Hello again everybody, and welcome to today’s MLB Full Count breakdown! I’m nillyJay and I run the carnage report and DraftKings tiers tools. I also coach NASCAR, so be sure to check us out every weekend over there, too. It’s a Tuesday so you know what that means; a big ol’ main slate for us to feast on! There are a lot of interesting ways to go today, as well as having several pitchers that one could make a solid argument for or against using. Join me as I scratch the surface of all these ballgames!
A look at pitchers
We have all sorts of different options today, ranging from a few higher-dollar arms in good spots to a few that look like they may only make it an inning or two before hitting the showers. Guys like Pivetta and Webb may serve is good general purpose or cash game options, but we also have some interesting tournament options with higher upside, such as Cole, Kikuchi, and even Bieber. There are a lot of ways to go, so as always, be sure to check out the coach’s notes page to see who they are most interested in.
Main slate
Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees
We’ll kick things off with the Rays and Yankees, and right away we’re thrust into a game with two legitimate pitchers and two potent offenses. We know what the Yankees are capable of, but if things go their way, I could see the Rays keeping pace for a while here. I wouldn’t be against hedging some here, and trying to have a few pieces of all sides of this one.
Rays 5 star plays – none
Rays 3.5 star plays – Arozarena, Choi
GPP note – While this isn’t a good matchup for these bats, Cole does allow power to both sides (with .211 ISO to righties) and several of them are hitting for power against right-handed pitching. A few one-offs or mini-stacks could return some value.
Yankees 5 star plays – none
Yankees 4 star plays – Judge/Stanton, Carpenter
GPP note – Not the best matchup here either, but the same applies to these bats as well. Kluber gives up more power to righties, for what it’s worth.
Atlanta Braves at Washington Nationals
Next up are the Braves and Nationals, with Fried and Gray on the mound. It feels like more of the same here; two pitchers and offenses that all have legitimate upside on any given day. You’ll either have to take a stand or hedge some more if you’re running enough lineups. Or, I guess, you could just fade everybody here and hope they all drop fantasy duds. So many options!
Braves 5 star plays – none
Braves 4 star plays – Acuna/Riley, Olson
GPP note – Though a bit of a hit-or-miss matchup against Gray, the same applies here as the previous game, so don’t be afraid to take some power righties.
Nationals 5 star plays – none
Nationals 4 star plays – Soto/Bell, Cruz
GPP note – Fried doesn’t allow a whole lot of power, though he does a little to righties. I don’t like big stacks against him, so again, stick to one-offs or mini-stacks if you go here.
Miami Marlins at Philadelphia Phillies
Rogers and the Marlins take on Eflin and the Phillies next, and while the home team looks to have the advantage, I don’t mind a few pieces of the Miami offense. They’ll have some work cut out for them to keep pace, but if a couple of them have to do some work to get them there, why not have some exposure to them?
Marlins 5 star plays – none
Marlins 4 star plays – Chisholm, Soler
GPP note – A rather average-ish matchup all around, it’s hard to get behind huge stacks here but I don’t mind taking some of the stars here.
Phillies 5 star plays – Harper
Phillies 4 star plays – Castellanos/Hoskins, Schwarber
GPP note – A good matchup for the righties, Rogers gives up plenty to them with a below-average strikeout rate. He does allow some power to lefties too though, so don’t neglect them.
Baltimore Orioles at Toronto Blue Jays
Next up we have Lyles and the Orioles taking on Kikuchi and the Blue Jays. We might be right back to where we were with games one and two here – Kikuchi is just so hard to predict, and usually either he or the offense he’s facing has a good day. You could grab a few pieces of both sides of it, as there’s always a decent chance some fireworks will go off somewhere. Oh, don’t forget about the Blue Jays’ offense (I know you didn’t), as they’re in a nice spot here, too.
Orioles 5 star plays – none
Orioles 4 star plays – Mountcastle/Hays, Mateo
GPP note – Kikuchi tends to either go bonkers and upset the slate or get shelled to Mars and back. If you stack here, go big, and consider hedging some since it’s hard to know which version of him will show up.
Blue Jays 5 star plays – Guerrero/Springer
Blue Jays 4 star plays – Bichette, Kirk
GPP note – A favorable matchup for these bats, Lyles gives up about equal numbers to both sides, though quite a bit more xwOBA to lefties. Don’t shy away from the righties though, as they’re hitting their own quite well.
Oakland Athletics at Boston Red Sox
Moving on to the next game, we have Koenig and the Athletics taking on Pivetta and the Red Sox. This one is surely favored for the home team, and I can’t really find much of a compelling argument to want to take a big stand with the A’s here. Maybe everybody else will feel the same though, so you could go contrarian and have them all to yourself?
Athletics 5 star plays – none
Athletics 3.5 star plays – Andrus
GPP note – Pivetta continues to cruise through his matchups without giving up a ton, and I don’t know that this is the squad to knock him down a peg or two. Stack with caution.
Red Sox 5 star plays – Martinez/Devers
Red Sox 4 star plays – Story, Bogaerts
GPP note – It’s hard to know what to expect from Koenig in the 3-4 innings he might pitch, but these guys are clobbering lefties, so it might not really matter. Stack away!
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Milwaukee Brewers at New York Mets
Houser and the Brewers will take on Bassitt and the Mets next, and I like the home team again here. I do think a few of the Milwaukee bats could be of service, but maybe look elsewhere for your big stacks today.
Brewers 5 star plays – none
Brewers 3.5 star plays – Yelich, Tellez
GPP note – A decent spot for the lefties, I don’t mind swooping in here to grab a few high-upside bats, but I don’t know that I’d go crazy stacking against Bassitt.
Mets 5 star plays – Lindor
Mets 4 star plays – McNeil, Alonso
GPP note – A favorable matchup, these guys can do damage in a hurry and I don’t mind stacks of any size here. Lefties have the power advantage.
Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers
Next up we have a divisional rivalry game between the White Sox and Tigers. Cease and Alexander will start this one, and it’s tough to see the Tigers being able to claw their way to victory here (I know, sorry, that was bad). Their saving grace may be that Cease is allowing some hits and walks to go with all his strikeouts, so maybe they can pounce on him a little here. Okay, I’m done with the puns, I promise!
White Sox 5 star plays – Abreu
White Sox 4 star plays – Robert/Vaughn, Pollock/Harrison
GPP note – Alexander got dinged up in his last two appearances, and these guys will be looking to give him more of the same. A good spot for the plethora of righties on this squad.
Tigers 5 star plays – none
Tigers 3.5 star plays – Castro
GPP note – A poor matchup that I have little desire in attacking, Cease does at least allow some power to righties so you could attack him there if you’re bold enough. I think the contrarian move here would just be fading Cease rather than stacking Detroit (in hopes that his hits/walks remain up there and he can’t grab enough K’s to pay off).
Pittsburgh Pirates at St Louis Cardinals
Our second game of a double-header, we have Wilson and the Pirates taking on Mikolas and the Cardinals in our next bout. Provided the offense can come through again, this one has St Louis written all over it, as both Mikolas and his offense are in a bit of a smash spot here.
Pirates 5 star plays – none
Pirates 3.5 star plays – Reynolds
GPP note – Though there are certainly better matchups to attack, Mikolas does allow some power to lefties so you could take a few swings at him from that side of the plate.
Cardinals 5 star plays – Goldschmidt
Cardinals 4 star plays – Arenado, Edman/Bader
GPP note – A great matchup for these guys, Wilson is low on strikeouts and high on giving up contact and power to both sides of the plate. Stack here any way you’d like to.
San Diego Padres at Chicago Cubs
Manaea and the Padres will take on Hendricks and the Cubs next. Chicago’s start has turned from a once-decent game manager to a bit of a gas can lately, so who can argue against stacking against him again here? Manaea can probably handle himself pretty well here, though there are a few spots where you could attack him, too. Overall I’ll give this one to the Padres, but I don’t think they’ll get it without a small fight.
Padres 5 star plays – none
Padres 4 star plays – Profar, Machado/Hosmer/Voit
GPP note – Hendricks’ stock continues to plummet. Will he ever recover? Who knows, but you might as well stack against him in the meantime. Lefties have a big advantage against him.
Cubs 5 star plays – none
Cubs 4 star plays – Contreras, Morel/Wisdom/Happ
GPP note – Manaea has been stingy on giving up too much usable contact, but does allow some occasional power to righties. It’s hard to suggest taking big stacks against him, but a righty or two could be useful.
Houston Astros at Texas Rangers
Our Texas game is next, with Urquidy and the Astros taking on Dunning and the Rangers. Neither pitcher strikes me as being in a spot to be dominant, so I suspect we’ll see at least a couple of balls hit for the distance in this Texas heat.
Astros 5 star plays – none
Astros 4 star plays – Alvarez, Tucker/Brantley/Altuve
GPP note – Dunning is doing a good job of keeping tabs on righties, but lefties are getting some power out of him. Consider taking a few of them in this matchup.
Rangers 5 star plays – none
Rangers 4 star plays – Semien, Seager
GPP note – Urquidy can get some strikeouts but is allowing about equal power to both sides of the plate (over .200 ISO at that). I could see him giving up a big hit or two here, so be sure to get at least some exposure.
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Cleveland Guardians at Colorado Rockies
Our Coors game is up next, this one featuring Bieber and the Guardians taking on Senatela and the Rockies. It’s easy enough to say take Ramirez and some other Cleveland bats, but I’m really interested to see how Bieber will perform here. If he can manage the quirks of pitching here, perhaps he could rack up another big score? I’d have a hard time not having at least SOME exposure to him in tournaments today.
Guardians 5 star plays – Ramirez
Guardians 4 star plays – Gimenez
GPP note – You don’t need me to tell you to stack against Senzatela at Coors. I can at least suggest trying some wrap-around stacks or using a lower-owned team as a secondary stack to help you not be too overly chalky, though.
Rockies 5 star plays – none
Rockies 3.5 star plays – Blackmon, McMahon/Cron, Rodgers
GPP note – It’ll be interesting to see how Bieber handles pitching here. At any other ballpark this would be a terrible matchup for these guys, so I’d recommend hedging here should you decide to take either side in any other lineup(s).
Cincinnati Reds at Arizona Diamondbacks
We head out west for our late-night games, starting with Mahle and the Reds taking on Davies and the Diamondbacks. Similar to our first couple of games, I could see this game going one of several different ways, as both pitchers and offenses could have an argument made for them to perform well here. In the end, they can’t all be right, so it’ll be fun to see how this one turns out.
Reds 5 star plays – none
Reds 4 star plays – Votto, Pham/Drury
GPP note – Davies is pitching a little better than his DK salary would indicate, though he is allowing some decent power to righties. You could take some of them since they won’t be as popular as the other bats here.
Diamondbacks 5 star plays – none
Diamondbacks 4 star plays – Walker/Peralta
GPP note – Mahle allows equal power to both sides, though his strikeout rate is well above average (again, better than his DK salary would lead you to believe). I wouldn’t fade these guys, but maybe full stacks won’t be the winning play, either.
Kansas City Royals at San Francisco Giants
Next up we have Bubic and my Royals taking on Webb and the Giants. These games always get to me as a KC fan (cut me some slack, I’ll probably be dead by the time we win another title), but I digress. The Giants are in a good spot here, both for their pitching and offense, so I’d give them most of the attention today. I could see a KC bat or two doing something, but likely not enough to keep up.
Royals 5 star plays – none
Royals 3.5 star plays – Perez, Meneldez, Witt
GPP note – Not exactly a desirable matchup, Webb’s only real weakness is a little power given up to lefties. I’d stop at mini-stacks here, if you even try any.
Giants 5 star plays – none
Giants 4 star plays – Yastrzemski, Crawford
GPP note – This is one of those matchups that could quickly spiral out of control, so be sure you have your exposure here. While Bubic is allowing a lot more power to lefties, his RvL xwOBA is pretty high too, so the power is ready to explode any day now.
Los Angeles Angels at Los Angeles Dodgers
Next up we have our battle of Los Angeles, but thankfully without the alien invasion. Syndergaard and Gonsolin will get the nod, and this sure is a tale of two different pitchers, isn’t it? On one side we have Syndergaard, a guy who has plenty of upside in him, but just can’t seem to really get things going and keep them that way. On the flip side we have Gonsolin, a guy who hasn’t seen less than 20 DKFP in seven starts, with no less than five strikeouts in each of them. He’s the poster boy of a solid floor, but will he find any sort of a ceiling against Trout and Ohtani & company?
Angels 5 star plays – none
Angels 4 star plays – Trout/Ohtani
GPP note – Gonsolin allows average power to both sides, but otherwise he’s a pretty tough customer. I wouldn’t go overboard with stacking here unless you plan to hedge.
Dodgers 4 star plays – Freeman/Betts
Dodgers 3.5 star plays – Turner/Turner, Bellinger/Taylor
GPP note – Syndergaard’s struggles continue as he’s trying to find some steadiness this season, so attacking him again here isn’t a terrible idea since he’s allowing a good chunk to both sides. Like Gonsolin, it’s not a bad place to hedge either, as he does have a lot of upside deep inside him…somewhere.
Minnesota Twins at Seattle Mariners
And finally, we wrap up the day with Ryan and the Twins taking on Gilbert and the Mariners. Both pitchers can be solid, but both have some weaknesses that we can poke at for tournament use. Neither of them rank in the top part of the carnage model, nor do they carry a tasty 500+ KSCORE, so I worry about their ability to pay off here tonight.
Twins 5 star plays – none
Twins 4 star plays – Buxton, Correa/Kepler/Sanchez
GPP note – Gilbert has plenty of upside but isn’t without his flaws on occasion. Your best bet here is to attack him with righties, as he allows quite a bit more power to them than to lefties.
Mariners 5 star plays – none
Mariners 3.5 star plays – Rodriguez, France, Raleigh
GPP note – Similar to Gilbert, Ryan has upside in him but does allow power to lefties. A few of them are hitting for power, so I don’t mind some small or medium-sized stacks here, either.
And that’s going to do it for this one. Thanks for joining me, and be sure to check out the coach’s notes page to see who they are most interested in. Best of luck today!
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