Top Tier
Yordan Alvarez, OF, HOU – He has hit .357 in the last seven days and just had a two-homer game when he came off the Paternity List. Alvarez has been flexing the muscles this year with .394 wOBA and 16 home runs. He is facing Gerrit Cole who you would normally think you should fade hitters against, but let’s face it he hasn’t been the same guy. He has allowed nine earned runs in his last two starts that only spanned 8.1 innings and he has also surrendered four home runs. Clearly, not having the sticky stuff has shaken his confidence. Alvarez has faced him three times and he has taken Cole yard in two of those three at-bats.
Nick Castellanos, OF, CIN – This one is for those of you who are fans of the batter vs pitcher stats. Castellanos and the Reds will face a strong pitcher tonight in Freddy Peralta of the Brewers. He has allowed two earned runs and a home run in each of his last two starts, but Peralta has been pretty strong all year. However, Castellanos sees the ball well against him as he has six hits against him in just ten at-bats and four of those hits are doubles. Castellanos has hit .340 against righties, which is 38 points higher than his average against lefties, and his OPS against right-handed pitching is a strong .983. I’d feel a bit better if this game was in Cincinnati, but there is still reason for optimism in Castellanos tonight.
Jared Walsh, 1B, LAA – I am a big fan of Walsh’s and he is always a good bet when he is facing a right-handed pitcher. The Mariners will throw Chris Flexen, who has been pretty decent this year with an ERA under 4.00, but lifetime he has been a far inferior pitcher. In the last ten days Walsh has three multi-hit games, four home runs and 11 RBI. As mentioned before, Walsh is a beast against righties as he has hit .340 against them with a 1.070 OPS. He has also hit well in Seattle in his career with a .350 average and two home runs in just five starts.
Mid-Tier
Manny Machado, 3B, SD – In the last seven days, Machado is hitting a ridiculous .476 with three homers and ten RBI. He has four multi-hit games in the last six. He will face Germán Márquez tonight, who in a wild turn of events has actually been worse on the road this season as opposed to home. A complete 180 over the past few years. Marquez owns a 4.67 ERA and 1.30 WHIP away from Coors and Machado has six hits against him in just 14 career at-bats. Machado has a very solid 40% hard-hit rate and has hit 11 of his 15 home runs against right-handed pitchers.
J.P. Crawford, SS, SEA – He has cooled a bit in the last few days, but he did have a stretch of nine hits in five days. The Mariners will face Patrick Sandoval tonight who has been pretty good, but still has allowed two or three earned runs in each of his last five starts and his 1.27 WHIP is far from elite. Crawford has hit .325 against lefties this season and has doubled off of Sandoval in his career.
Kris Bryant, 3B/OF, CHI – The injury certainly has lowered his DFS salary, but he did come back last night with a three RBI double so it would seem he should be ready to return today. It would be great timing as the Cardinals are going to throw Kwang Hyun Kim who has been very hit and miss this season. Bryant continues to trash left-handed pitching with a .343 average and 1.145 OPS against them. Seven of his 16 home runs have come against lefties despite 175 fewer at-bats against them. Bryant has a hit in two at-bats against Kim and if he is in the lineup today, he should return great value.
Value Tier
Anthony Rizzo, 1B, CHI – You can play Rizzo on either site, but he is a far better value on Fanduel. His batting average isn’t where you’d like it to be, but he still does have six hits in the last six games, and he is another Cub that feasts on left-handed pitching. He is hitting .348 against lefties as opposed to just .213 against right-handed pitching this season. So, not only do we like that against Kim, but Rizzo is also hitting 50 points higher at home as opposed to the road, so being in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field is always a good thing for him.
AJ Pollock, OF, LA – He has two hits and a home run in each of the last two games he has played, and he has scored three runs in the last two games. He will face Caleb Smith tonight who has been better than expected this year but started to show his true colors last time out when he allowed five earned runs in six innings. Pollock hits 30 points higher against left-handed pitching and he is also hitting .300 at home as opposed to .231 away from Los Angeles and is a fine value outfielder to help you save some salary for studs elsewhere.