Enjoy today’s slate but do not go all in as if today is the grande finale of the first half of the season because the week ahead is …. holy fuck it’s awesome. I peaked at the schedule for next Friday and lets just say that I am not wearing pants right now, oh wait, too graphic? Anyways there are three Sunday’s including today before the All-Star Break and they all should be terrific but the next 10 days of Major League Baseball are really gonna put the deadened baseballs to the test from an offensive standpoint. It’s gonna be extremely hot and we have a ton of fantastic series coming up. I might have to do a podcast…. Yep, I’m gonna do a podcast..
As for today, we have the White Sox and Mariners finishing their game from yesterday and then playing their regularly scheduled game after that today. It will be a full 9 inning game and isn’t slated to start until 4PM EST but both sites have included it on the main slate which is …. weird?
WEATHER & STUFF
Pirates vs Cardinals – Some rain here, not much interest in this game from me today, we had enough of Pirates/Cards to hold us over for now and I’ll just tease things by saying that the Pirates are going to be front and center on your radar Tuesday night, so leave them be for now.
Astros vs Tigers – Thunderstorms looming in this game which can downgrade Odorizzi as an SP (see below).
Very favorable hitting conditions in New York and Boston.
Sandy Alcantara
Full blown South Beach Theory against the Nationals on their fourth day in Miami and having a good amount of time after the afternoon game on Saturday to certainly go out and do something in South Beach for the first time in two years. Like all Marlins pitchers, Sandy is better at home and one of the two CORE South Beach Arms (Pablo the other) that we always rely upon on Sunday’s to carry us home. Let’s hope Schwarber is massively hungover today.
Max Scherzer
Neither Max or Cole were the first arms that I wanted to use today but I cannot find any fault in a path for Scherzer to have a solid outing vs the Fish in a low scoring battle with Sandy.
Jake Odorizzi (T-Storm Risk)
Eggs is coming off a great start vs the Orioles and looks to do it twice in one week against the Tigers. All the data lines up perfectly as they are coming off a DH yesterday and the Tigers obviously struggle vs RHP and Eggs has been really good vs RH batters this season which is a little shift for him but something we should trust for only $6,900.
Ross Stripling
Ross is the most reliable cheap pitcher we have to consider if Odorizzi looks dangerous. He’s at home vs the Orioles who arent really hitting much on the road right now and for $6,800 Ross has a great chance to go for 4x today as your best SP2 choice.
Bad arms who will pitch well on Sunday, just because …
Eric Lauer, Chi Chi Gonzalez, Patrick Sandoval … All three are going to hit double digit fantasy points on DK (positive too) and nobody will use them for good reason because they’re all very inconsistent. Sandoval of the three looks the best as LHP vs the Rays continues to excel but the guy I cannot stomach ever is Eric Lauer and I have a very strong feeling the Rockies/Brewers game finishes as 2-0 final.
New York Mets (& Phils)
McNeil, Conforto, Alonso, Lindor
Meet the Mets. Meet the Mets. Step right up and Stack the Mets. Bring your kiddies. Bring your wife. Guaranteed to have the time of your life. Because the Mets are gonna sock Zack Wheeler all game long. Winds blowing out, humid and warm again in New York and a SP vs his former team on the road. Wheeler is coming off a rough start as it is, so if the Mets can jump on him early then they should have a long big game w/ the Phils bullpen and the Mets are definitely hitting better right now. Pete Alonso has struggled at Citi Field with just 1 HR on the season. Please note, that # will change today as this game will be high scoring and for the “due” theory crowd the Phillies sure are due for a win here but I love the Mets side too much to ignore them.
Atlanta Braves vs Cincinnati Reds
Acuna, Albies, Freeman
Warm in Great American Smallpark and Tyler Mahle has most definitely come back to old Tyler Mahle which is strikeouts + homers more evenly balanced because in 2021 we are all about Equality Tyler and your non equality pitching in April was extremely unacceptable sir! Freddie Freeman remains hot and remains the anchor to the Braves side of the house but if ever you wanted Acuna and a full Atlanta stack at low ownership today is the day.
Minnesota Twins (& Indians)
Cruz, Jeffers, Polanco (*Position is weak outside of McNeil*)
It has been a while since we had the Blue Jays playing a Saturday afternoon home game near Toronto, but we’ll consider Buffalo close enough. They just don’t lose these games and certainly against Keegan Akin they shouldn’t be expected to lose a second straight game to the Orioles this afternoon.
Cleveland draws the crappy J.A. Happ but it flips a few guys to the weaker side in match-ups/splits but overall Ramirez/Rosario would be the pay for guys on the Tribe side.
Under the Radar Stacks
Yankees vs Red Sox
The Yankees should hammer E-Fraud today and with good weather in Boston I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Sox touch up Cole a bit as well. Love Stanton and/or Xander as one offs.
Chicago White Sox
Want a team that nobody will use today? The White Sox lineup won’t be confirmed until well after lots of other games have locked because they’re resuming the Saturday game first, but I would strongly suspect that Abreu/Moncada/Anderson all play and those are the guys we would stack up here.
CATCHER
- Tyler Stephenson
- Ryan Jeffers
- Salvador Perez
FIRST BASE
- Pete Alonso
- Freddie Freeman
- Yuli Gurriel
SECOND BASE
- Jeff McNeil
- Jorge Polanco
- Marcus Semien
THIRD BASE
- Eugenio Suarez
- Jose Ramirez
- Gio Urshela
SHORTSTOP
- Francisco Lindor
- Xander Bogaerts
- Carlos Correa
OUTFIELD – Mt Rushmore
- Michael Conforto
- Nelson Cruz
- Nick Castellanos
- Giancarlo Stanton
OUTFIELD – Tier 2
- Bryce Harper
- Dominic Smith
- Eddie Rosario
- Andrew McCutchen
OUTFIELD – Value
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr
- Aristides Acquino
- Something About Mary (Daz Cameron)
- Hunter Dozier
The Dongers Club
- Pete Alonso – 1B – Mets – Chairman of the Dongers Club
- Hunter Dozier – OF – Royals
- Giancarlo Stanton – OF – Yankees
- Ryan Jeffers – C – Twins
- Nelson Cruz – OF – Twins
- Michael Conforto – OF – Mets
- Eugenio Suarez – 3B – Reds
- Xander Bogaerts – SS – Red Sox
- BONUS …………………………. Freddie Freeman – 1B – Braves
BETS
- Phillies / Mets OVER 7.5
- KC Royals ML
- Rockies / Brewers UNDER 9
- Atlanta Braves ML
HR PARLAY
- Pete Alonso, Hunter Dozier, Giancarlo Stanton
LINEUP CONSTRUCTION THOUGHTS
THE HIGHEST CHALK STACK(S)
- Blue Jays, Brewers, Astros
LOW(er) OWNED GOOD TEAMS
- Braves, Red Sox
LEVERAGE STACKS/PLAYS
- Red Sox
DK PITCHERS
- Sandy & Odorizzi
FD PITCHERS
- Sandy