I’m tag teaming today’s post with FredWord who had to attend a quaint country wedding where wifi doesn’t exist. Fred wrote up some pitchers, and I’ll fill in the rest. Also of note, this is typically a day for FantasyDraft content, however, they have shuttered their baseball doors early to make way for fooseball. Harumph! The nerve! No harm, no foul though, we’ll just pass the content over to FanDuel for the final week. Now, onto Fred’s lede:
Please raise your hand if you were kicked out of the playoffs last week. Phew! I thought I was the only one. I’m still a bit numb from being kicked out the first week of the playoffs. I refuse to log into my app to salvage a 5th place finish. Instead I logged in early the first morning to scavenge any free agent rookies who might be a keeper next year. I have turned all my attention to DFS for the final week of baseball. An interesting pick for today is Jharel Cotton ($5,900). Cotton is coming off a groin injury and likely will be under owned. He gets a favorable matchup at home vs the Rangers who tend to strikeout a lot. In his last start against the Rangers he had 9 k’s in 6 innings. Probably the biggest factor to this equation is Cotton is from St. Thomas Virgin Islands who was recently devastated by hurricane Irma. Cotton is going to be pitching with a lot of emotion today. This would be more of a tournament play as there is always risk playing a guy coming off interest.
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Patrick Corbin, SP: $9,000 – Patty cake, patty cake, he’s our man. Sir Corbin would be a nice pairing with a Kluber or Kershaw. The Marlins typically don’t hit lefties well. They also have a 26% k rate which is nice and meaty. Corbin has a high ceiling today and I have him in a couple of my lineups today. Buyer beware, he does have to pitch against Stanton.
German Marquez, SP: $7,100 – Datz a nice pick this week. Marquez has been awful lately but he gets to visit the pitcher friendly Petco Park. His ownership could be low due today due to his prior starts against the Padres this season. Marquez has flashes of greatness like earlier this month where he had a 9 and 10 strikeout game. This could be one of his last starts if the Rockies can’t hold onto the wild card spot. It might light a fire under him if he goes in thinking it could be his last game of the season. He’s just another cheap guy to pair a top arm with today.
Jameson Taillon, SP: $6,600 – If you are playing the main slate, Scherzer vs. the Mets is your clear cash game choice, but Taillon is my pick for GPP play. W.R.E.A.M. at least for FanDuel purposes and Taillon and the Pirates are taking on John Gant and the Cardinas. Gant will likely be limited to 4 or 5 innings and Taillon has a great shot at picking up the win today. It’s Scherzer and Taillon or bust for me.
Travis d’Arnaud, C: $2,600 – As long as we’re talking GPPs, d’Arnaud is your man there. He’s facing Max Scherzer, which will keep is ownership low and suppresses his price. He’s been hot fiyah the past 2 weeks with 4 HRs and a .333 average. He’s also taken Mad Max deep twice in 15 ABs.
Sandy Leon, C: $2,300 – Otherwise we turn to a warm body in a good park and a good lineup. Enter: Sandy Leon. Obviously, check to make sure Christian Vazquez hasn’t snaked the start, but either catcher should be fine vs. Jackson Stephens and his 4.80 ERA.
Mitch Moreland, 1B: $2,900 – Speaking of Stephens, I’m looking to load up on Sawx today. Stephens will be limited to around 4 IP and then it’s all on the Reds bullpen, which is less than wonderful.
Lucas Duda, 1B: $2,800 – If you’ve paid any attention to the Hitter-Tron the past few days, you’ve noticed it’s love affair with Lucas Duda. Well, it paid off last night with a 3 run jack and the robot is right back on Duda again for today vs. Bundy. Trust the bot!
Whit Merrifield, 2B: $3,900 – It’s Whit or Pedroia for me today and Whit has been on an absolute tear to finish the season. Sure, he’s pricey, but there’s enough other bargains around today, specifically at pitcher that I’m fine paying up for the KC spark plug.
Rafael Devers, 3B: $3,500 – I’m old enough to remember when Rafael Devers was a thing. Maybe he still is, but it seems like folks have cooled on the rookie a bit. Something to keep in mind (but it’s not deterring me today) is that a lot of the rookies have never played baseball in late September, so they could be tiring during their first long season. Still, Stephens looks bad enough that Devers should mash.
Jake Lamb, 3B: $3,200 – Speaking of cooling off, Lamb is finishing with a flop. Dan Straily and his 5.19 road ERA should help sort things out for Lamb though. Chase Field is certainly not the most ideal road park when you’ve been struggling on the road. Lamb owns the platoon advantage and I like him to get back on track today.
Addison Russell, SS: $2,700 – Shortstop is brutal for the main slate today, but Russell has been playing well of late and is the only reasonably priced player of the bunch. Tim Anderson has been ridiculous, but $4K is just too much. Russell gets some Miller Park action to boot.
Andrew McCutchen, OF: $3,200 – Cutch’s price had been too low for months now, but it’s finally creeping back up to what it should be. I like McCutchen today vs. John Gant at a reasonable price tag. Gregory Polanco at $2,100 is tempting as heck as well.
Jackie Bradley Jr., OF: $3,300 – Once again, stacking my Sawx.
Brett Gardner, OF: $4,100 – The Yankees have apparently spanked Marcus Stroman in the past, most of the team seem to have outstanding BvP against him. Gardner is no different, having gone 9 for 30 (.300) with 2 HRs. If you’re feeling froggy, stacking the Yankees might not be a terrible GPP move, albeit a pricey one.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
It’s a clear day for baseball!
Doing Lines In Vegas
Kershaw and the Dodgers are the biggest favorites on the day at -300. Scherzer vs. deGrom has the Nats as -165 favorites. BOS@CIN features a 10 run total as does MIN@DET interestingly enough. Stacking Twins vs. Buck Farmer wouldn’t be a bad idea either I suppose.
