With all but one game happening this evening, we have a 14-game slate on tap. The weather looks pretty good around the country too with no real threat of rain anywhere and temps still a little cooler than they have been, it’s about as fair as the weather has been all summer.
Top Tier
Corbin Burnes, RHP MIL - Do we need to say why Burnes is a good play? The guy is one of the front runners for the NL Cy Young and has been unflappable no matter who he’s facing. In the last few weeks, the Giants lead the league in strikeout rate at 28.9-percent against right-handers and that’s likely not to change tonight against a strikeout artist like Burnes.
Chris Bassitt, RHP OAK - Bassitt is the ace that no one wants to talk about. One thing is for sure though, the Rangers definitely have seen enough of Bassitt to know they don’t want to see him again. In 12 innings against them, Bassitt has a 0.86 ERA and even lower 0.81 WHIP with 14 strikeouts and now the Rangers have been terrible against RHPs the last few weeks. Without Gallo any more the offense is even worse too.
Adam Wainwright, RHP STL - There’s been a rule of thumb with Wainwright over the last few years and that’s to start him at home and avoid him on the road. Well...he’s at home where he has a .210 BAA and a 2.79 ERA and 79 Ks in 87 innings and the Royals haven’t been great on offense recently. He’s a great option to pay down from Burnes or Bassitt and get similar results.
Mid-Tier
Marcus Stroman, RHP NYM - This is one of those match-ups that we just have to trust that the previous meetings will hold up. He’s shut down the Phillies in each of the prior four games against them this year with 17 Ks and three earned runs in 20 innings, no matter how strong their offense has been before those meetings which is great because in the last few weeks, the Phillies have been good against RHPs.
Wade Miley, LHP CIN - Miley has been an All-Star pitcher much of the year though his last start was only so-so. He is now facing the Pirates on Friday and we all know how soft the Pirates offense is, but against lefties recently it’s been even softer. Miley also shut them down the last time he faced them too. He’s too cheap for this match-up to be honest.
Value Tier
Matt Manning, RHP DET - If we simply look at the last outing against the Indians, Manning is a big risk as he gave up nine earned in 3.2 IP. However, over the last few weeks, Cleveland ranks second in strikeout rate (26.1-percent) and is well below-average in wOBA and wRC+ against right-handed pitchers. Manning is a GPP option as an SP2 on Yahoo and DK with the struggles Cleveland has had recently and with Manning allowing two or four runs in four of the last five starts.
David Price, LHP LAD - There is risk here to be sure, as Price has only gone over five innings once in his recent starts and is still sort of a swing-man for the Dodgers between the rotation and bullpen. However, this match-up is a bit too tasty to ignore as the Angels have struggled mightily against southpaws recently and Price has been very good at Chavez Ravine with a sub-2.50 ERA.