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Another Wednesday, another split slate. It’s actually not so bad as the night slate has a lot more action and a lot more pitching options you would consider using. The early slate is only five games with very limited options, in my opinion. I split them up for you here to make it easier to pick your games.
Early
| vs L | vs R | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Tm | Hand | H/A | Opp | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | BAA | SwStr% | ERA | xFIP | WHIP | GB% | FB% | GB/FB | wOBA | wOBA | $FD | $DK | $Aces |
| J.A. Happ | TOR | L | A | NYY | 143.0 | 7.80 | 2.71 | 0.94 | .229 | 10.7% | 2.96 | 3.93 | 1.14 | 45.7% | 33.1% | 1.38 | 0.301 | 0.290 | $9700 | $10900 | $7750 |
| Chris Archer | TB | R | H | SD | 149.2 | 10.65 | 3.31 | 1.38 | .246 | 13.1% | 4.39 | 3.36 | 1.31 | 47.1% | 30.3% | 1.56 | 0.312 | 0.327 | $9400 | $10600 | $7700 |
| Stephen Strasburg | WSH | R | A | COL | 143.2 | 11.03 | 2.51 | 0.94 | .207 | 12.5% | 3.07 | 2.97 | 1.04 | 43.0% | 36.5% | 1.18 | 0.257 | 0.278 | $9200 | $9400 | $7450 |
| Carlos Martinez | STL | R | A | HOU | 137.1 | 7.34 | 3.28 | 0.72 | .232 | 10.2% | 3.34 | 4.00 | 1.22 | 58.2% | 23.2% | 2.51 | 0.333 | 0.235 | $8500 | $8100 | $6650 |
| Doug Fister | HOU | R | H | STL | 142.0 | 5.83 | 2.98 | 1.08 | .251 | 6.3% | 3.61 | 4.61 | 1.29 | 47.3% | 33.6% | 1.41 | 0.369 | 0.253 | $7500 | $7500 | $6800 |
| Jon Gray | COL | R | H | WSH | 122.2 | 9.47 | 2.93 | 1.10 | .239 | 12.6% | 4.55 | 3.73 | 1.23 | 47.1% | 31.3% | 1.50 | 0.309 | 0.315 | $7000 | $5700 | $6100 |
| CC Sabathia | NYY | L | H | TOR | 124.1 | 7.09 | 3.55 | 1.01 | .255 | 10.2% | 4.20 | 4.46 | 1.38 | 51.3% | 32.6% | 1.57 | 0.316 | 0.321 | $6900 | $7000 | $5900 |
| Ivan Nova | PIT | R | A | SF | 109.2 | 6.94 | 1.97 | 1.72 | .276 | 10.0% | 4.90 | 4.06 | 2.57 | 52.8% | 26.7% | 1.98 | 0.361 | 0.351 | $6900 | $6300 | $6500 |
| Matt Cain | SF | R | H | PIT | 79.0 | 7.07 | 3.08 | 1.71 | .308 | 9.6% | 5.47 | 4.79 | 1.57 | 41.0% | 34.8% | 1.18 | 0.400 | 0.366 | $6600 | $5500 | $5950 |
| Christian Friedrich | SD | L | A | TB | 87.1 | 6.70 | 3.50 | 0.93 | .275 | 9.0% | 4.84 | 4.66 | 1.49 | 48.0% | 32.3% | 1.49 | 0.326 | 0.328 | $5900 | $5800 | $5800 |
J.A. Happ, TOR – He’s made three starts against the Yankees this season and has a 1.42 ERA and has limited them to a .206 batting average. While the Yankees have been producing runs over the past week, they still rank just 25th against left-handed pitching with a .306 wOBA and just a .132 ISO.
Chris Archer, TB – The Padres are at an absolute low right now with a .226 wOBA and 28.5-percent strikeout rate over the past week. That’s more than enough for me.
Doug Fister, HOU – A little on the fence here but trying to give you a decent mid-tier option for the early slate. Fister has been running hot and cold lately, but then again, so have the Cardinals bats. They’re coming off three straight wins, but they averaged just three runs per game over the four starts before that. I’m going to look at their 27.7-percent strikeout rate over this past week and hope Fister can minimize any real damage.
Late
| vs L | vs R | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Player | Tm | Hand | H/A | Opp | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | BAA | SwStr% | ERA | xFIP | WHIP | GB% | FB% | GB/FB | wOBA | wOBA | $FD | $DK | $Aces |
| Jon Lester | CHI | L | H | MIL | 141.1 | 8.85 | 2.48 | 1.21 | .222 | 11.2% | 2.93 | 3.46 | 1.09 | 48.8% | 30.7% | 1.59 | 0.270 | 0.289 | $10800 | $11200 | $7800 |
| Yu Darvish | TEX | R | H | OAK | 52.0 | 11.59 | 2.25 | 1.21 | .211 | 13.9% | 2.77 | 2.84 | 1.04 | 41.4% | 36.7% | 1.13 | 0.268 | 0.289 | $10200 | $11400 | $8150 |
| David Price | BOS | L | A | BAL | 163.2 | 9.18 | 1.98 | 1.10 | .272 | 12.8% | 4.29 | 3.41 | 1.28 | 48.4% | 28.6% | 1.69 | 0.315 | 0.326 | $10100 | $8600 | $7250 |
| Carlos Carrasco | CLE | R | H | CWS | 109.1 | 8.56 | 2.39 | 1.40 | .223 | 12.6% | 3.21 | 3.55 | 1.10 | 49.8% | 31.6% | 1.58 | 0.332 | 0.276 | $9800 | $8700 | $7200 |
| Scott Kazmir | LA | L | A | PHI | 127.2 | 9.31 | 3.03 | 1.41 | .240 | 11.0% | 4.44 | 3.89 | 1.28 | 43.4% | 33.9% | 1.28 | 0.267 | 0.339 | $9000 | $7600 | $7000 |
| Yordano Ventura | KC | R | A | DET | 133.0 | 6.83 | 3.72 | 1.29 | .244 | 9.4% | 4.60 | 4.49 | 1.35 | 50.9% | 30.3% | 1.68 | 0.315 | 0.321 | $8200 | $7800 | $6500 |
| Homer Bailey | CIN | R | H | MIA | 14.2 | 12.89 | 3.07 | 0.00 | .268 | 11.2% | 4.30 | 2.66 | 1.36 | 58.8% | 17.6% | 3.33 | 0.353 | 0.265 | $7700 | $8900 | $6750 |
| Dylan Bundy | BAL | R | H | BOS | 70.2 | 8.66 | 2.04 | 1.15 | .248 | 12.3% | 2.93 | 3.93 | 1.22 | 38.8% | 42.3% | 0.92 | 0.275 | 0.337 | $7500 | $4600 | $6800 |
| Tyler Skaggs | LAA | L | H | SEA | 22.2 | 8.74 | 2.78 | 1.19 | .283 | 7.4% | 4.37 | 4.03 | 1.46 | 38.2% | 33.8% | 1.13 | 0.302 | 0.341 | $6700 | $8300 | $6050 |
| Michael Foltynewicz | ATL | R | H | MIN | 84.0 | 7.39 | 2.46 | 1.50 | .262 | 10.4% | 4.50 | 4.35 | 1.30 | 42.5% | 36.6% | 1.16 | 0.371 | 0.309 | $6700 | $7300 | $6350 |
| Jimmy Nelson | MIL | R | A | CHI | 137.0 | 7.09 | 4.14 | 1.12 | .265 | 7.9% | 4.07 | 4.79 | 1.49 | 51.9% | 29.9% | 1.74 | 0.349 | 0.340 | $6600 | $5400 | $6000 |
| Kyle Gibson | MIN | R | A | ATL | 92.0 | 6.36 | 2.93 | 1.17 | .296 | 10.2% | 5.09 | 4.47 | 1.53 | 52.0% | 24.7% | 2.11 | 0.384 | 0.313 | $6500 | $4900 | $5700 |
| Sean Manaea | OAK | L | A | TEX | 104.1 | 7.51 | 2.33 | 1.47 | .268 | 12.9% | 4.57 | 4.11 | 1.29 | 43.8% | 33.8% | 1.30 | 0.234 | 0.360 | $6400 | $6600 | $6250 |
| Anibal Sanchez | DET | R | H | KC | 112.2 | 8.15 | 3.59 | 1.84 | .297 | 10.4% | 6.31 | 4.43 | 1.58 | 41.5% | 38.3% | 1.08 | 0.359 | 0.389 | $6300 | $5600 | $6200 |
| Jake Thompson | PHI | R | H | LA | 9.1 | 6.75 | 4.82 | 0.96 | .250 | 10.6% | 8.68 | 5.21 | 1.50 | 51.6% | 16.1% | 3.20 | 0.420 | 0.258 | $6,100 | $4,100 | $5650 |
| Jon Niese | NYM | L | A | ARI | 116.0 | 6.22 | 3.10 | 1.78 | .297 | 8.2% | 4.91 | 4.47 | 3.71 | 54.4% | 23.2% | 2.34 | 0.379 | 0.377 | $6000 | $5300 | $5800 |
| Andrew Cashner | MIA | R | A | CIN | 95.2 | 7.61 | 3.29 | 1.41 | .264 | 7.9% | 4.77 | 4.42 | 3.10 | 49.3% | 30.8% | 1.60 | 0.375 | 0.349 | $6000 | $4200 | $6300 |
| Zack Godley | ARI | R | H | NYM | 44.2 | 7.06 | 2.22 | 1.21 | .270 | 12.7% | 5.24 | 4.13 | 1.37 | 54.9% | 22.9% | 2.39 | 0.329 | 0.331 | $5900 | $4200 | $6250 |
| Anthony Ranaudo | CWS | R | A | CLE | 9.4 | 4.05 | 10.45 | 2.61 | .091 | 7.3% | 4.05 | 7.34 | 3.63 | 43.3% | 46.7% | 0.93 | 0.230 | 0.448 | $5400 | $4000 | $5200 |
| Cody Martin | SEA | R | A | LAA | 10.0 | 4.50 | 0.90 | 0.00 | .270 | 7.4% | 2.70 | 3.97 | 1.10 | 54.5% | 33.3% | 1.64 | 0.453 | 0.138 | $4000 | $4000 | $0 |
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Yu Darvish, TEX – While the strikeout rate ain’t what it used to be Darvish has five-straight quality starts and is starting to show more of the command we used to see pre-surgery. He catches a nice match-up here as the A’s rank just 26th with a .302 wOBA against righties this year and have just a .309 wOBA with a 20.1-percent K-rate and .145 ISO over the past week.
David Price, BOS – Tough one for me here as I tend to miss on Price for some reason. Very contradictory numbers. He’s struggled in two starts against them but they’re one of the worst-hitting teams at home against a southpaw. The Orioles have a .296 wOBA with a 21.9-percent strikeout rate against lefties this year and have a .307 wOBA with a 23-percent strikeout rate over the past week. I’ll give Price one more shot here.
Carlos Carrasco, CLE – The White Sox are sitting on a .310 woBA and just a .116 ISO over the past week and that .382 slugging percentage isn’t putting fear into any pitcher who takes the hill against them. Carrasco faced them once back in June and limited them to two runs over 7.1 innings and given their offensive numbers lately, there’s little reason to think he can’t repeat that performance.
Scott Kazmir, LAD – I always balk at using Kazmir as I’m just not a fan. But sometimes you have to swallow pride and go with the numbers. The Phillies aren’t particularly hot right now and they still rank dead-last against southpaws with a .283 wOBA which comes with a 23-percent strikeout rate and .110 ISO.
Yordano Ventura, KC – Sometimes a pitcher just has a team’s number and that seems to be the case with the volatile Ventura who owns a 1.96 ERA with a 16:4 K:BB over 18.1 innings (three starts) against the Tigers this year. It should also help that Detroit’s bats are pretty cold right now with a .294 wOBA and 21.5-percent strikeout rate over the past week.
Kyle Gibson, MIN – For a GPP dart, I’ll pick on the Braves here. Not a big Gibson fan, but since Atlanta has just a .294 wOBA with a .126 ISO against righties this season, I’ll throw a dollar in a single-entry GPP on him just to get some bigger bats into my lineup.
Zack Godley, ARI – While the Mets bats woke up a little yesterday, they’ve still only posted a .281 wOBA with a .117 ISO over the past week. Don’t look for big strikeout totals from Godley here, but he just might be able to steal the win here with Jon Niese on the hill against him.
Cody Martin, SEA – The super-dart here as the Angels have posted just a .269 wOBA with a 22.2-percent strikeout rate over the past week. He’s not available on Aces, but for the price, the bats you can add are going to be huge. You’re just looking for five respectable innings and hopefully the win.