Hello DFS fanatics, welcome to another edition of Arms, Bats, and Stacks. While the slate is a little different between the two major sites (DraftKings and Fanduel), let’s take more of a look at DraftKings in particular. With that said, on Fanduel, the game at Coors Field is absolutely in play, as well as some others. Without further ado, let’s take a look at some players to lock into our lineups.
Arms
Kenta Maeda ($9,600 DK, $9,700 FD)
Not enough good things can be said about the way Maeda has pitched this season. He’s really pitched like an ace, with a 4-0 record and 2.21 ERA. The Tigers strike out a ton at 28.4% against right-handed pitching, which is the highest rate in the majors. He’ll be highly owned, but it’s not smart to fade someone just to fade them.
Brandon Woodruff ($8,200 DK, $9,100 FD)
Woodruff strangely continues to be underpriced. He’s already shut down this Pittsburgh Pirates lineup once before and there is no reason why he can’t do it again. In 36.2 innings pitched this season, Woodruff has fanned 41 batters, good enough for a 10.1 K/9 rate.
Dane Dunning ($4,500 DK, $5,500 FD)
Dunning’s final line for his debut doesn’t tell the full story. He pitched much better than it suggests, displaying nasty stuff, generating 17 Whiffs on only 73 pitches. If that outing was an indicator of how he is going to pitch, this is an extremely exploitable spot from a value perspective. At this price, toss him into some lineups and load up on expensive hitters.
Other Options: Aaron Civale, Blake Snell, Tony Gonsolin
Bats
Ji-Man Choi ($3,300 DK, $2,400 FD)
Choi seems like a guy with a solid floor today, going up against a pitcher in Sandy Alcantara who hasn’t pitched in over a month. Alcantara likes to throw a lot of sinkers and changeups against left-handed hitters, and both are pitches Choi handles pretty well. So far in his career, Choi has a .520 wOBA and .378 ISO versus sinkers. He hasn’t hit a homer since August 19, so I’d say he’s about due, especially if Alcantara shows any signs of rust.
2B/3B Luis Urias ($3,000 DK, $2,300 FD)
Urias is expected to hit at the top of the Milwaukee Brewers order and he’s severely underpriced, given the matchup versus lefty Steven Brault. Albeit a small sample size, so far this season, Urias is batting .400 with a .456 wOBA and 190 wRC+ against southpaws.
OF Juan Soto ($5,700 DK, $4,800 FD)
If you are only choosing to pay up for one hitter today, it has to be Juan “Goato” Soto. Aside from the fact that he’s homered in two of his last three games and he ranks first in the majors in OPS (1.212), he has a tremendous matchup against Zack Godley. Godley has an ungodly 7.29 ERA and 1.952 WHIP. Godley throws a lot of cutters and curveballs to left-handed batters, accounting for 79% of all pitches he’s thrown to them. Soto whacks both of those offerings. Over the course of his career, he has a .486 wOBA versus cutters and a .405 wOBA against curveballs. Soto also has a 61.4% Hard Hit rate versus righties this season. Lock him in.
Other Options: Any Nationals hitters (see below), Joey Votto, Rafael Devers, Alex Verdugo
Stacks
WAS@BOS
Both sides of this game are attractive, but if you have to lean to one side, it’s the Nationals. Their hitters are extremely affordable and very easy to stack. Godley’s 2.1 HR/9 rate won’t help him here.
Los Angeles Dodgers vs Kyle Gibson
Gibson has looked brutal his last couple of times out against the Padres and Athletics. Unfortunately for him, he won’t get a break today. The Dodgers are loaded with mashers, and Gibson’s 6.42 xERA and .323 xBA signals danger.
Tampa Bay Rays vs Sandy Alcantara
This is where you should be taking a shot in tournaments. Alcantara is a solid pitcher for the most part. But maybe there’s some rust after his long layoff due to COVID. The Rays sit tenth in wOBA (.328) and ninth wRC+ (109) against right-handed hurlers.
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