It’s finally time for the much hyped Solar Eclipse. Hopefully, you have the appropriate viewing glasses or pinhole box. Otherwise, you can just watch it on TV and get a similar effect but without the threat of going impaired vision for the rest of your life. The MLB pitchers will try to perform their own “solar eclipse” by pitching lights out on Monday’s seven (eight on FanDuel) game slate. Unfortunately, there are not many strong options to choose from so much like viewing the eclipse you should play it safe with your pitching choices.
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Let’s mow down the competition 3 Up and 3 Down…
3 Up
Ace
Alex Wood (FD-$9,700 / DK-$12,100)
Wood might not deserve his elevated price tag on DraftKings tonight but on a slate, without many options, you should probably consider paying up for him anyway since he should be fairly safe. The problem is he lacks the upside for his salary (on DK at least). He has struck out six or fewer batters in six straight starts and will face a Pirates’ team that is in the middle of the pack in strikeout rate (19.8%) against lefties this season. I wish there were better options so I could fade Wood in Cash games but there aren’t so Wood it is. He is an easy fade in GPPs however so you can throw a few darts at the cheaper options and get some bigger bats.
Value
Zach Davies (FD-$7,500 / DK-$8,400)
I’m a little surprised that Davies and the Brewers are not a bigger favorite on the road against the Giants tonight. Davies has pitched great on the road this season with a 2.52 ERA and .294 wOBA allowed. He gets a favorable pitcher’s park and faces a Giants’ offense that ranks in the bottom two in wOBA, ISO and wRC+ against righties this season. The only downside of rostering Davies is the lack of strikeouts. He only has a 15% strikeout rate this season while the Giants only strike out 19.2% of the time against righties. Davies is a great Cash game option on two-pitcher sites but you might want to go with someone with more strikeout upside in GPPs.
Darkhorse
Tyler Skaggs (FD-$6,600 / DK-$6,700)
Skaggs is a pitcher in a better spot to post a high strikeout number facing a Rangers’ offense that has a 25.1% strikeout rate against lefties this season. Skaggs will also benefit from pitching at home and is actually a sizeable favorite even though he is opposed by Cole Hamels. Give Skaggs a look in a GPP lineup or two.
3 Down
Top Stacks
Orioles vs. Chris Smith
Smith was blasted by the Orioles just 11 days ago allowing five runs including four homers in six innings at Oakland. The venue shifts to a more hitter-friendly environment in Baltimore for Monday’s matchup. Smith has had reverse splits this season allowing a .364 wOBA and 3.32 HR/9 to right-handed hitters this season.
Trey Mancini (FD-$2,900 / DK-$3,900) – Mancini hit two of the home runs off Smith the last time they faced each other. He has a .381 wOBA and .265 ISO versus righties this season.
Jonathan Schoop (FD-$3,300 / DK-$4,600) – Schoop has a .372 wOBA and .233 ISO versus righties at home this season and is coming off a three-hit game on Sunday.
Manny Machado (FD-$4,100 / DK-$5,600) – Machado is riding a nine-game hitting streak where he is batting .425 with five home runs. He has a .366 wOBA and .234 ISO at home versus righties this year.
Adam Jones (FD-$3,200 / DK-$4,500) – Jones has also hit a pair of long balls off Smith in his six career at-bats and is batting .306 with a .357 wOBA in August.
Diamondbacks vs. Robert Gsellman
The Diamondbacks have one of the highest Vegas implied run totals on the slate and will be playing in New York where the temps will be in the 80s with the wind blowing out against Gsellman and the Mets. Gsellman has had trouble with both sides of the plate allowing a .362 wOBA to lefties and .369 wOBA to righties this season.
Paul Goldschmidt (FD-$4,000 / DK-$5,600) – Goldschmidt has hit 23 of his 29 homers off righties this season with a .427 wOBA and .288 ISO.
Jake Lamb (FD-$3,500 / DK-$4,800) – Lamb has homered in two of his last four games and has a .416 wOBA and .292 ISO on the road versus righties this year.
JD Martinez (FD-$3,600 / DK-$5,200) – Martinez has also gone deep in two of his last four games and has a .359 wOBA and .289 ISO versus righties this season.
David Peralta (FD-$3,400 / DK-$4,700) – Peralta has a .361 wOBA with a 35.3% hard hit rate versus lefties this season.
Contrarian Stack
Mariners vs. Mike Foltynewicz
Foltynewicz has given up 14 runs over his last two starts (at St. Louis and Colorado). He struggles against left-handed hitters allowing a .366 wOBA and 1.56 HR/9 this season. The Mariners have some dangerous left-handed hitters to contend with plus the red-hot Nelson Cruz.
Nelson Cruz (FD-$4,900 / DK-$5,100) – Cruz is batting .409 in August with 10 home runs through 17 games. He has a .416 wOBA and .361 ISO on the road against righties this season.
Yonder Alonso (FD-$3,300 / DK-$4,000) – Alonso has a seven-game hitting streak and has posted a .384 wOBA and .248 ISO against righties this season.
Robinson Cano (FD-$4,000 / DK-$4,400) – Cano has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games and has a .375 wOBA on the road versus righties this year.
Kyle Seager (FD-$3,200 / DK-$3,700) – Make sure Seager is in the lineup before including him in your Mariners’ stack. His numbers aren’t great against righties but the matchup and park are too good not to include him.
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