Welcome to another edition of Ben’s Building Blocks! In this article, I will outline the players I’m looking to build my main lineup around for today’s slate. If you want access to my core plays for every main slate, as well as one of the best discord communities in the industry, click here.
Pitchers
Luis Castillo- Castillo is coming off a “bad” start against the Detroit Tigers, and my hope is that it keeps his ownership down tonight. During that bad start, he was victimized by a .400+ BABIP. He had extreme bad luck with balls in play, the strikeouts and ground balls were still there. This matchup with the Cleveland Indians is just as good on paper, but most people won’t realize that. This offense has been ice cold to start 2020. Through the first few weeks, Cleveland ranks dead last in wRC+ as a team with over 25% strikeouts. They also struggle mightily as a team against off-speed pitches, which plays to Castillo’s strength. He has one of the best changeups in the MLB, generating over 45% whiffs with the pitch. I’m expecting a big bounce-back performance tonight, and he is my favorite option in all formats.
Tyler Chatwood- Chatwood has had one of the best starts to 2020 generating over 17% swings and misses with a massive 40% strikeout rate. This is not the Tyler Chatwood of years past, and it has shown in the box score and through watching him pitch. A lot guys have come into the season throwing less and less fastballs, while Chatwood has tossed his completely out of his pitch mix. He’s throwing way more sinkers, and debuted his new cutter that I’m assuming he learned from Pitching Ninja last season. Did he actually? I’m not sure, but in my head, that’s where he learned it. Regardless, this cutter is generating 44% whiffs and has been his go-to pitch to get a strike out. I’ve attacked this Royals team a ton recently, and with limited options on this slate I will be doing so again. He’s my top graded option on FanDuel.
Nate Pearson- If you want to get weird on a smaller slate, I would be doing so with one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. Pearson has electric stuff that he debuted last week striking out five across five scoreless innings. This Braves lineup is solid, but he gets the luxury of missing Ozzie Albies. He averaged 96 mph on his fastball in his first start, while running up to 100. This can be tough for guys that have never seen Pearson before, and he couples the heat with a really good slider. I don’t expect much ownership here due to the Vegas total, so it’s a worthwhile look in GPPs.
Building Blocks
Kyle Schwarber- The Cubs are expected to be the highest-owned stack tonight against Brad Keller. While it is a small slate, I think they end up getting too much attention and I will be opting for a team like the White Sox in tournaments. Regardless, in cash games you will want exposure and that will come with Kyle Schwarber for me. Keller is a good real-life pitcher able to rack up a ton of ground ball outs. Schwarber has massive pop against righties and his 41% fly ball rate since the start of 2019 can help counteract those grounders.
Aaron Hicks- The Yankees will dominate attention on DK where they’re included on the main slate. Zach Eflin struggles mightily with left-handed batters allowing over a .350 wOBA and a .243 ISO. Hicks has some of the strongest numbers on the team against right-handed pitching, and he hits sliders extremely well which is key against Eflin. You can also add Mike Tauchman as a core option leading off.
Yoan Moncada- Like I said above, I am planning on being well overweight to the White Sox tonight starting with Moncada. We have no idea what Josh Linblom actually is, and he doesn’t project to be anything other than a mid-rotation arm. Moncada has feasted on right-handed pitching throughout his career, and Linblom is a soft-tossing one that relies primarily on his fastball. Moncada, Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert is my favorite stack on all sites.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
