Nine is fine! The main slate tonight consists of nine games with pitching options headlined by Chris Sale, Max Scherzer and Yu Darvish. None of those aces are cheap, so you’ll need value bats to find around those guys. Hell, even if you don’t pay up for one of them, you’re still going to need a couple of value bats to fit around the likes of Juan Soto and Bryce Harper.

Don’t worry, I got you covered. Keep on reading to find my favorite value plays on Yahoo, FanDuel and DraftKings for tonight’s nine game main slate!

All Sites

Riley Adams, C WAS ($2,100 FD/$2,200 DK/$12 Y) - Adams better be in the lineup tonight and I’ll leave it at that. Adams has a .313 batting average and .905 OPS against right-handed pitching this year, and he’s swinging a red-hot bat. Over the last two weeks, he’s hitting .417 with a 1.184 OPS!  He’s hit safely in six straight games and Washington would be foolish to not start him tonight.

Lars Nootbaar, OF STL ($2,100 FD/$2,200 DK/$12 Y) - If Nootbaar finds himself in the lineup, he’s an easy play across the board. Pittsburgh’s Mitch Keller hasn’t gotten lefties out in his entire career and Nootbaar has a .280 batting average against right-handers this year. The St. Louis outfielder has hit .333 with a 1.039 OPS over the last two weeks, and if he’s out, you can pivot to Dylan Carlson.

Yahoo!

Whit Merrifield, 2B KC ($13 Y) - Is this price point too low? Yes. Am I complaining? Absolutely not. Merrifield is 2-for-6 with a home run against Seattle’s Yusei Kikuchi, and right-handed hitters have a .263 average and .357 wOBA against the Seattle southpaw. Merrifield has a .311 batting average and .803 OPS against southpaws this year, and Merrifield is sporting a .364 batting average over the last two weeks. Fire him up tonight and don’t look back.

Travis Shaw, 1B BOS ($10) - Shaw is 5-for-14 with a home run against John Gant. Shaw hasn’t been overly dominant this year, but he does have a 1.694 OPS over his last eight at-bats, thanks to two home runs and he has hit safely in three straight contests. There’s plenty of risk here, but I like sliding Shaw in any lineup where you’re including another Red Sox hitter or are just looking to go against the grain a bit.

FanDuel

Bryan Reynolds, OF PIT ($3,200 FD) - Bryan Reynolds is 6-for-15 in his career off Miles Mikolas and the switch-hitting outfielder is sporting a solid .274 batting average and .365 wOBA at home this year. Reynolds has hit righties at a .288 clip this year and he has a .770 OPS against St. Louis pitching in 2021.

Franmil Reyes, OF CLE ($3,100 FD) - Reyes has a .922 OPS over the last week and gets to face Jordan Lyles, who he has homered against in his career. Reyes has an .880 OPS against righties this season and an outstanding .935 OPS at home in 2021. Lyles has surrendered a 2.02 HR/9 this year and if you thought that was bad, let me point out his 2.27 HR/9 against righties in particular or his 2.26 HR/9 on the road.

DraftKings

Andy Ibáñez, 2B TEX ($2,700 FD/$2,200 DK) - I love picking on Sam Hentges. The Cleveland southpaw struggles to get righties out, as they have posted a .359 batting average and .421 wOBA against him. Well, Andy Ibáñez has a .319 batting average and .833 OPS against southpaws in 2021. Over the last week, he’s hitting an insane .542 with a 1.285 OPS! He’s hit safely in nine straight games and has five straight multi-hit efforts.

Myles Straw, OF CLE ($3,000 DK) - Straw has homered in one of his two at-bats against Texas’ Jordan Lyles and Straw has a .279 average against right-handers since joining Cleveland. Lyles has allowed a .303 batting average to right-handed hitters this year, not to mention a .376 wOBA. Straw is hitting .308 over the last two weeks and he’s hit safely in nine of his last 11 contests.