This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
12 games are set for Friday evening's main slate, which appears top heavy on the bump. Five arms check in with five-figure price tags, while some less obvious options sit in the $9,000 tier. Lets see who stands out.
Pitching
I won't spend too much time debating the merits of the five top-priced arms. Perhaps the only one I'd slight fade is Aaron Nola ($10,300). Atlanta's bats are cold at the moment, and they could remain without Ronald Acuna ($3,800), but they've had Nola's number, getting him for 14 runs, 20 hits and five homers across 28.1 innings, though they have fanned 33 times. If forced to choose one, I'll happily get on board with Shohei Ohtani ($10,100), even with the Twins' above average 105 wRC+ and average 22.1 percent K rate.
It's a good thing we have a plethora of options atop this slate, because the middle tier don't jump out. The Cardinals are ice cold, but rake against lefties. So do the Dodgers and White Sox, so I'm crossing off Andrew Heaney ($9,500), Jose Quintana ($8,100) and Eduardo Rodriguez ($8,500), or rather targeting bats against them later. If not paying up, perhaps consider one of Cody Morris ($7,800), Marco Gonzales ($8.000) or Jose Urquidy ($8,400). Urquidy isn't in great form, having allowed 12 runs in his last 11.0 innings, but the Orioles are just a league-average offense. Morris gets a Rangers offense we don't fear against righties. He's struggled with walks, which isn't something Texas does much of (7.4 percent). He posted 37 FDP in his last outing, which works nicely at this price. Finally, Gonzales gets a Kansas City offense with just a .335 wOBA against lefties. None of these three have high strikeout upside, it's not their nature nor is it their opponents'. That creates a volatile floor if any get shelled, but that's the nature of the beast in the mid-tier.
For GPPs, if you're willing to go cheap and roll the dice, perhaps Cole Irvin ($7,400) merits consideration. He's absolutely feast of famine by looking at his game logs. But he only walks 4.9 percent of the hitters he faces, so he's unlikely to be phased by the Mets patient approach. New York has a .335 wOBA and just a .715 OPS against lefties.
Top Targets
We noted Atlana's success against Nola above. And given the division nature of the contest, there's more BvP numbers than usual to fall back on. As such, that leads us to the aforementioned Acuna if in the lineup, and/or Austin Riley ($3,700), both of whom come discounted due to poor form. Acuna is 13-for-36 (.361) with four homers and a 1.271 OPS off Nola, while Riley is 16-for-40 (.400) with three bombs and a 1.179 OPS.
Otherwise, the obvious play is to target San Diego bats in Coors Field against Ryan Feltner, who has allowed at least three runs in each of his last three starts. Manny Machado ($4,400) has a .427 wOBA and 162 wRC+ against righties, and should be popular as such.
Bargain Bats
Mookie Betts' ($3,500) price has fallen so much, I don't know how you can't roster him Friday. He's driven runs in in consecutive games, and could be breaking out of his funk. This low number also makes the Dodgers' lineup very stackable.
Tampa's offense should be the target for any and all bargains you need to round out your lineup, with only one bat priced above $3,000 in a matchup against Mitch White, who has allowed 21 runs in his last four starts, spanning 18.0 innings. Wander Franco ($2,900) has hit safely in all but three games since returning from IL on September 9.
Sean Manaea has labored in his first year with San Diego, and is in Colorado tonight. None of the Rockies bats come in hot, but they do offer a plethora of cheap choices to get shares of this offense. Consider Randal Grichuk ($2,700) and his .407 wOBA and .252 ISO, or Elehuris Montero ($2,800), who sits with a .399 wOBA and .276 ISO. Ezequiel Tovar ($2,600) should also make his Major League debut here and is a fun upside play.
Stacks to Consider
White Sox vs. Tigers (Eduardo Rodriguez): Eloy Jimenez ($3,800), Jose Abreu ($3,600), Yoan Moncada ($2,700)
If you've grinded through the entirety of the season, you know the White Sox rake against lefties, and aren't usually priced too high. Such is the case again here Friday, and you can almost target the entire lineup, as some eight options have a wOBA north of .370 in this spot. Jimenez has just been rock solid throughout the second-half of the season, and sits with a .391 wOBA, but only .188 ISO. Abreu goes .388/.171so we're banking on multiple hits instead of chasing homers. Finally, I'll continue to bang Moncada's drum late in the year. He's been quietly hot of late with 10 hits in his last seven games, and the .390/.211 numbers aren't awful either.
Phillies vs. Braves (Jake Odorizzi): Bryce Harper ($3,900), Kyle Schwarber ($3,400), J.T. Realmuto ($3,400)
Odorizzi hasn't worked more than 4.2 innings in his last two starts, and while Atlanta's pen has some top-end options, they'll likely need to go with some longer options Friday, giving this stack multiple chances to create before those bigger names come in. None are in particularly good form, so that should lead to low usage. Harper has a .431 wOBA and 161 wRC+ against righties, while Schwarber sits at .394/137 and Realmuto .391/135.
