Pitchers
Cash Games
Max Scherzer- I don’t think I need to dive into the deep analytics of Max Scherzer, he is an elite play on any slate he is pitching and has a promising matchup with the San Diego Padres. He simply got BABIP’d to death in his last start, so I’m not worried about him at all and he still managed nine strikeouts in that outing. He’s a good bit more expensive than Paxton on FanDuel, but he is my top play in all formats should we get the all clear on the weather in Washington.
James Paxton- Paxton has a strong matchup as well tonight against the San Francisco Giants in pitcher-friendly San Francisco, and he’s coming off a monster 12 strikeout, 0 earned run performance against the Kansas City Royals. The Giants don’t strike out as much as the Padres, but they also aren’t an intimidating offense whatsoever. I slightly lean Max, but I have no issues with Paxton in cash games and I’ve even toyed with pairing the two together in optimal builds.
Hyun-Jin Ryu- If you aren’t trying to deploy the double-ace build tonight, Ryu is my favorite arm in the second tier in a matchup with the Pirates. The Pirates have a reputation as a low strikeout offense, but they’ve actually struck out the second-most in the MLB so far this season against southpaws — 30.0% of the time. Ryu has been as good as ever so far this season posting a 2.95 SIERA along with 29.0% strikeouts, and I love him in all formats at his price.
Martin Perez- Perez has completely changed who he is as a pitcher this season. This once upon a time gas can has added nearly two MPH to his fast ball, and has a new cutter that he’s throwing over 25.0% of the time. Many haven’t come around to the fact that he isn’t what he once was, and we can take advantage of that fact in a matchup with the Baltimore Orioles. He makes sense as a cash game SP2 if you want some savings to get bats, and at his expected ownership I can get behind him in GPPs as well.
Tournament Pool: Carlos Rodon, Madison Bumgarner
Building Blocks
Matt Carpenter- I really do not go into the slate thinking I’m going to wrote up Matt Carpenter every day, but the sites just keep refusing to price him up. He was my home run call on the stream today, and it would make sense against Anthony Desclafani who is giving up over 45.0% fly balls this season (39% hard contact). Carp still sits at 52.0% fly balls and 40.0% hard hits this season, and I will continue to take the savings while they are there.
Rowdy Tellez- Bales boy is going to end up being one of my highest-owned players tonight against Mike Fiers. Fiers has allowed home runs at one of the highest rates in the MLB over the past few seasons, and he does so while allowing over 40.0% fly balls and 39.0% hard hits to both sides of the plate. There is no shortage of power for Tellez, whose monster .340 ISO against righties sticks out above the field on this slate.
Curtis Granderson- This might seem like an odd building block, but Grandy is another guy that’s been seeing the ball extremely well to start the season. He sits a 41.0% hard contact and 52.0% fly balls to kick off 2019, and provides major savings on a slate where we are prioritizing high-end pitching.
Stacks
For today’s top stacks — see my Final Thoughts Cheat Sheet!
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
