Pitchers
Top Tier
Rich Hill (-168): Hill comes in as the top overall option on Wednesday night in both price ($10,000 FD/$9,600 DK) and strikeout rate (26%). The problem I have with Hill tonight are the extreme pitchers umpire behind the plate, and the new look Brewers offense that doesn’t strike out as much as you would think against lefties. For the season, the Brewers are just 21st in strikeout rate against southpaws and their new deadline additions should only help that. He does have a ceiling given the K’s, but it’s GPPs only for Hill tonight.
Mid Tier
Anibal Sanchez (-188): What a slate it is when Anibal Sanchez is the top cash game pitcher, but here we are. Sanchez has been surprisingly good this season posting a 3.98 SIERA and 23% strikeouts, and draws a matchup with the Miami Marlins tonight. We know how weak the Marlins offense is, but I’m not sure how high Anibal’s ceiling is regardless. He profiles as a high-floor cash game play on Wednesday.
Low Tier
Luke Weaver (-130): Weaver burst onto the scene last season for the St. Louis Cardinals and became many DFS analysts favorite pitcher, so far this season he is not enjoying similar success. He has pitched better as of late though dropping his SIERA down to 4.12 over the last 30 days, while his K’s stick at a pretty average 21.9% over that span. He gets a strong matchup with the Colorado Rockies who rank bottom-five in wRC+ on the road and feature the eighth most strikeouts. I still don’t know what my belief level is in Weaver, but we are no longer being asked to pay for elite production and I like the matchup a lot.
Nick Tropeano (-110): I can’t recall us having a good narrative street game lately, so what is better than the Trop, Nick Tropeano, pitching in the Trop, Tropicana Field. Oh yeah, and Bill Miller is behind the plate! Tropeano is what he is, a fly-ball pitcher who is useable in some matchups like tonight against the Rays. The Rays are a weaker offensive team, ranking 27th in ISO against righties and Tropeano’s fly-ball tendencies will play well in pitcher-friendly Tropicana Field. I don’t know how high the upside is, but he is right there with Weaver as your top SP2.
Batters
Top Tier: Joc Pederson- I’ve been riding the Joc Train for months and he is in another great spot tonight against Chase Anderson. As I’ve said before, Joc has changed his approach at the plate this season cutting down his strikeout rate by 5%, taking more balls and ultimately producing more offensively. His 155 wRC+ and .291 ISO against RHP this season are video-game like numbers and what leads him to be one of my favorite plays on tonight’s slate.
Mid Tier: Yoan Moncada- The White Sox are in a smash spot tonight against Jake Junis and the Royals bullpen. Junis has allowed the 2nd most homers in the major leagues this season and he allows too much hard-contact for this matchup with the White Sox who come in 11th in ISO against RHP. That power starts with Moncada, who is much better against same-handed pitchers and my top overall second baseman on Wednesday night.
Low Tier: Kole Calhoun- It’s tough to target guys against the Rays bullpen games, but that won’t stop me from using Calhoun tonight. Calhoun homered again last night, and has remained on fire since making adjustments to his batting stance. His 51.9% hard-hit rate over the last 14 days continues to climb, while his price does not.
Tournament Stack of the Day
Chicago White Sox- I’m not sure if this will end up being popular or not based on their prices, but I definitely want a sneaky-powerful team against Junis. Avisail Garcia, Yoan Moncada, Daniel Palka and Matt Davidson all own .200+ ISO’s against righties this season and Jose Abreu trails just behind at .191. You can also fill-in with whatever cheap option makes his way to the top of the order, such as Leury Garcia.
