The Mercury is rising on Freddy Peralta (P: $11,300), who has racked up nine or more strikeouts in four of his past five starts. In nine starts since July 26, Peralta has surpassed 30 DraftKings points three times, and has failed to crack 20 points just once.
Against a Cardinals offense that has largely bitten the dust, Peralta has a chance to smash his lofty salary and become the “have to have him” guy on tonight’s 8-game DraftKings slate.
The hammer falls at 7:05 p.m ET, so let’s see if we can find Somebody (else) To Love:
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The Core:
Bryan Woo, 2B: $7,200 – Woo was electric against the Angels and now he gets the Athletics in a great pitcher’s park. When I start Woo I mute the commentators and crank Blur’s Song 2 on repeat until they take him out. Woo Hoo!
Mike Clevinger, P: $7,600 – He’s getting whiffs on his fastball and he’s gone three starts without walking a batter. What more do you want from him? Sorry, that was Mike’s mom. Yes, Mrs. Clevinger, we’ll roll with your son against the lowly Nats.
Jake Rogers, C: $3,100 – I’m trying to come up with a Glossary term for catchers who get insanely hot for two weeks straight and carry your fantasy teams. Garverators? Anyway, Rogers is one of those guys and he’s belching fire right now.
Bryce Harper, 1B: $5,900 – You know the first base pool is subpar when it’s Carlos Santana Chalk Night. I like a Phillies stack against Kyle Wright, who was clearly still wrong in his first start back from a shoulder injury. The Phillies are fighting for their lives in the NL Wildcard race, so maybe we’ll get our first look at Playoff Bryce in this series.
Trea Turner, SS: $6,300 – Wow, this Phillies stack gets expensive in a hurry, but I’m fine pairing up Clevinger and Woo to get to it.
Nick Castellanos, OF: $4,800 – Thirteen or more DK points in four of his last five including two homers as he prepares to interrupt more difficult moments with home runs.
Gavin Sheets, 1B/OF: $2,600 – and/or the White Sox stack. Ok, I’ll stop messing around and provide you with some much-needed value. The White Sox get a park upgrade and face Joan Adon, who gave up eight hits and six walks over four innings in his last start, and a weak Nationals bullpen. Grab one-offs, minis or a five-man. If you do go with the full puke stack, be sure to include some lefty hitters, as Adon has yielded a .256 ISO in the platoon matchup.
The Fades:
Carlos Santana, 1B: $3,900 – and the Brewers stack. I hinted about this earlier. Yeah, Wainwright is dusty and Santana is a great on-paper play. He’s an easy cash game pick, but we’re playing tournaments here. The Brewers don’t have a ton of power and have trouble turning their lineup over. We’ve seen them fail as the chalk stack over and over this year due to these issues. Santana will likely be 25% owned on this slate, and that’s too high to play him as a one-off. Beat me if you can, Brewers.
The Pivots:
Justin Verlander, P: $10,500 – The Orioles clinched a playoff spot last night, which prompted an epic celebration. Guys, we’re still alive in the AL East! Ah forget it, pass me the beer bong and we’ll deal with Verlander hung over.
Mookie Betts, 2B/OF: $6,600 – Last month Eduardo Rodriguez vetoed a trade to the Dodgers and now he starts against them in Los Angeles. Narrative aside, I love Betts and his 1.174 OPS against lefty pitching this season.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Looks like everyone is in for some nice baseball weather tonight.
Doing Lines In Vegas
Zack Wheeler wasn’t at his best last time out, but he’s been excellent this season. I’ll bet on him to bounce back and limit the damage against the Braves. Give me the Phillies to win and the game to go over its 9.0 total.
Afternoon update:
Lance Lynn is looking like the chalk pitcher and it’s not close. I find this really surprising. You never know what you’ll get from Lynn, but I think his most likely outcome is 16-18 DK points. Garcia’s upside is 30+ (albeit at an additional $3K), and I think Woo and Clevinger can hit 25+ (albeit with more risk). So I really don’t get the play. To me, pitcher talent is more important than opponent, especially in GPP’s.
Wacha is also getting significant ownership. I don’t mind the play as Wacha has shown 25+ upside several times in the last few months, but I think Woo and Clevinger have similar upside at lower prices.
Milwaukee looks to be the chalk offense, as expected.