HITTERS:
-Top Tier-
- Anthony Rizzo (Chicago Cubs @ Milwaukee Brewers) – He’ll undoubtedly be one of the higher owned players on the night, and for good reason. Rizzo is bopping big time against right-handed pitchers this season to the tune of a .306 AVG with additional .398 OBP/.571 SLG/.969 OPS numbers against them.
- Brian Dozier (Minnesota Twins vs. Kansas City Royals) – 21 homers since the All-Star break isn’t too shabby and neither were the three he hit yesterday. Tonight, Dozier goes up against Dillon Gee, whom by the ultimate coincidence, he has three homers against in 14 career at-bats.
- Corey Seager (Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks) – Shelby Miller is back in the majors and while he did have a decent return back last start, I don’t see that same kind of success for him against at least one of the Dodgers. Seager has elite numbers against right-handed pitchers this season and we can all expect that to continue tonight.
- Joey Votto (Cincinnati Reds vs. New York Mets) – I actually like him more than Rizzo tonight, especially in tournaments where you’ll get him at a lower ownership percentage. Mets starter Rafael Montero is one of my favorite pitchers to target against on this slate and Votto has been one of the better hitters in baseball lately.
- Trea Turner (Washington Nationals vs. Atlanta Braves) – One more elite play for you on today’s extended list…don’t worry, you’ll be able to afford it with all the value pitching options. I was very slow to come around on Turner initially, but I am a man that admits his mistakes and this was probably my biggest one this season. Turner actually has slightly better numbers against right-handers and has the ability to steal bases on any given night.
-Mid Tier-
- Brad Miller (Tampa Bay Rays vs. Baltimore Orioles) – He’s just way too cheap on FanDuel at $3200.
- Franklin Gutierrez (Seattle Mariners vs. Texas Rangers) – Gutz (Goootz) is on a heater these last two games at home, so let’s make it three in a row for him tonight. I mean, hell, he is going against one of the worst road pitchers in all of baseball, Martin Perez.
- Jose Ramirez (Cleveland Indians vs. Houston Astros) – Cleveland’s offense is primed for a big evening and I love this guy to be the biggest producer when that is in the forecast. Ramirez has a team-high .364 BA with runners in scoring position and 52 RBI as well.
- Scott Schebler (Cincinnati Reds vs. New York Mets) – He’s got sneaky good pop, so playing in a bandbox against a terrible pitcher sounds like a good combo to me.
-Value Tier-
- Jake Lamb (Arizona Diamondbacks @ Los Angeles Dodgers) – $2900 on FanDuel against Ross Stripling? OK…
- Jose Peraza (Cincinnati Reds vs. New York Mets) – So if you’ve seen the common theme with Reds here, you know where this is going. Peraza is insanely cheap at $2700 on FanDuel and if you didn’t hear it the first two times, Rafael Montero isn’t very good.
PITCHERS:
-Top Tier-
- Corey Kluber (Cleveland Indians vs. Houston Astros) – Only one option to call an elite pitcher tonight, according to the salaries. Across the three preferred sites of the DFS Army (DraftKings, FanDuel and FantasyDraft), Kluber is an average of $3800 more than the second-most expensive pitcher. His strikeouts are back up to a respectable number and the Astros have the third-highest strikeout rate (23.8%) against right-handed pitchers, as well as seventh-most (23.5%) over the last two weeks.
-Mid Tier-
- Luke Weaver (St. Louis Cardinals @ Pittsburgh Pirates) – The rookie’s strikeout numbers have gone up incrementally over four starts, but don’t take the 10 in his last one at face value- it was against the Brewers. Regardless, Weaver is taking on a Pirates team that is in the midst of a seven-game losing streak and he’s also been pretty stingy against right-handers (10-50, 15 Ks) which they have plenty of.
-Value Tier-
- Brandon Finnegan (Cincinnati Reds vs. New York Mets) – The southpaw has been awesome in his last three starts (20 IP, 9 H/4 BB, 4 ER, 29 K) and the Mets struck out 11 times in total yesterday, nine of which came against a very inexperienced pitcher. However, the lineup that the Mets are rolling out is far more impressive than yesterday, so take that into account.
- Tyler Anderson (Colorado Rockies vs. San Francisco Giants) – The Giants have forgotten how to hit, and being at Coors Field hasn’t really helped matters much. Anderson gets the platoon advantage against some of the Giants’ best hitters and I’d be shocked if he falters tonight since he’s averaged 36.2 FDP in 10 starts at Coors this season.