We have a nice slate of baseball for Sunday afternoon that consists of 11 games on the major sites. There is a wide variety of pitching options on the board and we will break down a few different matchups along the way.
Pitcher:
Max Scherzer is in a tier of his own on this slate in terms of ability, but I do not think I will play him too much on this slate due to his price tag. You should have absolutely no concerns about Scherzer in this matchup and you can expect 8 K’s and 100 pitches. Scherzer isn’t immune to some left-handed power, but the Mets are not a lineup that scares me off of anyone. I like Scherzer’s upside, but I don’t know how much I can get to on this slate.
I really like both Mike Clevinger and Domingo German in their respective matchups against bad lineups. Both of these guys have elite K-upside and they are cheaper than Scherzer. I think German is in a better spot and is cheaper in most places, but he also likely lacks major upside due to the Yankees bullpen and his first game only consisting of 79 pitches. The Indians have been very aggressive with pitchers early and I expect Clevinger to go as long as anyone on the slate. I like saving the money with these two and still getting elite strikeout upside.
Brad Peacock is another solid mid-tier priced option on this slate vs. a strikeout-heavy Oakland team. Peacock doesn’t have a huge name yet, but he has an elite swinging strike rate and should be able to rack up K’s in this spot.
Marcus Stroman is my favorite spend-down option on this slate by a pretty wide margin. Stroman is a really good pitcher that doesn’t get a ton of K’s and has been injury ridden. His first two starts have been really encouraging. Not only is Stroman being efficient and limiting hard contact, but his swinging rate is up almost 3%, which is really nice to see.
Catcher:
Gary Sanchez is expensive but he is clearly the best option. Sanchez has 3 home runs and two more flyouts that he thought were gone already this season and he is historically very streaky. He is clearly the top option here. If you don’t go to Sanchez, just pay down and match your stack.
First Base:
Jose Abreu is off to a hot start with 3 homers and now he gets a matchup with Wade LeBlanc. LeBlanc isn’t the worst pitcher in the league, but he is not close to being impressive. I think Abreu goes overlooked around a bunch of bigger names.
Second Base:
If you can’t pay up for the top tier of Torres, Altuve, and Merrifield, I really like Niko Goodrum against Brad Keller. Keller is not a very good pitcher and Goodrum is likely to be in the middle of the Tigers lineup again tomorrow
Third Base:
Manny Machado is an elite option on this slate. Adam Wainwright is #bad and we should be looking to pick on him in every spot possible. I think Machado is my favorite high-end third base one-off on the entire slate, even with loaded options.
Shortstop:
Paul DeJong is a nice cheap one-off in the middle of a great lineup against a young pitcher that struggled in his first start. I think Strahm is a solid pitcher, but DeJong’s price and lineup spot are clearly the best on the slate.
Outfield:
Aaron Judge is my favorite outfielder on the slate regardless of price. Judge is coming off of two homers last night and David Hess is not as good as he was the last start.
My favorite cheap outfielder is Victor Robles. Robles hasn’t been getting a great lineup spot, but he has both power and speed at the bottom of the Nats order.