We have a short slate tonight so there are limited options. I would not get too contrarian or too glued to stacks. With short slates in bigger GPPs it’s good to diversify.
Red Sox:
Mike Minor is significantly below average when it comes to pitching to right handed batters. Because of this the obviously play here are the Red Sox tonight who destroy left handed pitching. J.D. Martínez , Mookie Betts , and Hanley Ramírez are all in play in this bout. They are an expensive stack but they will be worth it on the short slate.
Angels
In this battle of $4k pitchers the Angels have an implied run total of over 5. They should be led by Mike Trout who was actually better against right handed pitching last year than left handed pitching. Justin Upton and Albert Pujols and along with Ohtani will all be highly owned against Chris Tillman who was an absolute disaster last year for the Orioles.
Player News
Cam Smith is not in the starting lineup for the Astros on Wednesday against the Brewers.
Smith has struggled in his jump to the big leagues, slashing .212/.302/.365 in 26 games with a 30 percent strikeout rate. Zach Dezenzo will start in left field on Wednesday, with Chas McCormick getting the start in right field.
Amed Rosario is starting at third base and batting second for the Nationals on Wednesday against the Guardians.
Rosario has shifted back into a part-time role with Jose Tena playing well at third base. Tena will take a seat against a left-handed pitcher on Wednesday, as will Josh Bell with Alex Call entering the starting lineup and James Wood sliding to DH for the day.
David Festa allowed one run on three hits in 5 2/3 innings for Triple-A St. Paul on Tuesday.
Festa also struck out seven and didn’t walk a single batter while throwing 50 of his 72 pitches for strikes. Minnesota still seems to want to limit how deep Festa pitches into games, but at this point, it may just be to save his pitches for later in the season. He and Zebby Matthews will continue to produce at Triple-A until Minnesota deems them worthy of regular spots in the MLB rotation.
Twins OF prospect Carson McCusker went 3-for-4 with two home runs, three RBI, and a steal for Triple-A St. Paul on Wednesday.
The massive 6'8" prospect is now up to nine home runs and a 1.071 OPS in 28 games so far this season. There is some swing-and-miss in his game, but that’s to be expected with a 6'8" power hitter. He also has a 41 percent hard hit rate and continues to do damage when he does make contact. McCusker is not a great defender and will likely only be a short-side platoon hitter in Minnesota, so there may not be tons of fantasy value, but with a very left-handed lineup, it makes sense for Minnesota to call him up and see if he can inject some power into the offense.
Marlins OF prospect Andrew Pintar went 4-for-4 with a stolen base, an RBI, and one run scored for Triple-A Jacksonville on Tuesday.
The speedy centerfielder is off to his best start in a professional season, slashing .315/.357/.348 in 28 games at Triple-A with 10 steals. He doesn’t hit for much power and is striking out more than he ever has before, so it’s fair to wonder if this lasts, but he did steal 24 bases last year in 102 games, so he could be a deep league option for speed alone if he were to get the call to come up to Miami at any point.
Zac Veen went 2-for-4 with two doubles for Triple-A Albuquerque on Tuesday.
Veen is now hitting .361 with two home runs, one steal, and a 1.051 OPS in 61 at-bats at Triple-A this season. At this point, it seems like the Rockies just need to let the 23-year-old figure it out at the MLB level, but it’s the Rockies, so they probably won’t.