Top-Tier
Fernando Tatis Jr., SD – Tatis made his return to action yesterday and boy what a return it was as he went 4-5 with two home runs, a double, four RBI, and three runs scored to finish with 42 points on DK. Nobody averages more DK points per game than Tatis’ 12.2. He is now hitting .300 with 33 home runs, 23 steals, 74 RBI, and 81 runs scored, leading the NL in both home runs and steals. He also leads the MLB in SLG, OPS, and OPS+. He is still the clear front-runner for NL MVP, despite multiple IL stints and only 88 games played. He has massive reverse splits, slashing .314/.391/.702 against righties, compared to .253/.337/.587 against lefties and tonight the Padres face a weak righty in Senzatela at Coors Field. Tatis has played 14 career games at Coors Field and has a ridiculous slash of .377/.433/.770 with three home runs, seven doubles, four triples, 12 RBI, and 19 runs scored.
Trea Turner, LAD – Turner also had a massive game yesterday, going 3-4 with a double, a steal, a walk, a RBI, and four runs scored to finish with 30 points on DK. He is now hitting .318 with 18 home runs, 23 steals, and 76 runs scored. He has crushed left-handed pitching this season slashing a ridiculous .398/.441/.657 against them, compared to .290/.340/.455 against righties. This is a home game too and Turner is hitting .300 with a .391 OBP through six games at Dodgers Stadium this season. Brault has a 4.63 ERA, 4.68 FIP, and 1.50 WHIP for his career and righties own a .265/.358/.431 slash against him, compared to lefties, who have produced a .237/.339/.336 line.
Mid-Tier
Brendan Rodgers, COL – Rodgers is having a nice season, hitting .284 with nine home runs and 28 RBI. He has been swinging a hot bat as he had a 16-game hitting streak snapped last game. In that 16-game span he hit .364 with four home runs, four doubles, eight RBI, and 13 runs scored. He has been great against left-handed pitching this year, slashing .292/.343/.631 against them with six bombs in just 65 at-bats, compared to .281/.347/.405 against righties with three home runs in 153 at-bats. He has faced Weathers a few times and the results have been strong as he has gone 2-3 with a dinger against him.
Whit Merrifield, KC – Merrifield leads baseball with 33 steals and he has only been caught twice. On top of that he is hitting .273 with eight home runs and 64 runs scored. He is hot at the dish right now, hitting .295 with SIX steals and eight runs scored over his last 11 games. He has been a much better player at home this season too, slashing .288/.338/.436 in KC, compared to .257/.299/.341 on the road. Not enough for you? He has dominated this head-to-head matchup, going 8-19 (.421) with THREE home runs against Odorizzi in his career.
Buster Posey, SF – Catchers don’t often make the hitting coach, but we have a lot of reasons to like Posey today. First, his price point is very reasonable at $4,000 on DK and ninth priced catcher. Second, he is hot at the dish right now, hitting .343 with three home runs, 12 RBI, and 19 runs scored over his last 20 games. Third, he has crushed lefties this season, slashing .387/.465/.600 against them, compared to .309/.411/.529 against righties. Fourth, he has been fantastic at home, slashing .351/.459/.568, compared to .316/.401/.535 on the road. Lastly, he has crushed this head-to-head matchup, going 9-19 (.474) with a home run against Hill in his career.
Bargain Bin
Andrés Giménez, CLE – Gimenez is coming off back-to-back solid games, scoring 12 and 11 points on DK over the last two days. He is an OK play on DK, but he’s a great play on FD at the minimum price. The Indians are facing Jax, who has a 5.45 ERA, 5.94 FIP, and 2.4 HR/9 across 38 innings this season. Gimenez has very even splits for his career, but his .298 OBP against righties is a bit better than his .286 mark against lefties, but most importantly is the fact that 13 of his 14 career stolen bases have been against righties and steals are a major factor into playing Gimenez in DFS.
Frank Schwindel, CHC – Schwindel has been an everyday play for me for a few days now and he has been on fire, scoring 21, 28, 11, and 14 points on DK at the minimum price. He has finally been bumped above the minimum… but not by much. He has played 14 games with the Cubs and so far the results have been incredible as he is hitting .370 with four home runs and 13 RBI. He is slashing a robust .360/.407/.880 against lefties this season with four long balls in 27 PA, compared to one home run in 42 PA against righties. Righties are slashing .251/.313/.392 against Miley this year with nine home runs, compared to the .200/.255/.253 line lefties have produced with one home run.
Lewis Brinson, MIA – Brinson, much like Schwindel, has been a no-brainer play lately at the minimum price on DK. He is also no longer the minimum price, but also not by much and I will continue to ride his hot bat. He is a far better value on DK than he is on FD. He collected two more hits yesterday and he is now hitting .396 with four home runs, five doubles, 17 RBI, and 13 runs scored over his last 13 games. Not too shabby. In fact, his average DK point per game total of 12.5 in that span is incredible and, again, he’s practically the minimum price. He has also been better at home this season slightly, slashing .284/.321/.527 in Miami, compared to .279/.319/.485 on the road. Toussaint is not the type of pitcher that is going to scare me off a play like Brinson (a hot bat at dirt cheap price).