This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
A slightly reduced 12-game slate awaits Tuesday evening. Following Monday's quiet night with lots of teams off, rotations have been reset, leaving us with six arms priced in five figures and four more in the $9,000 range. Of course, plenty of them have soft matchups as the season grinds on and teams trend south.
Pitching
It may be surprising to some, but Colorado and Texas rank sixth and seventh in wOBA against lefties. That isn't nearly enough for me to fade Max Fried ($10,500) or Framber Valdez ($10,900) though, as both are as consistent as they come. Fried has turned in 10 quality starts in his last 11 outings, seven times going for at last 40 FDP. Valdez meanwhile has a ridiculous 21-game quality start streak, though only 10 of them have netted 40-plus FDP. This will be his fourth start against the Rangers, having allowed two runs on 14 hits while striking out 20 across 20.0 innings in the three prior outings while averaging 47 FDP in the process.
George Kirby ($9,200) will certainly be a popular pivot against the always-targetable Tigers, who strike out 25.1 percent of the time against righties while posting a league-worst .266 wOBA, .105 ISO and slowly climbing 72 wRC+. Kirby has had a 34 FDP floor across his last four, and averages an okay 9.4 K/9. I don't hate his adversary in Matt Manning ($8,800), who has gone for 40-plus FDP in three of four starts since returning from injury, but that stretch has caused his price to increase to an uncomfortable level.
If we're feeling a tad lucky, there could be some potential value all the way down at Erick Fedde ($6,800). It's not just the matchup against Oakland that's appealing, though that certainly doesn't hurt. His issue has been a high walk rate at 4.4 per nine, but Oakland only walks at a 7.1 percent clip. Fedde has surprisingly allowed two runs or less in five of his last seven starts. He doesn't have innings upside, but there is a path to five frames of minimal damage and maybe even a win.
Top Targets
Houston's top lefties are always in play against a right-hander, but perhaps we don't go too overboard against Dane Dunning, who has shut the Astros down to the tune of seven hits and two runs across 11.2 innings this year. Still, either Yordan Alvarez ($4,400) or Kyle Tucker ($3,800) are decent starting points. Alvarez sports a .427 wOBA, 186 wRC+ and .321 ISO while being 3-for-6 off Dunning with a homer. Tucker sits at .382/154/.238 while going 3-for-8 with a bomb.
Truthfully, this slate doesn't present with any must-use bats outside of the daily usual names. Taijuan Walker has baffled Freddie Freeman ($4,000), limiting him to just 2-for-14 lifetime, but the first baseman has 12 hits during his current six-game hitting streak, seemingly giving him a safe floor and a reason to look past the BvP narrative.
Bargain Bats
I admittedly have no clue what to do with Lucas Giolito on Tuesday. On one hand, he's posted 30-plus FDP in four of his last five starts and has limited the Royals to four runs and 12 hits across 10 innings to date. While his 6.71 home ERA isn't backed by a 4.06 FIP, he's still allowing a .444 wOBA and 1.038 OPS to righties. I'd say he's probably more likely to be good than bad, but targeting against Giolito can work in GPPs if he combusts. Bobby Witt ($3,500) is the safe play, while Salvador Perez ($2,800) has had some BvP success, going 10-for-28 (.357) with three homers and a 1.107 OPS against Giolito.
Xander Bogaerts ($3,400) has multiple hits in four of his last five and is 11-for-35 (.314) in his career off Chris Archer, so he should have a stable floor with minimal power upside. In the other dugout, Twins' lefties should prove profitable against Kutter Crawford who is allowing a .424 wOBA and 1.009 OPS to them on the road, where he has a 6.27 ERA, though only a 3.97 FIP. Still, Jorge Polanco ($3,200), Luis Arraez ($3,100) and/or Max Kepler ($2,500) merit consideration.
Stacks to Consider
Atlanta vs. Rockies (Jose Urena): Matt Olson ($4,000), Michael Harris ($3,600), Robbie Grossman ($2,500)
Urena has shown he is capable of completely imploding, giving up nine runs in 1.1 innings last time out against the Rangers and seven in three frames to the Dodgers earlier this year. Atlanta's lineup in dangerous up and down, which allows us to be a little unconventional in our stack. The target is lefties, as Urena is allowing a .400 wOBA to them versus a .305 wOBA to righties. Olson is a no-brainer and gives us a share at the top of the order, but we can grab a pair of lefties at the bottom to round this stack out on the cheap. Grossman has swung better since coming to Atlanta, and we know the upside Harris possesses. Eddie Rosario ($2,200) will likely hit higher in the lineup if he's starting and you need additional savings. There's also history between Ronald Acuna ($3,900) and Urena, so that's an angle that could prove fun to target.
Yankees at Angels (Mike Mayers): Aaron Judge ($5,000), Andrew Benintendi ($3,200), Oswaldo Cabrera ($2,700)
Mayers has an 8.80 home ERA and 7.95 FIP, allowing six homers across just 15.1 innings. He's surrendering a .492 wOBA to lefties and a .402 to righties, allowing us to be creative around our very expensive anchor. Given Mayers struggles, I want multiple Yankee pieces rather than just locking in Judge and looking elsewhere. As such, we'll plug in cheaper left-handed bats and hope for some multi-level production from the lineup. Cabrera quietly has nine hits in his last six games, while Benintendi is just four games removed from rapping out nine hits in four days.
