This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
When I started writing up DFS articles on a regular basis this year, I wanted to have days with the largest slats of games.
I like having a lot of choices.
I find slates with at least 10 games to be the most enjoyable because of the variety of different stacks and one-off plays that can be considered, since the larger pool of players distributes ownership more evenly.
This is appears to be the most challenging Tuesdays of the season to date, since many of the top-end arms are throwing on the road, and some have difficult matchups as well. The setup of the pitching and the firm pricing we're accustomed to on DraftKings, left me with fewer options than usual at each position.
Hopefully, things will open up a bit more this afternoon with a few unexpected cheaper alternatives in prominent lineup spots for their respective clubs.
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Pitcher
Cash: Noah Syndergaard, NYM vs. TOR ($10,800) -- Syndergaard can be a viable first pitcher in tournaments as well, but the ownership rate may come in very high since Gerrit Cole is $13,900 and Zack Greinke is $11,800, while Alex Wood is the only other pitcher at or above $10,000 on DraftKings on Tuesday night, and there are a lot of mid-tier matchups that are easy to sidestep. Syndergaard continues to miss bats at an elevated clip (54 strikeouts in 46.2 innings), and he's gone at least six innings or racked up double-digit strikeouts in all but one start this season (April 4 against the Phillies). Run support might be the biggest concern for him Tuesday, as the Mets matchup against a Toronto lefty Jaime Garcia while bringing a league-worst 60 wRC+ against lefties to the table.
Also in play among the pricey starters: Gerrit Cole ($13,900), Zack Greinke ($11,800)
Cheap 2nd SP Consideration: Jack Flaherty, STL at MIN ($7,300) -- The Twins have been 10 percent below league average against righties in terms of wRC+ this season, while toting an elevated strikeout rate (24.8% K%). Flaherty has nothing left to prove at Triple-A, with a 126 strikeouts in 97 innings at that level since the start of last season, including a 13-strikeout performance in his last turn against Oklahoma City. He is auditioning (again) for a permanent spot in the Cards' rotation while Carlos Martinez (lat) is on the 10-day DL, and the strikeout upside is good enough to take the risk on a rookie taking the ball on the road in a relatively tough pitching matchup with Jose Berrios starting for the Twins.
Tournaments Only: Yu Darvish, CHC at ATL ($7,800) -- In his return from the parainfluenza virus, Darvish faces an Atlanta offense that continues put up big offense numbers, while also avoiding strikeouts at an elite clip (17.7% K%). Through six starts with the Cubs, Darvish has been good twice -- both times against the Brewers -- while struggling against the Rockies (twice), the Marlins, and in his first meeting against Atlanta on April 13 (4.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 K, 4 BB). Walks (4.8 BB/9) and homers (1.80 HR/9) have been major issues thus far, and the approach here is the hope of buying very low on an ace capable of not only holding his own, but actually pitching very well in a difficult road matchup Tuesday.
Catcher
Yan Gomes, CLE at DET ($3,600) -- Gomes has an .876 OPS against lefties since the start of last season, a mark just below that of Gary Sanchez (.895) in that split. Gomez costs $800 less than Sanchez on Tuesday night, and should have a slightly easier matchup against Francisco Liriano than Sanchez has with Gio Gonzalez. Jorge Alfaro ($3,100) is always risky because of his heavy strikeout tendencies, but he's a cheaper tournament option to consider against Andrew Cashner for those focusing on tournament upside. Alex Avila *probably* won't play against Jhoulys Chacin since Zack Greinke is pitching (Jeff Mathis has become Greinke's personal catcher), which is unfortunate since he's only $2,500.
First Base
Wilmer Flores, NYM vs. TOR ($3,000) -- If spending up on pitching is your plan, you may have to go back to the well at first base. Flores' excellence against lefties is well documented (career .809 OPS), so the opportunity to match up with a southpaw whose two-year strikeout rate against righties below 20 percent is particularly appealing. For $1,000 more, Joey Gallo is a nice play against Mike Leake, and the deflated price on Paul Goldschmidt ($4,300) is worth considering as well with Jhoulys Chacin starting for the Brewers on Tuesday.
Second Base
Asdrubal Cabrera, NYM vs. TOR ($3,900) -- Maybe I'm just going to stack Mets on Tuesday night? Cabrera's splits against lefties since the start of last season are even better than Flores', and he checks in with a lower price than Whit Merrfield ($4,300) and Jose Altuve ($4,800), which is helpful with the need to roster at least one of the high-priced pitches on this slate. Kiké Hernandez ($3,500) should be in the lineup somewhere for the Dodgers tonight against Wei-Yin Chen, and his stock is on the rise with the expected return of Justin Turner from the DL giving the lineup a much-needed lift.
Third Base
Justin Turner, LAD at MIA ($3,700) -- Marlins starter Wei-Yin Chen has struggled in a big way this season, and he'll face a Dodgers lineup that is expected to have Turner in it for the first time in 2018 on Tuesday night. Turner's ability to mash lefties includes an 1.108 OPS against southpaws last season, while Chen has a two-year split against righties that includes a 1.83 HR/9. The only real drawback of targeting Dodgers bats against Chen is that the game is being played in Miami, where run production is suppressed more than any other park in play Tuesday (three-year run index: 84, RH HR: 83, LH HR 86).
Shortstop
Carlos Correa, HOU at LAA ($4,900) -- If the budget allows it, paying up at shortstop for Correa is my preferred way to go. Angels rookie Jaime Barria has carried a reverse split early in his big-league career, but even if he didn't have that, his limited ability to miss bats makes him particularly vulnerable the Houston lineup as a whole. Correa is $300 cheaper than Francisco Lindor and Manny Machado on Tuesday, so I'll take the slight discount for one of the two shortstops with an OPS above .900 in his splits against the opposing team's starting pitcher Tuesday (Lindor vs. LHPs is the other).
Outfield
Corey Dickerson, PIT v. CHW ($3,900) -- Dickerson's adjustments at the plate this season have led to significant improvement against fastballs, which has in turn lowered his K% to a career-best 10.5%. Whether that is a new sustainable baseline remains to be seen, but it's improvement nonetheless, and Dickerson should continue to do most of his damage against right-handed pitching. The Pirates are hosting the White Sox on Tuesday night, and starter Reynaldo Lopez has a few issues with lefties, most notably, keeping the ball in the park (1.89 HR/9).
Shin-Soo Choo, TEX at SEA ($3,400) -- The BvP crowd will be on Choo's matchup against Mike Leake (1.212 OPS, two homers in 17 at-bats), but I'm here because the price is low in a matchup where the over/under is 8.5 and Choo has the platoon advantage against a starter with a 14.3% K% and 1.15 HR/9 against left-handed hitters since the start of 2016. Leake is shaping up to a be younger version of Josh Tomlin, albeit, without the bloated home-run rate.
Josh Reddick, HOU at LAA ($3,400) -- A lower placement in the lineup may limit Reddick to GPP-use only, but he always becomes interesting when the price falls into the mid-$3K range. Facing an inexperienced righty in Angels rookie Jaime Barria, Reddick brings strong splits to the table that include a .301/.364/.488 line against righties since the start of last season.
