Take a look at some of our lineup tops for the MLB slate:
Pitchers
These pitchers are horrible. I mean, on a site that changes prices based on the surrounding talent, C.C. Sabathia is $9,000. He isn’t bad, but off of the DL? Sheesh, that seems a little steep. I think you could probably say that about every single guy tonight.
I don’t love targeting $11,000 pitchers against Miami, but Folty is in play simply because of the slate. He has 30 DK points in him and he should provide a decent start at the worst. I don’t want to play him, but if you want the safety, go for it.
Mike Clevinger is probably the highest upside play on the slate especially when it comes to K’s. KC isn’t a very good offense and if Clevinger is on, he is a very high upside pitcher. His slider is elite and his fastball is more than good enough to keep people honest. Again, this isn’t a spot I want to go to, but if any pitcher can win you this slate, it’s probably Clevinger.
C.C. Sabathia is IN PLAY. At $9,000, you need C.C. to be efficient, but he has done so a good amount this year. I think you could hope for 6 innings, 6 K’s and no earned runs from C.C. which could get about 25 DK points tonight. That is not great for this price tag normally, but on this slate, it may be.
Zack Godley is most likely the chalk tonight based on his overall ability on this slate. He gets a solid Mariners’ offense, but you can’t ask for much on this slate. Godley has elite pitcher upside and has flashed it at times. Typically, he falters at some point in time, but here’s to hoping he can piece a full outing together. I think Godley is my favorite play in the top end of pitching.
Jake Odorizzi has K-upside here and that’s about the extent of my interest. I would have Odorizzi in my GPP pool because of this stuff and Oakland’s swing and miss tendencies. These tendencies also come with maximized upside for the bats and downside for Odorizzi, as they have a lot of power throughout the lineup. On a slate like this, it’s possible no one is great at pitching. This would lead to Odorizzi being a great play, even if he gives up a bomb or 2 if he can get K’s.
Again, I truly don’t like any of these guys, but Jason Vargas isn’t as bad as you think? Is that convincing enough? Look, I don’t love facing the Nationals, but Vargas isn’t as bad as he has been most of the season, I think he goes out and gets you 12. If he does, he may be on the winning lineups with how horrible this pitching slate is. The pitching is so bad that the bats are all loaded. I want to spend a vast majority of my money there today, and Vargas would allow me to do that.
Stacks
Coors Field is interesting today. Both pitchers aren’t horrible and I am very curious to see how ownership plays out. Normally, people would pay down to get Coors bats, but paying down today is so sketchy that I don’t know how many people will do it. That being said, paying up really isn’t much better, so it comes down to how people attack the slate. You can punt pitching and hope no one goes off, or pay up for safety/upside and hope your pitcher is the one that does put up a tournament-winning score. As a whole, I think I will stay away from this game besides a few one-offs if I have the money.
The Phillies are in an interesting spot vs. Ryan Borucki. When I watched Borucki pitch for the first time, it was obvious that he utilized a form of deception to fool hitters. Now, he has been solid most of his time up but has struggled in his last few starts. Is this the league getting tape on him and learning to adjust? I think that’s possible. The Yankees had seen him once before and the second time went much better than the first. If the Phillies can figure him out early, the stack could have GPP winning upside.
Dan Straily has been bad this season, like really bad. The Braves offense has overperformed to a degree, but they are most certainly a legit offense that is tough to get out. Straily faced this Braves team a few games back and allowed 11 hits in 3.2 innings. I think the Braves have the ability to yield similar results again, which causes me to have a lot of interest in this spot.
Secondary Stacks: Yankees, Indians, Pirates, and Dodgers