Slate Details
FanDuel – Main slate (9 games) – starts 7:07 PM EDT
DraftKings – Main slate (10 games) – starts 7:07 PM EDT
DraftKing’s featured slate includes the second game of the New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox doubleheader. The slate originally was 11 games, including the Kansas City Royals at the Chicago White Sox, but was updated Tuesday morning to exclude that contest. Check your lineups!
Pitching
Freddy Peralta has allowed three earned runs or fewer over eight straight starts. In that span, he had double-digit strikeouts four times and won five games.
It’s his best stretch this season and there’s no reason to think it can’t continue tonight against the Miami Marlins, who have scored the sixth-fewest runs in the league this season. The Brewers are coming to fight while clinging to a slim three-game lead in the NL Central.
Justin Verlander might be in a better situation. While his recent success isn’t as lofty as Peralta’s, Verlander is facing the hapless Oakland Athletics. If nothing else, a win should be in the books.
Verlander has earned the W in eight of his past 10 starts. The ageless wonder has tripped up in recent weeks with clunkers against the Yankees and Marlins, but otherwise, he is in vintage form and is a safe start.
There’s a little more concern with another aging ace. Max Scherzer is coming off a start where he gave up seven earned runs in just three innings against Houston. The Rangers travel to Toronto tonight for another tough draw.
Normally, Scherzer is fairly matchup-proof, but in DFS it’s easier to bypass these starts. Scherzer could dominate and I’m not looking to stream opposing hitters, but the risk isn’t worth the price.
It’s the same argument for Joe Ryan. I’ve been impressed with his last three starts and it feels like vintage Ryan is back on the mound for the Twins, but there are too many question marks against the Tampa Bay Rays. With better options on the slate, this isn’t where I want to spend my money.
A few under-the-radar options include Cal Quantrill and Javier Assad.
Quantrill comes with some risk, but I’m on board. The Cleveland starter missed two months with a shoulder injury and was pitching pretty poorly even before then. He’s made two starts since returning and both have been quality. He gave up just two earned runs in six innings vs. the Rays and then he shutout the Los Angeles Angels over six excellent innings last week.
He takes on the San Francisco Giants tonight, which is a bit of a mixed bag. The Giants have won four straight games following a six-game losing streak. The Giants are top five in strikeouts as a team.
Assad has been strong since moving into the starting lineup last month. His last start was technically his worst appearance of the season. He gave up three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. I’m not saying that’s the floor, but it’s still an encouraging sign.
The downside is obvious: Coors Field. I’m more scared of the park than the opposing team though since the Rockies are fairly unimposing. The Cubs are clawing toward the playoffs and I expect everybody to be on their A game.
Hitting
Yordan Alvarez has a 1.593 OPS over the past seven days and leads the Astros tonight against the Athletics and left-hander JP Sears. Kyle Tucker is going to be largely overlooked by the DFS community since he has struggled the past couple of weeks (by his standards). Tucker never comes cheap, but the slump has brought his price down compared to the rest of his teammates.
Tucker has three hits, a pair of triples, and four RBI over his past three games and shines against lefties with a slash of .316/.382/.578 this season. I could make a similar argument for Jeremy Peña who is another struggling hitter that hits well vs. southpaws with a line of .333/.371/.480. He’s also much cheaper.
Lance Lynn has been serving up batting practice in his last two starts. He gave up seven earned runs against the Atlanta Braves, which is excusable, but then gave up eight against Miami last week. Not many excuses for that one.
The San Diego Padres hitters should be salivating tonight. The series started last night with two home runs from Manny Machado and three-run HR by Juan Soto. Xander Bogaerts has been a steady source of points pretty much all month. He’s certainly not a reliable power or speed guy, but he has a line of .462/.500/.846 in September.
Ha-Seong Kim continues to be criminally underrated and is among the league leaders in stolen bases. The Dodgers have allowed the second-most stolen bases this season.
The long ball has been a big issue for Chris Flexen this season. He has given up 12 home runs in his past 8 appearances. He has a 7.36 ERA this season. He doesn’t use many breaking pitches, which should shield him against some of the worst aspects of Coors Field, but he’s also just not very good.
Cody Bellinger is a great player to have in your lineup if you can afford it. I also like Dansby Swanson, who is 7-for-13 in his past three games, and Seiya Suzuki, who is having his best month with a .383/.420/.745 slash line in September.
Patrick Sandoval has allowed nine earned runs in his past two starts, including five against Oakland. Julio Rodríguez is one of my favorite targets for tonight. Not just because he’s a home run hitting machine with six already in September, but because he’s a lefty-killer with a slash of .328/.363/.516 this season.
He started the series last night going 4-for-5 with a homer, double, two RBI and two runs. Yes, he’s expensive. Yes, it’s worth it.
Arizona’s Ryne Nelson is an exploitable matchup vs. the New York Mets. Sure, the Mets have nothing to play for, but that hasn’t stopped them from performing on an individual level. Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil offer little exciting upside, but that group is playing solid ball lately and are excellent pieces to round out your lineup.
Other players to fill out your lineup with a low price tag tonight include Los Angeles’s Chris Taylor and Jason Heyward, Miami’s Jake Burger, San Francisco’s Mike Yastrzemski, and Arizona’s Tommy Pham.