There are nine games scheduled tonight in the MLB on the DraftKings main-slate which has a great selection of starting pitchers. There is no “must-play”, so the ownership should be spread out among this group of starters. What is more intriguing is that a lot of talented arms are in fantastic matchups. I am avoiding the high-priced pitchers and living in the mid-tier, with a few stabs at the low priced fliers. Let’s take a look at a few of the best options this evening.
Pitchers
Masahiro Tanaka (NYY): $8,900 @ TEX
The Yankees ace will get one of the best matchups of the night as he heads into Texas. The Rangers are now the MLB leaders in strikeout rate at 26.3% (tied with the Padres). Tanaka is not having a great 2018 with a high ERA of 4.66, but this number is inflated and will reduce as the season goes on. He owns a 3.69 SIERA and 3.75 xFIP which suggests positive regression. The Rangers certainly have some dangerous bats in the lineup and a lot of lefties. However, Tanaka has reverse split stats with a .322 wOBA to righties and just a .272 wOBA to left-handed hitters. The Rangers will likely roll out five lefties and one switch-hitter who should bat left-handed. This only increases the likelihood of Tanaka having a stronger performance. We should see a ceiling game from the ace at a discounted price.
Jose Berrios (MIN): $8,500 vs. DET
I am honestly not a fan of rostering Jose Berrios. Sure he has had great games and is a young talent. But if you watch him pitch and not just look at the box score, you can tell that he does not have an “out” pitch to strike batters out. He throws four, very similar pitches. Veteran hitters will figure this guy out eventually. Tonight is a bit of a different story. The Detroit Tigers are a pretty bad team and if Berrios has his command working, he should have a good start. I am not overly confident in this recommendation and will not be going “all-in”, but we have seen 30+ DraftKings point upside in much tougher matchups.
Hitting Stacks
New York Yankees
Cleary the most obvious stack of the night is the New York Yankees. They have the highest implied team total and are swinging a hot bat. They have hit 9 homeruns in the last two games and will look to continue tonight, against Bartolo Colon. Shockingly, the veteran Colon owns just a 2.82 ERA and has suppressed damage all season long. He has a 2-1 record and continues to shock the baseball world. A reason to like the Yankees in this one is the fact that Colon does not throw a lot of balls. He rarely walks anyone and pounds the strike zone. As we know, the meat of this New York team has immense power and are capable of pulling miss-hit balls out of the stadium, where most hitters end up with a flyball. They will be extremely popular tonight, but they are a tough fade.
New York Mets
The Mets are another team in a great spot but may go overlooked tonight. They will see a pitcher who has pitched just 8 innings in the MLB. The Mets are full of left-handed hitters up and down the lineup which should give the inexperienced starter a lot of fits. Although the Mets are a pretty bad team at the moment, Miami’s rotation and bullpen is worse. All of the hitters are priced under $4,000 and the weather is warming up with the wind blowing out to left-center. There are a lot of viable stacks to explore this evening, but the Mets are easy to roster and should be in for a great outing.
Position-by-position
Catcher
Gary Sanchez
Yasmani Grandal
Devin Mesoraco
Mitch Garver
First Base
Jose Martinez
Cody Bellinger
Matt Adams
Tyler Austin
Adrian Gonzalez
Second Base
Gleyber Torres
Brian Dozier
Jonathan Schoop
Asdrubal Cabrera
Third Base
Anthony Rendon
Justin Turner
Eduardo Escobar
Danny Valencia
Miguel Andujar
ShortstopÂ
Manny Machado
Trea Turner
Didi Gregorius
OutfieldÂ
Aaron Judge
Bryce Harper
Giancarlo Stanton
Tommy Pham
Brett Gardner
Eddie Rosario
Matt Adams
Michael Conforto
Aaron Hicks
Jay Bruce
Brandon Nimmo
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