The upside of having just a three-game slate during last Thursday’s MLB trade deadline means that the Monday slate — the other possible off day — is fairly large, with three-fifths of the league in action as part of tonight’s DFS contest on DraftKings.
That means my pitcher rankings will be back to a normal size: five stellar hurlers for tonight’s nine-game featured slate, encompassing a mix of stud and value options.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Knuckleball [$25K to 1st].
1. Yusei Kikuchi, Los Angeles Angels vs. Tampa Bay Rays, $7,900
The southpaw’s return to form this season came as somewhat of a surprise league-wide, as though he has previously made an All-Star team and earned Cy Young votes, he’d never been worth more than half of the 3.4 WAR that he’s generated so far this season. In his seventh MLB season, the 34-year-old has given up more than three earned runs in a game just twice, though he’s conceded a trio in each of his second-half starts. This season, he’s become somewhat of a slider specialist, throwing the pitch 36% of the time.
All of the splits work out in Kikuchi’s favor today. He’s been significantly better at home, averaging 18.2 FPTS at Angel Stadium, and he’s going against a Rays team that has had the third-worst OPS since the All-Star break, the sixth-worst mark against lefties, and the sixth-worst OPS on the road. Plus, Tampa Bay recently lost All-Star infielder Jonathan Aranda ($4,300) to a wrist fracture. Junior Caminero ($5,000), the Rays’ most dangerous hitter overall, has been in poor form, averaging just 4.6 FPTS per game over his last 10 games and 6.7 FPTS per game on the road.
2. Quinn Priester, Milwaukee Brewers ($8,900)
Priester’s 15.1-FPPG average for the season is predominantly driven by a rocky start; in his last 10 games, he’s pitched to a 2.54 ERA and averaged 20.2 FPTS per game, more than any pitcher on tonight’s slate except for Nick Lodolo ($8,700). The 24-year-old has put together four excellent starts in a row, allowing two or fewer earned runs in each one, and he’s recorded 35 or more FPTS twice in his last six outings.
The sinkerballer has a good matchup in the Atlanta Braves, who have had a bottom-10 offense all season and have scored four or fewer runs thrice in the four games since Ronald Acuña Jr. ($6,000) went on the injured list with a mild calf strain. Plus, though Priester has induced strikeouts at just a 33rd-percentile clip, the Braves have struck out at the ninth-highest rate. He’s also in good position to pick up a win, assuming Erick Fedde ($5,500) — whose 4.2-inning, four-run (4.3-FPT) Atlanta debut was somehow his best performance since June 19 — struggles once again.
3. Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles Dodgers ($9,800)
Glasnow had a rocky most recent start, giving up four runs, four hits, and five walks (1.6 FPTS) in a win over the Cincinnati Reds on July 29, but after recording 18 or more FPTS in each of his starts since returning from injury at the start of July, one poor outing isn’t something that should concern either the Dodgers or DFS players. Sure, he hasn’t induced many chases and issues too many free passes, but he’s a six-foot-eight flamethrower who strikes out batters at a 90th-percentile rate and avoids giving up many hard hit, so he’s an easy guy to get behind.
The St. Louis Cardinals have had an extremely cold offense as of late, posting just a 5-11 record and the league’s second-worst OPS since the All-Star break. They’ve also had the eighth-worst road offense in baseball this season, posting just a .685 OPS away from Busch Stadium. Glasnow has been a different man at Dodger Stadium than on the road, averaging 20.2 FPTS per game in five home starts, shutting down several high-powered offenses in the process.
4. Patrick Corbin, Texas Rangers ($7,600)
After being worth negative WAR in three of the last four seasons and leading the National League in losses in the season that he didn’t, it looked like Corbin’s career was toast. But after signing with the Rangers in the offseason, he’s been solid — not great, but solid. He had a particularly stellar July, pitching to a 2.30 ERA over the last month and averaging 18.3 FPTS per game, recording an above-average fantasy output in each of his last six starts.
On paper, the New York Yankees aren’t the easiest matchup, given all the talent on the Yankees’ offense, including trade deadline acquisition Ryan McMahon ($3,600). But New York hasn’t been great over the last few weeks, with a bottom-10 offense in the last 15 days and five or fewer runs scored in six of the nine games since Aaron Judge ($6,100) went on the IL. Corbin has also been somewhat better at Globe Life Field, averaging 16.2 FPTS per game in nine starts there.
5. Brayan Bello, Boston Red Sox ($7,800)
Boston has been one of the league’s hottest teams, sweeping the Houston Astros last weekend and winning each of its last five games to climb to second in the AL East, three games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. Though the Red Sox have lost two of the last three games that Bello started, they came against Los Angeles and the Chicago Cubs, which are justifiable. The last time Bello allowed more than two earned runs against any non-top-10 offense in baseball was June 9, and overall, he’s averaged 18.5 FPTS per game over his last 10 starts.
The Kansas City Royals have actually had a top-10 offense since the All-Star break after finally finding the power stroke that has eluded them all season, but Bello — who’s allowed a 75th-percentile hard hit percentage, a 73rd percentile average exit velocity, and a 64th-percentile barrel rate — is well-suited to keep their bats in check. Kansas City will probably keep it in play — Bello struggles to induce chases and the Royals very rarely whiff, — but that should work in Bello’s favor, given he’s backed up by the league’s fourth-best defense.
