Thirteen games on a Monday is very nice if you do ask me. The slate tonight features a bunch of new series obviously but the Jays and Red Sox are squeezing in one more game today and boy you just gotta feel for Boston — who coincidentally has really started to struggling pitching once the crackdown on substances came about. Then again, they’ve had to face the Astros and Blue Jays a lot so lets not get all ahead of ourselves here.
WEATHER
The game in Fenway will play with a little light rain tonight but the key word here is that it will play. As will every other game this evening
The two best pitchers on paper tonight are facing each other as Tyler Glasnow and the Rays head to southside to face Lance Lynn and the White Sox. But we have a bunch of pitchers who might look like they have good match-ups yet they’re either coming off the IL or have pitched really poorly of late… And then there’s a bunch of WTF, seriously? guys out there tonight as it’s revenge of the middling pitcher night for SP2 choices…
Tyler Glasnow
Which leads me right into putting Glasnow as 1a pitcher tonight. The White Sox can say they’re hot because they beat up on a AA pitching staff over the weekend, but truly they benefited from guys missing the strike zone really badly or just giving up and letting the ball get poked into the gaps. This will feel like going from facing some fat beer league softball guy to facing Nolan Ryan in his prime tonight as they get to deal with Glasnow’s Gas and Chicago is just blah overall vs quality RHP. He should be the lock button 1st SP we consider today and considering the Rays can roll out a ton of lefties (who arent bad) against Lynn we side heavily on the Rays today.
J.T. Brubaker
Just pretend he is a Padres or Dodgers pitcher and maybe it won’t feel so bad? Yes, I am going to a Pirate pitcher tonight, on this the 14th of June, 2021. Why? Why not I say! No honestly, the Nationals lineup is a set of walking dead men and outside of Soto right now this is just a terrible lineup and Brubaker is one Pirate pitcher that is a little consistent. He has been good against LHB (.294 wOBA) and has a favorable 28.4 CSW% this season. This is my bold play tonight and with lots of volatility at SP2, I believe you should be taking a risk there in tournaments on DraftKings.
Adam Wainwright
Waino and the Cardinals are back home and St. Louis has been one of the worst stadiums for offense this season. Especially in a night game we should see the weak Marlins lineup come in and provide a nice comfortable game for Waino — who is crafty enough now at the backend of his career to be exactly what stymies the Marlins lineup. But yeah, Starling Marte is taking him deep.
Also Consider
Kenta Maeda … Really good spot for Maeada to quietly return from the injured list and post his best game of the season. If he was in his 2nd start off the IL I would have him in the top 3, but he likely isn’t pushed too hard on pitch count tonight.
Dylan Bundy … Low K probability here, he has pitched well historically in Oakland, but they also know him well
It’s going to be in the upper 90’s in Coors Field tonight, so obviously that is your chalk play tonight and with it being a big slate it’s into my max 4 Coors bats rule today… There are plenty of other good team vs SP match-ups tonight that stand out to me. From Coors take Wil Myers or Thomas Pham and some value on the Rockies side, then lock in with a 3 man stack below.
REDS
Suarez, Votto, Castellanos …. India, Stephenson
Love when Cincinnati gets a road series in Milwaukee where both Eugenio Suarez and Joey Votto see the ball extremely well. As an added bonus for the Reds they’re getting the backend of the Brewers rotation to start things off today and should have their way getting runners on base all game long vs Lauer.
INDIANS
E. Rosario, Ramirez, Cesar … A.Rosario
At some point Dean Kremer might actually turn into a quality major league starter. But lets not hold our breath about that or anything. He has been hit hard by both sides of the plate and figures to get hit again tonight against the Indians.
ROYALS
Merrifield, Santana, Perez … Gutierrez
It’s extremely warm in Kauffman Stadium which is when it gets a boost into playable ballparks and the Royals will be seeing Matt Boyd for the 4th time this season. The Royals offense did actually start to pick it up at the end of their west coast trip so I can see them being better tonight and the Tigers bullpen is also extremely favorable as well
DODGERS
Overall the Dodgers have a lot of things tonight that make them my favorite team. But the problem is Philadelphia is going with Howard for who knows how long and then turning over to a rookie lefty who the Dodgers will have zero information on. Obviously, Howard being a FB heavy Righty is going to get murdered by L.A. but we don’t know yet if Bellinger plays for sure and we then don’t know what the full lineup is going to look like against RH then LH pitchers. So as of now, I can’t fully say lock in Dodgers, but they should most certainly be on radar and if you are down to a couple positions get Dodgers in over Coors.
CATCHER
- Salvador Perez
- Will Smith
- Austin Hedges
FIRST BASE
Common theme lately here at 1B is … are you playing Vlad? Yes? Good, enjoy the 25. No? Oh, well, uh, it sucks, so good luck.
- Vlad Jr
- Joey Votto
- Carlos Santana
- Tyler Stephenson – Catcher eligible as well.
SECOND BASE
- Brandon Lowe … Only Whit Merrifield is a top play here today but his price compared to his performance lately doesn’t seem right. So take a shot with my favorite leverage play tonight in some Rays lefties against Lance Lynn. This is really good match-up for Lowe.
- Whit Merrifield
- Cesar Hernandez
THIRD BASE
- Ke’Bryan Hayes … Alexa, show me what Vlad Jr looks like but in a Pirates uniform and half the weight?
- Jose Ramirez
- Tony Rendon
SHORTSTOP
- Bo Bichette
- Fernando Tatis Jr … Gets a LHP in Coors Field so he should be popular, my fear isn’t him vs Gomber it’s him vs the Rockies bullpen where he can do damage.
- Gavin Lux
OUTFIELD – Mt Rushmore
By far Outfield is loaded tonight and for FanDuel players, you’ll want a 4th OF in your UTIL spot most likely and for DK users, try to see if an OF here is eligible in the infield spots as well. Upside here drawfs that at any non SS position in the infield today.
- Cedric Mullins … LiC
- Wil Myers … Almost all players have a boost when they go to Coors, but none quite like Myers.
- Cody Bellinger
- Nick Castellanos
OUTFIELD – Tier 2
- Mike Yasztremski
- Austin Meadows … Great play + Lowe as leverage against Lynn who should be 20-30% on DK minimum.
- Thomas Pham
- Jorge Soler
OUTFIELD – Value
- DJ Stewart
- Anthony Santander
- Bryan Reynolds
The Dongers Club
- Cedric Mullins – OF – Orioles – Chairman of the Dongers Club
- Nick Castellanos – OF – Reds
- Cody Bellinger – OF – Dodgers
- Brandon Lowe – 2B – Rays
- Eugenio Suarez – 3B – Reds
- Salvador Perez – C – Royals
- Joey Votto – 1B – Reds
- Brandon Crawford – SS – Giants
- BONUS …………………….. Austin Meadows – OF – Rays
BETS
- Pirates +109!
- Orioles / Indians OVER 9
- Tigers / Royals OVER 9.5
- Reds +130 ML
- Rays -109 ML
LINEUP CONSTRUCTION THOUGHTS
THE HIGHEST CHALK STACK(S)
Padres/Rockies, Dodgers
LOW(er) OWNED GOOD TEAMS
Reds
LEVERAGE STACKS
Rays
BEST VALUE STACK
Orioles
DK PITCHERS
Glasnow & Brubaker
FD PITCHERS
Glasnow
CORE HITTERS
Cedric Mullins – Always the Chairman
Brandon Lowe – He was so close to being the Chairman tonight.
Eugenio Suarez – Gotta have some Reds tonight IMO