Top Tier

Fernando Tatis, SS, SD – My guy! He doubled and stole a base on Sunday and has hit .395 with six homers and 11 RBI in the last two weeks. He is nearly unstoppable. Now, we get a chance to play him in one of the best hitter’s parks in the National League in Cincinnati. The Reds starter Tony Santillan was pretty good his last time out, but he is a fly ball pitcher and has already allowed three homers in just 13.2 innings. It should be tough to be a fly ball pitcher against a guy with 25 homers in a bandbox of a stadium. Tatis is hitting .316 with 21 of his 25 homers against righties and has doubled and struck out the two times he has faced Santillan so far. It is hard to make a DFS lineup without considering Tatis when he is on the slate. 

Mookie Betts, OF, LAD – He has a hit in four straight including a double, triple, and a home run and for good measure he stole a base too. Betts hasn’t hit for the average or the power that we hoped, but his 41% hard-hit rate tells us he is making quality contact, he just isn’t getting the results right now. He will face Kevin Gausman tonight who is having a magical season. Somehow a guy with a career ERA over 4.00 is sitting on a 1.49 ERA through three months. Betts has handled Gausman quite well in his career with a .349 average against him with three home runs in 43 at-bats. The price tag is considerable on DraftKings, but all signs point to a good day.  

Yuli Gurriel, 1B, HOU – I was torn between Gurriel and Altuve here. Altuve’s home/road splits are wider for his success at home, but Gurriel has been hotter and has been hitting great no matter where he has been playing. He has gotten on base or driven in a run in every game since June 13th and has hit .423 with a couple of home runs in the last seven days. He will face left-handed Alexander Wells who is making his first career start in the Majors but had a 5.63 ERA at Triple-A with six home runs allowed in 32 innings. Gurriel is hitting .328 at home and .350 against lefties with six of his ten home runs despite 74 fewer at-bats against them. You could make a case for a few Astros with Gurriel looking the safest. 

Mid-Tier

Nelson Cruz, OF, MIN – He has a hit in six of the last seven with three homers over that span, and the ageless wonder just continues to hit. He is facing Lucas Giolito tonight who you think would be a matchup to avoid. However, the White Sox starter does have an ERA of 3.80 and has allowed 17 homers in 15 starts this season, so he hasn’t been dominant. Cruz has hit .391 against him as well with four home runs in 23 career at-bats, so he has had success against him in the past as well. Cruz has hit for a better average against lefties, but the power has been similar against either type of pitcher and I love the past success and Giolito’s inability to keep the ball in the park this season. 

Teoscar Hernandez, OF, TOR – This guy has four multi-hit games in the last seven including five doubles, a home run, and six RBI since coming off the Paternity List. Hernandez has also hit .317 at home this season as opposed to .288 on the road. He will face Chris Flexen who actually has been pretty good lately, but this charade can’t last. Flexen allowed just one run in his last two starts over 14.2 innings, but the guy has come out of the bullpen for much of his career and has an ERA near 6.00 since 2017. He is not equipped to handle this ferocious Blue Jays lineup and Hernandez has been among the drivers of their success this season. 

Tommy Edman, 2B/OF, STL – It hasn’t been a pretty week for Edman, but he looks to be facing a slump buster in left-handed Caleb Smith. The Arizona starter has actually been good since he was elevated from the bullpen, allowing more than two runs just once in the five starts. However, he had struggled for most of the rest of his career, and Edman can flat out hit lefties. He is slashing .333/.567/.961 against them as opposed to .237/.315/.591 against right-handers. Edman is also hitting 15 points higher at home and should get back on a decent streak starting on Tuesday. 

Value Tier 

Dylan Carlson, OF, STL – While Edman has not been hitting well lately, Carlson has, and he also feasts on lefties. Carlson has a hit in six of the last seven including a double, triple, and homer. He has also been leading off, which gives him a chance at more at-bats. Carlson is hitting .333 against left-handed pitchers, which is 85 points higher than against righties. His splits are even more spread for home and away. When he is in Busch Stadium, which the game is today, he is hitting .343 as opposed to .196 on the road. Look for him to get it going early against Smith and definitely give a solid return on his fairly cheap DFS salary.  

Ryan Zimmerman, 1B, WSH – This is a deeper dive, and you have to be sure that he is in the lineup because he obviously doesn’t play every day. However, Zimmerman is hitting .345 against righties with a .957 OPS. He is also hitting .297 at home which is 61 points higher than he is on the road. He has six hits in 11 at-bats (.545) against Tampa starter Rich Hill, including a double and two homers. Hill has allowed four earned runs in two of his last three starts, and if Zimmerman does get the start today he will definitely be worth taking the chance on.