Miami Marlins vs Washington Nationals
This game has the Nationals as a -320 home favorite due to Max Scherzer on the mound. Speaking of Scherzer, he is the most expensive pitcher on both sites and is the clear top option on the slate. But, with all that said, there is some merit to fading him in tournaments, due to his potential ownership and how his price affects your ability during roster construction. The Nationals have an implied run total sitting at 5.27, due to the fact they are up against Wei-Yin Chen , who is simply not good. Chen is giving up 1.23 HR/9 to lefties and 1.53 HR/9 to righties. This should put all of the Nationals power bats in play for their home run upside. Trea Turner has the potential for a jack and a bag. Anthony Rendón is always a threat. As always, pay up for Bryce Harper if you have the salary. A Nationals stack should be very popular tonight. On the other side, there is no real value in playing the Marlins bats, unless you are going out of your way to be contrarian in tournaments.
Boston Red Sox vs Kansas City Royals
We have the Red Sox coming in as a -170 road favorite, where David Price will look to rebound after a rough last outing. The Royals have a team wOBA sitting at .292 vs left-handed pitchers this season, which is fourth worst in the league. The Royals don’t strikeout out a ton vs LHP, so look for Price to limit the damage vs this weaker offensive team, but have limited strikeout upside. Brad Keller is pitching for the Royals, who has actually shown some good stuff this year, but it comes in a smaller sample size. I would side with the powerful Red Sox bats over a young and truly unproven Royals pitcher. JD Martinez, Mookie Betts , Mitch Moreland and Rafael Devers all have ISO’s over .200 this season vs RHP. On the Royals side, they offer some upside due to their prices and the potential to jump on Price, who really struggled in his last start. Should be the lower owned of the two teams, so some GPP potential. Raul Mondesi, Whit Merrifield , Salvador Pérez , and Mike Moustakas should be the top targets.
Los Angeles Dodgers at Los Angeles Angels
Southern California has a bit of a heat wave going on right now, so we should have a nice boost to bats in this game. Ross Stripling is on the mound for the Dodgers and comes in with a 28% strikeout rate and super strong 3.9% walk rate. He is a bit cheaper compared to Scherzer and in a solid spot vs the Angels who are looking very average as of late. Stripling has put up six or more strikeouts in seven of his last eight starts while allowing 13 earned runs in that span. For the hitters, I would side with the Dodgers, specifically the righties, since they are up against Deck McGuire , who is giving up a .553 wOBA to righties this season but comes from a small sample size. Max Muncy , Joc Pederson , Matt Kemp , Yasmani Grandal are all firmly in play tonight.
San Diego Padres vs Arizona Diamondbacks
I think this game could be the most interesting one of the night since we have viable pitching options on both sides. Robbie Ray comes in with a 34% strikeout rate, but he missed some time on the DL. The Padres don’t have a ton of threats on the offensive side of things and with their 24% strikeout rate vs LHP, Ray has some nice upside today. On the other side, we have Tyson Ross , who has shown some nice upside this season and comes in at a very intriguing price. The Diamondbacks have a 24% strikeout rate vs RHP, so there could be some strikeouts in that lineup and thus make Ross a solid point per dollar play. If you aren’t going to roster Ross, I would go to the Arizona lefties since Ross is giving up a .369 wOBA to lefties this year, along with 1.59 HR/9. Jake Lamb , David Peralta , and Daniel Descalso make a nice three-man stack, but don’t forget about Paul Goldschmidt if you have the salary.