Top Tier
Vladimir Guerrero, 1B, TOR – He has five homers in the last ten days and hits in nine of those ten games. He is just assaulting pitching and is still threatening to take home the Triple Crown. Sandy Alcantara is a quality pitcher he is going against, but Vlad has three hits in three lifetime at-bats against him including a double and a home run. He is also hitting right-handed pitching far better with a .355 average as opposed to .265 against lefties. 21 of his 23 home runs have also come against righties at a rate of about one homer per ten at-bats against a homer every 33 at-bats against lefties. He is one of the most feared hitters in baseball right now and should mash on Tuesday.
Giancarlo Stanton, OF, NYY – Always a threat to hit the ball into the people, Stanton and his 43.8% hard-hit rate welcome the Royals and Brady Singer to the Bronx. Stanton has been a bit all-or-nothing lately, but he has at least been walking to return some points. Singer’s ERA is sitting at 4.76 and he has allowed 97 base runners in just 68 innings. Stanton has 11 of his 13 homers against right-handed pitching and has a .943 OPS and .398 wOBA against them. The weather should be clear by the time the game rolls around down in NYC tonight and Stanton should be bringing the lumber with him.
Matt Olson, 1B, OAK – We went with Olson yesterday and he doubled and walked, and we are going right back to the well tonight. It is going to be a bullpen game for the Rangers tonight with Taylor Hearn getting the ball first. He is a lefty out of the ‘pen that has allowed eight home runs in just 35.1 innings and sports a 4.84 ERA. Olson has hit .303 against lefties with a 1.010 OPS and nine of his 20 home runs against left-handers despite 66 fewer at-bats against them. When Hearn departs it isn’t likely to be much better as the Rangers bullpen is in the bottom third of the league with a 4.56 ERA. Olson has hit .327 away from Oakland this season and looks like a prime play tonight.
Mid-Tier
Buster Posey, C, SF – He is coming off two rest days as he didn’t play Sunday and the Giants were off yesterday. I don’t pay up for catcher a lot, but I love the two-day break and going against a lefty. Andrew Heaney has allowed three earned runs or more in four of his last six starts and has an ERA over 5.00 at home. Posey has hit .392 against lefties so far this season with a 1.123 OPS and has eight of his 12 home runs on the road.
Javier Baez, SS, CHC – He was benched yesterday for not knowing how many outs there were, but I feel like a guy with the psychology of Baez is going to want to come out today and smash the baseball to make up for it. He has 12 of his 16 home runs against right-handed pitching this season and is facing one of the worst pitchers on the slate in Eli Morgan. He only has two starts so far, but they have lasted a combined 6.1 innings and he has allowed nine earned runs, including three long balls. Putting him in hitter-friendly Wrigley Field is not a recipe for success and this could be just what Baez needs to get on track.
Value Tier
Michael Brantley, OF, HOU – Brantley came through nicely yesterday with three hits, two RBI and three runs scored for us, and he will be another great option tonight at Camden Yards again. Jorge Lopez has allowed five earned runs in two straight starts and 13 runs over his last three including four home runs. His ERA near 6.00 and WHIP near 1.50 is telling you he is putting everyone on base and a lot are coming around to score. Brantley is hitting a ridiculous .398 against right-handed pitching and .413 away from Houston. At his price tag he is an absolute no-brainer again tonight.
J.P. Crawford, SS, SEA – There is so much I like about this play. Not only is he really cheap but has been on a nice streak lately. Crawford has a hit in eight straight games, including two doubles, two homers and seven RBI. He will face the Rockies’ Kyle Freeland tonight who has been DREADFUL of late. He has allowed 18 earned runs in his last three starts which only lasted a combined 12.2 innings. Freeland has not been able to keep the ball in the park lately either as he has given up nine home runs in his last three starts. Crawford hits nearly 100 points higher against left-handed pitching at .337 and carries an .848 OPS against southpaws. He is really affordable and can help you put studs elsewhere in your lineups.
Jeff McNeil, 2B, NYM – He went 1-4 in his return yesterday after a month stint on the Injured List and his DFS salary is still lagging behind his talent. Sure, McNeil wasn’t lighting the world on fire before his injury, but we know this guy is a professional hitter with great potential. He is nearly free on DK at second base which isn’t the deepest position on the diamond to begin with. He faces Charlie Morton who was dazzling his last time out but has been the very definition of average for most of the season. He is putting a lot of guys on base this season and had allowed nine earned runs in the previous 1 innings before his last solid start. There’s a chance the Mets sit McNeil after a hamstring injury considering it might be damp in the city tonight but if he goes I love the value play.