If short slates are your favorite then today is a day you have to attack. The early slate offers us 4 games and the late slate offers us 5 games. I do think it takes some different strategy dealing with a short slate as opposed to going over every option of a full slate of games. Lets take a look at the game lines and then go over my favorite pitchers and stacks from both slates to target for your GPP lineups on FanDuel and DraftKings.
Game Lines
Rockies @ Mets(-240) 7
Brewers @ Cubs(-220)
Pirates @ Cardinals(-120) 6.5
Reds @ Dodgers(-190) 7
Nationals @ Giants
Athletics @ Blue Jays(-145) 8
Rangers @ Twins
Yankees(-104) @ Indians 8
Angels @ Royals(-105) 8
Pitcher
Studs
Noah Syndergaard, New York Mets (FD $11,000, DK $11,100) – Syndergaard and the Mets are a -240 favorite in this game as Syndergaard is coming off of a terrible start on the road his last time out. Syndergaard has been absolutely dominant at home in 2015 as he has an average against of just .196 and an ERA of 1.57 and this game has an over/under of just 7 runs. I think his price tag is pretty spot on for this match-up and I think he is my number 1 cash game option and probably my number 2 or 3 when it comes to GPPs.
Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals (FD $9400, DK $10,900) – The line for this game has yet to come out, however I think Strasburg is in great form after his recent return from the DL. He came out in his last start and mowed down the Rockies thru 7 innings as he struck out 12 and allowed just 1 run on only 3 hits. Strasburg has made one start against the Giants in 2015 and he left that early due to injury (shocker right?). He went 3.2 shutout innings and allowed just 1 hit while striking out 3 in that start. The Giants roster has just a .244 average against Strasburg to go along with 21 strikeouts in 78 at-bats.
Values
Nathan Eovaldi, New York Yankees (FD $7400, DK $7700) – Eovaldi and the Yankees are a -104 road favorite in this game and it has an over/under of 8 runs. With this game basically a pick em, I think Eovaldi is a sneaky solid GPP play on FD as people will look to avoid him as he is not a clear cut favorite. The Yankees lineup generally gets him some pretty impressive run support. His overall season numbers on the road are really bad but they are being buoyed by 2 horrible road starts as he gave up 8 runs in 0.2 innings to the Marlins and 5 runs in 4.1 innings to the Nationals. When you take those numbers out, he has still thrown more road innings and his road ERA actually drops below his 3.41 home ERA.
Mark Buehrle, Toronto Blue Jays (FD $7800, DK $7600) – I was very interested in Buehrle as Wednesday’s starter and am just fine with moving him into this slot for Thursday. As I said under Gray, the Blue Jays are a -145 home favorite in this game and the A’s do not offer much for offensive resistance going up against the left handed Buehrle. Buehrle has made one start against the A’s so far in 2015 and went 7 innings, allowing 1 run on 8 hits while striking out 3. The A’s roster has had some decent success in their careers against him as they have 221 at-bats against and have K’d just 26 times and have a .290 average to go with a .782 OPS.
GPP Plays
Francisco Liriano, Pittsburgh Pirates (FD $9700, DK $11,000) – Liriano is coming off of a rough start his last time out however he has thrown 20.2 innings against the Cardinals and has managed to strike out 20 while giving up 8 earned runs and 14 hits. The Cardinals are actually a -120 favorite in this game and that is just fine with me as some will be more apt to go with Lance Lynn. This game has an over/under of just 6.5 runs and should have a postseason type feel around Busch Stadium. The one guy that Liriano needs to avoid is Jhonny Peralta as he has 4 bombs against him in 51 at-bats.
Jon Lester, Chicago Cubs (FD $10,700, DK $10,800) – Lester and the Cubs are a big -220 favorite in this game as they go up against Tyler Cravy and the Brewers. Lester has made one start against the Brewers this year and went 7 shutout innings while striking out 4. The Brewers roster has just 11 hits against Lester to go along with 17 strikeouts across 59 at-bats. I think Lester makes an awesome GPP play as he is priced up a little bit and being so close to Syndergaard’s price will make him pretty low owned I believe.
Stacks
Stud Stacks
Chicago Cubs: Dexter Fowler (FD $2900, DK $4600), Kyle Schwarber (FD $3900, DK $4800), Anthony Rizzo (FD $4300, DK $5300), Kris Bryant (FD $3400, DK $4700) – I think the Cubs offense is in a great spot against Tyler Cravy in this game and I am anticipating a blow-up game from the Cubs offense at some point in the near future. Cravy has thrown 20 innings in the majors this year and has allowed 10 extra base hits during his time in the Show. Righties have 6 of the 10 extra base hits against him, however lefties hit him just as well so far. I am pretty comfortable taking any of the top 6 in this lineup.
Washington Nationals: Bryce Harper (FD $4600, DK $5200), Ryan Zimmerman (FD $3200, DK $3700), Jayson Werth (FD $2700, DK $2900), Ian Desmond (FD $3600, DK $3500) – I love the Nationals taking on Ryan Vogelsong in this game and the Nats have been swinging it a lot better recently. I would pay attention to the lineup as Harper was scratched on Tuesday. I would not mind adding Rendon, Ramos and Escobar.
Other Stacks
Minnesota Twins: Aaron Hicks (FD $3200, DK $3800), Brian Dozier (FD $3300, DK $4300), Trevor Plouffe (FD $3600, DK $3800), Torii Hunter (FD $4300, DK $4800) – I will gladly take the Minnesota Twins going up against a soft tossing Chi-Chi Gonzalez. As I write this, the Twins are exploding against Nicholas Martinez as Sano is just going off. That will make my usage of Plouffe over him in this stack stand out as even more contrarian. I can certainly see including Mauer, Rosario and even somebody like Nunez if he is in the lineup.
New York Mets: Curtis Granderson (FD $3900, DK $4300), Daniel Murphy (FD $3100, DK $3900), Yoenis Cespedes (FD $3500, DK $4400) – The Mets are playing very well right now and they get to face a right handed pitcher for the first time in a few games and that means Granderson and Murphy find themselves back in the top two spots. I would include Duda if he is in the lineup, however he has missed the last couple of games with a back issue. Kelly Johnson could be an interesting inclusion as well thanks to his power against right handed pitching.
Other Thoughts
My first thought has me wondering if the “chalk” will continue to rule supreme as the chalk has been dominating the leader boards this week. If that is the case then we all should stack the Rangers-Twins game a few different ways and maybe debate combining the Cubs with the Nationals/Yanks-Indians/Dodgers. Most of the DFS industry is going to be focused on the first round of the final Major of the year for the PGA GPPs that will get started early in the morning. The only other pitcher that intrigues me is Mat Latos going up against a somewhat dangerous Reds team. I hope everybody has some success in their PGA GPPs and maybe one of you guys will walk away with a cool million dollars.
