Top-Stack Options
Cubs
The line for this game hasn’t officially come out as of this writing but expecting it to be another high one today. Expect the temp to reach a heat index of roughly 100 at Wrigley, making it a hot and humid day for the Cubs fan to watch their team take it to Bailey this afternoon, and likely a main reason why he checks in as a low-priced pitcher. He gave up six earned over 4.2 innings in his lone start vs the Cubs this year and has allowed at least five earned in five out of his last ten starts. As mentioned in the hitting coach, Anthony Rizzo is 10-25, with two homers off of him, and Daniel Murphy is 6-10, with two homers off Bailey. Those two would be locks in a stack, but slightly wide open after that until lineups come out. Javier Báez has gone deep in three out of his last four games, and batting .400 over 14 games vs the Reds. He’s 0-7 lifetime off Bailey, but that should end today. David Bote is a fan favorite if in the lineup, but you may want to use that last spot on an outfield option like Kyle Schwarber or Ian Happ .
Phillies with a sprinkling of Blue Jays
The Blue Jays are going for the sweep vs Philly today with Estrada taking the mound. He’s faced four hitters from the current Phillies roster, and three of those hitters have taken him deep. Asdrubal Cabrera is 2-9, with both hits going for homers, while Carlos Santana is 6-14, with two homers off Estrada as well. Wilson Ramos is 4-10, with a homer, and all of those players are priced under $3K on FD, which opens up salary to pay up for the Phillies treu homer threat in Rhys Hoskins or stick to a cheap option like César Hernández in order to pair Philly up with a top priced stack team. On the Blue Jays side, Velasquez hasn’t been pitching deep lately, and Toronto has a decent implied run total at around 4.5 runs. As mentioned in the hitting coach, Kendrys Morales is on fire with seven homers over his last six games, while the cheap Bill McKinney has three homers and nine rbi’s over his first seven games since being called-up.
Coors Field (DK only)
This series at Coors between the Cards and Rockies has been a tough one to target due to the recent play from both teams. Last night was the first time the Cards have lost by more than one run in August, and it was one of just a handful of losses for them this month. They’re 5-0 when their rookie Gomber starts, but Vegas has the Rockies with a high implied run total once again. Nolan Arenado would be the top play from the Rockies side vs a lefty, and Matt Holliday has the revenge factor going for him, and had his big pinch-hit homer yesterday vs them. The rest of their team also all have high price tags, which is always a tough thing when looking at Coors. The Cards aren’t cheap on the other side as underdogs either. While Gomber hasn’t lost, the Rockies are 0-6 in Anderson’s last six starts, with him going 0-3, with a 6.88 era over that span. That includes 10 homers over those 34 innings, so possibly targeting the underdog Cards may be the best route outside of Nolan today on DK.
Possible Low-Owned Stacks
White Sox
While I wouldn’t mind targeting some Detroit bats if thinking Kopech still has his poor taste tweets from high school stuck in his head, I’d rather look at the White Sox vs a pitcher that has proven to struggle vs the Sox in Zimmerman. He’s 0-1, with a 9.42 era over three starts vs them this year and has an overall 6.14 era over 11 career starts vs them. Matt Davidson is 6-12, with two homers, while Avisail García is 7-17, with a homer. Yolmer Sánchez has led off every now and then and is 6-12 off Zimmerman as well. Similar to the Phillies, the White Sox have plenty of cheap bats in order to pair them up with a high-priced stack from Coors or elsewhere.
Attacking the tired bullpens with the Pirates vs Brewers
These teams have played a long series, and both bullpens may be stretched out one final time today. The Brewers have likely the more tired arms, and their bullpen allowed eight more runs last night, as the Pirates have scored 15 runs over the last two games after scoring on 18 in their previous 11 games. Anderson takes the mound for the Brewers today, and is 0-2, with a 5.91 era in two starts vs them this year. He’s allowed seven homers over his last four starts and would start by targeting the OF options in this game, with Starling Marte , who is 12-25, with two homers off of him, and Polanco, who is just 6-30, but four of those hits went for homers. Adam Frazier is a cheap bat with some upside as well. On the Brewers side, Archer takes the mound, but hasn’t been a stud for the Pirates, and left his last start early with some leg issues. Jonathan Schoop is 13-34, with six homers off of him, and Lorenzo Cain is 7-13, with a homer. If these teams put up runs early, we could see a long game of plenty of opportunities to light up the scoreboard.