MLB DFS Optimizer Picks Today: Spotlight Pitchers & Stacks
MLB DFS Optimizer Picks Today: Spotlight Pitchers
In his return to The Show, Greene took care of business against Philadelphia, holding the Phillies scoreless for six innings at Great American Ballpark. Tonight’s matchup at Angel Stadium is a park upgrade for Greene, plus he is going against a mostly right-handed Halos squad that has a collective 27.4% strikeout rate against right-handed hurlers this season. That projected lineup does have a .179 ISO, so the hope will be that Greene ends up with warning track outs instead of round-trippers on his fly balls.
Nolan Schanuel (13.0%, 400 plate appearances) and switch-hitting utilityman Luis Rengifo (17.8%, 343 PAs) are the only hitters in the expected lineup that have struck out less than 24.5% against right-handed hurlers this season. It is also a nice dichotomy for Greene to be on the mound after fellow righty Brady Singer just corralled Anaheim for one run across six frames.
The Athletics definitely benefit from playing half their games in Sutter Health Park, though for the top half of the lineup card, power travels well.
Ryan will be facing four opposing hitters who strike out at least 23.8% of the time against right-handed hurlers, which keeps his appeal strong, as does going against the bottom of the lineup, where Luis Urias, Brett Harris and Darell Hernaiz presenting three-up, three-down potential.
In San Diego, RHP Nick Pivetta has been steady since the beginning of July, allowing two or fewer runs in seven of eight appearances. The lone blemish was against his old Boston friends, with the Red Sox popping off for five runs in six innings against their former frontline starter.
In total, across 50.1 frames, Pivetta has a solid 43 strikeouts while allowing four home runs. This rounds out to a 1.97 ERA, 3.22 FIP and 4.17 xFIP.
He is still going to have to earn his keep against a pesky San Francisco offense, but a 3.3 implied run total for the Giants and a -235 moneyline for Friars victory tips the scales towards Pivetta.
MLB DFS Optimizer Picks Today: Top Stacks
Main Slate Contrarian Target: Chicago White Sox
Hopefully gamers discount the meltdown by Spencer Strider, who suffered seven runs at the hands of the Pale Hose last night on the way to a 13-9 Atlanta loss. The matchup against RHP Bryce Elder is a soft one, with the 26-year-old struggling once again. In fact, Elder has been so bad, it appears that his early run towards the end of 2022 and the first part of 2023 (which got him nominated to the All-Star Game) were purely lucky happenstance. In his 44 outings since July 9, 2023, he had almost a 6.00 ERA, a 5.50 xERA and a 5.10 FIP.
Over his last 10 starts this year, he had a 7.97 ERA, 5.96 FIP and a 4.89 xFIP, with 38 strikeouts in 49.2 innings while allowing 46 runs. Yes, he had more runs in the last 10 games than strikeouts.
Unfortunately, hot-hitting rookie shortstop Colson Montgomery left last night’s game with a sore midsection, and there is a decent chance he will get a couple days of rest with nothing riding on this season for Chicago, aside from personal pride. That still leaves veteran outfielders Andrew Benintendi and Mike Tauchman holding the platoon advantage, and Luis Robert Jr. has been on a mini-heater since returning from his most recent malady. Youngsters Edgar Quero, Miguel Vargas, Lenyn Sosa and Brooks Baldwin have also played well over the last six weeks, and the matchup against Elder is enticing for them and pretty much anyone else in the Pale Hose lineup.
Full stacks do seem like a bit much, but duos, trios and one-off discount dandies are plentiful among the projected lineup for the Southsiders.
Late Slate Target: Arizona Diamondbacks
Pavin Smith (oblique) and Ildemaro Vargas (foot) each returned from the injured list, which will help fill the void left behind by the traded players. Vargas is more of a glove man, though Smith has plenty of offensive chops against opposite-handed hurlers. Since the start of last year, Smith has a .373 wOBA and a .230 ISO in lefty-righty matchups. He is a pinch-hit risk if the Guardians go with a lefty reliever. Though long-man Kolby Allard threw 44 pitches on Saturday, that still leaves Erik Sabrowski, who had five pitches last night, and Tim Herrin, who threw 12 on Monday.
Smith is the punt du jour, which helps average down the overall salaries of Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll, Geraldo Perdomo and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who are the core four to build off of. Adrian Del Castillo enters the fray on DraftKings and Yahoo to fulfill the pesky catcher requirement.
Today’s Top Sports Betting Picks
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