Happy Mothers Day to the Mom’s out there. MLB is so thankful for you that Jose Urena is pitching again and this time in Coors Field. But he is only on the FanDuel Main slate, as DK wisely kept it off theirs.
WEATHER
ARZ at BAL: Could see mid game showers but it might not even be enough for them to bring the tarp out.
Look, Ragans sucked last night. I get it. Let’s move on, we have MacKenzie Gore pitching today everyone! Alek Manoah too!
ZACK WHEELER (DK: $11,500, FD: $11,200) … 100 pitches, 8 strikeouts, maybe an earned run. The NL Cy Young leader so far this season (yes, it’s early) is getting the Marlins and Mr. Sunday Jazz down in their own park. Can he avoid a Jazz homer? Probably. I actually do think Burger also is a touch match-up for him, so you might be wondering why pay the 11.5k for two trouble spots? Because, let me introduce you to Josh Bell, Tim Anderson, Nick Gordon and Vidal Brujahahahahahahan.
JUSTIN VERLANDER (DK: $8500, FD: $9600) … There really isn’t much in the 7k-9k range today that pops off with a ton of cheap pitchers going overall and so to see Verlander priced here might feel weird considering that we know he will pitch well back in Comerica Park and is coming off a performance where the Yankees touched him up. It’s an easy spot to bounce back for him today, but there isn’t any reason to expect some vintage 28-31 type performance. Steady, reliable, Verlander.
The Sunday Sleeper
MILES MIKOLAS (DK: $6000, FD: $7200) … Below is a GIF of Mikolas when he hears that he is the Sunday Sleeper. I don’t want to over sell this one, but just a gut call on the Cards/Brewers game being a low scoring spot, in which the Cardinals finally get a win and Mikolas who always pitches well in Milwaukee gives them 6+ of shutout ball…
Other Pitching Thoughts …
- Gore vs Bello is a very interesting spot. Boston is cold and Washington isn’t striking out once again, so you would figure Gore is the better play, but I can’t trust it as I see Boston still having too much HR upside and Bello is pitching well but maybe not well enough to pick on the Nats. 50/50 game, I’ll avoid.
- Ober, Kremer, Gallen … These are the only other “take a shot” options.
MINNESOTA TWINS
Julien, Kepler, Kirilloff, Correa, Larnach
It’s Manoah at home and a team full of lefties. Maybe he can just bean them all and get thrown out of the game to avoid giving up 4 HR? I don’t see any other possible scenario where Manoah is getting out of this cleanly.
HOUSTON ASTROS
Alvarez, Bregman, Singleton, Loperfido
Jack Flaherty has long been a frustrating pitcher because we never know what we are going to get. Today I’m expecting the bad Jack, or bad enough to allow some big hits from Yordan and Bregs. Love Yordan the most here. Singleton/Loperfido are cheap stack options to allow for paying up on pitching.
ARIZONA D’BACKS
Carroll, Marte, Joc, Walker
My first instinct here was that you cannot go against the hot Orioles, nor can you go against them at home on a Sunday and especially not on mothers day, right? Well, maybe the Orioles find a way to win the game off the Arizona bullpen – but lefties vs Kremer have had a lot of success, so Carroll back in the lead off spot (hopefully), along with Joc and Marte could really Ambush Kremer here early. This is go all in or avoid the whole team, but Arizona putting up 3 quick ones and then losing it late would not shock me.
COORS GAME (FanDuel Only)
Play Marcus Semien, that’s all.
CATCHER
- JT Realmuto
- Keibert Ruiz
- Korey Lee … Nothing more than a random punt
FIRST BASE
If you have either of top two guys below on your seasonal fantasy team you are raking right now. We don’t talk about how good Josh Naylor has become, and I expect his solid season to continue all the way through — big fan of his.
- Josh Naylor
- Carlos Santana
- Christian Walker
SECOND BASE
- Edouard Julien
- Whit Merrifield
- Nick Gonzales
- Ketel Marte
THIRD BASE
I really like Bohm here, but obviously the price is tough unless you are going cheap on SP2. But a Bohm double or HR is almost too easy today.
- Alec Bohm
- Isaac Paredes
- Willi Castro
SHORTSTOP
- Oneil Cruz
- Carlos Correa
- Edmundo Sosa
OUTFIELD – Mt. Rushmore
- Trevor Larnach / Max Kepler / Alex Kiriloff
- Seiya Suzuki
- Yordan Alvarez
- Corbin Carroll
OUTFIELD – Tier II
- Joc Pederson
- Josh Lowe
OUTFIELD – Value
- Joey Loperfido
- Will Brennan
- Yordan Alvarez – OF – Houston Astros – Chairman of the Dongers Club
- Alec Bohm – 3B – Phillies
- Josh Naylor – 1B – Guardians
- Corbin Carroll – OF – Diamondbacks
- Max Kepler – OF – Twins
- Edouard Julien – 2B – Twins
- Keibert Ruiz – C – Nationals
- Oneil Cruz – SS – Pirates
- BONUS …………….. Joey Loperfido – Astros
TOP BETS
Twins/Blue Jays over 8.5
Cubs/Pirates under 8.5
Astros ML -118
Diamondbacks ML