Pitchers
Zack Wheeler- Overall, Zack Wheeler is having a solid season for the Mets pitching to a 3.91 SIERA with 26% strikeouts and 6% walks. There are no prototypical “aces” on this slate, making Wheeler the clear cut top option given his matchup with the Miami Marlins. We know that the Marlins are one of the worst offenses in baseball against right-handed pitching, their 75 wRC+ ranks second-worst while their 25% strikeouts are good for fifth. Wheeler’s main weakness this season has been allowing homers to lefties, which shouldn’t be an issue tonight as the Marlins have just one batter with an ISO over .200 against right-handed pitching. On a normal slate, Wheeler would be popular, but on this specific slate he is set up to be massive chalk on both sites. He’s my top overall option in cash games, but fading in large field GPPs would certainly hold value.
Zack Greinke- If you’re looking for a pivot off of Wheeler, look no further than Greinke who is making his Astros debut against one of our favorite DFS targets — the #RoadRockies. On the road, the Rockies offense rivals even that of the Marlins with a 71 wRC+ and 27% strikeouts. Greinke’s numbers are pretty close to Wheeler’s with a few less strikeouts, and while I’m not sure we can expect a strikeout boom from Greinke like other new Astros, I do expect them to optimize him and this is definitely a plus matchup. I love the idea of pairing them together on DraftKings, but that all depends on how comfortable you are with the value plays at the other positions. Overall, he’s a smash tournament play and someone I want to be overweight to on Tuesday night.
Anthony DeSclafani- If you can’t end up pairing the above two together in cash games, I would be dropping down to the mid-tier and examining our boy Tony Disco. I originally had Anibal Sanchez slotted here, but after seeing the Angels lineup I’m bumping DeSclafani ahead of him in all formats. This Angels team has been striking out more than they were in the beginning of the season, and they will lose the DH playing in Cincy tonight. Furthermore, there are only three lefties in their lineup tonight — Brian Goodwin, Matt Thaiss and Luis Rengifo, this is a big boost for Disco when looking at his splits this season:
vs LHH: 23% K%, .400 wOBA, .261 ISO
vs RHH: 27% K%, .256 wOBA, .131 ISO
This is an amazing individual matchup for him, and I think he is viable in all formats especially at his expected low ownership.
GPP Pool: Anibal Sanchez, Conner Menez, Dinelson Lamet
Building Blocks
Manny Machado- I’m not sure that I’ll have a ton of money to be jamming in studs left and right tonight, so to start, my top overall play on this entire slate is Manny Machado. Wade LeBlanc is set to toe the rubbers against the Padres tonight, which is good news for Machado (and his teammate Hunter Renfroe) as he owns a .538 wOBA and a .430 ISO against southpaws this season. Despite the positive matchup, you get a $5K caliber player for only $4,400 on DraftKings and he will be a staple across my lineups.
Jose Abreu- Jose Abreu comes in extremely cheap tonight, despite one of the top matchups on the board against Drew VerHagen. VerHagen boasts a 6.71 SIERA this season with almost 18% walks, obviously that’s terrible, but with the control issues it also makes it tough to single out one batter against him. I do like the White Sox as a full-stack option, but given how bad the Tigers bullpen is as well I’m willing to take the savings with Abreu on a night where I’m most likely going to need them. VerHagen has surrendered 42% hard hits and over a .270 ISO to right-handed batters this season.
Yasiel Puig- Sticking with the mid-tier plays, we are presented Yasiel Puig, batting cleanup against Ariel Jurado for $4,400. Jurado is a righty, but he’s actually worse against same-handed batters allowing a .374 wOBA and a .225 ISO compared to .320/.153 marks against lefties. Puig has been hitting the ball extremely hard during his short stint in Cleveland, and he sports a .224 ISO with a 90 MPH aEV this season in same-handed matchups. I have the Indians as the top overall stack on this slate, so getting some exposure to them in my optimal build would make sense, even as a one-off.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
