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Top Play SP: Chris Sale, BOS ($10,900) vs. TEX
Remember back in the day (six weeks ago), when everyone was freaking out about Chris Sale? Well, since April 23, he’s been back to normal, having a 41.6% strikeout rate and a 2.34 SIERA over nine starts. Sale faces the Rangers today, and while they’re certainly not a pushover, they’re certainly more like the Bumble without his teeth without Joey Gallo. For the year, the Rangers are 23rd in wRC+ against left-handed pitching and have the fourth-highest strikeout rate at 26.4%. I’m locking Sale into my cash lineups as my SP1.
Honorable mention: Charlie Morton, TBR ($9,900) vs. OAK.
Value SP: Masahiro Tanaka, NYY ($7,900) vs. NYM
You’ll be pretty hard-pressed to find such a value with as high of an upside as Masahiro Tanaka has on this nine-game slate. If his splitter is on, I could easily see him being the highest-scoring pitcher on the slate. His opponent, the Mets, are pretty much a middle of the road offense against right-handed pitching, and their projected starting lineup has just 67 batted-ball events against a splitter since 2016, with no one carrying an ISO over .143 against the pitch.
Honorable mention: Michael Wacha, STL ($6,000) at MIA.
Top Play: OF Austin Meadows, TB ($5,400) vs. OAK
The breakout for Austin Meadows is real and fabulous. Meadows leads off against right-handed pitching and has a 47% hard-hit rate against them, which has led to a .302 ISO and .466 wOBA. The Rays face Tanner Anderson, who, well, is not amazing at baseball. Anderson has thrown 54.2 innings in Triple-A this year and currently has a 14.5% strikeout rate to go along with his 6.26 ERA. I expect the Rays to smash today, but that’s called foreshadowing to a later paragraph.
Honorable mention: OF Bryce Harper, PHI ($4,400) vs. ARI; OF Juan Soto, WAS ($5,100) at CHW.
Top Play: 3B Yoan Moncada, CHW ($4,400) vs. WAS
For a while there, the White Sox were really priced up, but this is the perfect price point for Yoan Moncada. The switch-hitting Moncada has thrived from the left side of the plate, as he currently has a 40.2% hard-hit rate, which has resulted in a .265 ISO and .394 wOBA against right-handed pitching. I love rostering guys who offer the power/speed combo threat. Today, Moncada faces Anibal Sanchez, who has some pretty extreme splits. Sanchez has really shut down right-handed batters this year, allowing just a .275 wOBA, but has been crushed by lefties. Left-handed batters currently have a .300 ISO and .400 wOBA against Sanchez, making this a prime spot for Moncada to have a monster game.
Honorable mention: 1B Luke Voit, NYY ($4,400) vs. NYM; 2B Brandon Lowe, TBR ($4,400) vs. OAK; 2B/3B DJ LeMahieu, NYY ($4,500) vs. NYM.
Value: OF Nick Markakis, ATL ($3,600) vs. PIT
Nick Markakis has been such an underrated bat in the Braves’ lineup. Against right-handed pitchers, Markakis walks more than he strikes out and gets on base at a .386 clip. Coming into the year, I was definitely on the Joe Musgrove train, but that train has really gone off the rails against left-handed batters. For the year, he’s allowed a 38.1% hard-hit rate, which has led to a .213 ISO and .349 wOBA. Going through this slate, there are plenty of value bats that allow you to pay up wherever you decide to spend your extra money.
Honorable mention: 2B Cesar Hernandez, PHI ($3,600) vs. ARI; OF Curtis Granderson, MIA ($3,400) vs. STL; 3B Matt Carpenter, STL ($4,000) at MIA; OF Adam Eaton, WAS ($3,900) at CHW.
Top Stack: Rays vs. Athletics (RHP Tanner Anderson)
As noted in my Meadows writeup, the Rays have an amazing matchup today against Anderson. Anderson threw 11.1 innings of relief with the Pirates in 2018. He walked more batters than he struck out and allowed a 6.35 ERA. Things have not been much better in 2019 for Anderson. In 54.2 innings pitched in Triple-A, Anderson has a 6.26 ERA to go along with his 14.5% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate. I expect the Rays to roll today. In addition to Meadows, I really like Tommy Pham ($4,300), Brandon Lowe ($4,400), Ji-Man Choi ($4,000), and Yandy Diaz ($3,800). In addition, I love paying down at catcher, and Mike Zunino ($3,100) makes that possible while still stacking the Rays. Good luck today!
Honorable mention: Phillies vs. Diamondbacks (RHP Taylor Clarke); Yankees vs. Mets (LHP Jason Vargas).
I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is RMoss1983) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games on which I offer advice. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings, and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any nonpublic information.