Pitchers
Hyun-Jin Ryu- We have a pretty ugly five game main slate to end Saturday, and it has me focused on only two pitcher for my pool. Hyun-Jin Ryu has been one of the best starters in all of the MLB this season, and he gets the same matchup that Walker Buehler absolutely shredded last night. If you recall, I was on Buehler pretty heavily citing that matchup, and while I don’t expect a start with that kind of upside from Ryu tonight, he is clearly the best pitcher on this slate, and I am comfortable spending up on him even with the upside questions. I detailed that the Rockies are basically the Marlins when they’re on the road, they strike out over 26% of the time, and they rank bottom-five in wRC+. This is actually an even better matchup for a left-handed pitcher like Ryu, because outside of Nolan Arenado, any batter on the Rockies we are even remotely worried about in this lineup are left-handed. He’s clearly the top option in all formats tonight, and while it would make sense to fade that ownership in tournaments, I just don’t really see anyone else you would feel comfortable with in a cash game build.
Mike Foltynewicz- Folty is someone I expect to get at pretty nice ownership on a slate like this, in a tough matchup with the Washington Nationals. Much was made about his slow start and decreased velocity when he first came off of the injured list this season, but it’s been back up towards normal levels for four or more starts now, which has resulted in a 4.14 SIERA and 26% strikeouts over the last 30 days, certainly numbers that we can live with for a pitcher priced under $7,000 on DraftKings. There are no “safe” SP2 options and I really don’t want to spend more than $10,000 for both of my pitchers on a five game slate loaded with offense, so I’m willing to bank on the talent of Folty in a tough matchup and I think his upside is higher than anyone else in this pricing range on Saturday night.
Note: Lance Lynn is also a good play at pitcher on this slate, I just don’t see myself paying a premium for him when I want to jam in bats.
Batters
Alex Dickerson- Our ole pal Alex Dickerson has come back to like with the San Francisco Giants, just in time for him to drop a 6 RBI game last night and make his way right back into the hearts of DFS players everywhere. The Giants have a good matchup with Zack Godley tonight who is sporting a 5.25 xFIP and 17% strikeouts this season, mostly out of the bullpen. He’s allowing 39% hard hits to both sides of the plate, and we need to remember that Dickerson owns a career .220 ISO against right-handed pitching. He should definitely be in the lineup (hopefully higher up) after last night’s offensive outburst, and he is a strong value play in all formats.
Aaron Judge/Giancarlo Stanton- I try not to focus too much on one position in this section, but Judge and Stanton at $4,500 and $4,100 respectively against a left-handed pitcher in Wade Miley is pretty hard to ignore. Miley has been good this season for the Astros, but these are two guys that absolutely crush left-handed pitching for their careers, and with this lineup now healthy, it’s nearly impossible for a pitcher to navigate it multiple times through cleanly. Furthermore, Miley throws a cutter nearly 50% of the time against right-handed batters, and while Judge has struggled with that pitch throughout his career, Stanton has owned it sporting a .524 xwOBA and over a .300 ISO (limited samples for both players).
Rougned Odor- Is the summer breakout finally happening? Odor has perennially been a player whose offensive output has picked up with the summer weather, and he is coming off a homerun on Friday night. The Rangers will once again be the focus of the main slate (given their massive implied run total) in a matchup with Odrisamer Despaigne and a terrible White Sox bullpen. He won’t be super-high in the order, but getting some cheap exposure to one of the top offensive spots on a slate always makes sense in cash games, and with Odor, and the outfielders listed above, we should have plenty of room to spend up on whoever else we want across all sites.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
