Happy Friday everyone! FanDuel has us set up for a full 15 game slate and I have to admit, I’m really excited about the pitching today. I’m like a kid in a candy store….orrrr a grown-@$$-man with control problems when it comes to eating in a pizza shop? Either way, I’m hungry and we have our choice of Max Scherzer ($12,300) versus the Padres or Jacob deGrom ($10,300) versus the Brewers, but my muy favorito is The Big Maple himself, James Paxton ($11,000), who gets a coveted start in San Francisco. Paxton is coming off two beastly starts against the Red Sox and Royals, where he went 14 IP, 0 ERs, 24 Ks<insert eye-popping wolf gif here>. The lowly Giants pose a minimal threat to the left-handed Paxton, and will have just one batter with an ISO over .200 over the last two seasons in Evan Longoria. Let’s take a look at some more of my favorite plays from this massive FanDuel slate.
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Madison Bumgarner, SP: $9,000 – MadBum hasn’t been back to his elite self yet, but he’s been decent. He’s sporting a career-best 4.0% BB% and gets a nice matchup against the backup Yankees at home in Oracle Park.
Jerad Eickhoff, SP: $7,800 – Eickhoff had some ups and downs in his last start in Coors, but he survived and went a healthy six innings, striking out eight. Today, he gets an elite matchup against the Marlins. In a land amongst aces, this is one of my favorite plays.
Jose Abreu, 1B: $3,700 – Abreu and the White Sox face lefty Daniel Norris on Friday. While this puts Yoan Moncada out of play for us, Abreu is very-much-so in play.
Rowdy Tellez, 1B: $2,500 – Mike Fiers gets absolutely crushed by left-handed power bats, which leads me to introduce you to cheap Mr. Tellez.
Whit Merrifield, 2B: $4,000 – Hard-hit Whit gets a matchup against a lefty in Tyler Skaggs. Merrifield has a .373 wOBA versus lefties for his career.
Eric Sogard, 2B: $3,200 – Sogard will be leading off against Mike Fiers. Overall second-base is kind of a wasteland today, so we can ride the hot Sogard (title of your sex tape, boom), until it’s over.
Matt Carpenter, 3B: $3,300 – Carpenter owns Anthony DeSclafani. I know, I know, BvP is just small sample size, but there is no way I can ignore 9/22, 3 HRs, 6BBs.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 3B: $3,200 – Maybe Vlad should’ve been the lead, but I’m sure everyone will be hyping Vlad’s first day of work. He faces Mike Fiers in his debut, who gets crushed by left-handed batters, but at this price, Baby Vlad’s worth the risk.
Jeimer Candelario, 3B: $2,800 – Candelario will lead off for the Tigers on Friday, and is significantly better against left-handed pitching (as is the rest of this lineup).
Jorge Polanco, SS: $4,100 – I love Polanco, and shortstop is a little tricky today. Might as well pick on Alex Cobb.
Tim Beckham, SS: $3,400 – I tried to find a decent, cheap shortstop…and failed. Good luck, but at least Beckham is facing Shell-me Miller.
Eddie Rosario, OF: $4,300 – Last time the Twins saw Alex Cobb, he was allowing nine runs on ten hits, so let’s stack-up the Twins.
Ronald Acuna Jr., OF: $4,100 – Acuna’s a stud and faces Antonio Senzatela, who sports pretty major reverse splits (I really wonder how often managers check to see if pitchers have reverse splits, or if they usually just load up their lefty bats against righties automatically). Being that he doesn’t own the platoon advantage, Acuna should go relatively overlooked today.
Nelson Cruz, OF: $3,500 – So much pop at such a little price.
Jeff McNeil, OF: $3,000 – I swear, McNeil is my favorite player. He’s such a throwback player. Doesn’t strike out and makes contact like crazy. If Nimmo’s out of the lineup still, McNeil should lead off.
Nick Castellanos, OF: $2,900 – This is way too cheap for a bat of Castellanos’s caliber. He has always mashed lefties, so take advantage while he’s this cheap.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Lots of rain on the east coast, but it seems like more late start rain than PPD. Just keep an eye on Phillies/Marlins, Mets/Brewers, Nationals/Padres, and Rays/Red Sox. There are also some big winds on the slate. Phillies/Marlins, Mets/Brewers, Braves/Rockies, and White Sox/Tigers all feature winds blowing out at greater than 10 mph, while Nationals/Padres is forecasted for winds blowing in at 14 mph.
Doing Lines In Vegas
The biggest favorites on today’s slate are Twins -190 vs Orioles, Phillies -185 vs Marlins, and Nationals -185 vs Brewers. No double-digit totals as of this writing, but a couple of 9 runs in Cardinals/Reds, Royals/Angels, and Mariners/Rangers, and a 9.5 in Twins/Orioles.
