Here we are, Labor Day weekend. To most sports fans, whether college or pro, turning the calendar to September drives more images of planning football tailgates than outings to the ballpark. The days of beer and brats tend to be in the rear-view mirror, way back in July and August. College football is starting up in earnest this weekend and your fantasy football drafts have been going strong for the past week. Unfortunately for many fake sports enthusiasts, the anticipation of another football season pulls them away from baseball when there is so much to be excited about on the diamond. If you don’t believe me, just look at what’s going on in Baltimore these days.
In the month of August, the Orioles played to a 17-10 record – that’s 7 games above .500 with most games against playoff-caliber teams like Toronto, Tampa Bay, Houston, and Cleveland. The O’s came into the 2022 season with a small core of young talent at the MLB level and arguably the top prospect roster in all of baseball. Cedric Mullins was an all-star in 2021, finishing his first complete season in the show (he had never played more than 48 games during an MLB season) as a 30/30 player. That’s right, 30 HRs and 30 SBs for the 4th year pro. Expectations were naturally high coming into 2022 but despite not performing at the same unearthly level, he’s put a solid season together as the leader of his squad. The O’s also roster two of the more promising young players in Ryan Mountcastle and Austin Hays, each of whom has put the team on their backs this season in one fashion or another. The team also found an unlikely contributor in Jorge Mateo. After underwhelming in San Diego, Mateo came over to Camden Yards last season and has settled in nicely with his new mates, providing the team double-digit HRs and approaching 30 bags in 2022.
Speaking of way back in July, the team made a couple trade deadline deals involving the face of a franchise and top CL that would typically derail any momentum for a lesser squad. At the time, typical headlines around the Queen City read, “The Baltimore Orioles sell their season at the MLB trade deadline.” Let’s review the deals. They traded pending free agent, Trey Mancini, to the Astros in a 3-team deal that added a pair of promising minor league pitchers to further bolster their farm system. Speaking of pitchers, they also traded Jorge Lopez, along with his 19 SVs and 1.68 ERA, to the Twins for a haul of 4 young arms. On paper, you can’t argue the general skepticism these deals generated relating to the current season. What looks like a pair of moves solely investing in the future, little did those baseball writers know that the O’s had other plans entirely.
Those plans centered around realizing their future in 2022. The first major move was calling up the consensus #1 catching prospect in baseball. Adley Rutschman joined the big league team in late May and quickly put his stamp on the game with hits in 4 of his first 5 games in the show. Playing one of the toughest positions in the game for a young major leaguer, he has excelled in all aspects of the game. Considering defensive metrics, Adley is listed amongst the top 10 catchers in all of baseball according to Baseball Prospectus. Offensively, he has amassed an impressive .855 OPS versus RHP. He has room to grow against lefties but we’ll cut him some slack on that one. Fast forward 3 months, the Orioles called up their next top prospect in Gunnar Henderson. The 2019 second-round pick had little trouble migrating through the minors and hit the ground running this week with the parent club. With starts at both SS and 3B, Gunnar’s first hit in the show was a 429-foot blast that also launched his helmet to reveal a flowing head of lettuce on his dome. The excitement doesn’t stop there. With arguably the best pitcher yet to pitch in the majors, Grayson Rodriguez, in the wings and this season’s #1 draft pick in Jackson Holliday now beginning his journey to the bigs, it’s a great time to join the Bird bandwagon. Hop on board, this will be a fun ride!
While you’re in the mood, you might as well hop into your favorite DFS site today and earn some late-season green. I’ve got a diverse list of suggestions to round out your lineups today. As always, my picks are primarily powered by the Razzball Streamonator and Hittertron and the other DFS tools available on our site. If you don’t have access to them yet, well, what are you waiting for?
New to DFS? You can start playing right now on FanDuel and put our picks to the test. If you’re scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray, it helps support your Razzball team!
Max Fried, SP: DK: $10,500 / FD: $10,300 – Talk about a quirk in scheduling. Max Fried has faced the Mets 4 times this season, never giving up more than 2 ER in any game, but only lined up against the Marlins once. That was way back in May when he allowed 1 ER in 6.0 IP and struck out 5. That adds up to 40 FanDuel points if you’re tracking at home. Fried has been generally consistent around that point total for most of the season, regardless of opponent. I fully expect much of the same today.
Matt Manning, SP: DK: $7,300 / FD: $8,500 – Matt Manning missed significant time this season due to a shoulder injury but has generally looked good since his return in early August. Prior to his last start, he strung together a few starts that saw him go 6+ and limit damage to 0 or 1 ER total. His last start against a hot Seattle team was a start to forget, so we will. He faces a Kansas City team today that is amongst the worst in baseball in team K% and run differential. If he is able to file away his last performance and regain the control that made him a top MLB prospect, your DFS teams should be in for a nice treat today.
Adley Rutschman, C: DK: $5,600 / FD: $2,800 – I couldn’t do a whole intro on the O’s and not include Adley Rutschman in the lineup today. The finalist for the AL ROY has been on a little slump recently being without a multi-hit game in 2 weeks. The fact that he’s facing a rookie right-hander with an ERA over 5.00 and an OPS against said right-handers over .850 leads me to believe the mini-slump may be coming to an end.
Nathaniel Lowe, 1B: DK: $3,900 / FD: $3,800 – All you need to know about why I’m taking Nathaniel Lowe today is right here.
Ryan McMahon, 2B: DK: $4,800 / FD: $2,400 – With the weather issues in play Saturday, Ryan McMahon got a much-needed breather so he’s plenty rested and ready to be a contest-winner for you today. The Rockies try again in Cincinnati and face Chase Anderson in Game 2, making only his third appearance of the season. The first two have resulted in 2 HRs and 7 ER. I wouldn’t blame anyone for stacking Rockies today but be sure to start with McMahon.
Rafael Devers, 3B: DK: $5,800 / FD: $4,000 – I’ve been wanting to play Rafael Devers for the past couple Sundays but have gone elsewhere for one reason or another. Today is the day. Devers is fully healthy and takes his 21 HRs and .978 OPS against RHP up against Dane Dunning. Done!
Jeremy Pena, SS: DK: $4,200 / FD: $2,700 – I really like the way almost all top SS match up today so it’ll be all about economics for me. With that in mind, Jeremy Pena will man the SS position in a majority of my lineups. Other intriguing options include Bobby Witt Jr, josh Rojas and my good buddy (although he doesn’t know it yet), Oneil Cruz.
Cedric Mullins, OF: DK: $4,200 / FD: $3,100 – What can I say? Another O’s player with a strong-side matchup against a rookie right-hander with an ERA over 5.00. Yes, please!
Jake McCarthy, OF: DK: $3,200 / FD: $3,000 – My under-the-radar play of the day is Jake McCarthy. Jake got the day off Saturday too but it was a well-earned day of rest. See, Jake started the past 7 games and hit .321 with 2 HRs, 1 2B, 1 3B, 9 RBIs, 6 Rs, and 2 SBs. Quite the stat sheet there. Jason Alexander will be toeing the rubber for the Brewers to try and cool him off a bit. Jason has served as both a starter and an opener this season, either by design or game script. Either way, this one lines up as a long day for Brewers arms and I’m willing to bet McCarthy is one of the beneficiaries.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Rain is in the forecast for a number of game sites today, including Marlins @ Braves, Cubs @ Cardinals, M’s @ Guardians, and Blue Jays @ Pirates. Keep an eye out for delays and possible cancellations.
Doing Lines In Vegas
Combing the tickers for plus odds as I always do, I honestly don’t love any of them today. Regardless, I’ll take a shot on the Guardians (+115) over the Mariners and the Phillies (+116) over the Giants. On the prop side, I’m all over the Rockies bats in the double-dip, especially versus Chase Anderson and the Reds bullpen. I particularly like HR props for Randal Grichuk, C.J. Cron and the aforementioned Ryan McMahon.
