PITCHERS
- Madison Bumgarner @ Clayton Kershaw (SF @ LAD) – Bumgarner works well in this matchup, being that the Dodgers struggle mightily against LHPs. Kershaw has only thrown 66 and 64 pitches in his first two starts off the DL, but will be elevated to around 90-100 pitches tonight. This makes Kershaw’s price way too cheap for FanDuel. Ohhh, this is going to be a good one.
- Noah Syndergaard (NYM vs. ATL) – Pitched at least 7 IP in four of his last five starts, which is great news for him, but he’s also listed as -300 favorites tonight.
- Rick Porcello (BOS @ BAL) – About as solid as you get nowadays for a pitcher in DFS- 8 IP, 4 H, 6 Ks in his last start, which was against the O’s.
- Taijuan Walker (SEA vs. TOR) – Started tinkering with new mechanics, via the advice of Mariners pitching coach [the legendary] Mel Stottlemyre. It worked his last time out, as he pitched the first complete game shutout against the Angels. Last time a pitcher started tinkering with new mechanics publicly, David Price went on a massive run. Can Walker do the same?
- Jharel Cotton (OAK vs. HOU) – Only has five Ks in 12 IP so far in the majors, but has struck out plenty of batters in his minor league days. The Astros are certainly prone to striking out so you can consider him for GPP purposes.
HITTERS
-Top Tier-
- Anthony Rizzo & Kris Bryant (Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds) – Tonight’s Reds starter, Tim Adleman, has given up 11 HRs in 51 innings this season. He hasn’t faced the Cubs yet, but I’m sure that homer-to-inning ratio is about to go up tonight.
- Mookie Betts & David Ortiz (Boston Red Sox @ Baltimore Orioles) – The Red Sox best hitters have an extreme ballpark boost against Dylan Bundy, who has given up 25 hits, 10 ER and four HRs in 15 innings against the AL East leaders this season. What’s even better, the stat lines for these two against the O’s this season:
- Betts: 24-for-63 with 20 runs, eight homers and 19 RBI [12-for-24 with seven homers, 13 RBI and 13 runs at Camden Yards this season]
- Ortiz: 19-for-58 with 10 runs, six homers and five doubles- [7-for-23 with three homers at Camden Yards this season]
-Middle Tier-
- Albert Pujols (Los Angeles Angels @ Texas Rangers) – Going up against a weak lefty in a great hitter’s park that holds the highest over/under of the night never seemed so good. So good, so good!
- Carlos Gomez (Texas Rangers vs. Los Angeles Angels) – He’s batting leadoff for a team that’s a -126 favorite in a game with an over/under of 10.5. It sounds shallow, but if you thought you were getting Old Chinese proverbs in this write-up, you are certainly in the wrong place.
- Ryan Schimpf (San Diego Padres vs. Arizona Diamondbacks) – Can’t stop, won’t stop…so it’s another day and another Schimpf lovefest. He’s actually batting cleanup at a lower price than usual, so I’m all about it.
-Value Tier-
- Addison Russell (Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds) – Batting fifth for the Cubs at $2500 on FanDuel against a weak pitcher, I’m in.
- Dee Gordon (Miami Marlins vs. Washington Nationals) – He’s still priced way too cheap on FanDuel at $2800 to be batting leadoff.
- Jose Reyes (New York Mets vs. Atlanta Braves) – Also $2800 on FanDuel batting leadoff, but against a much weaker opponent.
- Andrelton Simmons (Los Angeles Angels @ Texas Rangers) – He’s been one of the best hitters in baseball this last week; the minuscule price tag of $2300 on FanDuel doesn’t reflect that and Simmons is batting sixth tonight against a lefty in a game with the highest total of the night.