This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
We have a strong crop of pitchers to work with Tuesday. As was the case Monday, there are viable plays across all price points which really leaves every type of roster build as a possibility. There are also a number of obvious spots to target for hitters, which we'll highlight.
Pitchers
There's immediately an interesting choice at the top of the pitcher pool. Dylan Cease ($10,400) and Justin Verlander ($10,600) square off against each other and also carry the highest price tags. It's a true test of skills versus matchup, with Cease possessing the superior skills and Verlander the far better matchup. I'd side with Cease in most cases, though there is a strong case for Verlander in cash games.
Robbie Ray ($9,500) is priced down a tier, but owns the third-highest strikeout rate on the slate and draws a matchup against a woeful Angels lineup. Across the last 30 days, the Angels have just a .281 wOBA.
Though priced at different levels, Jose Quintana ($7,800) is a nice cash game counterpart to Ray. His move from Pittsburgh to St. Louis has made little notable impact, as he's posted over 20 DK points in each of his first two starts with the Cardinals. It's low-hanging fruit, but the Rockies are poor on the road, maintaining only a .274 wOBA for the campaign.
Justin Steele ($6,200) is the punt play of the day. He's posted 27.5 and 22.7 DK points across his last two starts, yet his price continues to decrease. Marcus Stroman failed to take advantage of a matchup against the Nationals on Monday, but Steele will take his turn Tuesday.
Top Hitters
It's not often that I want to invest heavily in the Athletics or at catcher, but there's a time and a place to break every tendency. Tuesday offers an example for Sean Murphy ($4,800), as he takes on Kolby Allard who has allowed eight home runs in 17 innings in the majors this season. Murphy has been strong against lefties, maintaining a .368 wOBA and .232 ISO this season.
For the second consecutive night, the Cubs lineup is in a good spot. Patrick Wisdom ($5,300) is pricey but in a good spot, as he owns a .379 wOBA and .267 ISO against southpaws this season. It's a coincidence that we've picked on a few lefties to begin the top hitters, but Patrick Corbin has allowed a disastrous 1.71 HR/9 this season.
Jose Ramirez ($5,900) and the Guardians are in a dream spot Tuesday as Garrett Hill checks in as among the worst pitchers in any measure of skill in the player pool. There are a number of strong options to work with in Cleveland, which will be discussed more in the stacks section.
Value Hitters
I like Nick Gordon ($2,000) as a punt play. He has multiple paths to production, as he has two steals and six runs scored across his last 10 games. Gordon and the Twins will take on Zack Greinke on Tuesday, who has just a 13.4 K%. Greinke doesn't give up a ton of hard contact, but Gordon doesn't need to go yard to return value.
It's not often that we see cleanup hitters priced at the bare minimum, but that's the case for Harold Castro ($2,000). He hasn't been all that impressive this season, but I wouldn't mind targeting Zach Plesac, who has a 10.4 percent barrel rate against, and he has allowed 1.5 HR/9 to left-handed hitters for the season.
Nick Pivetta has allowed 10 homers across his last 10 starts, which opens the door to make some bats in the Pittsburgh lineup intriguing. Rodolfo Castro ($2,900) is among them, as he has four extra-base hits in five games since being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis.
Stacks to Consider
Guardians vs. Tigers (Garrett Hill): Steven Kwan ($4,300), Amed Rosario ($4,800), Jose Ramirez ($5,900)
Hill has been abysmal by nearly any measure across 36.2 innings in the majors this season, and he checks in Tuesday with the highest SIERA on the slate by over half a run and just a 1.2 K-BB%. The Guardians' top-of-the-order is strong and relatively cheap, just expect this to be a highly-rostered stack Tuesday.
Brewers at Dodgers (Ryan Pepiot): Christian Yelich ($4,700), Willy Adames ($5,100), Rowdy Tellez ($4,900)
Pepiot may get a pass because of his relatively strong pedigree and because he came through the Dodgers' organization. However, he has a 16.5 percent walk rate at the major-league level this season and has allowed a 1.3 HR/9. The Brewers lineup has also shown significant signs of life of late, maintaining the fifth highest wOBA in the league across the last 30 days.
Cardinals vs. Rockies (Kyle Freeland): Dylan Carlson ($4,200), Paul Goldschmidt ($6,100), Nolan Arenado ($5,800)
There's a few things working against this stack, the first being the cost of rostering both Goldschmidt and Arenado. However, we've identified some playable minimum-priced bats and also a number of cheaper pitchers that will help fit a few expensive bats in lineups. Next is that Kyle Freeland has fared well on the road this season, but he has only a 16.4 percent strikeout rate overall. The trio atop the order in St. Louis has plenty enough pop to turn that contact into powerful production.
