Welcome to another edition of Ben’s Building Blocks! In this article, I will outline the players I’m looking to build my main lineup around for today’s slate. If you want access to my core plays for every main slate, as well as one of the best discord communities in the industry, click here.
Pitcher
Shane Bieber/Gerrit Cole- We are awarded another night of aces, with Shane Bieber and Gerrit Cole leading the way. Bieber draws a tough matchup with the Minnesota Twins, while Cole gets the Braves who have Ronald Acuna back in the lineup. On the season, this Braves lineup has a much higher strikeout rate than the Twins even with Acuna included. That being said, while Cole has still been dominant, Bieber takes the cake for top pitcher in real-life right now on this slate. On FanDuel, you can easily side with Cole for $1,000 cheaper, while they are separated by just $200 on DraftKings. My initial lean is to take the lower-owned of the two on DK, Bieber, but I won’t rule out jamming in both like the old days.
Chris Paddack- Paddack comes in under $8,000 once again on DraftKings, making him a top SP2 candidate. His strikeouts haven’t been there this season — just over 21% — but he is still getting double digit swinging strikes and is not walking anyone. He has one of the top matchups on the board against the Seattle Mariners. This lineup isn’t as bad as we thought heading into the season, but they own just a .159 team ISO and don’t have the power to really knock him around. Paddack’s biggest weakness is against left-handed batters, and there’s not a single lefty on this Mariners team with an ISO above .200 vs right-handed pitching over the last two seasons. I think the price is right for Paddack, but I’m comfortable being underweight if he ends up super chalky.
Building Blocks
Kolten Wong- I can’t believe the day has come, but Matt Harvey is back in our lives. Once a promising pitcher, Harvey completely fell off the map over his last few seasons in the MLB. Last season in LA, we saw him allow a .400+ wOBA to left-handed batters with 50% hard-contact. Wong doesn’t possess the big power we are normally looking for, but he is priced at only $3,300 on DraftKings. He still has managed 35% hard hits and 38% fly balls over the last two years, as well.
Edwin Encarnacion- Despite the chalk headed towards the Cardinals tonight, the White Sox are actually my favorite stack. Encarnacion has started out 2020 slow, but tonight against an average left-hander is the perfect place to get back on track. Even including the slow start, Eddie leads this White Sox team in ISO vs left-handed pitching (.339). The slow start has suppressed his price-tag, and he is one of my favorite value plays on Tuesday night.
My third building block is likely going to come down to what I do at pitcher. If I go with the double-ace route, I’m looking at guys like Victor Reyes and Jason Heyward for value. If I end up with Paddack as my SP2 — Kyle Schwarber and Nolan Arenado stick out as solid spends.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
