DFS MLB Game by Game Breakdown – Sunday, August 12

Welcome into the Sunday edition of the DFS MLB Game by Game Breakdown! We have 10 games in front of us today so let’s get moving!

The offense was once again a little rough last night in DFS MLB and even though we got some great pitching performances, it was just enough to be right on the line. It was really dependent on what contest you were in, so let’s jump into today’s slate with a shorter turnaround before lock.

DFS MLB – Rangers at Yankees

Rangers Probable Starter – Martin Perez, LHP 

6.15 ERA, 1.94 WHIP and 13.1 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .298 average, .347 wOBA, 12.2 K rate, 25.0 fly ball rate and 29.3 hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .361 average, .431 wOBA, 13.3 K rate, 32.2 fly ball rate and 45.1 hard hit rate

Perez has been a little bit better on the road but this is going to be a challenge for him. The Yankees are first in slugging, OPS, ISO, wOBA and wRC+ this season so there’s plenty of power to be had through the lineup. The first man for me might be Gleyber Torres. That may seem to be odd with Giancarlo Stanton in the lineup but Torres roasts lefty sinkers with a .429 ISO and a .300 xwOBA. Compare the xwOBA to Stanton at just .173 and Torres might be the better investment at $4,100. This isn’t to say Stanton is some awful play because he still smashes lefties and the pitch data isn’t the be all, end all. It’s just a piece of the puzzle. Stanton has a monster .343 ISO versus lefties overall so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him homer. Aaron Hicks also rates better by the xwOBA and ISO versus the sinker so he’s an excellent pick as well. The lefties of Greg Bird and Didi Gregorius would make for a solid GPP play seeing the splits for Perez.

Yankees Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Gleyber Torres, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks

Secondary Options – Greg Bird, Didi Gregorius(GPP), Miguel Andujar

Yankees Probable Starter – CC Sabathia, LHP 

3.49 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 20.0 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .173 average, .308 wOBA, 22.3 K rate, 33.3 fly ball rate and 18.5 hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .263 average, .322 wOBA, 19.5 K rate, 36.2 fly ball rate and 31.3 hard hit rate

This could be a solid spot for some of the Texas righties, including even Delino DeShields. You’re really only playing DeShields because Sabathia has been having issues holding runners on, and that really cropped up against the Red Sox in a recent series. If you’re going for the more expensive  bats that might have some power, you’re looking at Jurickson Profar, Robinson Chirinos and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. They all have an ISO over .180 and Sabathia does give up some home runs. He’s not a gas can but the Rangers have been hot lately. They’re probably not going to be my favorite play since Sabathia doesn’t give up a lot of hard contact but they’re in play for sure. I wouldn’t mess with the lefties and I wouldn’t be shocked to see Sabathia roll out a quality start.

Rangers Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Jurickson Profar

Secondary Options – Robinson Chirinos, Adrian Beltre, Isiah Kiner-Falefa

Home Run Pick – Gleyber Torres

DFS MLB – Red Sox at Orioles

Red Sox Probable Starter – Chris Sale, LHP 

2.04 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and 37.6 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .165 average, .196 wOBA, 38.8 K rate, 25.5 fly ball rate and 18.9 hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .181 average, .245 wOBA, 37.4 K rate, 38.3 fly ball rate and 27.2 hard hit rate

So here’s my issue with Chris Sale. He’s wildly expensive, which usually isn’t a problem for me. The problem is two-fold. He’s fresh off the disabled list with a shoulder injury. While everything out of Boston would lead us to believe it was very minor, it’s still something that has to be noted. My big problem with unloading this much salary on a player is the Red Sox have ZERO incentive to push Sale at all. They’re 50 games over .500 and have at least a 9.5 game lead on the best record in baseball. They absolutely need Sale 100 percent for the playoffs. If there’s even a whiff of discomfort, he’s done for the day and there’s going to be no discussion. I’m not playing Orioles because Sale is the best pitcher in baseball if he’s healthy. I just don’t know if I can pay up for him today.

Orioles Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – None

Orioles Probable Starter – Alex Cobb, RHP 

5.55 ERA, 1.51 WHIP and 15.0 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .300 average, .361 wOBA, 17.6 K rate, 36.3 fly ball rate and 33.5 hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .298 average, .357 wOBA, 12.4 K rate, 28.8 fly ball rate and 31.0 hard hit rate

Playing a Red Sox stack might carry a little more risk than the stats might lead you to believe. Cobb has five quality starts in his last seven and hasn’t given up more than three runs since the start of July. Now, it’s the Red Sox. They can beat up on any pitcher in baseball, especially with the top end of the lineup. It’s kind of hard to get around the fact that Mookie Betts has a .555 xwOBA in 24 at-bats and J.D. Martinez has a whopping .801 xwOBA in 13 at-bats. Martinez crushed two more home runs last night and might add to his lead in the majors. You can’t ever go wrong with Betts regardless of the matchup and both these hitters have an ISO of at least .296 and a wOBA of at least .446. I think I would bet on Martinez staying hot if I could only play one hitter because he owns righty sinkers, which he’ll see 53 percent of the time. Martinez carries a .595 xwOBA and .429 ISO versus that particular pitch.

Red Sox Hitters to Target 

Elite Options -J.D. Martinez, Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi

Secondary Options – Mitch Moreland, Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts

Home Run Pick – J.D. Martinez

DFS MLB – Rays at Blue Jays

Rays Probable Starter – Tyler Galsnow, RHP 

4.14 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 32.1 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .233 average, .342 wOBA, 29.0 K rate, 24.6 fly ball rate and 19.4 hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .209 average, .273 wOBA, 34.7 K rate, 25.3 fly ball rate and 35.4 hard hit rate

There were other people on Glasnow in his last start, notably Joe Metz at FanCave since we chatted on Twitter about it. I couldn’t pull the trigger but Joe and others nailed it when Glasnow racked up 36 points over four innings of work. Tampa continues to stretch him out and if everything goes right, he should hit five innings today. What’s been impressive so far is Glasnow has only walked one hitter so far in a Tampa uniform. That’s only seven innings but that would be a big step for Glasnow, who has a career 13.6 walk percentage. Their pitching coach is Kyle Snyder who is 6’7″ and might be helping Glasnow unlock something mechanically.

He’s going to be tested today because the Blue Jays have lefty hitters in their lineup that could give him fits. Justin Smoak and Kendrys Morales bth will bat lefty and they crush the four seam/curve combo that is Glasnow’s bread and butter. They both have an xwOBA over .435 and an ISO over .300 versus that pitch mix. They both are also carrying an ISO over .200 on the season. Toronto does have a top 10 strikeout rate in baseball so this whole game is GPP only for me today.  Glasnow at $5,900 is going to be too good to pass on for at least a share or two in tournaments.

Blue Jays Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Justin Smoak, Kendrys Morales(GPP)

Secondary Options – Curtis Granderson, Randall Grichuk

Blue Jays Probable Starter – Marcus Stroman, RHP 

5.20 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 18.2 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .271 average, .320 wOBA, 16.6 K rate, 17.0 fly ball rate and 37.2 hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .271 average, .318 wOBA, 19.8 K rate, 23.6 fly ball rate and 31.7 hard hit rate

This is another spot that I could see going to one extreme or the other. When Stroman is on, he’s almost impossible to square up and he ground balls teams into submission. He just threw Sven shutout innings against the vaunted Red Sox but here’s the catch – he left that start with a blister issue. Those can crop up at any point and he could be out of the game early. The splits are about dead even here so there’s no real platoon advantage. Jake Bauers is the most interesting from the power perspective. He’s going to see a sinker or slider about 60 percent of the time and he does carry a .360 ISO against that pitch. C.J. Cron would be the power threat from the other side with a .229 ISO overall against righties but doesn’t look as solid from a pitch data point of view. Mallex Smith would be my only other real consideration because he can beat out a ground ball and swipe a bag. $3,500 is really starting to play with fire because he has no real power to speak of with just one bomb on the season.

Rays Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options -Jake Bauers, C.J. Cron, Mallex Smith

Home Run Pick – 

DFS MLB – Twins at Tigers

Twins Probable Starter – Kohl Stewart, RHP 

*Major League Debut*

The info available on FanGraphs from May doesn’t say a lot about Stewart other than he has a fastball that touches 97 but that hasn’t translated to a huge strikeout rate, sitting at 17.5 percent in 40 innings of AAA ball this year. What does stick out is he suddenly started ground balls at a really high rate this season. He has logged about 108 innings between AAA and AA and the ground ball rate has been right about 57 percent. That really gives me pause before I put Tigers into the lineup, especially since the Tigers stink against righty hitters. They’re literally about the easiest matchup a righty can get so I’m steering clear of this spot. It wouldn’t shock me if Stewart threw five solid innings and he would actually be on my radar if the upside of Glasnow wasn’t so cheap. If you want to attack a pitcher making his first start, go with Nicholas Castellanos and Niko Goodrum. Castellanos is the best of the worst with a .311 wOBA and Goodrum has homered two days in a row and is still $2,300 on FanDuel.

Tigers Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Niko Goodrum, Nicholas Castellanos

Tigers Probable Starter – Matt Boyd, LHP 

4.14 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 21.8 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .230 average, .294 wOBA, 25.0 K rate, 43.4 fly ball rate and 42.2 hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .220 average, .292 wOBA, 20.8 K rate, 46.8 fly ball rate and 36.1 hard hit rate

The last time Boyd pitched, I thought he was a really good play and he stabbed me in the back by getting worked by the Trout-less Angels. I neglected to account for his extreme home/road splits as the ERA is almost three full runs better at home. He’s at home today and even if the Twins go with seven righties like they did yesterday, I still like Boyd’s chances to have a solid start. There’s very little to point to a righty hitter today and my favorites play might be lefty Max Kepler. He’s an odd reverse splits hitter and he smokes the four seam/slider combo he’s going to see the majority of the time. The ISO is at .224 and the xwOBA is .430 versus that pitch mix. You can sprinkle in Miguel Sano and Jake Cave if you don’t believe in Boyd but his isn’t a game I’ll be that involved in.

Twins Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Max Kepler, Miguel Sano, Jake Cave

Home Run Pick – Max Kepler

DFS MLB – Diamondbacks at Reds

Diamondbacks Probable Starter – Zack Godley, RHP 

4.35 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 23.7 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .259 average, .333 wOBA, 21.0 K rate, 23.4 fly ball rate and 34.2 hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .240 average, .306 wOBA, 26.5 K rate, 32.8 fly ball rate and 37.9 hard hit rate

Godley has been a good bit worse on the road this season but I’m not sure who I would really want to use for the Reds. It hurts to say it because I’ve always enjoyed watching him but Joey Votto isn’t having a good season and at his age, it’s fair to wonder if we’ve seen the best he can offer. I can’t get behind him with his tiny 0.057 ISO against the sinker/curve combo that Godley lives on. Scooter Gennett is scuffling as well, with just two games in the past 11 of a point total over six. Eugenio Suarez has the best ISO of everyday players at .250 and he does have a pretty large .326 ISO versus the pitch mix. $3,700 is a fair price for him as well and I doubt he’d be popular. I don’t really trust Godley in this spot but I also don’t think there’s a major standout for a one-off play.

Reds Hitters to Target

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Eugenio Suarez, Reds stack near the top of the lineup, they’ve been mixing and matching.

Reds Probable Starter – Luis Castillo, RHP 

4.91 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 21.9 hard hit rate

Vs LHH – .296 average, .381 wOBA, 21.2 K rate, 39.3 fly ball rate and 43.2 hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .222 average, .280 wOBA, 22.7 K rate, 28.7 fly ball rate and 34.2 hard hit rate

I was on some Diamondbacks lefties the other night against Anthony DeSclafani and they decided to let me down in epic fashion, putting up a big old zero. You have to be interested in going right beck to the well today given Castillo’s struggles with the handedness but it should be noted the youngster is talented. He’s also been far better at home, which is a little weird given Cincinnati plays like a launching pad. My favorite Arizona hitter might be Eduardo Escobar. The versatile middle infielder looks the best via the pitch data with a .595 xwOBA and a .250 ISO versus the mix and I’d rather play him than David Peralta. It’s not the biggest sample size, but the Arizona hitters have a combined .189 xwOBA versus Castillo in 34 at-bats. If Arizona is chalky, there’s a real chance it ends up being bad chalk.

Diamondbacks Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Eduardo Escobar

Secondary Options – David Peralta, Alex Avila, Daniel Descalso

Home Run Pick – Eduardo Escobar

DFS MLB – Mets at Marlins

Mets Probable Starter – Noah Syndergaard, RHP 

3.17 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 25.1 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .270 average, .296 wOBA, 24.8 K rate, 26.1 fly ball rate and 22.8 hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .247 average, .295 wOBA, 25.6 K rate, 29.3 fly ball rate and 22.0 hard hit rate

Here’s the hot take of the slate – Thor isn’t the best pitching option in his own game. We’ll get to that in a minute, but lets’ discuss the big righty from New York first. This is sort of cherry picking because he’s been on the disabled list but the last time Syndergaard was over 40 FanDuel points was May 20th. He doesn’t have the greatest strikeout rate and the ERA is over 3.00. That’s not the best mix. It’s fair to say he draws a pretty favorable matchup today since the Marlins are very weak against righty pitching and the ball park is pretty solid. I really don’t want any Mets other than maybe a cheap Derek Dietrich but even then, he doesn’t have a safe floor and he’s not an upside play for tournaments.

Marlins Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Derek Dietrich, J.T. Realmuto

Marlins Probable Starter – Wei-Yin Chen, LHP 

5.48 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 17.0 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .208 average, .242 wOBA, 29.1 K rate, 33.3 fly ball rate and 35.2 hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .274 average, .360 wOBA, 13.9 K rate, 44.2 fly ball rate and 33.0 hard hit rate

Once he knocked off the rust of the first couple of starts, Chen has been fantastic at home. His last five starts in his park have all yielded at least 31 points and his ERA is under 2.00 in 51 innings pitched. The strikeout rate jumps up to 21.2 percent in his home park which is significantly higher than his overall number. Now let’s add into the mix that the Mets rank 29th in OBP, 28th in ISO and 30th in average, slugging, OPS, wOBA and wRC+ against lefties and Chen looks even more attractive. New York is better when they’re on the road but it doesn’t mean they’re good either. The really great factor is the massive splits means that Chen is still super cheap at $6,000. The price gap between him and Syndergaard makes Chen the better play for me today and I will very likely not have a single hitter from this game.

Mets Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – None

Home Run Pick – I don’t think there’s anyone worth picking in this spot

CHICAGO, IL – JUNE 01: Hernan Perez #14 of the Milwaukee Brewers hits a sacrifice fly in the third inning against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on June 1, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

DFS MLB – Brewers at Braves

Brewers Probable Starter – Chase Anderson, RHP 

3.81 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 19.6 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .208 average, .298 wOBA, 19.6 K rate, 41.8 fly ball rate and 33.1 hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .229 average, .324 wOBA, 19.5 K rate, 46.9 fly ball rate and 37.9 hard hit rate

Anderson is a reverse splits pitcher but I would still just want two lefties out of this game in Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis. They both have an xwOBA over .545 in their careers against Anderson and they sit as the top two everyday players in the wOBA department, sitting at over .375. They are also both atop the xwOBA and ISO versus the pitch data as well and even though Anderson hit a bump last time out against the Brewers, I could see him being a real pain in the side of Atlanta today. Ronald Acuna doesn’t rate that well in the pitch data metrics but he’s been really heating up and taking to the leadoff role. I haven’t been able to get the Braves right lately but I don’t think the full stack is the right move here. I would condense my players from this game and seek out better options.

Braves Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Freddie Freeman

Secondary Options – Nick Markakis, Ronald Acuna

Braves Probable Starter – Sean Newcomb, LHP 

3.15 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 22.6 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .172 average, .301 wOBA, 27.6 K rate, 40.0 fly ball rate and 36.7 hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .209 average, .275 wOBA, 21.4 K rate, 35.5 fly ball rate and 31.2 hard hit rate

The young lefty for the Braves has been on a roll lately but the Brewers are a tough challenge. I would lean towards the righties in this spot and would concentrate my ownership toward Lorenzo Cain, Hernan Perez and Ryan Braun. Newcomb throws his fastball a lot to both sides of the plate and those three hitters do work against the pitch. Cain in general is a great play against lefties with a 1.019 OPS, .209 ISO and .436 wOBA versus the handedness. Perez has a .333 ISO versus lefty fastballs and is just $2,500 at the tough to fill shortstop position. Braun isn’t as good as he used to be but he still has an ISO over .200 against lefties overall and a .414 xwOBA against the fastball. If you think Newcomb could get lit up, you can go whole hog with the Brewers and add in Jesus Aguilar. His .279 ISO deserves to be recognized whenever there’s a lefty out there.

Brewers Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Hernan Perez, Ryan Braun, Lorenzo Cain

Secondary Options – Jesus Aguilar, Christian Yelich

Home Run Pick – Hernan Perez

DFS MLB – Indians at White Sox

Indians Probable Starter – Carlos Carrasco, RHP 

3.69 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 27.8 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .258 average, .314 wOBA, 28.5 K rate 32.1 fly ball rate and 37.4 hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .241 average, .292 wOBA, 27.1 K rate, 36.7 fly ball rate and 41.4 hard hit rate

I always like playing Carrasco more when he’s on the road and you have to be interested in him today with the rate the White Sox strikeout. It’s the highest in the league against righty pitching and if there’s one thing Carrasco can do, it’s whiff the opposing hitters. No everyday player has an xwOBA over .377 versus Carrasco in a reasonably large sample size. I think Daniel Palka would be the one lefty I wold consider here with his .286 ISO versus righty pitching. Carrasco doesn’t throw any of his five pitches over 26 percent to lefties so pitch data won’t be too trustworthy here. The strikeout upside is just too high for Carrasco to ignore today.

White Sox Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Daniel Palka, Nicky Delmonico, Yoan Moncada

White Sox Probable Starter – Dylan Covey, RHP 

5.58 ERA, 1.54 WHIP and 15.6 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .282 average, .344 wOBA, 18.4 K rate, 31.1 fly ball rate and 39.1 hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .264 average, .304 wOBA, 12.4 K rate, 21.1 fly ball rate and 32.8 hard hit rate

Covey being a ground ball pitcher does stick in my mind here but it’s hard not to side with the Indians. I think you can stick with the big guns and a nice stack of Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez and Michael Brantley might work very nicely. Covey throws his sinker over 50 percent and those three wax sinkers. Via baseball savant.com, Lindor has seen 14 righty sinkers so far and has an insane .929 ISO. I’m almost 100 percent sure that’s the highest I’ve seen all year, sample size or not. The xwOBA is .671 so there’s something that feels pretty real. The other two both are over .230 for ISO and .421 for xwOBA so this would appear to be a smash spot for Cleveland. In other news, the sky is blue and the sun came up this morning.

Indians Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Top three in the order

Secondary Options – Yonder Alonso, bottom of the lineup left value

Home Run Pick – Francisco Lindor

DFS MLB – Mariners at Astros

Mariners Probable Starter –Erasmo Ramirez, RHP 

I’m really not going to bother with the stats for Ramirez because he’s pitched under 10 innings to an ERA over 10.00 and is making his first start since April. A wrap around stack with Tyler White, Tony Kemp, Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa would sure be fun and wouldn’t cost you an arm and a leg to do it. It would only cost $13,300 of the budget and it’s the best way I can say fire up the Astros you want in this spot. Ramirez gives me no reasons to think he should be productive today.

Astros Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Four man stack in GPP, Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa

Secondary Options – Tony Kemp, Tyler White, Evan Gattis

Astros Probable Starter – Dallas Keuchel, LHP 

3.53 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 17.5 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .258 average, .295 wOBA, 23.7 K rate, 11.8 fly ball rate and 25.8 Hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .245 average, .294 wOBA, 15.9 K rate, 25.6 fly ball rate and 29.0 hard hit rate

Houston will turn to Keuchel to avoid being swept and he’d be fairly interesting if he wasn’t the same price as Syndergaard. Even with my reservations about Thor, I’d play him all day over Keuchel. The one hitter from the Mariners that I like is Nelson Cruz, who has always given Keuchel fits. He’s been a lefty destroyer through his career and he has five homers off of Keuchel in 39 at-bats for a .406 xwOBA. Perhaps that’s because he smacks the fastball trio that Keuchel leans on most with a .410 ISO and a .456 xwOBA versus the pitch mix. Kyle Seager oddly has three bombs but only has a .289 xwOBA so I would probably leave him on the sidelines. Keuchel is fine here but I think a little too expensive.

Mariners Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – Nelson Cruz

Secondary Options – Kyle Seager, Mitch Haniger, Jean Segura

Home Run Pick – Alex Bregman

DFS MLB – Cardinals at Royals

Cardinals Probable Starter – Luke Weaver, RHP 

4.66 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 21.0 strikeout rate

Vs LHH – .291 average, .360 wOBA, 19.2 K rate, 34.0 fly ball rate and 34.0 hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .231 average, .287 wOBA, 23.2 K rate, 36.7 fly ball rate and 35.5 hard hit rate

There’s only two hitters that I would look at from the Royals and they’re both lefties in Lucas Duda and Alex Gordon. Weaver leans on his four seam to lefties at a 55 percent clip and both those hitters have an xwOBA over .430 and an ISO over .205 versus that pitch. Gordon actually has a home run off of Weaver in one of his three at-bats, so that probably doesn’t mean a ton. There hasn’t been very much to write home about with this Royals offense but they do afford us some cheap opportunities today. I wouldn’t be surprised if people want to play Weaver today but there’s better options on each side of the pricing spectrum than him.

Royals Hitters to Target 

Elite Options – None

Secondary Options – Lucas Duda, Alex Gordon

Royals Probable Starter – Jakob Junis, RHP 

4.98 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 21.5 strikeout rate

vs LHH – .274 average, .357 wOBA, 18.9 K rate, 41.3 fly ball rate and 40.5 hard hit rate

Vs RHH – .253 average, .337 wOBA, 24.1 K rate, 37.4 fly ball rate and 41.3 hard hit rate

I can actually see a little bit of a path to success here for Junis. I’m not going to be surprised if I’m wrong but the righty heavy lineup for the Cards aren’t the best versus the slider, which the righty hitters will see 45 percent of the time. Paul DeJong is far and away the best at a .305 ISO and then the next highest righty is Jose Martinez at .169. Other than DeJong, the other righties all have an xwOBA of .311 or under against that pitch as well. Junis is worse at home so I can’t be too against a Cardinal stack, it’s just more of a warning that it might not work. I think I would only use Matt Carpenter as part of a stack and not as a one-off. My favorite would probably be the aforementioned DeJong.

Cardinals Hitters to Target

Elite Options – Paul DeJong

Secondary Options – Stack including Carpenter, Yadier Molina and Jose Martinez

Home Run Pick – Lucas Duda

PITTSBURGH, PA – SEPTEMBER 18: Ryan Braun #8 of the Milwaukee Brewers rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on September 18, 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)

DFS MLB – Sample FanDuel Lineup

P – Wei-Yin Chen  

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C/1B – Lucas Duda

2B – Gleyber Torres

3B – Jose Ramirez

SS – Francisco Lindor 

OF – Ryan Braun, Michael Brantley, Tony Kemp 

Utility – Hernan Perez 

I wouldn’t pretend like this is the best cash lineup but this is to prove the kinds of plays you can make if Chen is your pitcher. We can comfortably fit in the Indians stack against Covey, who just isn’t a quality pitcher in the majors at this point. Duda is a fine low-end options with a good chance at a cheap bomb and that allows us to pay way up for Torres at second base. We snag a mini stack of Brewers that smash lefty fastballs and then we grab what should be the leadoff man for the Astros against a poor pitcher.

The Core – Francisco Lindor, Lucas Duda, Tony Kemp(if leading off), this is a little vague but it’s a very interesting slate for pitching

Pitching to Consider 

High End – Chris Sale, Carlos Carrasco, Noah Syndergaard

Mid-Range – Matt Boyd, Zack Godley, Luis Castillo(GPP only)

Punts – Tyler Glasnow, Wei-Yin Chen, Kohl Stewart

Stacks to Consider – Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees

As always, may fortune be on your side and make sure to follow me on Twitter @bucn4life as MLB allows late swap. If there’s a late scratch and/or lineup cards aren’t put in for the late games, this article will always be updated on Twitter ASAP.