Slate Details
DraftKings – Early slate (11 games) – starts 1:10 PM EDT; Night slate (3 games) – starts 7:35 PM EDT. (No HOU-CLE game)
FanDuel – Early Only slate (5 games) – starts 1:10 PM EDT; Main slate (7 games) – starts 4:10 PM EDT. (KC-BAL/NYM-PIT/LAD-PHI might end up on an Afternoon slate?)
Weather Impact
SD visiting Coors – swirling winds, but still the strongest hitting environment.
Winds out to left for MIA@CWS & OAK@MIL.
Winds out to right-center for KC@BAL & BOS@NYY.
No rain (or smoke) impact expected.
Pitching
Since the slates are all different depending on the site, featured plays will be noted in order of game start, with site/slate noted where applicable.
Michael Kopech (DK: Main; FD: Early Only)
There’s no denying Kopech has the K stuff, as even when he has given up a few ERs, he still racks up the Ks…and Cease just dealt seven Ks to this had-been-hot MIA team yesterday. Guaranteed Rate Field is expected to be the fourth highest HR-volatile park of the day tomorrow – and Kopech does tend to give up FB content to Ls – but the L bats expected to be in the lineup for MIA all have been hitting GB lately so this could work. He should be a solid play in all formats.
Sandy Alcantara (DK: Main; FD: Early Only)
Sandy has not been himself lately, and last time out he disappointed at home vs OAK – but the damage was mostly all done in one inning. He’s dominant vs R bats – which will be the majority of the White Sox lineup – so all he needs to do is not walk Andrew Benintendi and not throw floaters in the zone to Jake Burger. You’re still paying a premium for a pitcher who has been providing not-so-premium value, so this may be more of a cash play.
Andrew Abbott (DK: Main; FD: Early Only)
Abbott did surprisingly well in his first start, but PLV ratings ended up not being overly positive for him vs Rs. Busch Stadium is one of the most pitcher-friendly parks for today and STL is still a favorable matchup, provided he can pitch around Paul DeJong and Andrew Knizner (if he ends up in the lineup). His ceiling is still relatively unknown, but he may be viable as a SP2 given the price.
Bowden Francis (DK: Main; FD: Early Only)
Through four starts with TOR’s minor club, Francis has stats of a 3.45 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 2.3 BB/9, and 13.2 K/9 across 15 2/3 IP. Prior to yesterday, the Twins hadn’t managed more than two ERs in a game over the past week. There’s a little more volatility if they open the roof at Rogers Centre today, but as with Abbott, he’s a very interesting price-attractive SP2 in all formats.
Aaron Nola (DK: Main; FD: Afternoon?)
Really volatile spot vs the Dodgers – the park is expected to be the fourth most favorable to runs overall for the day. Nola gave up four ERs with five Ks vs the Dodgers last month in LA. Considering he’s a big-name option on a day without many great options, he’ll get rostership – but this feels like a closer to floor than ceiling start for him.
Bobby Miller (DK: Main; FD: Afternoon?)
There’s no denying Bobby Miller has been a nice surprise for the Dodgers with solid starts vs both the Yankees and the Braves in the past few weeks. As an average-priced SP2, he’s worth consideration for tournaments.
Julio Teheran (DK/FD: Main)
Teheran has been a positive addition to the Brewers rotation, and the A’s remain a favorable matchup. The main question with Teheran is whether he can provide enough upside to get decent value at his price – because of that, mostly a cash play and probably not worth using for tournaments.
Taj Bradley (DK/FD: Main)
It’s crazy to consider playing a pitcher vs TEX, but their big-name bats have cooled off considerably and Bradley has been good for the most part, although the last game did show some warning signs (could that have been the Fenway factor?). Outside of Kopech vs Sandy, you can probably consider Bradley the third best cash option of the day.
Batting
SD@COL (DK: Main; FD: Early Only)
As with yesterday vs Gomber, the same Padres bats are in play. In order, Gary Sánchez, Fernando Tatis Jr., & Manny Machado are the power bats with HR/XBH upside, and Ha-Seong Kim is a decent complementary bat. Ryan Weathers is exploitable as well, with at least three ERs in his last four starts. Jurickson Profar may still have an axe to grind about not being re-signed with the Padres in the offseason and is a solid play at the top of the lineup. Ezequiel Tovar has been on an RBI streak lately, and Randal Grichuk continues to be a solid source of XBH for the Rockies, with two doubles & a triple in his last four home games.
MIA@CWS (DK: Main; FD: Early Only)
Although this game is not likely to shoot out, there are bats on each side that could cause some trouble with the favorable park conditions. For MIA, Bryan De La Cruz has a double in four straight games and Jesús Sánchez has a HR in two of his last three games. For the White Sox, Sandy will have to watch out for Jake Burger who tends to either strike out or hit a bomb.
OAK@MIL (DK/FD: Main)
Paul Blackburn has had a small sample size in his return to the A’s, but in those two starts, he has been hit hard by Rs. Outside of Coors, American Family Field has the second-highest HR-friendly environment, so any of the following Brewers are in play – Willy Adames, William Contreras, and Joey Wiemer. If you’re fading Teheran as a pitcher on this slate, you can also consider a couple of OAK bats for salary relief – Jace Peterson & Ryan Noda.
BOS@NYY (DK: Night; FD: Main)
Yankee Stadium happens to be the third-highest HR-friendly environment, and both Houck & Germán can give up hard hits to Ls. For the Yankees, Billy McKinney has been the productive lefty while Anthony Rizzo has been ice-cold. For the Red Sox, Alex Verdugo & Triston Casas have been hitting Rs well lately, and Reese McGuire could be an option if you need a catcher on the DK night slate.
WAS@ATL (DK/FD: Main)
It’s a battle of lefties in Hot-lanta, and although the game disappointed yesterday, this one should have more fireworks. The general rule of the Nats remains in effect – nothing special vs Rs, highly underrated vs average or worse Ls. Lane Thomas & Ildemaro Vargas are good plays vs Jared Shuster, and there are a number of ATL bats worth consideration vs Gore – Austin Riley, Kevin Pillar, and Orlando Arcia.
CIN@STL (DK: Main; FD: Early Only)
As noted under Abbott’s section above, there are a couple of STL bats here in Paul DeJong & Andrew Knizner that could take advantage of Abbott if he’s not as sharp in his second start. Some people are starting to question Elly De La Cruz being a strikeout liability at the plate, but it’s possible he’s just not as polished vs Ls. Miles Mikolas is a righty that doesn’t strike lefty bats out much, so Elly’s explosiveness could return here.
KC@BAL (DK: Main; FD: Afternoon?)
It’s shaping up to be a hot day in Baltimore and two average pitchers will be on the mound. Is this the day Colton Cowser gets the call-up? The Orioles may not be popular in DFS lately, but they’re back on a two-game win streak at home, and Brady Singer is a get-right pitcher. Gunnar Henderson has been quietly hitting well and Aaron Hicks has something to prove in Baltimore if you’re a believer. KC is currently in a bad four-game losing streak, but the last time they showed signs of life was vs lefty pitcher Braxton Garrett – MJ Melendez, Nick Pratto, & Salvador Perez all had XBH in that game and could do the same vs Cole Irvin.
ARI@DET (DK: Main; FD: Early Only)
These teams put up 17 runs yesterday which probably means this will be a pitcher duel, but when one of the pitchers is Ryne Nelson, it’s highly unlikely. The question is which Tigers bats will show up? Kerry Carpenter is back – and had two singles yesterday – so he’s a decent sleeper play. Nick Maton could be worth a shot in a mini-stack with Zach McKinstry if you really want to get creative in large-field GPPs. The more popular stack will likely be D-backs, and any of the following can be used vs Matthew Boyd – Ketel Marte, Evan Longoria, Emmanuel Rivera, and Christian Walker.