This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Eleven games are featured in Tuesday's main slate at FanDuel, getting underway at 7:10 p.m. EDT. Pittsburgh is currently without a listed starter, giving us 21 arms to sort through -- five of which come with a five-figure price tag, and four more sitting in the $9k range.. Oakland-Boston comes with a somewhat surprisingly high 10.0 run total, while four games have slate-low totals of 7.5 runs.
Rain looks like a very serious threat to postpone Kansas City-St. Louis, so we'll omit that from consideration. Should they play, it's an attractive spot for pitching given the low 7.5 run total. Rain also looks possible in Cincinnati and Chicago, so this could be a tricky slate to navigate and require some late adjustments. The wind will be blowing out in Boston, making it the clear game to target, but it's blustery in New York, Kansas City and San Francisco as well.
Pitching
Jake Irvin, WSH at NYM ($9,600): Based strictly on matchup, Bailey Ober and Ronel Blanco stand out, but the question then becomes, can you afford to pay that much for them? Irvin seems to suggest the answer is no. He's coming off a dominant eight-inning, one-hit, eight-strikeout scoreless performance against these Mets. Irvin has turned in quality starts in three straight and eight in his last nine outings. He's got a solid 44.3 percent groundball rate, helping negate any winds in Citi Field. While no Met has faced him more than six times, he's dominated this lineup overall, allowing them to go just 5-for-42 (.119) with a .302 OPS and a massive 34.9 percent strikeout rate.
Colin Rea, MIL vs. PIT ($8,000): The middle and bottom tier of this pitching slate doesn't appeal to me at all as I'm struggling to find a floor or a ceiling. Perhaps Rea can be the exception, as he's quietly earned 40 or more fantasy points in four of his last five outings. Pittsburgh's offense has been decent of late, but still are below average with a .290 wOBA, 85 wRC+ and 24.7 percent K rate off righties. Rea faced the Pirates back in May, earning 28 fantasy points which is serviceable at this price, and the Bucs lineup is 16-for-64 (.250) with a .726 OPS off of him overall.
Adam Mazur, SD vs. SEA ($6,200): Part of the fun in writing these columns is my job is to present the matchups, but leave it to the reader to make the actual lineup decisions. Mazur has been crushed overall at home, and by lefties everywhere. Seattle has a ton of cheap left-handed bats that are going to find space in the bargain section, but their splits overall off righties are terrible. They don't have a regular with a wOBA greater than .331, and they strike out at a 28.8 percent mark off right-handed pitchers. It's a matchup of bad versus bad. One is going to succeed. And if your preferred strategy is to pay down for pitching, Mazur is in a spot where he can possibly return 3x on this salary.
Top Targets
Few slates all year set up to be incredibly obvious, but Tuesday is one of them. High run total, favorable winds, and favorable pricing screams load up on Red Sox. That's amplified by A's starter Joey Estes allowing a ridiculous .495 wOBA and 1.210 OPS to lefties on the road. Rafael Devers ($4,000) is going to be heavily rostered, so just follow suit and differentiate elsewhere. Jarren Duran ($3,700) has seen his form slide but is still a fine play, and we know the Sox have ample lefties to make this stackable.
Angels' starter Roansy Contreras has been tough on lefties and crushed by righties, but that shouldn't matter because he's yet to throw more than three innings. Perhaps those splits still lead to lighter usage on Corey Seager ($3,700), who is locked in, riding a 13-game hitting streak into Tuesday with multiple hits in three straight and four of five while homering in consecutive games and scoring eight times in his last seven.
Without knowing Yordan Alvarez' availability, Jose Altuve ($3,700) is a safe play Tuesday, ranking second on the team with a .378 wOBA and 147 wRC+ off lefties.
Bargain Bats
If for some reason you want to fade Boston's top options, Masataka Yoshida ($2,800) would be my preferred paydown play as a standalone, but his likely lineup spot does not make him the ideal third piece of a stack.
Staying in Boston, I don't have a ton of faith in Oakland's lineup, and they've got an implied total of just 3.3 runs despite the game sitting at 10.0. Red Sox starter Bryan Bello has a 5.35 xFIP against lefties though, so perhaps JJ Bleday ($2,800) is worth a look. Kyle McCann ($2,400) would be a great punt play if he's in the lineup, sitting with a team-best .381 wOBA off righties.
Back to the Mariners versus Mazur. San Diego's starter is allowing a .477 wOBA and 1.115 OPS to lefties at home, and .390/.916 to righties. Seattle doesn't have a bat priced above $2,900, so it's truly pick your poison. Julio Rodriguez ($2,800) is the big name, Luke Raley ($2,600) offers power and has the "best" splits off righties (see above, I'm using that term loosely), and Mitch Haniger ($2,300) is a decent cheap dart throw.
Finally, I won't be tricked into a Blue Jays stack for quite a while. But does anyone trust Blake Snell? Vladimir Guerrero ($3,100) has a .380 wOBA, 150 wRC+ and .200 ISO off lefties and has two hits and three walks off the Giants' starter in nine plate appearances.
Stack to Consider
Giants vs. Yusei Kikuchi: Heliot Ramos ($3,500), Matt Chapman ($3,200), Jorge Soler ($3,100)
The above sections have touched on some pretty obvious offenses to target, so I'm going to attempt to be different in my stacking consideration as it's necessary to win tournaments. Kikuchi has allowed 15 runs in his last four starts, spanning16.2 innings, and is surrendering a .381 wOBA to righties on the road. We know San Francisco will stack righties against him, and these three flirt with elite splits off southpaws. Ramos has cooled, but still boasts a .537 wOBA, 259 wRC+ and .404 ISO off opposite-handed arms. Chapman isn't far off at .414/175/258, and is a nice 6-for-15 (.313) with two homers and a 1.109 OPS off the Jays' starter. Soler likely gives us a leadoff guy, making this a 1-2-3 lineup stack. He's 3-for-8 (.375) with two homers off Kikuchi, and sits with a .367 wOBA, 142 wRC+ and .210 ISO off lefties.
