Sometimes an article will start with how last night went and sometimes it will start with talking about the number of games on a slate or most of the time I’ll start with a random rant.
I got no desire to touch on any of those things today (ok, Odorizzi was great, Montas was Monots and its a 14 game slate which is normal because it’s a damn Tuuuueessday) nor will I waste your time with any of it.
However.
Here’s a random trivia question for you.
Wander Franco is debuting tonight for Tampa Bay and if you do not know who Wander Franco is then where have you been living?? Franco is one of the most hyped hitting prospects in a long long time, and often these over the top hyped prospects have a hard time living up to the hype because it’s so far up there. And in his case being a 5’10 switch hitting shortstop he doesn’t have a direct comp anywhere with existing players. He has the hit tools of a Tony Gwynn according to some, which is uhh, pretty bold of a statement and the power of a modern day shortstop too. Overall, can he be a Robbie Alomar type player? Someone who hits well, defends well, hits for some power, has some speed? Yes. Do I have a direct 1:1 comp for him? No. His comp is that he is Wander Franco — and often times those are the best prospects.
Oh, the Trivia question. Yes.
Five rookies have won the batting title in their rookie season. Three of them did it before 1900 — Ross Barnes, Pete Browning and Abner Dalrymple. Abner was no doubt a Wednesday hitter with that kind of name… Anyways, there are two others one of which was Tony Oliva in 1964 and the most recent was ……………… who?
Hint: He is now retired (recently) and he hit .350 and it was in the 21st century…
WEATHER
Couple spots that could have early delays or some lingering showers but nothing that warrants much concern from what I see right now.
Gerrit Cole
Rules to remember on Tuesdays & Fridays: Rule #1: Drink lots of beer. Rule #2: When there are high priced “Ace” pitchers going, you can and will find good value chalk bats to complement them and that is easier than finding high priced bats to pair with value arms. Such is the case today as Wander Franco for example is your chalky $2,000 hitter on DK and that easily gets lots of Cole type lineups available. Cole is at home against the Royals who are without Mondesi and Benintendi which is a good boost for Cole, not that he really needed it much. Salvy hasn’t hit on the road and the bottom of the lineup should be a breeze for Gerrit Cole to have a good score today.
Johan Oviedo
The Cardinals think Oviedo can be a steady rotation arm for them and he’s starting to get better of late. His slider has been exceptional against righties and so we get a good strikeout pitch against Miggy/Haase and the white hot Schoop today. The lefties on the Tigers are mostly switch hitters who just aren’t very good. For cheap value I like Ovideo to win and get some run support from his offense today vs Skubal.
Kyle Hendricks
All the money in the world on the Cubs winning a low scoring game this evening vs Cleveland. I had Sandy Alcantrara here in this spot but with George Springer back I am opting to avoid him in what should be an exciting game. Meanwhile, the Indians/Cubs game is about as exciting to me as watching paint dry in a school classroom tonight and Hendricks at home should have his way with the DH-less Indians.
Kyle Freeland
Freeland is a bad pitcher, but every once and a while a bad pitcher gets to walk into a prime spot to keep him in the starting rotation. Such is the case for Freeland against the Mariners tonight and he is also good leverage against Chris Flexen ownership in the same game. The top of the Rockies lineup profiles very well against Flexen’s pitch type break down tonight, so give me Freeland to give us 5 innings for dirt cheap if you do want a cheap SP2.
Quick Thoughts …
Freddy Peralta: 44% strikeout rate vs RHB and down to 27% vs LHB. D’Backs lineup should almost entirely be LH today and for 10k his ceiling is really reduced.
Marcus Stroman: Don’t expect another big K game from him
Honestly not a TON of offense tonight….
ASTROS (2-3 man)
ASTROS (2-3 man)Rinse and repeat. The Astros will get Jorge (sometimes good, sometimes shit) Lopez tonight so they will be chalk and good chalk but not necessarily stack 5 Astros and move on chalk. Yordan Alvarez is their best hitter by far right now and Carlos Correa once again disappointed us last night but is at the top of a deep SS position today. Going Astros should consider them along with Chas McCormick.
ATHLETICS (3-4)
With the hitting limited tonight I’ll take a shot on Globe Life Park in a game where it looks like the roof will be opened up. Oakland’s got two guys who really carry them normally in Ramon Laureano and Matt Olson — but Matt Chapman is finally healthy and producing consistently and is very well priced on both sites to make him a core play today.
WHITE SOX (5 man)
WHITE SOX (5 man)This just smells like a 13 run game in PNC park where the White Sox reel off a ton of innings with extra base hits, walks and crooked numbers on the board and I doubt anyone will be on them. We get a contact pitcher and a lefty at that vs the White Sox. Anderson-Abreu-Grandal-Moncada and a value bat should be one of your 3 lineups tonight if you are doing more than one and arguably I would rank them #1 overall for going 5 man stacks.
BEST SNEAKY GAMES
Giants vs Angels … Giants will have some lefty power back tonight with Darrin Ruf in the lineup and the Angels at home are extremely good offensively.
CATCHER
- Zack Collins
- Jorge Alfaro
- Martin Maldanado
FIRST BASE
- Jose Abreu
- Matt Olson
- Paul Goldschmidt
SECOND BASE
Meh, this is really a bleak position, the type where you are hoping for a 0, a 14 (HR) or just a 3 (single).
- Jed Lowrie
- Jeff McNeil
- Jazz Chisholm Jr.
THIRD BASE
- Matt Chapman
- Manny Machado …. Stars go on streaks and tear up the world, he is doing that right now.
- Justin Turner … Dodgers answer tonight.
SHORTSTOP
The whole world is going to go with Franco and I dont hate it given that he gives you great flexibility for using two reliable pitchers, but there’s a ton of sneaky upside guys here like Anderson and Trea Turner who is producing more now that Schwarber is hitting and sandwhiched between Blockhead and Soto is a great spot for a Trea 2-HR game this week.
- Tim Anderson
- Trea Turner
- Wander Franco – Take the $2,000 free square on DK if you are using two high priced SP’s.
- Carlos Correa
- Elvis Andrus
OUTFIELD – Mt Rushmore
- Ramon Laureano
- Yordan Alvarez
- Juan Soto
- Andrew Vaughn
OUTFIELD – Tier 2
- Darin Ruf
- Michael Brantley
- Mookie Betts
- Mark Canha
OUTFIELD – Value
- Chas McCormick
- David Peralta
- Raimel Tapia
The Dongers Club
- Juan Citizens Bank Soto – OF – Nationals – Chairman of the Dongers Club
- Matt Chapman – 3B – Athletics
- Trea Turner – SS – Nationals
- Matt Olson – 1B – Athletics
- Yordan Alvarez – OF – Astros
- Andrew Vaughn – OF – White Sox
- Jazz Chisholm Jr – 2B – Marlins
- Martin Maldanado – C – Astros
- BONUS …………….. Mookie “Ambush Snell” Betts – OF – Dodgers
BETS
- Athletics ML
- White Sox – 1.5
- Dodgers ML
- Cubs/Indians UNDER 8.5
LINEUP CONSTRUCTION THOUGHTS
THE HIGHEST CHALK STACK(S)
Astros
LOW(er) OWNED GOOD TEAMS
White Sox
LEVERAGE STACKS/PLAYS
Kyle Freeland as SP2
DK PITCHERS
Cole and Hendricks
FD PITCHERS
Cole
CORE HITTERS
Andrew Vaughn
Yordan Alvarez
Matt Chapman
TRIVIA ANSWER
…
…
…
…
Ichiro Suzuki