He’s coming off of a strong 2018 season, where he hit .277 with a .505 slugging percentage and an .860 OPS over 146 games. He also found plenty of success against right-handed pitching, as he owns 0.032 wOBA and 0.101 ISO differentials against righties. Furthermore, 31 of Chapman’s 39 career home runs have come against right-handed pitching. He gets an elite matchup against Matt Harvey tonight, and Harvey struggled against virtually everyone last season. In 2018, he allowed right-handed batters to hit for a .271 average with a .442 slugging percentage and a .326 wOBA. He is also allowing the third highest HR/9 on the slate, and I love attacking potential home runs when using one-off players.
Jason’s Reaction: It will be interesting to see how Harvey responds to his dreadful season last year. If I had to guess, he will continue to struggle, which makes Chapman a solid tournament option for his upside.
Jason’s Pick: Brandon Drury
Brandon Drury is seeing the ball well right now, as he hit over .300 during spring training prior to the start of the season, and this earned him a leadoff spot for the Toronto Blue Jays. Hitting first in the lineup adds value to his fantasy stock because he will see more at-bats than he would if he was at the bottom of the lineup, and he has better hitters behind him, which means he should score more runs, if he gets on base frequently. Matt Boyd is on the mound tonight for the Detroit Tigers, and Drury should be able to take advantage of the matchup with a left-handed pitcher. It also helps that Toronto is expected to win the game, so they should be scoring runs. Drury has been struggling since his impressive 2017, but perhaps he finally figured things out at the plate, or perhaps he is just ‘hot’ right now. Either way, daily fantasy baseball does not care about season-long statistics, but rather whether or not Drury scores tonight, and he is in a great position to do so.
Justin’s Reaction: It isn’t that often that you get a leadoff hitter at such a low price, especially one that had the Spring that Drury did. He’s a strong option tonight.
Outfielder
Justin’s Pick: Kole Calhoun
Speaking of potential home runs, Kole Calhoun is a strong option. He’s coming off of a down season, as he hit only .208 against right-handed pitching. With that being said, he owns a career .257 average against righties, and he should be able to get back on track this season. Furthermore, 32 of his 39 extra-base hits, including 16 of 19 home runs, came against right-handed pitching. He also brings 0.009 wOBA and 0.097 ISO differentials against righties into this game. Calhoun gets a matchup against Marco Estrada, who has been a reverse splits pitcher throughout his career. With that being said, he has struggled with powerful opponents, and he’s allowing the highest HR/9 on the slate. If you’re looking for a more sure-fire play, use Mike Trout, but Calhoun is leading off, and possesses tremendous upside for a lower price tag. He doesn’t make the best cash game option, but he can be used in tournaments tonight.
Jason’s Reaction: Calhoun is one of the best tournament options on the board tonight at the outfield position. I love this recommendation.
Jason’s Pick: Stephen Piscotty
Speaking of players that have great upside against a struggling Matt Harvey, Stephen Piscotty is hitting in the three spot tonight. Last season, against right-handed pitching, he hit .279 with 20 home runs. He has great power, he hits much better against right-handed pitching, he should see plenty of RBI opportunities, and Harvey is questionable at best right now in his career. The stars are aligned. It actually makes quite a bit of sense to roster both Piscotty and Chapman, as a high-upside mini-stack, even if not stacking the Oakland Athletics tonight. The A’s are expected to win this game, which is also an added bonus.
Justin’s Reaction: It looks like we have the early makings of an Oakland A’s stack tonight! I love it. Especially attacking a man that spurned my New York Mets.
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