UPDATE: Wed 7/29, 10:06 PM (Added Pitchers for Wednesday)
Major League Baseball appears to be stuck between a rock and a hard place, with the Miami Marlins having the first coronavirus outbreak since the 60-game season started just last Thursday night. But that’s not to deduct whatsoever from the incredibly fun weekend of MLB Daily Fantasy that we just experienced.
And so long as MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred doesn’t pull the plug entirely, we’re still in for a work week of intriguing slates, starting with the massive Tuesday we have ahead of us.
A rematch of the 2017 World Series between the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers in Walker Buehler’s debut has all the writing on the wall to be a reminiscent dogfight going to the wire with top talents in the National and American Leagues. Divisional action will be abundant as well, with the Los Angeles Angels taking on the Seattle Mariners, and the San Diego Padres traveling to Oracle Park to take on the San Francisco Giants.
Let’s breakdown some top hitters, pitchers, and stacks for Tuesday through Thursday’s main slates, with updates coming along the way as starting pitchers are confirmed through that time frame.
Pitchers
Walker Buehler, Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers started off the season hot in their first two games of a four-game series with San Francisco Giants before sputtering in two losses that followed. But True Blue is rolling out the big guns with their ace in Walker Buehler to get back on the right foot against their World Series rival Houston Astros.
In 2019, Buehler propelled himself to Cy Young contention in just his second season in the Majors following his third-place bid for 2018 NL Rookie of the Year. Notching a 14-4 record last season while posting an array of impressive numbers (1.042 WHIP, 10.61 K/9, 3.01 FIP), Walker Buehler was a daily fantasy beast to roster as he averaged 21.70 DraftKings Fantasy Points per game in 30 games played.
While the Astros stand to be a tall task for nearly any starting pitcher, Walker Buehler has proven himself against top tier opponents, on the grandest of stages in the playoffs and World Series as well. He diced the World Champion Washington Nationals in the NL Divisional Series with an insane 15 strikeouts and 0.868 WHIP in two games started (before the Dodgers blew the series on him).
Given the lofty price tag and menacing opponent, Walker Buehler may fly under some radars and has the potential to be the top pitcher on Tuesday’s slate with massive strikeout upside.
Jacob DeGrom, New York Mets
The NL Cy Young winner of 2018 & 2019 is a difficult player to fade on any given slate he’s featured, and while the Boston Red Sox aren’t the first team you’d like to target against, Jacob DeGrom is always worth the attention when available.
With a 2020 season Steamer projection of a 1.08 WHIP and 10.93 K/9, Jacob DeGrom forecasts to once again be a contender for the Cy Young award and can produce slate-breaking numbers regardless of the opponent. Averaging 22.94 DraftKings Fantasy Points in 2019 in 34 games played, DeGrom’s resume speaks for itself and validates the fantasy price premium.
While the Red Sox have started off the season with some solid hitting and the top batting average thus far in a short sample size, they also account for a 12.5% swinging strike rate (9th in Majors), which is food for thought if anything against a guy who posted 11.3 K/9 just last season.
Boston still has some very formidable talents in the heart of their order with Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, and Rafael Devers. But Jacob DeGrom should be in a parallel position to Walker Buehler’s Tuesday situation against Houston, mitigating ownership through difficulty of opponent combined with the optics of spending top dollar to roster them each, respectively.
Other Pitchers For The Work Week:
Tues:
(woof, these pitchers are bad)
Homer Bailey, MIN
Kyle Gibson, TEX
Jeff Samardzjia, SF
Merrill Kelly, ARI
Patrick Sandoval, LAA
Zach Davies, SD
Wed:
Max Scherzer, WAS
Sonny Gray, CIN (CONTRARIAN)
German Marquez, COL
Gerrit Cole, NYY
Chris Paddack, SD
Kyle Hendricks, CHC
Andrew Heaney, LAA
Thurs:
Shane Bieber, CLE (CONTRARIAN)
Ross Stripling, LAD
Dinelson Lamet, SD
Brady Singer, KC (CONTRARIAN)
Dylan Bundy, LAA
Max Fried, ATL
Steven Matz, NYM (CONTRARIAN)
Hitters
Colin Moran (1B/3B), Pittsburgh Pirates
Given the staggering lack of talent in the pitching department on Tuesday, value matchups will be in abundance, and Colin Moran happens looks to be a benefactor of such.
Already with as many or more home runs as eight different MLB teams (3 HR), Colin Moran comes in priced at a massive discount with an even larger upside. Averaging 14.25 DKFP in four games played in less than a week into the season, the man that matches the mascot (not the Pirate Parrot) has tallied three of those games in double-digit fantasy scoring and somehow still comes into Tuesday’s DraftKings pricing in the Bargain tier, sub-$3,500.
Hitting 13 home runs in all of 2019, Colin Moran is already well on his way to surpass his 5 HR Steamer projection for this 60-game season, and facing off with Josh Lindblom should be a breeze (last posting a 2.032 WHIP and 7.84 ERA in 10.1 IP with PIT in 2017). Not only does Colin Moran get the platoon advantage on Tuesday, but does so as well on Wednesday against starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff.
Nelson Cruz (OF), Minnesota Twins
While it’s uncertain how many of you were robbed of substantial winnings in the waning moments of Sunday’s main slate due to a meaningless 3-run home run by Nelson Cruz, breaking even has never felt so good to talk about, knowing I may or may not fall into the aforementioned category (not really, it was awful).
But regardless of my blathering about recent DFS gut-punches, Nelson Cruz made it quite evident on Sunday how slate-breakingly needle-busting his performance ceiling can rev to, making him a candidate for constant attention on any slate. In fact, he joins Colin Moran in the elite group of three hitters tied for the league’s home run leaders at 3 HR a piece currently, alongside an astounding 401 wRC+ and .789 wOBA while ripping the ball on a .538 batting average.
The 52-DraftKings Fantasy Point onslaught of Sunday afternoon is a lot to live up to so early on, but it wasn’t the first rodeo he’s produced a caliber of fantasy totals along the lines of, and Nelson Cruz warrants every slate’s immediate roster considerations, nearly regardless of cost. Don’t live my mistake. Roster Nelson Cruz, especially when the answer happens to be a clear one (such as an opposing pitcher like Reynaldo Lopez last Sunday).
Other Batters For The Work Week:
High/Mid:
Cody Bellinger (OF), LAD
Michael Brantley (OF), HOU
J.D. Davis (3B/OF), NYM
Justin Turner (3B), LAD
Josh Bell (1B), PIT
J.D. Martinez (OF), BOS
Pete Alonso (1B), NYM
Alex Bregman (3B), HOU
Amed Rosario (SS), NYM
Rafael Devers (3B), BOS
Trevor Story (SS), COL
Mookie Betts (OF), LAD
Matt Olson (1B), OAK
Niko Goodrum (SS), DET
Shohei Ohtani (OF), LAA
Max Kepler (OF), MIN
Mid/Low:
Whit Merrifield (2B/OF), KC
Josh Donaldson (3B), MIN
Joc Pederson (OF), LAD
Joey Gallo (OF), TEX
Xander Bogaerts (SS), BOS
Tommy Murphy (C), SEA
Pablo Sandoval (1B/3B), SF
Jorge Polanco (SS), MIN
Manny Machado (3B), SD
Shin Soo Choo (OF), TEX
Kole Calhoun (OF), ARI
Tyler Heineman (C), SF
Jorge Soler (OF), KC
Paul DeJong (SS), STL
Bargain:
Kevin Cron (1B), ARI
Jason Castro (C), LAA
Trent Grisham (OF), SD
JaCoby Jones (OF), DET
C.J. Cron (1B), DET
Matt Carpenter (3B), STL
Kevin Pillar (OF), BOS
David Fletcher (2B/3B), LAA
Ryan O’Hearn (1B), KC
Stacks
While I will be getting to essentially a minimum of one four or five-man stack from each team over the course of the work week, the following are going to be favorites that I’ll be chasing for a variety of reasons rolled into one ranking (in numerical order):