Grab your coffee or drink of choice for this fine Sunday morning and get ready to examine some value plays for the day! There’s a ton of expensive pitchers on the slate, as well as plenty of hefty bats and potential stacks that are going to suck your wallet dry! It’s time to do some bargain shopping, and I have found quite a few bats for your use. Oh, and even one arm, in case you don’t want to pay up for Zack Wheeler or Lance McCullers Jr.!
Without further ado, let’s jump in and examine my favorite value bats and arm for Sunday’s main slate!
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Luis Gil, SP NYY ($7,100 FD/$6,500 DK/$34 Yahoo) - Over the last two weeks against righties, Seattle is around league average or slightly below league average in terms of batting average and strikeout rate, but Seattle’s ISO over the last two weeks bests just four teams in all of baseball. Gil was excellent in his debut and there’s some strikeout potential wil Gil today, as he posted excellent strikeout numbers prior to joining the big club. There’s a lot of expensive pitchers on the board, but if you want to spend up on offense instead, Gil is a great value option today against Seattle.
Dominic Smith, 1B/OF NYM ($3,100 FD/$3,000 DK/$7 Yahoo) - Smith’s numbers are better against lefties this year than righties, and a tough right-hander is on the bump for the Phillies. However, Smith has had great success against Zack Wheeler, going 8-for-17 in his career against the Philadelphia right-hander. If you’re going to go contrarian against Wheeler and buy into the fact that he’s allowed three or more earned runs in four of his last five outings, I would go with the guy who has shown to hit him consistently, and that’s Smith.
Yahoo!
Randal Grichuk, OF TOR ($10) - Today will be a popular day to double, triple or maybe even quadruple down against Garrett Richards. Grichuk is a cheap part of the Toronto offense today, and Richards has allowed right-handers to hit .318 with a .935 OPS this year. Furthermore, Richards has made five starts against Toronto this year, allowing a 6.15 ERA across 26.1 innings of work. Toronto hitters have posted a .321 average against him with five homers. If you have the money, Vladdy Jr., George Springer, and Teoscar Hernandez are on the radar. UPDATE: Grichuk is not starting for Toronto.
Ozzie Albies, 2B ATL ($15) - There is no need to overthink this. Corbin is struggling, coming off a month of July where he allowed 21 earned runs across 26.1 innings of work. Furthermore, home runs are biting him where the sun doesn’t shine, as he has allowed 10 home runs in his last 33.1 innings of work. Well, in struts Albies who is 7-for-20 with a home run in his career against Corbin, and has a .315 batting average against lefties this year overall. No lineup today should be without Albies’ services.
FanDuel
Joey Wendle, 3B/SS TB ($2,500) - Baltimore’s Jorge Lopez has struggled this year, and Wendle is on the positive side of his splits. Wendle has hit righties at a .305 clip this year with an .856 OPS and on the road, he’s hitting .348 with a .960 OPS! He loves himself some Baltimore pitching, as he’s hit .419 with a 1.226 OPS against the birds in 2021. Wendle is an integral part to any Baltimore or game stack today.
Cedric Mullins, OF BAL ($3,100) - Mullins is 4-for-6 off Tampa Bay’s Michael Wacha, and Mullins should be in a spot for a big afternoon. Wacha has allowed a .280 average to left-handed hitters and all Mullins, a lefty, has done is hit righties at a .317 clip with a massive .394 wOBA. At Camden Yards, Mullins has hit .328 this year, while Wacha has posted a 6.15 ERA away from his home park.
DraftKings
Dylan Carlson, OF STL ($3,100) - If you face Bubic, lefties may have proven to be good for more pop against him, but it’s righties that have the higher batting average. Well, Carlson loves southpaws, as he’s hit .319 against them this season. Also, he has a .310 batting average and .354 wOBA at home this year, whereas on the road, Bubic has a 6.68 ERA (8.04 FIP) and 1.58 WHIP.
Jorge Soler, OF ATL ($3,400) - I’ll repeat what I said with Albies. “There is no need to overthink this. Corbin is struggling, coming off a month of July where he allowed 21 earned runs across 26.1 innings of work. Furthermore, home runs are biting him where the sun doesn’t shine, as he has allowed 10 home runs in his last 33.1 innings of work.” Soler has nine home runs in just 99 at-bats against lefties this year and over his last 46 at-bats, he’s hitting .326 with seven home runs, 11 RBI, 12 runs scored and a 1.230 OPS. Soler + Albies = SUCCESS!
Player News
Max Muncy went 2-for-4 with two homers and three RBI in the Dodgers 6-5 win over the Mets on Tuesday.
Muncy has been on a tear at the plate as his home run barrage continued Tuesday. He took Tylor Megill deep for a two-run blast in the first inning, then later tied the game with a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth for his second round-tripper of the evening. The 34-year-old slugger is up to nine homers, five in his last seven games, while hitting .230/.350/.432 across 223 plate appearances.
Freddie Freeman went 2-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI, and a run scored against the Mets on Tuesday.
Freeman put the Dodgers on the board with a double in the first inning to bring home a run before scoring on a groundout. His next hit came in the bottom of the tenth. With two runners on and one out, he doubled off the left field wall to drive in the game-winning run. The 35-year-old first baseman is hitting an incredible .369/.435/.626 with nine homers, 34 runs scored, and 40 RBI across 214 plate appearances.
Juan Soto went 1-for-5 with a two-run homer against the Dodgers on Tuesday.
Soto took Clayton Kershaw deep for his only hit of the game, sending a two-run blast to right center field. It was Soto’s third home run in four games and his 11th on the season as he’s hitting .233/.361/.438 with 39 runs scored, 30 RBI, and seven steals across 269 plate appearances.
Huascar Brazobán gave up one run to blow the save chance against the Dodgers on Tuesday.
With Edwin Díaz getting a breather after pitching in three of the last four games, Brazobán was summoned to close things out with a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth. He surrendered a game-tying solo homer to Max Muncy before ultimately striking out the side.
Clayton Kershaw allowed five runs -- three earned -- with two strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings in a no-decision against the Mets on Tuesday.
Kershaw allowed a run in the first inning on a two base hits and a wild pitch. Juan Soto later took him deep for a two-run shot in the third. The Mets then brought two more unearned runs in on a walk, error, and two hits in the fifth before Kershaw’s day was done with two outs in the frame. He struck out two. The 37-year-old veteran left-hander will carry a 5.17 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, and an 8/9 K/BB ratio across 15 2/3 innings into a start against the Padres in San Diego on Monday.
Tylor Megill allowed four runs with seven strikeouts over six innings in a no-decision against the Dodgers on Tuesday.
Megill was hit for four runs in the open frame, including two on a home run by Max Muncy. He recovered tremendously following the first inning, locking in for five more scoreless frames, striking out seven batters over six innings. The 29-year-old right-hander will take a 3.77 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and a 79/28 K/BB ratio across 59 2/3 innings into a start against the Rockies in Colorado on Sunday.