We already highlighted Chris Sale and Gerrit Cole in our 5/22/18 picks article. We also highlighted the St. Louis Cardinals and the Houston Astros as popular game stacks at their respective team price points. Here we will look at some other (possible GPP) considerations.
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Opponent - NYM (Zack Wheeler) Park - NYM
FD - 27.21 DK - 14.25
The Marlins are slight underdogs at the moment and Caleb Smith's performances have been nothing close to consistent but he has shown a ton of upside and makes a decent salary relief SP2 in GPP's tonight. The control issues and walks(4.85 BB/9) can get him into trouble but through nine starts he has struck out just over 12 batters per nine innings and while the ERA is a 4.22 it is positive to see an xFIP of 3.74 and a fantasy average of 16.1 DraftKings/28.8 FanDuel points per game. Tonight's matchup couldn't get any better as the Mets sit dead last in wOBA(.267) and 29th in wRC+(69) vs. left-handed pitching with a crazy 26.7% strikeout rate. Pairing him with Sale or Cole in GPP's allows you to grab more than a couple top bats tonight.
Opponent - KC (Jason Hammel) Park - KC
FD - 33.09 DK - 17.49
Speaking of roller coaster rides this season, we Luke Weaver who started the season out with three performances allowing just four earned runs total while striking out 17 batters. The next four starts were a complete struggle as he allowed four or more earned runs in each and struck out more than four just once. The good news here is that the roller coaster has ascended once again as he has put together back to back starts allowing just four hits in each and one total earned runs across 12 innings. Tonight he gets a decent matchup as a huge -200 favorite as the Cards continue their series in Kansas City against a Royals team that ranks in the bottom third vs. right-handed pitching in wOBA, wRC+, and ISO. The only issue I can see at the moment is the upside as the Royals only strikeout 17% of the time vs. righties.
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Matt Harvey(CIN)
Opponent - CIN (Matt Harvey) Park - CIN
FD - 11.11 DK - 8.66
Opponent - CIN (Matt Harvey) Park - CIN
FD - 11.5 DK - 8.81
Opponent - CIN (Matt Harvey) Park - CIN
FD - 11.49 DK - 8.73
Opponent - CIN (Matt Harvey) Park - CIN
FD - 10.79 DK - 8.26
After the Cardinals and Astros tonight, my favorite stack is the Pittsburgh Pirates who currently sit Top 5 in implied runs on this slate. They will go up against Matt Harvey who came over in a trade at the start of May. He was once known as the Black Knight and was a CY Young candidate pitcher until injuries somewhat derailed his career. So far with the Reds he has made two starts going just four innings in each and in his last outing, he gave up seven hits and three earned runs to the Giants.
The Pirates have been better against southpaw pitching this season but I will take the value tonight($16,200 total cost on DK/$13,100 total cost on FD) and roll with their projected 1-2-4-5 hitters. Josh Harrison made his return on Sunday in a big way going 3 for 5 with a double and an RBI and is back in his familiar leadoff role. He is followed by Gregory Polanco who has been one of the better hitters against righties with a .341 wOBA and 117 wRC+ on the season in that splits. Josh Bell hasn't quite shown the power he flashed last season when he hit 26 home runs but he has still driven in 27 runs while also scoring 27 runs and is a nice value for a cleanup hitter. Finally, I will be looking to Corey Dickerson who is coming off back to back season with the Rays where he hit 24 and 27 home runs and all five of his home runs with the Pirates have come against right-handed pitching. Him hitting in the five-hole will likely also help his ownership on this big slate.
Also Consider: Francisco Cervelli who will likely hit out of the three-hole tonight.
Oakland Athletics vs. Mike Leake(SEA)
Opponent - SEA (Mike Leake) Park - SEA
FD - 10.66 DK - 8.13
Opponent - SEA (Mike Leake) Park - SEA
FD - 10.2 DK - 7.62
Opponent - SEA (Mike Leake) Park - SEA
FD - 9.39 DK - 7.19
Opponent - SEA (Mike Leake) Park - SEA
FD - 10.25 DK - 7.61
The Athletics come into this series with the Mariners red-hot having scored 42 runs over their last two series(seven games) against the Red Sox and Blue Jays. They now get to face Mike Leake who has been pretty bad lately giving up three or more earned runs in six of his last seven starts(four or more earned runs three times) and has given up eight home runs on the season(13.8% HR/FB rate, 37.9% hard contact rate).
Despite losing Khris Davis to a groin strain, they still have options that can get it done and with a 1-2-3-4 stack which comes at a cheap"ish" price($15,200 on DK/$13,700 on FD), especially on DraftKings. Semien leads things off for the A's and while he hasn't been incredibly consistent(.276/.323/.404 slash line), he has driven in 23 runs and scored 33 on the season. Joyce is a GPP only play 100% as he hasn't been great but hits second in the lineup and brings value in the middle of all the other bats which is going to be key on a night with elite pitching options. Lowrie has actually been the teams best hitter through 47 games as he leads the team with a .320 average, .389 OBP, and 37 RBI. He is also second to Khris Davis in home runs with nine. He will likely be followed by Matt Olson who has been decent lately with hits in five straight and six of his last seven games and sits with seven home runs on the season with 19 RBI and 21 runs scored.
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