Not all lineups have been released yet, so make sure these guys are in their team’s lineup before they go into yours. All DFS Army members can reach me easily in our VIP Slack chat at the #AdotWalsh-MLB channel and also on Twitter ( @14AdotWalsh ) for any other inquiries.
ALL BULLPEN RANKS ARE BASED ON OPS (on-base plus slugging%) ALLOWED THIS SEASON!!!!
DETROIT TIGERS @ CINCINNATI REDS
TIGERS:
Lefties have clearly been documented as the way to attack Mahle, so Leonys Martin, Jeimer Candelario and Niko Goodrum all make sense here.
It’s interesting to note that Cincy’s bullpen has allowed the 4th-highest OPS this season. Nick Castellanos is still incredibly cheap on FD to warrant some exposure and the guys at the bottom of the order make for interesting GPP options.
REDS:
Righty bats haven’t had much luck against Fulmer, but it’s worth noting that Eugenio Suarez has a .476xwOBA/.265 ISO vs righty pitching over L14.
Lefty bats are really who we want to target here…. Scott Schebler, Joey Votto and Jesse Winker are all running hot at the moment. Scooter Gennett has cooled off a bit since his hot start but is worth some GPP exposure in one of (if not) the best hitting parks in the league.
ATLANTA BRAVES @ TORONTO BLUE JAYS
BRAVES:
While ATL does have some lefty-boppers in their lineup, JA Happ is not the guy I want to test. He’s got elite metrics across the board, but his inflated K-rate will be put to the test today against one of the best contact-teams in MLB.
Charlie Culberson and Johan Camargo both went bananas last night, and are still priced at a nice discount.
BLUE JAYS:
What universe are we living in where Anibal Sanchez is giving hitters fits? I don’t know (and I don’t like it!), but it’s certainly screeching the breaks on these BJs hitters.
If you must, Justin Smoak is still priced like a 3rd-string 3rd basemen in a Lithuanian baseball league, and he did have a decent night at the plate last night.
Yangervis Solarte is actually the guy I have the most interest in. The switch-hitting ability is nice, but he’s been the most productive hitter aside from Randal Grichuk in recent memory.
Kendrys Morales and Kevin Pillar have a decent BvP history vs Sanchez, but I assume most of these numbers are against the Sanchez that once got smacked all over the yard.
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS @ PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
CARDINALS:
Usually, all it takes is the wind to be blowing the right way for me to have interest in a Phils pitcher, but the major exception to that is Jake Arrieta. While I think his experience bodes well for the rest of the staff, I don’t have much interest in rostering him in DFS-formats. He doesn’t strike out enough batters and gets by on limiting hard contact. Welp, the Brewers got to him twice recently, and I’m sure the Cards are capable of doing the same.
Matt Carpenter, Tommy Pham (solid BvP), Marcell Ozuna and Jose Martinez are all rockin-and-rollin right now at the top of the Cards order. I’m not loving a full Cards stack in the event of Arrieta possibly getting back on track, but a one/two-off is certainly viable.
PHILLIES:
Michael Wacha has been getting hit hard and the results finally backed that up in his last start. I’m big on Rhys Hoskins and Odubel Herrera above all- they are both locked in like no other Phils players at the moment. Carlos Santana and Cesar Hernandez are both very appealing with their switch-hitting ability… and the Cards bullpen is a viable target to pick on over these last two weeks.
Nick Williams also returns to the lineup after taking a ball off the beak on Monday… his xwOBA numbers over the last month have been primo.
CHICAGO WHITE SOX @ CLEVELAND INDIANS
WHITE SOX:
Not loving too many guys here against Corey Kluber, but Jose Abreu does have a good history against him. GPP move only.
INDIANS:
The Tribe’s +0.4 IRT-increase is the highest on today’s slate… having a few options from this lineup would behoove you. Reynaldo Lopez is a very talented pitcher but he’s still allowing a great deal of hard contact and has control issues that can make life difficult on him at times.
Lefty bats are the way to go here and CLE has seven of them in the lineup today… I won’t name them, but they’re all great options.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS @ CHICAGO CUBS
DODGERS:
I’m pretty sure Kike Hernandez has great BvP against every lefty in the league, and that’s certainly the case against Jon Lester.
Matt Kemp, Chris Taylor and Justin Turner all have current/historical success vs lefties.
CUBS:
I learned early on in the Ross Stripling era that this is not someone to test. The Cubs lineup looks gawwwwwgeous on a daily basis, but today is the one misnomer. Stripling has elite metrics up-down-and across the board, and makes for an outstanding pivot off Corey Kluber today.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS @ SAN DIEGO PADRES
ATHLETICS:
The athletic son of the Lucchesi crime family returns from the DL to take on the A’s today. He’s been outstanding this season and we just saw OAK struggle against fellow lefty Eric Lauer last night. It’s tough to trust a guy in his first start off the DL, but I wouldn’t mind taking a chance on Lucchesi here in GPPs, given OAK’s numbers vs lefties.
Khris Davis, Chad Pinder (last night’s lineup killer), Mark Canha and Marcus Semien have all succeeded currently/at some point this season vs lefties, but this matchup does not warrant a stack by any means. One-off this sonbitch!
Jed Lowrie and his switch-hitting ability came through vs the SD bullpen last night… wouldn’t be surprised to see that happen once again.
PADRES:
Frankie Montas has shown signs of success but he’s far from a sure thing. The one thing I will say, is that he can rack up the Ks and he does get a nice boost shedding the DH for this game in the NL park.
With all that being said, lefties have a .192 ISO and 45% fly-ball rate vs Montas. Eric Hosmer (.303 ISO) and Corey Spangenberg (if he’s starting, .242 ISO) have solid numbers vs righties over L14.
Freddie Galvis had some rough at-bats last night, but he does have a .435xwOBA/.225 ISO vs righties over L14.
MIAMI MARLINS @ SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
MARLINS:
Derek Holland is usually one of our favorite pitchers to pick on, and today is no different. The Marlins have some capable righties to make life difficult on him, but pay attention to the lineups late here… if JT Realmuto ends up sitting in the day game after a night, that could be a sizeable hit to them.
Brian Anderson, Cameron Maybin and Lewis Brinson all have an xwOBA over .400 vs lefties over L14.
GIANTS:
Jose Urena has turned into a much better pitcher this season, and it’s not necessarily an auto-lock to blindly run lefty bats out there against him like in years previous. While his K-numbers are still putrid, he could make life difficult enough on Giants hitters in a park built for pitching.
If you must, Andrew McCutchen and Brandon Belt (whose numbers are far better at home) would be my preferred options here.
Gorkys Hernandez had a yuuuuuge night on Tuesday, possibly he comes back with his second strong performance in as many nights.