This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
A 10-game main slate is ahead Tuesday evening at FanDuel, with first pitch coming at 7:05 p.m. EDT. We've got four arms priced in five figures and just two more in the $9,000 range, and the names atop the list aren't ones we would have expected to be there in April. Shota Imanaga ($10,500) is an obvious choice against the White Sox, so I'll exclude him from further breakdown. I'll issue a buyer beware alert on George Kirby ($9,600), as current A's hitters are 12-for-30 (.400) with a 1.186 OPS off him.
Coors Field is present, which gives us our slate-high 10.5 expected run total. Three other games sit at 9.0 runs, and Mariners-A's is our only game under 8.0 runs, so we seemingly have a bit more offense than we've grown accustomed to this year. We'll need to track some rain chances in Chicago, while winds appear to be a slight detriment in New York and Colorado.
Pitching
Max Fried, ATL at BOS ($9,900): Fried looks like a nice blend of pay up/pay down given the salaries above him. He's rolling, working seven or more innings in four of his last five and five of his last seven, allowing one or zero runs in five of those. It's an interesting matchup, as Boston is heavily left-handed offensively, where they have a below average 95 wRC+ and massive 28.4 percent K rate off southpaws. But Fried has curiously struggled against same-handed bats, allowing a .464 wOBA against .191 to righties. Still, Atlanta is heavily favored at (-164), the second-highest number on the slate, so I'll back Fried to keep up his good form.
Dane Dunning, TEX vs. DET ($8,300): Dunning looks like a safe mid-tier play for cash lineups. He's rocking a career-high 10.5 Ks/9, and comes with a 3.94 ERA and 3.68 xFIP, suggesting we know what's in store here. Detroit enters with a 24.2 percent K rate off righties, while ranking 19th with a .308 wOBA. Walks are a concern for Dunning, and that inefficiency has limited his ability to work deep into games, so we're not likely to see a quality start. But if he can reach five innings relatively cleanly, 30+ fantasy points are probable. I like Kutter Crawford ($8,200) as well, but this matchup is softer.
Blake Walston, ARI vs. SF ($7,100): Walston lands here by default as I don't find much appeal in any of the paydown options Tuesday. Walks are a major concern here and have been at every level for Walston, which gives him a shaky floor for scoring from innings. But he's shown the ability to miss bats, fanning nine in his first 8.1 frames, giving him the potential to reach a 3x return. San Francisco's offense is seemingly better as a unit than it's individual parts, and come in to Tuesday ranking 11th off lefties with a .314 wOBA and 108 wRC+, striking out at a less than desirable 21.6 percent rate, so it's not an easy matchup. At worst, Walston opens up spending options on Reds bats in Coors Field, and at best he can pop for 25-plus fantasy points.
Top Targets
We know this starts with the aforementioned Reds' offense at Colorado, but Rockies' starter Ty Blach has curiously been decent at home. He's also left-handed, which seemingly takes Elly De La Cruz off the table. It's nearly all ballpark and solid form based, but Spencer Steer ($4,000) has eight hits in his last three games, while Jeimer Candelario ($3,600) has six in his last three and nine in his last seven, including two homers.
Tuesday looks like a spot to go in on a mini-Astros stack at discounted prices. Cardinals' starter Andre Pallante has faced just 71 big-league hitters this season, but he's allowing a .466 wOBA and 1.065 OPS to righties, putting Jose Altuve ($3,700) at the top of the list. Yordan Alvarez ($3,600) has slugged three homers in his last three and has hit safely in seven straight and 15 of his last 16 and is priced far too low for his potential. A full on three-man stack with Alex Bregman ($3,200) works too, with Bregman having homered in five of his last seven.
Bargain Bats
Royce Lewis ($3,000) is expected to be activated off the injured list, and his potential far exceeds the discounted price for the time being.
Jurickson Profar ($3,300) has a .413 wOBA, 176 wRC+ and okay .197 ISO off lefties to date, and is 4-for-5 with two homers off Angels' starter Patrick Sandoval.
We noted the A's overall success off Kirby in the intro. Brent Rooker ($3,100) is 2-for-6 off him with a homer, and has a team-leading .416 wOBA, 178 wRC+ and .262 ISO off righties. Miguel Andujar ($2,800) hasn't faced Kirby, but has been productive with 10 hits and two homers in his last six.
I can't recommend a stack here because the Angels aren't good offensively, but taking a piece from their lineup against Adam Mazur, who is making his major-league debut, to round out your lineup can work. Kevin Pillar ($3,100) is playing above his head with a .408 wOBA and 166 wRC+ off righties, while Luis Rengifo ($3,000) has position flexibility and a seemingly stable floor.
Stacks to Consider
Cubs vs. Chris Flexen (White Sox): Cody Bellinger ($3,400), Seiya Suzuki ($3,200), Mike Tauchman ($3,000)
The Cubs are the biggest favorite on Tuesday's slate, and we all expect Imanaga to shut down the White Sox bats, but this game still has a 9.0 run total, so it stands to reason the Cubs bats will be productive here. Flexen has been better on the road, and his overall body of work isn't as targetable as the price or run totals suggest, but for the prices on these three, I'm willing to roll the dice. Tauchman is actually the best statistically off righties with a .352 wOBA and 131 wRC+. Suzuki isn't far behind at .347/127 and is riding a 10-game hitting streak. Bellinger has multiple hits in five of his last seven, and gives this trio some power upside with a .236 ISO off opposite-handed arms.
Rockies vs. Frankie Montas (Reds): Ezequiel Tovar ($3,600), Ryan McMahon ($3,500), Charlie Blackmon ($3,500)
The target here is Montas moreso than the Rockies offense, which hasn't been trustworthy. Montas has a 6.75 road ERA (9.08 FIP), where he's allowing a .426 wOBA and .998 OPS to lefties and .407/.922 to righties. We can feel solid about Tovar, who leads the Rockies with a .359 wOBA and 119 wRC+ off same-handed bats, and his strikeouts (29.6 percent) aren't as great of a concern with Montas averaging just 5.2 per nine on the road. McMahon, in a very limited sample, is 4-for-4 with two doubles off Montas. The third piece is tough, and paying this number for Blackmon seems a touch silly, as he has nearly zero power at this point. But it likely gives us a traditional 1-2-3 lineup stack, with Blackmon potentially setting the table in front of the other two.
