This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
As usual, there's a slightly smaller slate of games today, with some extra early action (five games) giving way to the main slate of six games. The are a few stud pitchers to choose from and a game with an over/under of 9.5 runs that's not even at Coors Field. Let's dive in and see what looks good.
Pitching
It's hard to get away from Gerrit Cole ($10,800) right now given how consistent he's been. He's scored at least 40 fantasy points in each of his last eight starts and is coming off a 58-point performance. The Twins are a pretty average matchup for Cole. While they strike out at higher than the league average against right-handed pitching (23.2 percent), they also hold the fifth-highest wOBA against that handedness (.323). The other top option for cash games is the Angels' Shohei Ohtani ($9,900). He's struggled a bit as of late (five home runs allowed in his last two starts) but he'll be at home tonight facing the Red Sox. What makes Ohtani attractive here is that he has always pitched better at home than on the road, and his recent woes should make him an unpopular pick. Cole is the preferred pick here for cash games but Ohtani still has a lot of upside.
JT Brubaker ($8,000) is coming off arguably his worst start of the season and is on the road in Atlanta. Both of those factors should make him a good GPP play given he'll likely get overlooked for tournaments. Atlanta is a good team to target when using a right-handed pitcher, as they lead baseball with a 26.2 percent strikeout rate against that handedness. Brubaker has games of 35, 36 and 36 fantasy points in three of his last six starts and would be a great play is he's able to get to any of those numbers tonight considering his low salary cap hit.
Top Targets
Aaron Judge ($4,600) is an obvious pick tonight on the road in Minnesota going up against Dylan Bundy. Bundy has been struggling with the long ball recently, allowing eight home runs in his last six starts (26.2 innings), and he has not fared well in the past against Judge. Aaron comes into the game having gone 5-for-19 against Bundy with three of those hits being home runs.
The Nationals' Stephen Strasburg is set to retake the mound tonight, and chances are he's not going to be close to 100 percent or last deep into the game. Therefore, it's a good time to consider the Marlins' Jazz Chisholm ($4,000). Chisholm is a high ceiling/low floor player to use but that high ceiling can single-handedly put you in the money. He's scored 38.3, 40.4 and 51.4 fantasy points in three of his last 13 games but also has goose eggs in four of those games. That he qualifies at second and shortstop makes him an even more appealing option.
Bargain Bats
Trey Mancini ($3,100) comes in as a good bargain playing in a game with an over/under of 9.5 runs. He has a career .346 wOBA against left-handed pitching and gets southpaw Kris Bubic tonight. Bubic enters the game with a 9.33 ERA and has had trouble with the long ball during his time with the Royals.
Chad Pinder ($2,500) has fared well against left-handed pitching and had a .376 wOBA against that handedness last season (114 plate appearances). Pinder will get rookie Konnor Pilkington today, which is a good matchup. Pilkington has a 1.59 WHIP in a small sample, which suggests his 2.65 ERA has been very lucky. Look for Pinder to hit in a good RBI spot in the middle of the lineup.
Stacks To Consider
Orioles at Royals (Bubic): Mancini, Austin Hays ($3,200), Anthony Santander ($3,100), Cedric Mullins ($3,100)
There's reasons to like all four of these players heading into tonight's matchup in Kansas City. Mullins has a home run against Bubic, Santander should hit cleanup and Hays has absolutely raked since a slow start to the season. The case for Mancini has already been made and the Orioles have an expected run total of around five tonight.
Guardians vs. Athletics (James Kaprielian): Jose Ramirez ($4,500), Andres Gimenez ($3,400), Josh Naylor ($3,100), Myles Straw ($2,900)
This is an extremely easy stack to put in a lineup and stay under the salary cap, even while using Ramirez. There's no reason to waste time explaining why to use him and he was definitely a candidate for the Top Targets section. Gimenez has been on fire at the plate as of late with 15.5 or more fantasy points in six of his last eight games. Naylor quietly is averaged over 11 fantasy points per game and Straw should be in the leadoff spot for the Guardians.
