Hard to believe there’s only 9 days left in the MLB season. It truly has been a grind and I hope your hard work has paid off. As we try to finish strong, keep an eye on the standings and matchups. Teams have already started to limit young and high-risk players’ PA and innings. Innings and PA are the life blood of fantasy baseball and especially DFS. Opportunity is king just as much as talent and we don’t want to lose it because of oversight. We shouldn’t have much of that to worry about tonight as all the contenders on the slate still have something to play for.
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Starting Pitchers
Joe Ryan, SP: $7,700 – The rookie has impressed over his first 17 innings. He has a 2.12 ERA allowing only 2 walks and 14 strikeouts. His swinging strike is above league average at 12% so a better strike out rate should be on the horizon. Moreover, his lowest k-rate at any level prior to his MLB stint was 34.7%. Ryan is also more of fly ball pitcher which will play well tonight. Current forecast is for strong winds blowing in from left at Wrigley.
Zack Wheeler, SP: $10,700 – Wheeler is enjoying a true breakout season. He has a career best ERA, K-rate, BB-rake, and has already racked up over 200 innings. He’ll get a Baltimore team that has the 4th highest k-rate since the all-star beak and a below average 95 wRC+.
Catcher/First Base
J.T. Realmuto, C/1B: $3,300 – Keegan Aiken currently holds a 6.93 ERA across 89.2 IP. He’s allowing fly balls 44.6% of the time and 10%-barrel rate. There will also be a strong wind blowing out to left. I expect the righties to take advantage against a mediocre lefty.
Yuli Gurriel, C/1B: $3,000 – He has multi-hit games in 6 of his last 8 games. He will face Janson Junk and the Angels tonight. It’s hard to gauge how much progress Junk has made without any 2020 numbers. However, he has largely struggled prior to 2021 and was a 25-year-old at AA this year. Not exactly a ringing endorsement of his talents.
Second Base
Max Muncy, 2B: $4,100 – I might be president and CEO of the unofficial German Marquez fan club, but I also am not blinded by to the current reality. Tonight, they’ll be in Coors, and while Muncy has seen his MVP chances slide to the wayside; he’s still one of the league’s top sluggers in the heart of an elite lineup.
Jose Altuve, 2B: $4,200 – He’s riding a 9-game hitting steak going into this one. The Astros still have it all to play for as they try to lock down the division and possibly the best record in the AL.
Third Base
Manny Machado, 3B: $3,700 – It is reported that Scott Kazmir will get the call up to start tonight for the Giants. Prior to this season, Kazmir out of MLB since 2016 and only had 12 minor league innings in 2017. He’s been about as good as you’d expect for someone who’s been out of the league for 5 years. However, a 4.61 ERA at AAA will not play well in the bigs. Attack where you can.
Justin Turner, 3B: $3,700 – He has found himself hitting 5th after the acquisition of Trea Turner and a now healthy Cory Seager. If you’re going to stack Coors, go towards the middle/back end of the lineup as ownership of the top guys will be very high.
Short Stop
Fernando Tatis Jr., SS: $4,300 – Everyone knows the kid is great, but this man has a 39/25 season in only 119 games. All that while dealing with a fairly significant shoulder injury and changing his swing to protect it.
Gleyber Torres, SS: $3,100 – 2021 has been an absolute struggle for the former phenom. He does have an 8-game hitting streak rolling, and hits in 11 of his last 12 games. The Yankees will face Taylor Hearn in this one. Hearn was in the bullpen for most of the season but has transitioned into the rotation to make 9 starts. In his 9 starts, his k-rate dropped over 2 per 9 IP and his FIP has rose from 4.68 while in the pen to 5.29 as a starter. A pitchers numbers typically get worse as they make the switch to the rotation so I would continue to expect mediocre results for the time being.
Outfield
Tommy Pham, OF: $2,700 – Pham has homers in consecutive games to go along with a 5-game hitting streak. He’ll get a great chance to expend that against a below average lefty.
Andrew McCutchen, OF: $3,200 – The former MVP is pulling the ball more than ever. His 49.7% rate, beating his previous high mark of 47.1% in 2013. He hasn’t hit a homer since September 6th and the combo of poor pitching, wind blowing out that suits his approach and an advantageous ballpark should right the ship.
Yordan Alvarez / Kyle Tucker, OF: $3,800 / $3,500 – I can’t ever seem to pick right one between these two. Last night I was on Alvarez as a part of Houston stack and Tucker went yard. Granted Alvarez still had a good night and if you haven’t noticed, I’m in favor of running it back tonight.
Willie Calhoun, OF: $2,000 – If you’re looking to save salary, this is a no brainer for me. He has hits in 4 of his last 6 games and hit 21 homers in only 337 PA in 2019. Yankee stadium’s short left field wall should pay dividends.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Zero rain on the forecast, but not all is well. Current forecast for the Cubs game has 25+ MPH blowing in from left. It will be in the low 60s at first pitch making this game useless as far as hitters go.
Doing Lines In Vegas
Twins (Joe Ryan) at Cubs (Kyle Hendricks) O/U 7 runs scored – take the under. Life may be too short to bet the under as they say, but trust me on this one. The wind will be blowing in at Wrigley tonight. Since the trade deadline, both of these teams find themselves in the bottom half of the league offensively. Ryan has legit shot at being the highest scoring pitcher tonight, while Hendricks has a career 2.92 ERA at Wrigley.
