Like the old saying goes, “Never trust a man with two first names”, and that is exactly how it feels every time Robbie Ray ($18,400) takes the mound. He is a fantasy enigma, one day he can be the ace for your team then the next day he walks 6 batters and last 4 innings in a start. One of his biggest Jekyll and Hyde characteristic is his Home and Away splits, this season he has an ERA of 6.75 at home and 0.81 on the road. A matchup on the road against the low hitting Pittsburgh Pirates is exactly what we are looking for when building a line up. The Pirates have struggled all year versus lefties hitting .217 and carrying a very pedestrian .689 OPS. He should be able to rack up some strikeouts as that is his best asset. His K/9 this season is at 11.10. Speaking of Elite K rates, Chris Sale ($26,000) is making his return to Chicago, lets just hope he doesn’t go into his old locker room and cut up all the jerseys. The way he is pitching this season it would be hard not to pick him at whatever price he is listed at. There are some good pitchers he can be matched with and some quality bats as well. Lets take a look at the picks.
New to FantasyDraft? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!
Jose Berrios, P: $14,440- Has a very tough matchup versus the Houston Astros but the kid has been electric and has some filthy stuff. He offers some high strike out potential, I would definitely take a chance on him in some GPPs.
Miguel Cabrera, IF: $9,200- Miggy hasn’t really been himself so far this season but he is still hitting .381 vs. LHP and he is getting a lefty making his MLB debut. Cabrera should give him a “Welcome to the bigs” moment.
Logan Morrison, IF: $8,800- Has really found his power stroke this season, his Flyball rate has gone up by almost 12%, therefore leading to more HRs. Going up against Nick Martinez who has a 1.79HR/9 should be a good matchup.
Jose Abreu, IF: $9,000- A bit of a contrarian play with Chris Sale on the mound but Abreu has been hitting the ball very well lately (2 HRs .453 AVG last 7 games). He has also mashed lefties this season and Sale has given up 3 HRs in his last 3 starts.
Jorge Bonifacio, OF: $6,800- Absolutely crushing the ball over his last two weeks ( 5 HRs/ 1.095 OPS). Gets a struggling Justin Verlander who has been a victim of the long ball lately.
Corey Dickerson, OF: $9,300- He has been crushing everything thrown his way and gets a great matchup vs. RHP Nick Martinez. Has 11 of his 12 HRs vs RHP and a .998 OPS against them.
Tommy Pham, OF: $7,500- With all the struggles in the Cardinals outfield, Pham has really made the most of his opportunities. Hitting .333 with 5 HRs thus far this season, he is a very good value play.
Manny Machado, UTL: $8,100- Perhaps suffering from some bad luck; his BABIP is almost .90 points lower than it was last season. He is due for some “stat corrections” and he has a history vs. Luis Severino (4/11 3HRs).
Max Kepler, UTL: $8,000- Is finally starting to fill some box scores, hitting .288 with a .890 OPS over his last two weeks. On a night were he might get some at bats against Mike Fiers, he could be a very sneaky play. Fiers has an absurd 3.47HR/9.
I’m Only Happy When it Rains
There are some rain threats tonight on the slate. The Dodgers/Cardinals game has some rain expected throughout the game. As well as the Royals/Tigers game, but that one has a 15% chance of rain.
Doing Lines In Vegas
Chris Sale is making his return to the south side of Chicago to pitch against his former team, the Boston Redsox are listed at -175. It should be an interesting game with Jose Quintana taking the mound. A big surprise favorite is the Minnesota Twins at -120, they are taking on the Astros who have the best record in the league. I guess Vegas doesn’t like Mike Fiers either. A battle between TOR/CIN has a O/U of 9.5 runs. They played in a slugfest last night so expect more of the same now that the Blue Jays are at full strength. The highest run total is between TB/TEX, it is listed at 10 runs.
