DraftKings MLB daily notes:
Max Fried didn’t pitch all that well against the Phillies when it wasn’t his first start off the IL. The time off likely did him some good, but we aren’t going to see the fruits of that in his first game back. I’d much rather go after him with Scott Kingery and Rhys Hoskins. Bryce Harper homered off earlier this year as well.
Is Jon Lester pitching? Yes. Is he on the road? Yes! Tulloch says stack. I normally would, but this developing trend of lefties dominating the Brewers has me thinking Lester could troll us. However, Milwaukee is hitting .312 with 13 runs in 125 against Lester. The bad news? Not one single home run. If you want to run at Lester, do it sparingly and with guys like Lorenzo Cain or Tyler Saladino. It is worth noting that Jesus Aguilar is 4-8 lifetime against Lester. He’s my favorite to break that homer drought.
Chase Anderson has held his own against the Cubs, but a few of them have hit him well. Kris Bryant is raking anyway, and he has three homers against Anderson in his career. Lock him in! Contreras is 7-13 with a homer against Anderson. Almora, Kyle Schwarber, and Heyward have the other homers. And whatever you do, don’t play Rizzo. He is just 1-21 against Anderson. Javy Baez is 1-15.
Martin Perez looks pretty good lately, yes? That’s because he hasn’t made a road start in over a month. Perez’s road ERA is over a run worse, and the White Sox hit lefties hard. The loss of Eloy hurts that, but there is still a lot to like here. Yoan Moncada, Jose Abreu, and James McCann all hit lefties well. Leury Garcia is good enough to use regardless. Jon Jay has no power, but all he does is hit. Mix and match with Sox here.
Right now, the past stats don’t matter much with Trevor Williams. The pitcher he was in the second half of 2018 is a very distant memory. I like Pete Alonso, Conforto, and Dom Smith here in particular. Given Williams’ poor all around numbers, I may turn this into a stack as well.
Shaun Anderson has been serviceable against the Padres, but I see no reason to take the chance with him. Only Tatis has homered off of him so far, but Hunter Renfroe, Hosmer, and Franmil Reyes have hit him well. It’s only a matter of time. I really like the power potential here.
Cal Quantrill’s worst start of 2019 came against the Giants, and that was before this team caught fire. I can understand using Quantrill. After all, he hasn’t allowed a run since that Giants game on July 3rd in two starts since. There are too many strong lefties in this lineup. Brandon Belt, Alex Dickerson, and Brandon Crawford are all on my radar here.
The Rangers have thrashed Homer Bailey this year. Hunter Pence has the only homer, but Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Mazara all have multiple RBI against him. Bailey was torched by Houston his last time out, and has yet to have anything resembling a smooth outing in an A’s uniform. I’ll have plenty of Rangers exposure tonight.