WEATHER
All clear with chilly but not miserable temps and a little wind blowing out to LF in Wrigley and Target.
DREW RASMUSSEN
In case you didn’t hear yesterday, the Rays are now undefeated at 8-0 and have won each game by 4+ runs. Well, when you get to start the season against the Tigers, Nationals and Athletics, that doesn’t hurt either.
Rasmussen is a good pitcher who rarely puts himself into trouble on his own. He might not have elite stuff that other guys have but knowing how to pitch is the more important trait and Raz doesn’t give up 3ER at home to good teams, so why would he vs a bad Oakland team? … Even if they do have Jesus on Easter Sunday.
NESTOR CORTES
Nasty Nestor made 2 starts at the newly configured Camden Yards in 2022 and he racked up 19 strikeouts over 11 innings allowing 0 ER. I mention this as a slight extra comfort level for using him against a good Orioles lineup, but really we would have to trust Cortes vs the Orioles in almost any stadium. The only two threats in the lineup are Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle — who gets hurt by chilly temps IMO.
TAIJUAN WALKER
If Walker’s splitter is working early he can smash his strikeout prop (6.5) which is probably higher than it will be most games for him this year. The projected lineup for Cincinnati is full of guys who carry very high whiff rates on splitters vs RHP and I wouldn’t imagine the ball carries very well in Philly today if one does make contact. Granted, they’re lacking power here too.
Sunday Sleeper
Matthew Boyd … Everyone above Boyd looks pretty strong in their match-ups, so using him vs the Red Sox might feel uncomfortable, however back starting in Detroit I bet we see a little vintage Boyd with a good game. The PC is probably limited, so reserve him for second lineup(s) on DraftKings as an SP2.
ASTROS
Chas McCormick, Yordan Alvarez, David Hensley
Go figure, of all the games today here early in April the one in Minnesota is one of the warmer ones which carries favorable hitting conditions.
Tyler Mahle’s transformation from shitty vs LHB to shitty vs RHB is almost complete as he really gets his damage done attacking lefties, but has to face two of the best in the game in Tucker/Alvarez. I don’t see any easy outs for him today and expect walks to be an issue as well. Houston is a team I am fading most of 2023 in terms of wins, but today they’ll post a 7+ spot — which means consider some bottom of the lineup value like Hensley or Maldanado.
BREWERS
Jesse Winker, Rowdy Tellez, Brice Turang
You wan’t free? You want 3 free homers? Here you go. The Brewers are all cheap vs Jake Woodford who after getting whooped up by the Braves now gets to go into a hitter friendly spot in Milwaukee and I love these guys along with Brian Anderson.
CATCHER
- Eric Haase
- William Contreras
- Christian Bethancourt
- Martin Maldanado
FIRST BASE
- Pete Alonso
- Rowdy Tellez
- Jose Abreu
SECOND BASE
- Brice Turang
- David Hensley
- Kolten Wong
- Marcus Semien
THIRD BASE
- Jose Ramirez
- Alex Bregman
- Alec Bohm … Does the string of yesterday’s chairman homering continue here? Probably not, but worth the mention.
SHORTSTOP
- Oneil Cruz
- Corey Seager
- Jeremy Pena
OUTFIELD – Mt. Rushmore
- Jesse Winker
- Yordan Alvarez
- Teoscar Hernandez
- Trey Mancini
OUTFIELD – Value
- Gavin Sheets
- Chas McCormick
- Jorge Soler
- Akil Baddoo
The Dongers Club
- Jesse Winker – OF – Brewers – Chairman of The Dongers Club
- Jose Ramirez – 3B – Guardians
- Oneil Cruz – SS – Pirates
- Rowdy Tellez – 1B – Brewers
- Brice Turang – 2B – Brewers
- Yordan Alvarez – OF – Astros
- Teoscar Hernandez – OF – Mariners
- Eric Haase – C – Tigers
- BONUS …………….. Pete Alonso – 1B – Mets
FAVORITE BET(s)
- Guardians +106
- Astros ML -106
- Reds/Phillies under 8.5
- White Sox/Pirates under 8.5
- Marlins/Mets over 8
TOP PROP(s) OF THE DAY
Pitchers (3-1 yesterday…. 21-7 on season)
- Nestor Cortes over 5.5
- James Kaprielian under 4.5
Batters
- Yordan Alvarez over 1.5 total bases