What’s up Karma Nation! I was going to do Final Thoughts for this slate, but the more I look into it the more I think it’s a very direct slate in how I want to play it…so, I’m going to highlight my favorite plays and potential pivots off of them. Let’s get it!
Pitchers
Jack Flaherty- Flaherty is the top overall pitcher for me today in his matchup with the Cincinnati Reds. He has been absolutely lights out over the second half of the season posting a 3.03 SIERA with 35% strikeouts over the last 30 days. He has been dominant against right-handed batters this season allowing a .268 wOBA with 34% strikeouts, and the good news is that he will see seven of them today. This Reds lineup sports a combined 26% strikeout rate, and it’s easy to see the upside here for both cash games and tournaments.
Pivot: Matt Boyd- The top-tier pivot for me comes in the form of Matt Boyd, someone I have played a ton this season. He allows a lot of homeruns, we know this, but his strikeout ability combined with elite control lowers the concern for me and I will definitely want some exposure here if he is going to be low owned. He has as good if not better strikeout stuff than Flaherty, and the Rays strike out at a top-three rate in the MLB to left-handed pitchers.
Thomas Pannone- Pannone will work as the long man for the Blue Jays today against a Mariners lineup that projects to strike out 28% of the time against left-handed pitching. There is a lot of high-priced offense on this slate, which makes $4,600 on DraftKings an attractive price point even in cash game builds.
Pivot: Yusei Kikuchi- Kikuchi is more expensive than Pannone, but but he also has a positive matchup with the Blue Jays, whose offense takes a hit with Vlad Jr sitting out today. If you take out his few starts against the Angels this season, his overall numbers aren’t quite as bad as you think, though I still prefer Pannone if choosing one of them.
Tournaments Only: Trevor Richards- Richards has arguably the best matchup of the non-Flaherty pitchers against the Tigers, the problem is we have no idea how long he will actually pitch. I can’t trust him in cash games, but if you’re building more than one team I would be fine getting some exposure to him in tournaments given how much the Tigers strike out.
Stacks
Boston Red Sox- Similar to the Rockies yesterday, the Red Sox are going to absolutely dominate the ownership today against Ty Blach. He’s backed up by an equally horrible bullpen, and my main team will be a top of the order (1,2,3,4,6) stack today.
Pivots: Padres/Brewers- If looking to pivot off of the Chalk Sox, look no further than the Padres against Jason Vargas or the Brewers against Erick Fedde. The top five Brewers in their lineup all own an ISO above .250 against right-handed pitching, making them the better spot for a full stack with Machado and Hunter Renfroe sticking out as the top Padres options.
GPP Stack: Nationals- On the opposite side of the Brewers, we have the Nationals against Chase Anderson. Anderson has been reverse-splits again this season allowing a .224 ISO to right-handed pitching, making my top stack here — Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner, Juan Soto, Matt Adams, Victor Robles.
Cash Game Building Blocks: Hunter Renfroe, Paul Goldschmidt, JD Martinez, Mike Moustakas
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
