Aside from an early afternoon showdown between the Orioles and Cubs, there will be a full complement of games this Friday evening. There are plenty of options at our disposal per usual, so best of luck whichever way you decide to roll.
Starting Pitchers
There is a select handful of ace quality pitching on this Friday’s slate of games. Of those at the top of the board, Zac Gallen ($10,200) and Joe Ryan ($10,600) stand out with the best matchups available. Gallen toes the rubber against Cleveland who is 26th in wRC+ (85) versus righties this year. He hasn’t been at his best lately, but that will likely leave him a bit underutilized compared to the other pitchers.
Ryan gets the Tigers who are one of the worst offenses around. Over the last two weeks, they are 28th in wRC+ (73) against right-handed pitching. He should be able to get back on track against them after recording a few lackluster starts as of late.
One high-risk, high-reward starter that really catches my eye is Michael Kopech ($9,300). You have to pay up for it, but the strikeout potential here is insane for Kopech facing the Mariners. They have the second-highest K% (25.3%) against righties and Kopech has been on a punchout tear over his last couple of starts.
A lower-level option in another pristine matchup is 43-year-old Rich Hill ($6,700). He is coming off back-to-back quality starts that have ended in fantasy outputs of 22 and 24 points. Now, he gets the Brewers who have the worst strikeout rate (28.5%) and second-worst wRC+ (77) against Southpaws.
Taijuan Walker ($7,000) is also at a very affordable price and has a great chance of a strong start. The Phillies take on the Athletics who have been heating up as of late but are obviously still capable of reverting back to the form they showed the first 60 games of the season. Walker has thrown 12 scoreless innings over his last two starts.
Bats
Picking what bats to target is always a struggle in my opinion. There’s so much variance around batters. They can hit one on the screws and it will lead to nothing, and that’s why I tend to stay away from wagering on batter props.
Dinelson Lamet is not the pitcher we all once knew and is worthy of a fade today facing Atlanta. Aside from the obvious Ronald Acuna Jr. ($6,600), Michael Harris Jr. ($3,600), and Eddie Rosario ($3,500), make for great lower-priced outfield options. All three are on fire over the last 15 days. Ozzie Albies ($4,800) had been as well and has a 1.012 OPS thanks in part to five home runs over this span.
Martin Perez is another starter worth targeting. He ranks in the bottom 21% in xERA/xwOBA and has just a 27.3% CSW%. For as poorly as Toronto has faired against lefties, they should be able to tee off on him. George Springer ($4,900), Whit Merrifield ($3,600), and Matt Chapman ($4,300) all have great numbers vs. Perez.
Lastly, a stack of the Astros lineup against any left-hander is usually a solid option. Andrew Abbott is off to a great start to his early MLB career, but Houston is a different sort of beast, even without Yordan Alvarez around. They have the fourth-best wRC+ (126) when they see left-handed pitching.
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