MLB Daily Fantasy Stacks & Pitchers – 09-09-16

Chris Durell

I don’t know about you, but I am thrilled it’s Daily Fantasy Friday. It has been a long hard working week, and it appears we are going to get rewarded tonight before the games even begin. Friday gives us an elite selection of ace pitchers to choose from including the return of Clayton Kershaw who will face off vs. Jose Fernandez in the game of the day. If paying up for these two doesn’t seem to fit your budget then look no further than the other top talents: Madison Bumgarner, Tanner Roark, Carlos Martinez, Yu Darvish and Danny Salazar who also provide excellent value. Let’s take a look at a few pitchers to target with a couple stacking options.

PITCHERS

Clayton Kershaw FD 11000 DK 13500
Opponent – MIA (Fernandez) Park – @MIA
FD – 43.72 DK – 28.97

He’s back! After trouble with a herniated disc in his back, Clayton will be making his return to the mound tonight. The Dodgers will be traveling to Miami to take on the Marlins and superstar Jose Fernandez. The game has an incredibly low 6.5 Vegas total with the Dodgers coming in as -145 favorites. Before the injury, Kershaw was dealing at an elite level going 11-2 with a 1.79 ERA that is directly backed up by 2.16 xFIP and 50% ground ball rate. The most unbelievable part is the fact he struck out 145 batters in 121 innings pitched while walking just nine. The matchup is also in his favor as the Marlins rank 23rd in wOBA with a 22.3% K rate against left-handed pitching. Happy Kershaw day!

Danny Salazar FD 9800 DK 9000
Opponent – MIN (Duffey) Park – @MIN
FD – 31.93 DK – 20.78

If paying up for Kershaw doesn’t fit your strategy tonight, Danny Salazar makes an excellent pivot and comes in under $10K on both sites. The Indians have opened as -155 favorites on the road in Minnesota to face the Twins. Despite running hot bats lately, the Twins are striking out over 24% of the time over the last two weeks and shown little patience with a 7.6% walk rate. After a rough start to the month, Salazar has been elite in his last two starts giving up just three earned runs in 11 innings pitched with 21 strikeouts. The issue with Salazar is he doesn’t normally get deep into the game as he has only made it through the 6th inning once in the second half. The strikeouts give him a solid floor tonight, and if he can limit the walks and pitch count early, he should be able to provide elite upside for tournaments.

STACKS

Cleveland Indians vs. Tyler Duffey (Twins)
Park – Target Field

Another reason to like Salazar tonight is his win potential as the offense for the Indians is projected to score close to five runs tonight. They get a good-looking matchup vs. the Twins who carry the league’s worst ERA(5.25) into the matchup. The tribe will be facing Tyler Duffey tonight, who has been struggling since the All-Star break. In eight starts he has given up 34 earned runs in just 35.2 innings pitched while surrendering eight home runs and allowing a 35% hard contact rate. The top of the lineup is the best place to stack the Indians with Carlos Santana, Francisco Lindor, Jason Kipnis and Mike Napoli.

San Francisco Giants vs. Rubby De La Rosa (Diamondbacks)
Park – Chase Field

The Giants enter this matchup with the Diamondbacks as a big -195 favorites on the road. The offense is in an attractive spot to provide some run support for Madison Bumgarner tonight as they shift from AT&T Park to Chase Field which has produced top offensive results this season. The Giants are just a middle of the pack team when looking at hitting against righties but should get a boost facing Rubby De La Rosa. De La Rosa, will be making his return tonight after spending three months on the disabled list. He isn’t likely to go deep into the game, and it is expected that Braden Shipley will follow him out of the bullpen. Both pitchers are susceptible to giving up the long ball with matching 17% HR/FB rates this season. If the Giants to get through De La Rosa and into the league’s worst bullpen(5.13 ERA) they should be able to crush their run projection today and win people DFS tournaments as they should be relatively low-owned.