John Lepore | September 24th, 2019
We are in the final week of the regular season. There is a solid 13-game slate tonight with plenty to choose from. As teams start resting players and setting up their staffs, we have to be aware of who will be on the bench. Check your lineups before your games go live in case you need to make a late change. So let’s get into it…
Locks
Mike Clevinger – The Indians are fighting for their playoff lives. They need the righty to pitch like he has been. In his last 15 starts, he’s thrown 95 innings allowing 20 ERs (1.89 ERA) and 74 hits while posting an impressive 124/24 K/BB rate. In those 15 starts, Clevinger has allowed more than two runs only twice. We already know that the White Sox have no plate discipline. They are last in the league in walks and only three teams have struck out more in the AL.
Eduardo Rodriguez – It seems the Boston lefty has found his groove. He left Cleveland on August 12th with a 4.31 ERA. Since then, in seven starts he has given up only five earned runs and has 54 Ks. In four of those starts, he hasn’t allowed an earned run. Rodriguez has also struck out eight or more batters in his last four starts. The Texas Rangers have five players with more than 20 HRs. One of them is Joey Gallo. Three of the other four are lefties with Danny Santana being a switch hitter. Roll with the hot hand here and fire up Eddie.
Danny Duffy – The Royals lefty has been hot in September. In four starts he has a 1.78 ERA, 0.908 WHIP and has 20 Ks. He is facing an Atlanta lineup that will likely be without Freddie Freeman as he is dealing with bone spurs in his elbow. The last time Duffy faced the Braves was on July 23rd and he struck out 11 in six innings while allowing only a run and five hits. September hasn’t been exactly kind to the Braves bats as a whole. They have a .742 OPS and have averaged fewer than five runs a game for only the second month (May) of the year. Without Freeman and with Josh Donaldson going 0-18 with 5 Ks in his last five games, Duffy looks to be a good play.
Stacks
Cleveland Indians vs Hector Santiago – Santiago hasn’t actually started a game since August 17th. Since then he has pitched in a variety of relief roles. He has been downright bad whatever role he has been in. Take advantage as Santiago likely won’t last very long in this one but could make it to the second time around the lineup just to eat a few innings. That’s where Carlos Santana and Francisco Lindor come in. The two switch-hitters are a combined 13-42 with a nice 5/3 BB/K rate vs the lefty. The Tribe is hitting as a whole also putting up five runs in six of their last eight games. Yasiel Puig, Jake Bauers, Oscar Mercado, and Jordan Luplow are all in play here as you should mix and match a third bat from their lineup to fit your needs.
Barrels
Xander Bogaerts – He will be facing Ariel Jurado tonight. Edinson Volquez will likely only be the opener and then will cede the mound to Jurado. Entering July he had a respectable 3.90 ERA. It now stands at 5.73. The Rangers team ERA is 4.99 and that includes Lance Lynn and Mike Minor with a 3.76 and 3.52 respectively. Bogaerts is having a career year and no one on the Rangers staff, aside form Minor and Lynn, should scare anyone.
Jorge Soler – Guess who leads the AL in HRs. That’s right. Soler is tied with Mike Trout, who is done for the season, with 45 bombs and the Royals slugger is five ahead of Nelson Cruz. Julio Teheran has given up six HRs in his last 15 innings and 22 big flies for the season. Soler found his groove in August and hasn’t really looked back. He had a 1.079 OPS in August and is carrying a 1.046 so far in September. At $4,600 on DraftKings, he is worth a play and may save you a few hundred to spend up on another position.
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