Top Tier
Bo Bichette, SS, TOR – He has been on base in six straight and has stolen three bases in the last five games. His ability to score fantasy points on the basepaths as well as with his bat always makes him an attractive DFS option. He is hitting 23 points higher at home than on the road, although I am not sure what “home” means to Toronto lately. The good part is he is facing Baltimore pitching, especially Keegan Akin. The Baltimore southpaw has allowed 16 earned runs in his last three starts that spanned just 13.2 innings. Bichette is crushing lefties with a .339 batting average and .986 OPS. This game has one of the highest run totals on the board in Vegas and I expect Bichette to be in the middle of that.
Whit Merrifield, 2B/OF, KC – He is sitting on a 12-game hitting streak that includes six multi-hit games. He is making some noise when he is making contact with four doubles, a triple, and two home runs during this hot streak. Like Bichette, he can also help you on the basepaths as he has 21 stolen bases on the season including four in the last week. Kyle Gibson is still having a great season for the Rangers, but I just flat reject the notion that he is going to keep this up all season and Whit does have ten hits against him in his career. Merrifield has hit .326 in Texas for his career, and I look for him to continue to ride the wave he is on.
Shohei Ohtani, 1B/OF, LAA – He is just playing on another plain right now from everyone else! Ohtani is just absolutely crushing the baseball right now. His home run last night was his 24th of the season, his ninth this month, and his fifth in the last six days. His hard-hit rate of 45.3% and his .419 wOBA means the baseball is afraid when it is pitched to Ohtani because he is going to mash it. He will face Shane McClanahan who has a 4.03 ERA and has given up five home runs in his last four starts that only spanned 17.1 innings combined. Ohtani does hit righties slightly better than left-handers, but he still has eight of his 24 home runs against left-handed pitching despite over 100 fewer at-bats against them.
Mid-Tier
Kyle Schwarber, OF, WSH – Seriously how can you not use this guy right now? He has eight home runs in the last six games to go with 16 RBI and four multi-hit efforts. This is one of the hottest hot streaks in the history of hot streaks! He will face Zach Thompson of the Marlins who has been solid in his three starts so far, but he was mostly a reliever in the Minors, and did not have this kind of success down on the farm. Almost all of Schwarber’s home runs have come against right-handed pitching and he is hitting 45 points higher against righties. You just can’t ignore him right now.
Teoscar Hernandez, OF, TOR – He missed a few days on the Paternity List, but Hernandez has been smacking the ball around since. Outside of yesterday’s hitless game he had six hits in the previous four games with a double in each contest. He’s mashing lefties this season with a .370 average and four homers in just 50 at-bats leading to a 1.161 OPS. He is facing Keegan Akin who we already took shots at above, and who Hernandez has a double against in the two times he has faced them. The Jays are going to put up a lot of offense today and the Bichette/Hernandez combo should give you a great return.
Value Tier
Ryan Mountcastle, OF, BAL – He has five multi-hit games in the last ten including four home runs. OK, three were in the same game, but Mountcastle is making solid contact right now. He has really enjoyed playing at Toronto’s temporary home of Sahlen Field, hitting .371 there with two homers in nine games. He will face a guy who can be tough in Hyun-Jin Ryu, but the Jays ace has allowed 12 homers in 14 games, including six in his last four starts, so he can be hit hard. Mountcastle does have two hits in six at-bats against him, but in general hits really well against lefties with a .320 average this year.
Michael Conforto, OF, NYM – He is only a few days back from the Injured List and I love to get stars at discounted prices shortly after coming back to the field. Conforto did have two hits in his first game back and is one of the best hitters on the Mets. New York will face Philadelphia today with Zach Eflin on the mound who was punished for six earned runs and four long balls the last time he took the mound. He has a 4.39 ERA on the season and often is just not sharp. Conforto hit .352 against right-handed pitching last season and has ten hits in 29 career at-bats against Eflin, including two doubles, three home runs, and two stolen bases. Soak up the injury discount on a guy who we know has a big bat.
Miguel Rojas, SS, MIA – He had a big night last night with two hits including a home run and four RBI and it sure looks like another good night for Rojas. He will face Patrick Corbin who has been pretty good his last two times out, but he is about as reliable as a paper towel to clean up after a hurricane. His ERA on the season is not good at 5.40 and he is among the league’s most victimized pitchers with 14 home runs allowed. Not only does Rojas hit every lefty well with a .356 average and 1.000 OPS (.220/.638 against right-handers), but he personally drives Corbin crazy. In 26 career at-bats, Rojas has hit .423 against him with a double, two home runs, and four RBI. He might not quite repeat last night’s performance, but Rojas looks like a good bet to return value on Saturday.