One of the best days of the year is upon us, it’s also a we need to really follow closely concerning our DFS lineups.
Today is the MLB trade deadline, final at 3 p.m. central.
While we still get a few hours to adjust lineups and our thinking for DFS should a major trade or two go down, that trade or two could really swing a slate.
Sonny Gray is slated to start tonight against San Fran. If he’s not traded, he likely will be popular. If traded, we would have no idea who is the starter and should it be a scrub, the Giants could be a sneaky play.
It’s hard to really recommend a lot of players because of the deadline and couple that with the terrible pitching options and no lineups, I am keeping the list shorter.
No rankings either, only 8 games, so let’s get to it!
Andrew Benintendi – OF – Boston Red Sox – $3,500
Analysis: So I don’t know about you, but I don’t buy into Mike Clevinger. Maybe I would if he were cheaper, but not against the Red Sox on the road in Fenway. Because of Clevinger’s success, I am guess that’s why Benintendi seems far too cheap tonight. I know he hasn’t had the breakout season everyone was hoping for, but he hasn’t been awful either. He still presents upside and who knows if he could go on a substantial offensive streak. He’s been hot recently and Clevinger has been susceptible to left-handed bats, giving up a 1.91 HR/9 and a 33% hard contact rate to lefties. Fenway doesn’t help with home runs with lefties, but it’s still a hitter’s venue and Benintendi can find the gaps for extra bases.
Kendrys Morales – 1B – Toronto Blue Jays – $4,000
Analysis: Get ready because I am loving the Blue Jays tonight and it makes me ill. We have a bad offense against a bad pitcher, but I will take the offense over the bad pitcher in this situation because I always stack against James Shields. I especially stack against them with lefties. Morales is one of the few power lefties on this team unfortunately (the other also a first baseman) but Shields has been dreadful against left-handed hitters. If you look at Shields’ BvP, it may seem he’s had some really good success against the players on this team, however, much of those numbers are pre-2014. The Blue Jays are very much in play.. Oh yea, since 2014, Morales is 3-for-7 with an RBI and two walks.
Luis Severino – SP – New York Yankees – $11,900
Analysis: It’s apparent that Severino is one of the safest options on the board tonight. The Tigers can seem scary and showed that against Lance McCullers on Sunday, but their lineup is not as strong as it once was now that J.D. Martinez is gone (and who knows who else might get traded?). The Tigers’ are right-handed heavy, but that’s good for us because Severino has been lights out against righties this season. Against RH bats, Severino has posted a .264 wOBA against, a 10.88 K/9 rate, a 0.75 HR/9 rate, a 26.5% hard contact rate and a 2.79 xFIP this season. The Tigers, against RH pitching, sport a 21.8% strikeout rate and are 23rd in team wOBA.
