What a Tuesday we have here! A large slate packed with studs and plenty of value options! Need some value bats to work around Brandon Woodruff or Lucas Giolito? I got you covered! Need a value arm to work around the Toronto lineup? I got you covered there, too! Plenty of value on this slate on offense and on the bump and I’m excited for this slate. I got a good feeling about a lot of guys below…
Well, enough with the small talk. Let’s take a look at my favorite value plays of the day!
All Sites
Nicky Lopez, SS KC ($3,000 FD/$3,100 DK/$13 Yahoo) - You’ll read it below in a bit, but Plesac has struggled of late, and on the road this year. On the road, he has a 5.33 ERA, and he’s posted a 6.33 ERA in 27 August innings. Meanwhile, all Lopez has done of late is hit! Not only is he hitting .292 against right-handers this season, but he has three straight three-hit games and is hitting .418 over the last two weeks! I can’t believe he’s still this cheap. Yes, his overall upside is capped, and that’s likely a factor, but the production has been there, and there’s no denying that.
José Iglesias, SS LAA ($2,400 FD/$3,100 DK/$7 Yahoo) - Like Lopez, Igelsias’ overall upside is capped, but this is a good matchup for him. He’s 6-for-8 with a home run in his career against Jameson Taillon, and the slick fielding shortstop has an .839 OPS over the last week. Again, the overall upside is capped, but this is a familiar matchup for Iglesias and he has hit safely in two of his last three.
Yahoo!
Edward Olivares, OF KC ($9) - DO NOT SIT THIS GUY! Talking to you, Kansas City! Olivares has a .901 OPS against right-handed pitching this year and he has four home runs in just 36 at-bats against righties, not to mention two stolen bases! Cleveland’s Zach Plesac has allowed a 1.68 HR/9 this year and there’s plenty of pop in Olivares’ bat to do some damage this evening. Plesac has a 5.33 ERA on the road this year, and he’s been brutal in August, allowing a .282 BAA and 6.33 ERA.
Jonathan Schoop, 2B/1B DET ($12) - Schoop crushes lefties, it’s what he does! He’s hitting .352 with a .416 wOBA against southpaws in 2021, and while Oakland’s Cole Irvin has reverse splits, that isn’t scaring me off Schoop today. Schoop is hitting .276 in the month of August and he has a .290 batting average in home contests this year. For what it’s worth, August has been Irvin’s worst month of the year, posting a 4.71 ERA across 21 innings of work.
FanDuel
Jean Segura, 2B/3B/SS PHI ($3,200) - Righties against Corbin, folks! Segura is hitting .317 this season against southpaws and he’s a healthy 10-for-35 in his career against Corbin. The veteran infielder is hitting .281 over the last week with a .772 OPS. If you are looking to stack against Corbin, your Philadephia stack starts with Segura.
Amed Rosario, SS/OF CLE ($3,300) - Rosario is hitting .331 this year against southpaws with a solid .888 OPS. He’s also hitting .339 over the past two weeks, thanks to hitting safely in 13 of his last 15 contests. Don’t overthink this one. He’s seeing the ball well, producing for fantasy managers and he’s still quite affordable.
DraftKings
Bobby Dalbec, 1B BOS ($3,100) - Dalbec is 2-for-6 in his career with a home run against Ryan Yarbrough and overall against southpaws in 2021, Dalbec is sporting a .271 batting average and .804 OPS. The powerful slugger is seeing the ball well of late, homering four times in the past week, while posting a .500 batting average and gargantuan 2.017 OPS. For the month of August as a whole, he’s hitting .345 with a 1.252 OPS.
Blake Snell, SP SDP ($7,700) - Snell can be used on any slate tonight, but his price point on DraftKings is the most favorable. The southpaw has been dominant of late. He has nine or more strikeouts in three of his last four starts, and since the calendar flipped to June, he’s allowed more than three earned runs in a start just three times. On the other hand, he’s recorded eight starts with two or fewer earned runs. Since June 1st, Snell has posted a 5-3 record with a 10.61 K/9 and 3.90 ERA. Yes, Arizona has hit lefties well this year, but over the last two weeks (against all pitchers), they have the ninth-highest strikeout rate and are just league average in terms of team OPS.
Player News
Eury Pérez will be activated from the injured list to start Monday’s series opener against the Pirates.
It’s happening. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough confirmed that Pérez will make his long-awaited return from Tommy John surgery on Monday at PNC Park. The dynamic 22-year-old righty looked sharp during his eight-start minor league rehab assignment and shouldn’t have any workload restrictions out of the gate. Given his immense talent, and successful rookie campaign back in 2023, Pérez should be rostered in all fantasy formats.
Kyle Stowers struck out as a pinch hitter on Sunday against the Rays.
Stowers did not start the game and had been on the bench for the previous three games while battling a hand issue. The fact that he was able to pinch hit seems to indicate that he’s on the mend, but it wasn’t a particularly good at bat and there’s always a chance he felt some discomfort when hitting, so we’ll wait for Monday’s lineup before we know for sure if he’s avoiding an IL stint.
Mets signed RHP Julian Merryweather to a minor league contract.
Merryweather heads to New York as extra organizational relief depth after struggling to a bloated 5.79 ERA across 18 2/3 innings (21 appearances) this season for the Cubs. The hard-throwing 33-year-old righty has made 152 career appearances dating back to the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.
Heriberto Hernández went 3-for-3 in a loss to the Rays on Sunday.
Hernández has gone 6-for-16 so far after being called up from Triple-A, but he has started just four of those games. If Kyle Stowers heads to the IL, Hernández would seem to be the prime beneficiary, but Stowers was able to pinch-hit on Sunday, which makes that seem unlikely.
Mariners re-signed RHP Trevor Gott to a minor league contract.
Gott winds up back with the Mariners on a new minor league pact after being released earlier this month. The 32-year-old righty is working his way back from last year’s Tommy John surgery and could factor into Seattle’s relief mix in the second half.
Drew Rasmussen allowed two runs on six hits in six innings in a no-decision against the Marlins on Sunday.
Ramussen walked just one but struck out only three on the day, while posting a 21 percent whiff rate and 31 percent CSW. He threw essentially all fastballs today, with 69 of his 74 pitches being some variation of a fastball. He pounded the zone with his four-seam and sinker, but the cutter didn’t miss many bats on the day. Still, not much to complain about here or with his 2.22 ERA on the season. You can fire Rasmussen up even against the Mets next week.