Welcome to September baseball, where I get new call ups mixed up with running back handcuffs. FanDuel has us set up with a 15-game slate to start the weekend. There are three things that are certain in life: death, taxes, and the Tigers being terrible against right-handed pitching. Since the All-Star Break, the Tigers are tied for the second-worst wRC+ against righties, while striking out at the highest clip (28.5%). The Tigers face Homer Bailey ($8,200), who has been excellent over his last eight starts, outside of a disastrous start against the Cubs. In fact, over his last four starts, Bailey has a 2.25 ERA in 24.1 innings, while striking out 27 batters. I’m praying to the fantasy gods that Homer can keep that success rolling today. Let’s take a look at the rest of today’s slate.
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Clayton Kershaw, SP: $11,700 – Paying up at pitcher is easy when its Kershaw against the Giants.
Dinelson Lamet, SP: $8,400 – This all about how bad the Rockies have been of late. They’ve dropped nine in a row and have gone 15-36 since the All-Star Break. Lamet has put together a really nice finish to the 2019 season and should keep it rolling tonight.
Matt Olson, C/1B: $3,600 – Olson faces Spencer Turnbull, who’s seemingly run out of gas. Over his last three starts, Turnbull has allowed 15 earned runs in 12.2 innings of work.
Tom Murphy, C/1B: $3,100 – Murphy has been scorching against lefties in the second-half and gets a cushy matchup against Framber Valdez. Murphy should be relatively low owned also.
Ji-Man Choi, C/1B: $2,800 – Clay Buchholz is on the mound for the Blue Jays and I definitely want to take advantage of his 5.78 SIERA.
Gleyber Torres, 2B: $3,700 – Yooooooooo….the Red Sox are rolling out Jhoulys Chacin. Chacin sported a 5.79 ERA with the Brewers before they called it quits. I cannot imagine his Red Sox debut is going to go well.
Jeff McNeil, 2B: $3,300 – Zach Eflin has been so bad against lefties this year, allowing a .363 wOBA with 14 taters. McNeil is just a professional hitter and I fully expect a multihit game from his today.
Luis Arraez, 2B: $2,600 – This is just too cheap for Arraez, who has a near .400 wOBA (.392) against right-handed pitchers this year.
Eduardo Escobar, 3B: $3,800 – Tyler Mahle has struggled against lefties all year, allowing a .250 ISO and .365 wOBA.
Renato Nunez, 3B: $2,900 – Nunez gets a matchup with lefty Brock Burke. Nunez hits bombs off lefties and he’s cheap. Cheap power, what else do you want?
Joey Wendle, 3B: $2,200 – This is a decent punt option against Clay Buchholz. Third-base isn’t usually a position I look to punt, but if you’re desperate, this isn’t the worst.
Bo Bichette, SS: $3,800 – There was a point in August where Bichette had just ridiculous numbers against lefties. Oh, wait, .298 ISO and .453 wOBA are still ridiculous.
Didi Gregorius, SS: $3,200 – Middle of the lineup Yankees bat against Jhoulys Chacin? Yes, please.
Tim Anderson, SS: $3,100 – Did you realize Tim Anderson has the third-highest average in the league? :themoreyouknowgif:
Aaron Judge, OF: $4,200 – If I’m paying up, I’m going straight to Judge against Chacin.
Max Kepler, OF: $3,500 – Leading off for the Twins, number 26, Max Kepler. This is a nice price for Kepler who’s bombed 36 homers already this year.
Michael Conforto, OF: $3,200 – Eflin against lefties – it’s a thing.
Kevin Kiermaier, OF: $2,800 – The Rays stack is really cheap, making it a viable way to get up to the expensive Yankees bats or Clayton Kershaw.
Teoscar Hernandez, OF: $2,500 – Hernandez is part of those righty Blue Jays that face the struggling Brendan McKay.
Mike Tauchman, OF: $2,500 – Tauchman is the perfect Yankees bat to finish off a stack against Jhoulys Chacin.
Jake Cave, OF: $2,500 – Cave has struggled with strikeouts but gets a lovely matchup against Plutko, who only has struck out 16.1% of the batters he’s faced.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
There’s a little bit of precipitation in the forecast for the Yankees/Red Sox game, but it doesn’t seem very threatening. There is actually pretty decent wind blowing in for the Yankees/Red Sox, Phillies/Mets, and Rangers/Orioles games, giving a bump up to the pitching in those games.
Doing Lines In Vegas
As of this writing, Kershaw and the Dodgers (-280) and Bailey and the Athletics (-260) are the two biggest favorites on today’s slate, followed by the Twins (-198). There are also only two games with totals in double digits, being led by the Twins/Indians (10.5), followed by the Cubs/Brewers (10), but to be fair, there’s no line/total out for the Red Sox/Yankees or Astros/Mariners games. Good luck today!
