Oh Thursdays, how I loathe thee on short slate days. Somehow, in a season where everyone needs to cram games in, we’ve got a four game main slate tonight. That doesn’t leave us with a ton of options and sometimes it feels like we’d be better off picking names out of a hat. Fear not though, we have something way cooler than a hat, we have the Rudy-bots! The Stream-o-nator in particular has some feelings about Andrew Heaney ($8,500) tonight and I’m not one to argue with a bot. Heaney is at home, always a plus for us when picking our DFS pitcher and the opposing pitcher is Adrian Morejon for the Padres, so perhaps the SON is predicting a win tonight. Heaney did look phenomenal last time out, going 7.2 innings, striking out 10 while only giving up one run and he was due for some regression on his ERA. However, the Padres own the league’s top team OPS. All I know is the options are limited and Heaney is a top option at an affordable price according to the robots. Trust the bots.
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Clayton Kershaw, SP: $10,900 – I was actually excited for Dustin May here being a cheaper option, but with Buehler being activated, it’s Kershaw going tonight. He’ll be everyone’s cash game pick and for good reason. The Diamondbacks own the league’s fourth worst team OPS and Kershaw should cruise to an easy victory.
Taijuan Walker, SP: $9,200 – The Red Sox are pretty putrid these days and while Walker could give up some runs, it’s likely Martin Perez and company give up more, so we’re looking for a cheap win here. Still, I’d rather pay down for Heaney or pay up for the safety of Kershaw.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., C/1B: $3,300 – The ol’ “stack against Red Sox pitching” strategy hasn’t steered me wrong yet and I like Vlad with the platoon advantage on Perez tonight.
Christian Walker, C/1B: $3,000 – Some BvP data worth noting here: Christian Walker has homered four times off Clayton Kershaw in 13 plate appearances with a .462 average. That’s pretty wild, and could be worth a roster spot as he should be very low-rostered.
Christian Vazquez, C/1B: $2,400 – Sometimes it’s nice to sneak a catcher in at this slot and hope they hit at a low-rostership. Vazquez has cooled a bit of late, but is still able to produce a nice point total now and then.
Jonathan Villar, 2B: $3,000 – More Jays stacking, the new leadoff man should be primed for plenty of scoring.
Nick Madrigal, 2B: $2,600 – Madrigal is still pretty cheap despite the .394 batting average. Getting hits like that means it won’t take much to pay off this price tag.
Rafael Devers, 3B: $3,500 – Finally my 3B auto-play is priced the way he should be, which means he’s less of a value now, but still my top pick at the position.
Bobby Dalbec, 3B: $2,400 – Now that Devers is priced up, we can turn our value-seeking eyes to another Boston corner man in Dalbec. Dalbec is less a sure thing than Devers, but has plenty of pop in his bat.
Tim Anderson, SS: $3,700 – You can get pretty wild at shortstop, but I like passing on the top guys and going with Anderson who has just as much upside. Anderson has the platoon advantage tonight against Danny Duffy and should be hitting leadoff once again.
Adalberto Mondesi, SS: $2,500 – Alright, it worked for Devers, now let’s get Mondesi going. We know the talent is there, let’s get on a heater and get this price back up to $3,500 where it belongs! You in Adalberto?
J.D. Martinez, OF: $3,300 – J.D. is the hittertron’s top play of the night at any position. Considering the price, this is an easy play.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr., OF: $2,900 – Just some more cheap bats stacking against Perez.
Jo Adell, OF: $2,100 – Sometimes you find yourself needing a near min-priced play. Adell might be playing like a quad-A talent right now, so who better to face than a quad-A pitcher?
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Look on the bright side, at least we don’t also have weather concerns with an already small slate.
Doing Lines In Vegas
No surprise that the Dodgers are the big favorites (-270) and that the ARI@LAD game has the lowest over/under with 8.5 runs. Also, not much a surprise that the TOR@BOS game has the highest over/under with 10.5 runs. I like the over there and the stacking opportunities that presents.
