Rostering a starting pitcher with a high strikeout total is a big part of performing well in GPP tournaments, which is why Lance McCullers Jr. ($9,000) is an ideal target tonight. He’s got a 10.02 K/9 for his career and faces an Oakland lineup with a 28.1% K-rate against righties this season. In his first start against the Athletics, McCullers struck out seven batters in five innings with just one earned run, so his ceiling is even higher if he can work deeper into this outing. If you’re looking for a top pitching performance, Lance gon’ give it to ya.
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Tyler Mahle, SP: $8,400 – Mahle is another target in tournaments thanks to his strikeout ability. Mahle struck out 29.9% of batters in 2020 with a 13.8% swinging strike rate, and he touched 98 MPH last time out. That was a start where he struck out nine against the Cardinals, and he’s got an enticing matchup tonight against the Diamondbacks. Arizona’s lineup looks like a wasteland without Ketel Marte and Kole Calhoun.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B/3B: $3,300 – Vladdy is crushing the ball out of the gate, batting .348 with two homers. This torrid pace shouldn’t be stopped by opposing starter Andrew Heaney, who got shelled for seven runs in his first start.
David Fletcher, 2B/3B: $2,500 – Fletcher will bat leadoff for the Angels and is a great target in cash games for his high floor and super low price. He will have plenty of opportunities to get hits and score runs atop the lineup, with a career .290 batting average and 10.4% K-rate to rely on.
Manny Machado, 3B: $3,500 – Machado and the Padres are a top stack option against Kohei Arihara, who was ineffective in his big league debut. Teammates Wil Myers (OF: $3,300) and Tommy Pham (OF: $3,200) will correlate highly with Machado and should be played together.
Carlos Correa, SS: $3,000 – Correa has now homered in back-to-back games and is still way underpriced on FanDuel. He has obliterated lefties with a career 135 wRC+ and faces a weak southpaw in Sean Manaea, who the Astros hung five runs on last week.
Eddie Rosario, OF: $3,200 – Cleveland batters are a stack to consider against probably the worst starter on the slate, Julio Teheran, owner of a ridiculous 10.05 ERA last season. Rosario will see lots of RBI opportunities batting cleanup and has the handedness advantage batting lefty.
Jesse Winker, OF: $3,100 – Assuming he is back in the lineup after an illness, Winker will be a great play as a righty-masher early in the Reds order. He posted a .944 OPS against right-handed pitching in 2020 and had an elite 93rd percentile xwOBA.
Marcell Ozuna, OF: $3,100 – After crushing 18 home runs last year, Ozuna is back at home where he is in play as a home run upside bat.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
There could be a bit of rain in Phillies-Braves but there don’t appear to be any postponements to worry about.
Doing Lines In Vegas
The Reds look like a much better play than their -135 line gives them credit for, facing against Taylor Widener in just his second career start.
