I guess I should have taken a “Bryce Harper” yesterday and by that I mean just a day of rest because that was an utter disaster of an article I put together last night which was so far off base that you didn’t even bother getting excited about a sweat. It happens and a mental clearing of the mind was in order this morning to reset for tonight’s slate. Because every once and a while, that is required.
DraftKings has ONE more game than FanDuel tonight and it’s a good spot for pitching between the Angels and Astros.
Otherwise all games are clear of any Weather issues and should be good to go tonight.
When I got to the hitting section I found that some mid to high range bats immediately leaped off the page at me tonight. While we could obviously punt a cheap value play at a couple of positions tonight, I found that the upside of the mid range pitchers might with those good bats probably outweighs the upside of locking in two stud’s on DK tonight. That said, both Cole and Gilolito are about the same to me, and you are fine with either one up top and yes you can fit two of these three top guys in on DK….
Gerrit Cole
He has not been the same dominant pitcher this year with the Yankees, leading many to believe that he was no doubt part of the Astros “magical” pitching last season where they all seemed to have this incredible boost in spin rate. But really Cole just seems to have ran into bad luck with scheduling between COVID postponements, 7 inning games and having to face the Rays. Tonight he’s in Baltimore and should cruise to a nice 7 inning win.
Lucas Giolito
Whit Merrifield got a hit last night which ended his brief cold slump, but then it died after that. KC knows Giolito and got to him after a few starts last season – but I lean heavily on Gio who has turned another corner recently and should cruise through this banged up and weak lineup.
Aaron Civale
So Christian Yelich will homer. Let’s get that obvious spot out of the way first. Afterwards, Cleveland is still better than Milwaukee and will win the game 4-2 which brings Civale into play as a slightly cheaper option than the two aces above. Just deal with the Yelich bomb.
Mid Range SP2’s
Kyle Gibson
Simply put, Gibson is way too cheap tonight and yes the Mariners have been pesky but when Gibson is on he’ll get a ton of ground balls and with this projecting to be a low scoring game, it’s a great spot to get 15+ DK points from both pitchers and trust the stud bats on DraftKings.
Justus Sheffield
This won’t be outside the box for many – but it is for me considering I am not a fan of Sheffield. That said, the spot vs Texas tonight is extremely solid and he should get 5+ strikeouts which is good for his price.
Trevor Cahill
The battle of pitchers against former teams. Cahill is the better one to ride against a much weaker lineup in Arizona.
Minnesota Twins
Josh Donaldson, Nelson Cruz, Miguel Sano, Brent Rooker (DK)
Love the Twins getting Skubal who is basically mini-Robbie Ray. The Twins are primed to hit 3+ homers tonight and Donaldson/Cruz are of course your key anchors here. Consider Buxton/Sano as your round out the 4 man stack plays but the real value on DK is Brent Rooker who was recently called up and is a sub 3K outfielder hitting clean-up with some power on DK. Love prospects vs prospects all the time for hitters, so he’s almost a must play on DK tonight.
Chicago White Sox
Tim Anderson, Jose Abreu
Robert and Eloy are obviously in play every single day lately, but Anderson and Abreu are the clear cut plays against LHP Bubic.
Philadelphia Phillies
Bryce Harper, JT Realmuto, Rhys Hoskins
The Mets rake in Philly and the Phillies rake in New York. Do not fade Bryce Harper tonight, and consider Rhys Hoskins a top play tonight as well. The Phillies are rolling right now and Harper coming back into the lineup after a day off only ignites the flame more.
Other Teams to look at
- DODGERS – Very warm in LA, but Marquez to me is a guy I don’t always want to attack, so I am gonna fade and pray.
- BRAVES – Can they keep yesterday rolling today? Freeman can.
CATCHER
- James McCann
- Tucker Barnhardt
- Will Smith
FIRST BASE
- Jose Abreu
- Colin Moran – Mostly a DK value play. And by mostly, I mean, entirely…. DeSclafani is bad vs LH as we know….
- Austin Slater – Nice value leading off on FD.
SECOND BASE
- Mike Moustakas
- Adam Frazier
- Cavan Biggio
THIRD BASE
- Josh Donaldson … Has been good since coming off IL and is still cheap. The bombs are coming … Next question
SHORTSTOP
- Tim Anderson
- Xander Bogaerts
- Isiah Kiner-Filefa
OUTFIELD – Mt. Rushmore
- Harper, Bryce
- Christian Yelich
- Clint Frazier
- Nelson Cruz
OUTFIELD – Tier 2
- Dominic Smith
- Teoscar Hernandez … I wouldn’t be shocked if Toronto gets overlooked tonight and we know what Teo has done in Fenway.
- George Springer
OUTFIELD – Value
- Brent Rooker – DK Value
- Gregory Polanco
- Michael Brantley
- Adam Haseley
- Byron Buxton
- Harper, Bryce – OF – Phillies – Chairman of the Dongers Club
- Josh Donaldson – 3B – Twins
- Mike Moustakas – 2B – Reds – LiPNC
- Christian Yelich – OF – Brewers – LiC
- Tim Anderson – SS – White Sox
- Austin Slater – 1B – Giants
- James McCann – C – White Sox
- Teoscar Hernandez – OF – Blue Jays
- BONUS …………………………. Clint Frazier – OF – Yankees