Daily Fantasy MLB Pitchers and Stacks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 8/21/18

We already highlighted Blake Snell and Masahiro Tanaka in our 8/21/18 picks article. We also highlighted the Colorado Rockies and Milwaukee Brewers as a popular game stacks at their respective team price points. Here we will look at some other (possible GPP) considerations.

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Pitchers

Patrick Corbin FD 10800 DK 11900
Opponent - LAA (Felix Pena) Park - LAA
FD - 42.63 DK - 22.65

Corbin falls under the GPP umbrella tonight for a couple of reasons tonight. It starts with the fact the Angels strikeout less than 23 other teams at a 20.5% rate this season and despite not having Mike Trout since August 1, have remained a middle of the road offense with a .315 wOBA and 101 wRC+ in that time. The good news here is that they have been considerably worse against left-handed pitching this season as they rank 26th in wOBA(.292) and 25th in wRC+(86) against southpaws. Corbin is also having his best season as a pro with career high's in ERA(3.18) and xFIP(2.63) while also showing big upside with a 10.99 K/9 and elite 15% swinging strike rate. The Diamondbacks are big -200 favorites tonight and being the most expensive option on the board should help with Corbin's ownership in GPP formats.

Michael Kopech FD 6000 DK 7600
Opponent - MIN (Jose Berrios) Park - MIN
FD - 31.44 DK - 16.03

After a night where we saw Bryse Wilson make his debut in impressive fashion, we have another rookie making his major league debut on Tuesday. He was drafted by the Red Sox back in 2014 and came over in a trade in last season with Yoan Moncada. He is currently rated the #1 pitching prospect in the White Sox system and comes with very high K upside as he has demonstrated throughout his minor league career. The issue here is the control which he has struggled with at each level but the good news is that in his last seven starts dating back to July 14, he has struck out 59 batters while walking just four. He is ready for the big time and gets a decent matchup against a Twins team that has been better against righties for the season but lost two of their best hitters in Eduardo Escobar and Brian Dozier via the trade deadline. I wouldn't trust Kopech in cash but he is worth a shot in GPP formats with his crazy upside and low price. 

Stacks

Chicago Cubs vs. Jordan Zimmerman(DET)

Ben Zobrist FD 3400 DK 4300
Opponent - DET (Jordan Zimmermann) Park - DET
FD - 11.26 DK - 8.54
Anthony Rizzo FD 4100 DK 4300
Opponent - DET (Jordan Zimmermann) Park - DET
FD - 13.33 DK - 10.01
Jason Heyward FD 2800 DK 3800
Opponent - DET (Jordan Zimmermann) Park - DET
FD - 10.23 DK - 7.82
Javier Baez FD 3700 DK 4700
Opponent - DET (Jordan Zimmermann) Park - DET
FD - 11.2 DK - 8.55

The Cubs have been slumping pretty bad lately ranking near the bottom in a ton of different metrics over the last 14 days but this is a GPP article and there is a case to be made for them tonight. What I like the most is that when looking at implied runs they are sandwiched right between the Rockies and Brewers who will most likely command a ton of ownership leaving the Cubs much lower owned, especially considering the slump. Their prices have also come down making it much easier to stack them 1 through 4 or 2 through 5 as well. They also get a plus matchup against Jordan Zimmerman who has been struggling as well lately giving up four or more earned runs in four of his last six starts and has also given up multiple home runs in five of those starts. There is a risk the slump continues but at these prices and possible low ownership, I am willing to take a risk to get the GPP winning upside.

Oakland Athletics vs. Ariel Jurado(TEX)

Nick Martini FD 2600 DK 3700
Opponent - TEX (Ariel Jurado) Park - TEX
FD - 9.88 DK - 7.6
Matt Chapman FD 3500 DK 4500
Opponent - TEX (Ariel Jurado) Park - TEX
FD - 11.21 DK - 8.41
Jed Lowrie FD 3400 DK 4400
Opponent - TEX (Ariel Jurado) Park - TEX
FD - 10.58 DK - 8.06
Khris Davis FD 4000 DK 5100
Opponent - TEX (Ariel Jurado) Park - TEX
FD - 12.83 DK - 9.58

One team that hasn't been slumping is the Oakland Athletics. They have been one of the best teams in baseball since the All-Star break and have tied the Houston Astros for first in the American League West Division after a 9-0 route of the Rangers in game one of the series last night. They make an excellent stacking option once again tonight in another high upside matchup vs. a struggling Ariel Jurado who has given up 12 earned runs over his last two starts while giving up five home runs. It hasn't been the debut he was looking for as now through five starts, he has struck out under four per nine and given up a 44% hard contact rate and 21.4% HR/FB rate. With those numbers, he won't last long in the bigs. For the A's, there are many ways to attack them starting with Nick Martini who is very cheap and hitting leadoff and enters tonight with a .288 average and ridiculous .404 OBP in his first 31 games in the majors. After him is the power in the lineup is with Matt Chapman(17 home runs), Jed Lowrie(19 home runs), and Khris Davis(37 home runs). You can even consider Matt Olson who has been hitting fifth and sits second on the team with 23 long balls. We also discussed in chat an alternative strategy where you can stack the bottom of the order on these teams with high implied runs to avoid the chalky plays but keep in mind that there is much more variance involved as those batters are at the bottom of the order for a reason. All things considered, the A's are most definitely a top team to target on tonight's full slate.

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