This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
A pretty standard 12-game slate awaits for us Tuesday evening in FanDuel's main slate. A massive seven starters are in five figures, with four more at $9,000 or greater, representing half of the arms available and seemingly forcing a pay-up. That's a bit unfortunate, because Atlanta bats are priced through the roof in Coors Field, making them impossible to stack and challenging to just get a share. Ronald Acuna is a massive $5,200, unofficially the highest salaried bat we've seen all year.
It's no surprise Atlanta-Rockies has the slate's highest listed run total, but we've also got a double-digit number with Houston at Boston. Only two other games sit with totals of nine or greater, further speaking to the top pitching available. Weather looks relatively dry, though the northeast could see some rain, particularly later in the evening. If we trust early wind reports, we've go winds blowing in in Minnesota, heavy winds blowing in at Wrigley, and some potential for winds blowing out in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Pitching
George Kirby, SEA vs. OAK ($10,800): Kirby lands here as the far obvious option against always targetable Oakland. But he's also here as a bit of a buyer beware. The usage will seemingly be high because of the matchup. Oakland has been swinging it better thanks to a youth infusion. Kirby has allowed three runs and seven hits to this lineup across seven innings this year, but only fanned two. He's also allowed 16 hits and seven earned runs in his last two starts, spanning 11.2 innings. I'm not saying not to use Kirby, rather just think about other options in the same salary tier that won't be as targeted.
Justin Steele, CHC vs. MIL ($10,600): Which leads me to Steele. Milwaukee ranks 19th off lefties with a .313 wOBA and strike out at a decent 24.5 percent clip. He's faced this lineup twice to date, allowing 12 hits and three runs across 12.0 innings, striking out 13. We noted the winds blowing in, which will aid the occasional fly ball Steele gives up, but his 48.7 percent ground ball rate matches nearly identically to Milwaukee's 46.2 percent rate. Steele sets up with a stable floor with the potential for 40+ FDP.
Brandon Williamson, CIN at SF ($7,300): Williamson appears to be in decent form. He's fanned at least six in four straight, three times eclipsing a 4x return in that stretch with a still acceptable 23 FDP floor given this salary. The Giants remain poor overall off lefties, striking out at a fantasy friendly 25.3 percent clip while coming with a below-average 91 wRC+. Wind may not do him any favors, and he is a bit of a flyball pitcher at 41.9 percent, but we're not expecting a clean sheet, just serviceability.
Top Targets
We often need more stability than smash potential from our pay-up targets, as we can't miss when spending. It doesn't get much more stable than Freddie Freeman ($4,000) who isn't too pricey Tuesday. He's got 16 hits in his last nine games, seven going for extra bases. And he's 8-for-24 (.333) with a homer, five doubles and four walks off Diamondbacks' starter Merrill Kelly.
Pete Alonso ($3,900) is the exact opposite of Freeman. He has just two hits in his last 16 at bats and hasn't homered in seven straight after doing so in four of his previous five. But he boasts a .281 off of lefties. Rangers' starter Andrew Heaney is allowing 1.6 homers per nine, has a reasonable 41.6 percent fly ball rate, and 21 of the 22 homers he's surrendered have been to right-handed bats. It's feast or famine, but Alonso looks due a long ball.
Bargain Bats
We've already touched on the ridiculous salaries on Atlanta bats, which makes it tough to get in. Grabbing a top bat as a one off can be risky if he's the one that doesn't click, and stacking again is far too costly. Eddie Rosario ($3,400) isn't cap friendly, but he may be the best bet. Rockies' starter Peter Lambert has been more vulnerable to righties, but is still allowing lefties to post a .378 wOBA and .881 OPS in Coors Field. Rosario is white hot, hitting .455 (15-for-33) with four homers since August 14, resulting in a 280 wRC+ and 1.448 OPS.
Cardinals' starter Zack Thompson is pitching far better than his slate-low salary suggests, allowing just six runs across his last 18.0 innings, so I don't want to go all-in on the Padres despite multiple pieces having solid stats against lefties. Ha-Seong Kim ($3,200) works as a nice singular option. He'll hit leadoff and has a team-best .420 wOBA, 172 wRC+ and .254 ISO off southpaws.
I'm interested in stacking Royal bats Tuesday as a contrarian option to get salary relief, as Pirates' starter Luis Ortiz has allowed 22 hits, nine walks and 15 runs across his last three starts, spanning just 11.1 innings. But his splits are so drammatic, allowing a .477 wOBA and 1.134 OPS to lefties against .312/.714 to righties. And Kansas City isn't long on left-handed bats. As such, queue up MJ Melendez ($2,700) and/or Drew Waters ($2,700) to round out lineups.
Stacks to Consider
Mariners vs. Ken Waldichuk: Teoscar Hernandez ($3,100), J.P. Crawford ($3,000), Eugenio Suarez ($2,900)
Julio Rodriguez ($4,500) is the obvious target here, but we can build a stack around him for cheap and benefit so long as he isn't a one-man offense Tuesday. Seattle face a lefty last night and will again here, so we should feel confident the lineup will set this up as the 1,3 and 4 hitters with Rodrigues in the two-hole. This trio went 6-for-12 with two walks, roud runs and three RBI last night. Waldichuk comes with a 7.43 road ERA (6.29 FIP), allowing a .445 wOBA and 1.062 OPS to lefties and .393/.922 to righties. This trio hasn't hit lefties well all year, so if you're passing, Hernandez is the prefered stand alone option, with a .362 wOBA, 137 wRC+ and .252 ISO.
Blue Jays vs. MacKenzie Gore: Bo Bichette ($3,300), Vladimir Guerrero ($3,300), George Springer ($3,000)
While the LvR splits aren't massive, Gore has struggled on the road this year with a 5.08 ERA and 4.30 FIP. This stack feels too good to be true at the price point, but there's no debating the Blue Jays lack of huge numbers this season, highlighted by Guerrero's paltry .063 ISO. But he's hit safely in nine straight while homering in two of his last four. Bichette is banged up, so no lock to play, but his .431 wOBA, 180 wRC+ and .226 ISO off southpaws leads the Blue Jays and is terrific for the salary. Springer gives us a third top of the order bat that has also homered in two of his last four, and we know he's a streaky hitter.
