PITCHERS
- Max Scherzer (WSH @ ATL) – You might see a little bit of pushback on the Nats ace tonight, like ATL being the 5th best offense vs RHPs, 3rd vs RHPs at home, but I could certainly make the case for him with a decreased price.
- Chris Archer (TB @ BAL) – Interesting tournament options since the O’s have been prone to strike out at times. However, my single lineup self doesn’t know if this is the proper risk.
- Chris Sale (CHW @ KC) – The strikeouts have been climbing and he’s also had two solid performances recently against the Royals, but didn’t win either start. Since the ASB, Royals have struck out at a 23% clip against LHPs.
- Cole Hamels (TEX vs. OAK) – As long as Hamels isn’t facing the Mariners or the Twins, he’s just fine. The A’s have the 2nd worst wOBA against LHPs since the ASB and the Rangers ace has seen his price drop significantly.
- Felix Hernandez (SEA vs. HOU) – The Astros have struggled at the plate and to stay healthy recently. Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve both left Wednesday’s game, and if they are out, Felix could be a very interesting play.
- Ian Kennedy (KC vs. CHW) – The Royals right-hander just skilled the White Sox on Sunday and he’ll look to do the same tonight. Kennedy went six innings and gave up one hit and four walks while striking out six en route to getting the win. The defending champs will have overcome last night’s awful performance where they got worked 14-0.
- Tom Koehler (MIA @ PHI) – He’s been awesome against the Phillies this season with a stat line 28 IP-14 H/9 BB (0.82 WHIP), 4 ER, 22 Ks. As a Phils fan, take it from me, this probably won’t end well for us.
UPDATE: Freddie Freeman is OUT for the Braves tonight, making their lineup look mediocre at best, thus making Max Scherzer a great play now at his lower price.
CATCHERS
- Yasmani Grandal (LAD @ ARZ) – 4 HRs in his last 12 games.
- Evan Gattis (HOU @ SEA) – 4 HRs in his last 12 games.
- J.T. Realmuto (MIA @ PHI) – Highest wOBA among all catchers over the last two weeks. Goes against a lefty in Adam Morgan, so he should be hitting in a great spot in the batting order.
- ***Rockies Catcher vs. Christian Friedrich at Coors Field – At this point of the day, we have no idea if it’s going to be Tom Murphy or Nick Hundley, but either one is a great play against the lefty.
INFIELDERS
- 1B
- Miguel Cabrera (DET @ CLE) – 21-for-42 against Corey Kluber lifetime with 5 HRs. He’s also gone yard 5 times in his last 12 games.
- Joey Votto (CIN vs. PIT) – .462 OBP over his last 12 games with an unreal 5.8% strikeout rate and two HRs in his last 25 plate appearances. The Reds go against Ryan Vogelsong at the Great American Ballpark, who Votto is actually 1-for-17 against lifetime, but I’m going to look past the BvP here and trust that he’s going to get it done tonight.
- Hanley Ramirez (BOS vs. NYY) – You know he’s going to get a rawkus ovation in his first plate appearance after playing hero last night and hitting the walk-off HR in one of the best games of the MLB season. I won’t make this my only reason for having him on this list; after all, five HRs in his last seven games isn’t too bad either.
- 2B
- Brian Dozier (MIN @ NYM) – Hottest hitter in MLB, not much of an explanation needed.
- D.J. LeMahieu (COL vs. SD) – The guy is money at home and he knows it, batting an insane .389 in 380 at-bats in Coors Field this season. LeMahieu also bats .336 and has an OPS of .937 against southpaws. He doesn’t have a HR in September yet, but tonight seems like the perfect night to get er’ done.
- Ryan Schimpf (SD @ COL) – Total hit-or-miss type of play, literally. Schimpf will strikeout with the best, or worst, of them but he does have the type of pop to make it a very magical night at Coors Field. It’ll cost you, though.
- 3B
- Pedro Alvarez (BAL vs. TB) – 4-for-10 against Chris Archer, 4 XBH with a HR and no Ks.
- Jake Lamb (ARZ vs. LAD) – 7-for-13 against Kenta Maeda this season, with no Ks.
- Adrian Beltre (TEX vs. OAK) – He’s got 4 HRs in his last 6 games
- SS
- Corey Seager (LAD @ ARZ) – He disappointed mightily last night, but let the masses come off of him. Seager is still one of the best hitters in MLB, despite being a rookie.
- Luis Sardinas (SD @ COL) – He’s got 4 multi-hit games in his last 5, the last 3 coming in San Francisco. Sardinas hasn’t had any HRs in this stretch, but in Coors Field, let your imagination run wild. The price on the Padres shortstop is also pretty damn appealing.
- Freddy Galvis (PHI vs. MIA) – He’s had some pretty good nights lately, with HRs in 3 of his last 5 games. Yes, I did mention Koehler in the pitcher’s section earlier, but odds are that you’re not going to roster him and Galvis is really cheap on most sites.
*UPDATES
- Galvis is batting seventh, doing the same
OUTFIELDERS
- Kevin Kiermaier (TB @ BAL) – 3rd best wOBA in MLB over the last 14 days, right behind Brian Dozier. Also has an outstanding 12.7% strikeout rate and 219 wRC+ rating over that same span.
- Andrew McCutchen (PIT @ CIN) – Well I feel like a horse’s ass recommending him ALL WEEK (last week) to have him not do much at all. So of course, McCutchen starts going bananas again when I hopped the bandwagon many miles ago. However, the former NL MVP gets a matchup with a young lefty tonight in the best hitter’s park in MLB.
- Nick Markakis (ATL vs. WSH) – One of my favorite hitters to roster in all of MLB DFS lately, mainly because of these sites refusing to raise his price, but the guy can hit and only has a 7.7% strikeout rate in his last 6 games. The last time Scherzer started against the Braves, Markakis went 3-for-5 and finished with 18.4 FanDuel points. $2500 on FD, $6900 on FD2, $3500 on DK. He is also batting third tonight.
- Brandon Drury (ARZ vs. LAD) – The kid is on fire this week with 3 HRs in his last 4 games and a bunch of fancy peripherals to boot. Drury and the D-Backs stay in Arizona this week where he’s done all of this damage over the last few days.
