A nearly full Friday night slate with no Wrigley afternoon game unfortunately and two turbo slate 5pm/6pm window games as we lose the Athletics and Marlins (bummer man!) and the Brewers and Reds — which feels like a series that has a million runs in a warm Cincinnati weekend. All in all we have summer like conditions today with a ton of big name pitchers going as well tonight.  We also have ‘remember me”s’ going on this weekend with the new series. Moose Tacos back in Kansas City (hey, how about that….) Jesse Winker back in Cincinnati (hey, how about that….) Schwarber, Harper and Turner back in Washington (hey, how about that…..)   WEATHER Hot with storms and rain in a few spots. Tampa Bay at Boston – This one does not look good.  High PPD risk. Cleveland at Minnesota – Storms before and early in the game, they should be able to play. Roof open in Arizona   As mentioned above a lot of big name pitchers going such as Ohtani, Kershaw, Framber, Wheeler, Webb, Verlander, Glasnow, Castillo (!!!), Severino, two of the Grays (Jon and Josiah) as well as Michael Wacha, Bailey Ober, Aaron Civale and Dean Kremer, which is honestly the closest grouping to some 50’s all male band we have going today.  Oh yeah, Chase Anderson is going tonight as well, fun times. However, a lot of the ‘Good’ pitchers are facing good teams or in weather spots which are really good for hitting, and conversely the bad pitchers are facing some bad teams.  Like Jordan Lyles vs Colorado.   TOP ARMS Shohei Ohtani (DK: 10.7k, 10.8k) He has had some huge games against Houston in his career, which stands out given the fact that most pitchers do not have success vs the Astros.  The home/road splits are still a negative for Ohtani, his production away from Anaheim just isn’t the same, but the Astros aren’t what I would consider a hot offense at the moment with Tucker struggling and Altuve/Abreu/Bregman/Pena not hitting RHP much if at all.   SP2 CHOICES Zack Wheeler (DK: $9200, FD: $10900) Look for back to back solid A+ starts from Wheeler, he can be streaky and the Nationals are returning from a west coast trip tonight, are probably a little groggy and should whiff more than they normally do. Mike Clevinger (DK: $6600) I can see Clevinger doing well vs Detroit […]

Welcome to June, Kyle Schwarber’s favorite month for some reason or another.  Schwarber has hit 47 home runs in the month of June in 132 career games.  Not too bad, and one of the reasons I think he has been due for a breakout here soon, but the other is just the entire Phillies lineup construct and getting their cycles coordinated between Turner-Schwarber-Harper-Castellanos and Realmuto.  Once they do, look out. What does this have to do with today’s slate?  Absolutely nothing.  Well, they are on the slate vs Max Scherzer in a day game…. Anyways, seven total games today, 4 are early, 3 are late.  I’ll cover it all   WEATHER Three domes on the early slate and the Citi Field game between Phillies/Mets which will be played in 80 degree temps and probably good for home runs and all. No weather issues for the 3 night gamges today which are: Reds/Red Sox Guardians/Twins Angels/Astros   TOP ARMS Jesus Luzardo and Joe Musgrove I like Kevin Gausman’s strikeout upside vs Milwaukee (who doesn’t?), but my big call today is that Luzardo finishes as the top K pitcher on the slate.  I would jump on his strikeout props and maybe even ladder it up today and if we get lucky with a South Beach afternoon lineup from the Padres then this could have 8 inning, 1 hit performance all over it. With Musgrove being 7300 I suspect he is no doubt 40% or higher owned on DraftKings, and quite possibly #1 on FanDuel as well.  Fade on FD, but take the SP double barrel on a short slate.   NIGHT SLATE ARMS Chris Sale Hunter Greene Framber Valdez   CITI FIELD If you read what I randomly wrote above then you see where I am going here.  It’s Philly vs Max, good weather, wind blowing out, cycles syncing up.  Make us proud today Phillies, make us proud. The Mets are the lede being buried here though, they’ll get to face Taijuan Walker, their former pal and boy has he been bad in Philly — especially here in a divisional game vs a team who should be patient at the plate drawing walks and have lots of RISP opportunities.  Mets bats are cheap too. KEY PHILLIES … Schwarber, Harper, Marsh, Turner KEY METS … McNeil, Nimmo, Baty, Alonso   Next Best Team:  Colorado   NIGHT SLATE STACKS Guardians (Ramirez, Bell) Twins (Gallo, […]

It feels like 2019 because Dinelson Lamet and Julio Teheran are pitching tonight.  I shit you not people… The Padres and Marlins game is on FanDuel only, not on DraftKings slate and it is Snell versus Garrett and it should be a snoozefest. WEATHER No issues tonight, 4 of the 6 games are in Domes.   TOP ARM Hunter Brown (DK: $10k, FD: $10.5k) Brown is the only arm tonight who could come out and just dominate the slate.  He got 14 Swinging Strikes vs Minnesota in their first meeting and has been consistent all season long in his rookie year.  We do still have some power here on the Twins side but not enough for me to be too concerned.   SP2 OPTIONS Aaron Nola (DK: $9100, FD: $9100) Looking for a good SP vs an offense which has cooled off?  It’s Nola folks.  Don’t give me this crap about Nola on the road, he’s got a fantastic park shift here going into Citi Field and will get plenty of run support tonight.   BEST VALUE ARMS Clarke Schmidt, Alek Manoah, Julio Teheran You know the risk with Manoah and Teheran, which also is why Clarke could wind up being a little popular as a cheap option and thus to me he is your fade.  Anytime you can get contrarian with a guy struggling but has talent you take it, and that … is … well, no, we’re not going Manoah – pay up for pitching folks.     OTHER SP NOTES I’m the only person who thinks Alek Manoah is going to still be fine, but that’s still not a good enough feeling to roster him against the Brewers today for me. Don’t fall into the James Paxton trap, anyone who tries to claim he is “back” clearly just turned on MLB for the first time because this has the makings of Paxton leaving in the 2nd inning with 4 ER allowed and some bullshit injury.   REDS / RED SOX Cincy:   India, McCLain, Steer, Senzel Boston:   Verdugo, Devers A million runs in this game tonight.  Warm weather in Fenway with two straight garbage pitchers.  I’ll build everything around this game and expect it to be the obvious chalky spot tonight as well, so be prepared for that.   Also Like: Philadelphia – Harper, Schwarber, Realmuto Arizona – Carroll, Walker Milwaukee – Tellez, Yelich   CATCHER JT Realmuto […]

Big early slate for late May, which is awesome for this time of year to have this. WEATHER Scattered rain/t-storms in Chicago games, but both should play.   TOP ARM Mitch Keller (DK: $10.8k, FD: $11.2k) The time of the game in this series has been everything.  Monday was a mid/late afternoon start and Tuesday was a night game and that’s why the scoring was the way that it was.  So with another day game here, I am obviously facing a little risk but Keller’s been this years Dylan Cease in terms of his breakout performance & I have no qualms about getting more juice out of him while we can.   SP2 OPTIONS Alex Wood (DK: $6800) Not a terrible game stack spot to just lock in on both these guys, take a 40+ combined if we get it right and move on. Dane Dunning (DK: $7500, FD: $8400) If you have ever clicked on someone and just said over and over, my lord this does not feel right – then I have your guy right here.  I refuse to believe Dunning will be this good all season, but the same can be said for the Tigers offense.   OTHER SP NOTES Today is Shane Bieber’s birthday.  How about that!  Happy Birthday Shane, here’s a boring 3 strikeout performance.   RAYS / CUBS Cubbies — Swanson, Happ Rays — Arozarena, Franco Steele is NOT the perfect get right SP for the Rays to face, but I am on the lean that we’re going to see another rough outing from him today.  He was unable to get whiffs in his last start and the Rays are another team that should be aggressive in the zone.  Unfortunately, with a lefty starting this means we probably see 9 righties and then maybe some PH in the game to kill your stack on that side. Meanwhile the Cubs are going to hit 2+ HR off Zach Eflin, so yeah, that’s the team we’re riding first and foremost here. DODGERS JD Martinez, Chris Taylor, Mookie Betts They should and they will end Corbin’s little pitching well streak.  Taylor is the key cheap bat to plug in here to make this fit nice and comfortably. BRAVES / ATHLETICS OAK:  Laureano, Rooker ATL:  Acuna, Olson, Murphy, Riley Do we dare bet the sweep for the Athletics?  You’re damn right we do.  But Atlanta isn’t going down […]

Broken down by pricing tiers, Mark Farris outlines his favorite PGA DFS plays on DraftKings

Almost the perfect sized slate tonight but we are still amiss two games on the Turbo slate, so no ability to use Padres, Marlins, Rangers or Tigers, I know you are all very sad that we miss the Martin Perez vs Alex Faedo game in 88 degree Detroit, Michigan. WEATHER No issues tonight   There aren’t many high priced pitchers with just four over 10k on DraftKings and when you combine that with how many ‘Star’ hitters I think are in great spots vs the SP today you should find yourself pairing two mid-range pitchers on DraftKings and go from there. I will say among the top $ guys (McClanahan, Gallen, Ryan, Gilbert), that Zac Gallen is no doubt the best of the bunch and should have a strong rebound game at home vs Colorado.   TOP ARM Brayan Bello (DK: $7100, FD: $7000) It’s kinda rare that there is a team who can go into Fenway Park one time a year and not consider it a good park shift for the road team,  but such is the case for Cincinnati who has the best jet stream to right field and now has a bad spot for hitting it out to right field. That’s one boost for Bello, the other positive is how well he is pitching overall and his 0 walk performance in Anaheim was huge for him as he went 7 innings on just 98 pitches.  That confidence and a pretty soft Reds lineup outside of Nick Senzel and …. well, Nick Senzel, is enough to just take what should be everyones favorite “SP2” and use him as our SP1 tonight.   SP2 OPTIONS Tony Gonsolin (DK: $8000, FD: $9400) Washington is pesky, not vs a guy like Gonsolin though.  Still a big time discount on his price and while I know we dont like no strikeout guys vs Washington I cannot see him hurting you on a slate where that’s the main focus with pitching. Yusei Kikuchi (DK: $8400, FD: $8500) Ah, my friend Kikuchi.  Yusei the Brewers have some power and I say, yeah but they strike out a TOOOON.  Kikuchi has been back to being horrible of late, so this either goes with him posting that 24 point performance I anticipate or he gives up 4 homers in the first inning and finishes with like -13 before going to the bullpen in a week. Johan […]

Four game Monday Night Slate notes.   WEATHER No issues, all games will play.   TOP ARM Bryce Miller Miller gets the Yanks in Seattle – like Atlanta (below) they had a long west coast trip and in the case of the Yanks will offer a good amount of strikeout upside for their opponent in Mr. Miller today.  He’s the right Miller for my money.   SP2 OPTIONS Michael Soroka & Paul Blackburn Soroka makes his return back to the majors after a long road of injury problems and what a major gift for him getting puny little Oakland tonight.  I’m actually not expecting the Braves offense to give him a ton of run support and wouldn’t be shocked if Paul Blackburn (also making his 2023 debut) pitched well for Oakland against the Braves after their home Sunday night game and then a long trip out west.   Dodgers White Sox   CATCHER Will Smith Yasmani Grandal   FIRST BASE Ty France Jared Walsh   SECOND BASE Mookie Betts Luis Garcia   THIRD BASE Yoan Moncada   SHORTSTOP CJ Abrams Tim Anderson   OUTFIELD – Mt. Rushmore Shohei Ohtani Teoscar Hernandez Jared Kelenic Eloy Jimenez   Shohei Ohtani – OF – Angels – Chairman of The Dongers Club

There are two slates today, the 1PM slate is what I consider the MAIN slate since it has 6 games on it and then a 8PM Evening slate with just 4 games on it. For the travel narrative nerds, the Cardinals and Astros are the only home teams in the 1PM window who was on the road yesterday and had to travel back home – obviously every road team traveled. WEATHER Guardians at Orioles – Light rain, should play without a delay.   TOP ARM Nate Eovaldi (DK: $10.5k, FD: $10.2k) Eovaldi has destroyed bad lineups this season, and even though the Tigers are actually playing decent Baseball, they are still in fact a bad lineup.   SP2 OPTIONS Tyler Wells (DK: $9000, FD: $9700) Steep price here on wells but safer for going 6 innings than Nelson Ryne Nelson (DK: $6700, FD: $6900) Not gonna pay for Gray vs Houston even though he isn’t that tall and well, short pitchers do well vs Houston…   So for a cheap option w roof closed Nelson gets the bad on the road Rockies   DIAMONDBACKS Walker, Gurriel Time for Karl Kauffman to go the journey of that < 2 IP and 5+ ER start.  Arizona’s not gonna strike out at all here and should have the ball in play a ton in their big home stadium.  From a pricing perspective the upside this lineup has offensively today along with their very reasonable prices makes this a heavy stack spot. Lourdes Gurriel and Christian Walker are the key power bats, but once the lineup is posted look at getting heavy exposure to the top of the lineup. ROYALS / CARDINALS Pratto, Witt, Melendez — Gorman, Nootbar This one is my favorite spot to finish with a 9-8 type score.  KC has listed Josh Staumont as the opener going no more than 1 IP in my mind with Mike Mayers being the bulk arm after him.  Cards Lefties and Royals lefties + Witt     CONSIDERED … This is the considered, but just didn’t make the cut list –> RANGERS Good luck paying for a full Texas stack on DraftKings.  Semien/Garcia/Jung are each fantastic one offs. RAYS There will be a day in this series where Tampa hits 10 homers, it shouldn’t be vs Stroman though TWINS JP France continues to be hittable vs RHH, but Correa is still banged up and questionable if […]

Sunday – 8 main slate games to enjoy.  No afternoon article later today, but will cover the full Memorial Day slate of games in a big way on Monday. WEATHER No issues, all games will play. 10+ MPH winds blowing IN at Camden Yards Minnesota has the best hitting weather boost once again, which is just weird   TOP ARM The premier game today in terms of pitching is Darvish (9700) vs Cole (11500) and as you can tell the pricing on both could sway ownership somewhat. Darvish isn’t throwing 100 pitches, Cole will probably throw 110, but Cole needs to throw around 105-110 and get 8 strikeouts against the Padres — something he should do, pending what lineup they decide to roll out today — to justify his usage. San Diego comes in with Tatis and Soto both hitting well, but the key bat here is Bogaerts and if he sits again then Cole is all clear in my mind. So the answer here is Gerrit Cole, but by a very slim margin over just taking two mid range arms, which to me is not going to kill you so long as we get some offense today.   SP2 OPTIONS Alex Cobb (DK $8000, FD: $9300) Cobb is going to be 10%+ or more owned today, he has to be.  So he’s really not a sleeper candidate and he has a primary pitch that should murder Milwaukee with his splitter.  The Brewers offense usually does well on Sunday’s at home for whatever reason, however their ISO in this split is just .111, they have a 25% strikeout rate over the last 10 days and Cobb delivered with a 31.8 FPTS performance against them on May 6th in San Francisco. In case you are wondering how teams do facing a SP the second time in a season, the data overall shows about a 5% drop for the pitcher at most, so its there, but not significant and a 25 point performance today will do just fine. Drew Smyly (DK: $7900, FD: $8700) This should be the safe/easy one — always famous last words when it comes to fantasy sports.  Wind blowing in at Wrigley and while the Reds jumped on Justin Steele on Friday, I still would be fine attacking them with a LHP. The Reds do hit sinkers well, which they should see a lot of, but Smyly’s allowing RHH […]

Overview The longest race of the season, 600 miles on the 1.5-mile asphalt of Charlotte Motor Speedway will fire off tomorrow evening in what is a Memorial Day weekend tradition. Last year was kinda scattered as far as where dominance came from as Ross Chastain started 22nd, led a race-high 153 laps then finished 15th. […]