You have to love a seven game slate with some pitchers that are going to get shelled! On the other hand, pitching isn’t exactly fruitful this evening, so you’ll likely be able to get a couple extra high-priced bats in your lineup. Milwaukee and San Francisco seem to be in good spots for some significant fantasy production tonight, and they will likely be two popular stacks this evening.
Keep on reading to find some of my favorite value bats for tonight’s main slate!
All Sites:
Steven Duggar, OF SFG ($2,200 FD/$3,400 DK/$7 Yahoo) - Arizona’s Taylor Widener has allowed a .267 average and OPS near .860 to left-handed hitters, and Duggar, a lefty, is hitting .289 with a .359 wOBA against righties in 2021! Over his last 29 at-bats, he’s hitting .276 with an .812 OPS and against Arizona pitching this year, he’s hitting .481 with a 1.363 OPS. He loves facing Arizona and tonight will be no different!
Abraham Toro, 3B SEA ($2,500 FD/$3,200 DK/$14 Yahoo) - Ride the hot bat, ladies and gentlemen. Don’t overthink it. He’s hitting .476 with a 1.569 OPS over his last 21 at-bats. His average and OPS are better against lefties than right-handers, but I’m not fading Toro today because of that. Tampa Bay’s Michael Wacha has allowed a .276 average and .339 OBP to left-handed hitters.
Yahoo:
J.P. Crawford, SS SEA ($8 Yahoo) - Crawford is 1-for-2 with a home run against Michael Wacha, and against righties in 2021, Crawford has a .254 average and .675 OPS. His numbers are better against lefties admittedly, but he does have a quality .293 average on the road this season. Also, despite hitting just .218 in July overall, he’s slowly heating up, as he has a .296 average and .700 OPS over his last 27 at-bats.
Ryan Mountcastle, 1B/OF BAL ($12 Yahoo) - Mountcastle is hitting .270 with an .815 OPS against lefties this year, and over his last 21 at-bats, he’s hitting .333 with an .887 OPS. I expect Heaney to struggle in his debut with the Yankees, and Moutncastle will feast on the southpaw’s struggles. Mountcastle has a four game hit streak and he looks to be coming out of his July slump.
FanDuel:
Bryan Reynolds, OF PIT ($3,100) - Reynolds is 3-for-11 against Eric Lauer, but the big thing to note is that Reynolds pounds lefties. It’s just what he does! In 2021, Reynolds is hitting .354 with a .420 wOBA against southpaws. He also loves hitting on the road, as seen by his .341 average and .411 woBA. Reynolds on the road versus a southpaw is a cheat code, and while Lauer has been good of late, he’s been better on the road (3.08 ERA) compared to at home (4.26 ERA)
Omar Narváez, C MIL ($3,000 FD) - Bryse Wilson has surrendered a .302 batting average to left-handed hitters this year and Narvaez is hitting .303 with a .366 wOBA against righties. He’s hit safely in four of his last six, and he’s posted a .375 average and .944 OPS against Pittsburgh pitching in 2021. Like most hitters in the league, Narvaez loves squaring off against the Pirates.
DraftKings:
Anthony Santander, OF BAL ($2,000 DK/$10 Yahoo) - Santander is so cheap! Yes, he’s struggling, but Santander against lefties was profitable earlier in the year, and he has a .250 average against them. Andrew Heaney will be making his debut for the pinstripes, and previous appearances haven’t gone well for Heaney in New York. I like a couple Baltimore bats today, and in this game stack, Santander is a cheap piece of the pie.
Rowdy Tellez, 1B MIL ($2,600 FD/$3,000 DK) - Pittsburgh’s Bryse Wilson is in for a long evening. Since coming to Milwaukee, Tellez is hitting .288 and he has a .410 slugging percentage against righties. His batting average is higher versus lefties, but that won’t matter today as righties (.338 BA) and lefties (.302 BA) have had success against Pittsburgh’s Wilson. If you have the money Willy Adames and Kolten Wong are solid plays, and a Milwaukee stack is a full send this evening.
Player News
Mike Vasil will start Sunday’s game against the Royals.
Vasil was able to work 3 2/3 innings against the Tigers on Thursday, so there’s a chance that the 25-year-old could work the necessary five innings to qualify for a win. There’s a good chance he won’t pitch effectively enough to do so, however, so fantasy managers should look elsewhere for a streaming option if necessary.
Jacob Latz will start Sunday for the Rangers against the Nationals.
Latz, 29, will work as an opener for the bullpen game against the Nats. The southpaw will likely only work an inning or two before giving way, so there’ll be no chance for a win Sunday.
Anthony Veneziano will start Sunday’s game against the Rays.
Veneziano will likely just be an opener for the outing before giving way to a bulk relievers. The 27-year-old offers no fantasy appeal for that outing.
Ryan Weathers is being evaluated for a head injury according to Marlins manager Clayton McCullough.
It was believed that Weathers was dealing with an arm injury, but that’s not the case. The left-hander seems unlikely to make his next scheduled start at this point, but those considering Weathers as a streamer Saturday against the Nationals should await further update.
Jesús Sánchez had a three-run homer and a two-run double in the Marlins’ 10-inning, 11-10 victory over the Rays on Saturday.
Jake Mangum nearly made a terrific diving catch on the two-run double, but it went off his glove. Sánchez is 17-for-32 with three homers, four doubles and 11 RBI in his last 12 games, raising his OPS from .641 to .771. In spite of his struggles against lefties, he should be of some use in mixed leagues going forward.
Cade Gibson earned his first major league victory by pitching scoreless ninth and 10th innings against the Rays on Saturday.
Gibson has a 1.06 ERA through 17 innings, even though he’s struck out only nine batters. He actually had 23 strikeouts over 17 innings in Triple-A this year. A strong groundball pitcher, he doesn’t necessarily need to be a big strikeout guy to be effective. Still, he’s probably not someone who should factor into the mix for saves in Miami.