Results, not excuses. Another bad night last night which really makes it three in a row and a rough stretch this past week and a half. As great as the first 7 weeks of the season have been I know some are looking around and going W.T.F! When they see Dylan Bundy posting a -1 and the Yankees backup catcher hitting 3 HR. Stick with the process folks, the first 7 weeks were not a fluke but we do have the challenge of MLB teams cruising into the playoffs and thus the variance is increased dramatically.
Gerrit Cole
Cole is in rhythm right now and will get a ton of strikeouts tonight against Toronto. He has had two good starts in a row against the Orioles and while Toronto has a better lineup than Baltimore, they also strike out at a much higher rate which is reason enough to trust Cole for a fantastic start tonight. The Yankees need to win so he will go 7 IP.
Jacob deGrom
deGrom is one of two pitchers that have been steady almost every start this season, with Shane Beiber being the other one. You point to being in a better hitters park than normal, you can point to maybe a Phillie or two that scares you, but you cannot point to this being a bad deGrom start. Sorry, I won’t buy it.
Dylan Bundy
Bundy is mainly in consideration on FanDuel tonight due to the price structure of pitching on this slate. Good to see Calhoun get his 2 HR game in Anaheim out of the way last night, so Bundy can mow them down tonight.
FADE
Brady Singer
He is going to be great, but the young kid is coming off the most pitches he has ever thrown and a near no-hitter. Avoid it tonight.
You should take a simplified approach down the stretch to building lineups. 3-3-1-1 is all I am going to be doing from here on out if possible. This means, two teams with 3 players and my favorite two one offs from the secondary teams.
Chicago White Sox
Yoan Moncada, Jose Abreu, Eloy Jimenez
This game should have fireworks in it. The White Sox profile extremely well against Odorizzi and Kepler/Cruz should murder Giolito/White Sox pitching here today. Love this game for offense overall but I would go heavier on the White Sox side facing the worse SP and not get too cute with the Twins outside of either Kepler or Cruz. RH batters have done well historically against Odorizzi and that’s where most of the power lies with Chicago, however Yoan Moncada is playing much better of late and is squarely going into my Chicago White Sox stack tonight.
Cleveland Indians
Francisco Lindor, Franmil Reyes, Delino DeShields
Lindor is the key to this lineup, he is getting them going and with Lester on the mound we have an even better spot than last night obviously. Hitting conditions are moderate and the sneaky play here is Delino DeShields.
New York Yankees
Giancarlo Stanton, DJ LeMahieu
Very annoying to want to trust a team who went off the day before with 20 runs, but the Yankees draw Tanner Roark today with 10+ mph winds blowing out to left field. Giancarlo Stanton’s return to the lineup comes at a great time for him facing Roark.
Atlanta Braves
Ronald Acuna, Dansby Swanson, Travis d’Arnaud
I have a very simple request for the Braves batting order tonight. Acuna-Swanson-Freeman-Travis d’Arnaud and just give Ozuna the night off? One can dream right? Akin has been very good vs LH batters so far, but Freeman isnt your typical lefty and he’s been hit by the RH bats, so Acuna-Swanson and sure, if he is in Ozuna would be great play too but prefer Acuna-Swanson combo in a Braves stack.
CATCHER
- Salvador Perez
- Travis d’Arnaud
- Wilson Ramos
FIRST BASE
- Jose Abreu
- Yuli Gurriel
SECOND BASE
Good one off position tonight.
- David Fletcher
- Robinson Cano
- Rougned Odor
THIRD BASE
Ditto Moncada with White Sox exposure, don’t over think it.
- Yoan Moncada
- DJ LeMahieu
SHORTSTOP
- Francisco Lindor … He’s arrived and he has a multi HR game in his future.
- Tim Anderson
- Dansby Swanson
OUTFIELD – Mt. Rushmore
- Nelson Cruz
- Giancarlo Stanton
- Max Kepler
- Eloy Jimenez
OUTFIELD – Tier 2
- Franmil Reyes
- Michael Conforto
- Ronald Acuna Jr.
- Hunter Dozier
OUTFIELD – Value
- Delino DeShields Jr
- Ryan Mountcastle
- Phillip Ervin
- Francisco Lindor – SS – Indians – Chairman of the Dongers Club
- Yuli Gurriel – 1B – Astros
- Robinson Cano – 2B – Mets
- Yoan Moncada – 3B – White Sox
- Max Kepler – OF – Twins
- Delino DeShields Jr – OF – Indians
- Salvador Perez – C – Royals
- Phil Ervin – OF – Mariners
- BONUS …………………….. Giancarlo Stanton – OF – Yankees