We’ve got a nice full slate, though the early start for the Tigers/Indians games has limited the availability of Josh Tomlin and Justin Verlander. We also have some “new” faces in Alex Meyer and Eddie Butler, neither of whom are available on Fantasy Aces today. Still, plenty of options from which to choose, so let’s just get going here.
| vs L | vs R | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | Team | Hand | H/A | Opp | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | AVG | SwStr% | ERA | xFIP | WHIP | BABIP | GB% | FB% | GB/FB | wOBA | wOBA | FD | DK | Aces |
| Jake Arrieta | CHC | R | A | PIT | 36.0 | 8.00 | 2.50 | 0.50 | 0.151 | 11.0% | 1.00 | 3.06 | 0.78 | 0.188 | 55.8% | 25.6% | 2.18 | 0.319 | 0.141 | $12,100 | $12,100 | $7,750 |
| Sonny Gray | OAK | R | H | SEA | 28.1 | 8.26 | 4.76 | 0.95 | 0.229 | 8.3% | 3.81 | 4.00 | 1.38 | 0.276 | 60.8% | 25.3% | 2.40 | 0.219 | 0.388 | $9,700 | $9,300 | $6,650 |
| Matt Harvey | NYM | R | H | ATL | 28.1 | 6.67 | 2.86 | 0.64 | 0.298 | 9.9% | 4.76 | 4.10 | 1.52 | 0.352 | 43.8% | 30.3% | 1.44 | 0.342 | 0.321 | $9,500 | $10,300 | $7,000 |
| Jeff Samardzija | SF | R | A | CIN | 32.2 | 7.16 | 2.76 | 0.83 | 0.250 | 8.9% | 3.86 | 3.75 | 1.26 | 0.295 | 48.0% | 29.6% | 1.62 | 0.359 | 0.249 | $8,700 | $8,200 | $6,500 |
| Michael Wacha | STL | R | H | PHI | 29.1 | 7.36 | 2.76 | 0.61 | 0.268 | 7.7% | 3.07 | 3.70 | 1.33 | 0.326 | 44.8% | 27.6% | 1.63 | 0.278 | 0.332 | $8,700 | $9,000 | $6,000 |
| Jose Quintana | CHW | L | H | BOS | 30.2 | 9.39 | 2.35 | 0.00 | 0.230 | 9.5% | 1.47 | 3.21 | 1.11 | 0.321 | 38.3% | 35.8% | 1.07 | 0.161 | 0.295 | $8,600 | $8,100 | $6,250 |
| Steven Wright | BOS | R | A | CHW | 26.1 | 8.54 | 3.76 | 0.34 | 0.196 | 11.8% | 1.37 | 4.21 | 1.14 | 0.254 | 42.3% | 35.2% | 1.20 | 0.283 | 0.246 | $8,500 | $7,100 | $5,150 |
| Tanner Roark | WAS | R | A | KC | 31.0 | 8.71 | 3.77 | 0.29 | 0.211 | 8.5% | 2.03 | 3.52 | 1.19 | 0.277 | 51.3% | 26.3% | 1.95 | 0.211 | 0.318 | $8,400 | $6,900 | $6,400 |
| Josh Tomlin | CLE | R | H | DET | 17.0 | 5.82 | 1.06 | 1.06 | 0.215 | 8.0% | 3.18 | 4.10 | 0.94 | 0.231 | 41.5% | 41.5% | 1.00 | 0.317 | 0.242 | $8,200 | N/A | N/A |
| Aaron Nola | PHI | R | A | STL | 33.0 | 10.09 | 1.64 | 0.82 | 0.190 | 11.1% | 3.55 | 2.62 | 0.88 | 0.247 | 46.3% | 32.9% | 1.41 | 0.208 | 0.259 | $8,200 | $8,500 | $6,350 |
| Justin Verlander | DET | R | A | CLE | 29.2 | 9.40 | 3.03 | 1.82 | 0.254 | 9.7% | 5.46 | 4.10 | 1.31 | 0.299 | 32.9% | 50.0% | 0.66 | 0.263 | 0.428 | $8,100 | N/A | N/A |
| Marco Estrada | TOR | R | H | TEX | 24.2 | 9.12 | 4.01 | 0.36 | 0.239 | 8.6% | 2.92 | 4.30 | 1.34 | 0.318 | 36.4% | 47.0% | 0.77 | 0.325 | 0.277 | $8,100 | $6,500 | $6,050 |
| Scott Kazmir | LAD | L | A | TB | 25.0 | 7.56 | 2.52 | 1.80 | 0.277 | 8.7% | 5.76 | 4.18 | 1.40 | 0.307 | 44.3% | 35.4% | 1.25 | 0.288 | 0.371 | $8,000 | $8,800 | $5,900 |
| Hisashi Iwakuma | SEA | R | A | OAK | 31.0 | 7.26 | 2.61 | 1.16 | 0.285 | 7.9% | 4.65 | 4.34 | 1.42 | 0.330 | 42.9% | 35.7% | 1.20 | 0.331 | 0.370 | $8,000 | $7,900 | $6,550 |
| Collin McHugh | HOU | R | H | MIN | 21.2 | 7.06 | 2.08 | 0.83 | 0.360 | 7.8% | 6.65 | 4.59 | 1.89 | 0.420 | 35.4% | 41.5% | 0.85 | 0.463 | 0.356 | $7,700 | $8,300 | $6,200 |
| Matt Moore | TB | L | H | LAD | 32.0 | 9.84 | 1.97 | 1.13 | 0.217 | 11.7% | 3.66 | 3.11 | 1.03 | 0.272 | 41.2% | 34.1% | 1.21 | 0.351 | 0.252 | $7,600 | $8,600 | $5,950 |
| Chris Tillman | BAL | R | H | NYY | 25.0 | 8.64 | 2.88 | 0.36 | 0.211 | 11.8% | 3.24 | 4.06 | 1.08 | 0.277 | 36.4% | 45.5% | 0.80 | 0.301 | 0.254 | $7,400 | $6,200 | $6,000 |
| Luis Severino | NYY | R | A | BAL | 19.2 | 5.49 | 1.37 | 0.92 | 0.372 | 7.8% | 6.86 | 3.16 | 1.78 | 0.417 | 52.7% | 14.9% | 3.55 | 0.294 | 0.496 | $7,100 | $6,800 | $6,150 |
| Patrick Corbin | ARI | L | A | MIA | 31.1 | 5.46 | 2.87 | 2.01 | 0.276 | 7.7% | 4.88 | 4.42 | 1.40 | 0.278 | 52.5% | 32.7% | 1.61 | 0.281 | 0.381 | $6,900 | $7,400 | $5,950 |
| Martin Perez | TEX | L | A | TOR | 30.0 | 4.20 | 4.50 | 0.90 | 0.245 | 8.3% | 4.20 | 4.95 | 1.37 | 0.258 | 52.8% | 24.7% | 2.14 | 0.230 | 0.365 | $6,800 | $6,400 | $5,400 |
| Justin Nicolino | MIA | L | H | ARI | 7.1 | 2.45 | 2.45 | 0.00 | 0.087 | 4.0% | 0.00 | 4.38 | 0.55 | 0.095 | 60.0% | 25.0% | 2.40 | 0.197 | 0.093 | $6,700 | $5,000 | $5,400 |
| Andrew Cashner | SD | R | H | COL | 23.2 | 7.99 | 3.80 | 0.76 | 0.253 | 5.4% | 4.94 | 4.43 | 1.44 | 0.306 | 42.5% | 34.2% | 1.24 | 0.244 | 0.451 | $6,700 | $6,700 | $5,900 |
| Nick Tropeano | LAA | R | A | MIL | 21.1 | 8.44 | 4.22 | 0.42 | 0.274 | 13.0% | 2.11 | 4.96 | 1.55 | 0.349 | 25.8% | 53.2% | 0.48 | 0.391 | 0.236 | $6,400 | $5,600 | $6,000 |
| Jon Niese | PIT | L | H | CHC | 28.1 | 6.99 | 2.86 | 2.22 | 0.287 | 6.3% | 5.08 | 4.30 | 1.48 | 0.302 | 48.4% | 35.2% | 1.38 | 0.368 | 0.400 | $6,000 | $5,800 | $6,050 |
| Alex Meyer | MIN | R | A | HOU | 1.0 | 9.00 | 9.00 | 0.00 | 0.625 | 6.9% | 18.00 | 4.07 | 6.00 | 0.714 | 57.1% | 0.0% | 4.00 | 1.073 | 0.478 | $5,800 | $4,600 | N/A |
| Eddie Butler | COL | R | A | SD | 2.1 | 15.43 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.222 | 9.8% | 3.86 | -0.36 | 0.86 | 0.400 | 60.0% | 0.0% | 3.00 | 0.000 | 0.358 | $5,700 | $5,300 | N/A |
| Matt Wisler | ATL | R | A | NYM | 25.1 | 6.75 | 2.49 | 1.42 | 0.208 | 7.4% | 4.26 | 4.80 | 1.07 | 0.219 | 43.4% | 47.4% | 0.92 | 0.361 | 0.207 | $5,700 | $6,600 | $5,500 |
| Jon Moscot | CIN | R | H | SF | 15.2 | 3.45 | 5.17 | 2.30 | 0.206 | 4.9% | 4.02 | 5.78 | 1.40 | 0.170 | 36.5% | 30.8% | 1.19 | 0.375 | 0.298 | $5,700 | $4,800 | $5,350 |
| Chris Young | KC | R | H | WAS | 25.0 | 9.36 | 3.60 | 2.16 | 0.265 | 11.0% | 6.12 | 4.39 | 1.48 | 0.300 | 32.4% | 48.6% | 0.67 | 0.410 | 0.312 | $5,500 | $5,900 | $5,500 |
| Junior Guerra | MIL | R | H | LAA | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | $5,400 | $4,400 | $5,450 |
Investing Heavily
So all me to start off by saying that I am not paying up for Jake Arrieta today. I know there are some pitchers whose talent transcends the numbers we have, but the fact that the Pirates have been crushing right-handed pitching all year and are actually swinging some of the hottest bats over the last seven days, I have reservations for paying such a high price. Even if he’s facing Jon Niese and should be locked into a win. I would just feel more comfortable paying less for a starter and build up with some better bats. But that’s me. You can obviously do what you want. It’s your money.
Matt Harvey, NYM – Whether you’re looking at numbers versus righties, numbers on the road or numbers over the last seven days, all things Atlanta rank in the bottom three of the league. Sometimes even dead last. If that’s not enough for you, just look at what Chubbs Colon did to them yesterday.
Moderately Priced
Michael Wacha, STL – The Phillies continue to struggle and continue to pile up the strikeouts as evidenced by their 24.1-percent K-rate against righties this season. Their .261 wOBA and 55 wRC+ also rank dead last in the majors.
Jose Quintana, CHW – The Red Sox have been one of the hottest-hitting teams over the last week, but maybe that’s because they were busy thumping the suspect pitching of the Yankees. I’m lookin gat their 25.4-percent strikeout rate and .269 wOBA against southpaws this season and giving a real lean towards using Q for both cash and GPP play.
Jeff Samardzija, SF – Well, the numbers all say that Shark is a solid play today, however, that’s what we thought about Johnny Cueto yesterday as well. I’m willing to give Samardzija a try in a GPP, but I’ll probably pivot away from him in cash games.
Middle Class
Hisashi Iwakuma, SEA – He’s had two bad starts this season, his last time out against Houston and back in mid-April when the Yankees were actually hitting. He’s got the A’s now who, over the last week, have a .299 wOBA with a 21.2-percent strikeout rate. The K-rate is a little higher than usual which should help Iwakuma out nicely.
Matt Moore, TB – He’s on a bit of a losing streak lately, but the command, something he’s always had issues with, is still there and looking good. Expect him to be pretty chalky tonight against a Dodgers team that’s been below-average against southpaws all year and has now posted a league-worst .233 wOBA over the last seven days. A 22-percent strikeout rate isn’t helping them either.
Chris Tillman, BAL – If you’re a Yankee-hater and want to continue picking on them and their .256 wOBA over the last seven days, then perhaps Tillman is your man. He’s thrown back-to-back quality starts and actually has a 3.34 ERA over his last nine starts against New York. Camden Yards may play as a hitter-friendly environment, but the Yanks have a .272 wOBA on the road this season and that’s after a three game set in both Arlington and Fenway. You’ve got some risk here, but he could be a nice GPP play.
Bargain Basement
Chris Young, KC – You can throw a dart at Eddie Butler or Junior Guerra if you like as the numbers say the match-ups favor the pitchers, but for me, I’ll throw a dart at Young who is at least an experienced hurler who has had his share of success even against good teams. The obvious concern is Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy, the power-hitting lefties in the order, but overall, the Nats have a .291 wOBA against right-handers this season and have now posted a .260 wOBA with a 22.7-percent strikeout rate over the last seven days.