Real nice slate today, actually. Some strong options for which to pay up, some solid mid-tier value and even a couple of darts. Keep in mind, for today’s doubleheader between the Twins and Tigers, the early game is not in play on Draft Kings. Not that you really want to play the full day slate with just one early game, but trying to keep you informed. In any event, here’s what it all looks like to me…
vs L | vs R | ||||||||||||||||||||
Player | Tm | Hand | H/A | Opp | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | BAA | SwStr% | ERA | xFIP | WHIP | GB% | FB% | GB/FB | wOBA | wOBA | $FD | $DK | $Aces |
David Price | BOS | L | A | BAL | 211.2 | 9.23 | 1.83 | 1.06 | .253 | 12.7% | 3.91 | 3.33 | 1.18 | 46.6% | 32.9% | 1.42 | 0.316 | 0.301 | $10800 | $10800 | $7500 |
Justin Verlander | DET | R | A | MIN | 207.0 | 9.69 | 2.30 | 1.22 | .208 | 13.3% | 3.22 | 3.55 | 1.01 | 35.4% | 44.5% | 0.80 | 0.273 | 0.286 | $10000 | $12,400 | $7500 |
Jeff Samardzija | SF | R | A | SD | 190.1 | 6.95 | 2.32 | 1.13 | .250 | 9.9% | 3.97 | 4.00 | 1.22 | 49.8% | 30.1% | 1.65 | 0.343 | 0.281 | $9100 | $9500 | $6800 |
Chris Tillman | BAL | R | H | BOS | 164.2 | 7.43 | 3.22 | 1.04 | .237 | 10.1% | 3.72 | 4.39 | 1.24 | 42.1% | 35.4% | 1.19 | 0.310 | 0.320 | $8200 | $5300 | $6400 |
Ervin Santana | MIN | R | H | DET | 170.1 | 7.29 | 2.43 | 0.95 | .247 | 10.9% | 3.38 | 4.10 | 1.22 | 44.4% | 32.7% | 1.36 | 0.293 | 0.307 | $7700 | $9,000 | $6800 |
Seth Lugo | NYM | R | H | PHI | 53.2 | 6.54 | 2.35 | 0.67 | .215 | 10.2% | 2.35 | 4.40 | 1.04 | 46.5% | 33.8% | 1.38 | 0.290 | 0.256 | $7700 | $6700 | $6400 |
Blake Snell | TB | L | H | NYY | 81.1 | 9.74 | 5.20 | 0.55 | .274 | 11.7% | 3.87 | 4.42 | 1.65 | 40.1% | 33.9% | 1.18 | 0.289 | 0.344 | $7600 | $6400 | $6350 |
Mike Fiers | HOU | R | H | LAA | 157.1 | 6.87 | 2.23 | 1.43 | .280 | 10.0% | 4.46 | 4.31 | 1.36 | 44.5% | 30.3% | 1.47 | 0.325 | 0.364 | $7300 | $5600 | $6050 |
Anibal Sanchez | DET | R | A | MIN | 146.1 | 7.88 | 3.14 | 1.66 | .287 | 10.0% | 5.90 | 4.36 | 1.48 | 42.2% | 38.1% | 1.11 | 0.340 | 0.376 | $6800 | $0 | $6400 |
Ricky Nolasco | LAA | R | A | HOU | 182.2 | 6.71 | 2.02 | 1.28 | .287 | 9.7% | 5.13 | 4.21 | 2.47 | 44.5% | 34.0% | 1.31 | 0.316 | 0.339 | $6700 | $8000 | $6100 |
Tyler Chatwood | COL | R | A | LA | 144.0 | 6.44 | 3.88 | 0.88 | .256 | 8.6% | 4.13 | 4.43 | 1.41 | 58.3% | 23.7% | 2.46 | 0.334 | 0.316 | $6400 | $7200 | $5950 |
Chase Anderson | MIL | R | H | PIT | 141.0 | 7.15 | 3.19 | 1.66 | .265 | 9.4% | 4.47 | 4.61 | 1.37 | 38.9% | 37.1% | 1.05 | 0.301 | 0.391 | $6300 | $5900 | $6450 |
Luis Cessa | NYY | R | A | TB | 52.2 | 5.47 | 1.88 | 2.39 | .239 | 10.7% | 4.44 | 4.56 | 1.12 | 44.7% | 35.9% | 1.25 | 0.322 | 0.339 | $6200 | $5000 | $5650 |
Brett Anderson | LA | L | H | COL | 4.0 | 2.25 | 6.75 | 6.75 | .583 | 4.5% | 24.75 | 7.49 | 4.25 | 56.5% | 17.4% | 3.25 | 0.784 | 0.663 | $6000 | $5700 | $5400 |
Jose Urena | MIA | R | H | ATL | 75.2 | 6.30 | 2.38 | 0.95 | .267 | 9.9% | 5.59 | 4.64 | 1.39 | 50.0% | 26.4% | 1.89 | 0.340 | 0.308 | $6000 | $5200 | $5850 |
Mike Clevinger | CLE | R | H | KC | 45.1 | 8.54 | 4.96 | 1.19 | .228 | 10.5% | 4.77 | 4.61 | 1.41 | 40.6% | 38.3% | 1.06 | 0.244 | 0.379 | $6000 | $4500 | $6150 |
Ryan Vogelsong | PIT | R | A | MIL | 68.1 | 6.32 | 3.69 | 1.32 | .265 | 6.9% | 4.87 | 4.97 | 1.46 | 45.7% | 31.5% | 1.45 | 0.387 | 0.334 | $6000 | $4000 | $5650 |
Jason Vargas | KC | L | A | CLE | 3.0 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | .167 | 9.6% | 3.00 | 5.54 | 1.00 | 45.5% | 45.5% | 1.00 | 0.000 | 0.223 | $5900 | $4000 | $5500 |
Adam Morgan | PHI | L | A | NYM | 103.1 | 7.23 | 1.92 | 1.83 | .297 | 11.5% | 5.57 | 4.39 | 1.46 | 39.7% | 35.0% | 1.13 | 0.299 | 0.390 | $5700 | $6100 | $6200 |
Christian Friedrich | SD | L | H | SF | 116.2 | 7.02 | 3.55 | 1.00 | .265 | 9.0% | 4.78 | 4.56 | 1.45 | 47.4% | 34.1% | 1.39 | 0.284 | 0.335 | $5600 | $6600 | $5400 |
Josh Collmenter | ATL | R | A | MIA | 27.1 | 6.85 | 4.28 | 1.98 | .253 | 8.4% | 4.84 | 4.52 | 2.83 | 48.0% | 32.0% | 1.50 | 0.359 | 0.357 | $5400 | $4400 | $5700 |
Pat Dean | MIN | L | H | DET | 59.0 | 6.41 | 3.05 | 1.83 | .326 | 7.1% | 6.71 | 4.72 | 1.70 | 45.3% | 35.3% | 1.28 | 0.346 | 0.415 | $4900 | $0 | $5250 |
David Price, BOS – While he’s only got a 3.67 ERA against the Orioles, keep in mind that he has 32 strikeouts in 27 innings against them and in the last two outings he faced them (September 12 and August 17), he allowed just three runs over 14 innings. These O’s are slumping at the plate right now (.255 wOBA last seven days) and their struggles versus southpaws are more prominent than ever.
Justin Verlander, DET – Plenty of Cy Young and Comeback Player of the Year buzz right now and rightfully so. Verlander has been a beast and now he has a lay-up here against the Twins who have posted a league-worst .245 wOBA over the last seven days and that comes with a .095 ISO, a .290 slugging percentage and a whopping 27-percent strikeout rate.
Jeff Samardzija, SF – His team isn’t exactly handing over a ton of run support right now, but he’s facing the Padres and might not need much. San Diego has a .259 wOBA over the past week and they’re striking out 29.7-percent of the time. They’ve been a punching bag all year, so why stop now?
Mike Fiers, HOU – Despite the fact that the Angels bats have woken up a bit in the past couple of days, I’ll stick with Fiers here because the Halos aren’t exactly powering up. In fact, their .277 wOBA over the last seven days ranks 23rd in the league and they’ve posted a dismal .085 ISO in that span.
Anibal Sanchez, DET – If you are hell-bent on utilizing this early game, then Sanchez is the way to go as the Twins are downright awful right now. Just scroll back up and re-read the section on Verlander. Sanchez is no Verlander, but the Twins he’s facing are just as bad.
Ricky Nolasco, LAA – So you think the Angels can get past Fiers? OK, then give Nolasco a try here. He’s got three quality starts in his last four outings, including a six-inning shutout of ther Blue Jays his last time on the hill. The Astros offense isn’t exactly lighting it up right now with a .272 wOBA and 23.5-percent strikeout rate over the past week.
Tyler Chatwood, COL – With the game at Chavez Ravine and not Coors, I’m liking Chatwood a little more. Especially with the Dodgers posting just a .297 wOBA over the past week with a 23.2-percent strikeout rate and just a .118 ISO in that span. The Dodgers offense at home has ranked in the bottom third of the league all year long.
Christian Friedrich, SD – So if you want to throw a dart, give Friedrich a look against the Shark. Run support could be an issue as well, but the Giants offense has been quiet lately with a .266 wOBA and just a .087 ISO over the last week.
Josh Collmenter, ATL – And if you want an even bigger dart, give Collmenter a shot against a Marlins team that’s posted a .253 wOBA over the past week. The 22.6-percent K-rate shows some upside there as well.
Player News
Shohei Ohtani walked three times, stole a base and scored a run in an extra-inning win Monday over the Marlins.
Ohtani’s steal was the seventh of the season. The three walks bring his season total to 18, and his on-base percentage is a strong .392 over the first 28 games of 2025. Ohtani has now reached at least three times in three consecutive games, but it’s worth noting he hasn’t gone deep since April 16.
Teoscar Hernández hit a two-run homer in a win over the Marlins on Monday in extra innings.
Dane Myers hit a pinch-hit grand slam to tie the game in the sixth inning against the Dodgers.
After Dustin May left the game, Myers came on to hit for Matt Mervis off southpaw Anthony Banda, and he slaughtered a ball over the center-field fence to turn a 5-1 deficit into a 5-5 game. He also singled, and he improved his slash to a strong — and totally unsustainable — .315/.327/.463. He does appear to see the ball pretty well against southpaws, however.
Tommy Edman hit a walk-off two-run single in the 10th inning to give the Dodgers a 7-6 win over the Marlins on Monday.
Dustin May didn’t factor into the decision after allowing three runs over 5 1/3 innings against the Marlins on Monday.
May blanked the Marlins over five innings, but then was charged for three runs in the sixth; two of those coming on a grand slam after he had left the contest. It’s a shaky result, but a better outing than his 10-hit disaster against the Cubs last Tuesday. Still, May’s ERA has jumped from 1.06 to 3.95 over his last two chances, and he’ll try and get back on track in a rematch with the Marlins in Miami next week.
Edward Cabrera allowed nine hits and five runs while working four-plus innings in a no-decision versus3. the Dodgers on Monday.
This went exactly how it was supposed to go, with all due respect to Cabrera. The right-hander threw just 57-of-97 pitches for strikes, and gave up runs in four of his five innings he pitched in. That sees his ERA rise to 7.23, while two strikeouts and three walks push his K/BB to 20/11 over four starts and 18 2/3 innings. He’ll try and improve those numbers next weekend against the Athletics.