As NFL football fills our television screens and warms our heart with glee, we move even closer to post-season MLB. We have a full menu on tap for you today, providing your fill of 15 games with a few offenses in prime position to put up some runs. Let’s dance, shall we?

PITCHERS

Carlos Carrasco FD 10700 DK 12200
Opponent – CHW (Gonzalez) Park – @CWS
FD – 34.39 DK – 22.62

While Carlos Carrasco is usually a more of a tournament play, he should be able to provide sufficient results in both cash and tournaments tonight. He is up against the Chicago White Sox, who have a stunningly low .308 wOBA. Carrasco has given strong performances versus both left-handers and righties. Exhibiting a .278 wOBA versus right-handers, he has an impressive 17.4% line drive rate with a 9.42 K/9. It is certain that the White Sox have a few power bats in the lineup, however as is the cast with power-hitters they strikeout a ton and have bouts of cold streaks. Even though the game will be played in a hitters park, Carrasco has been known to give fantastic performances in any ballpark.

STACKS

San Francisco Giants vs. Paul Clemens (San Diego Padres)
Park – AT&T Park

The matchup tonight should bode well for the Giants as pitching for the Padres is Paul Clemens. Clemens has offered less than attractive numbers throughout his spotty MLB career. Given the fact that he is also getting over a sickness, this should make him a likely candidate for a less than average performance. Even before the bug took its toll, he hasn’t been able to find a groove, since the beginning of August he has posted a 6.08 ERA with a 4.39 BB/9. The Giants are starting to get serious about their chance at a post-season winning their last three games and now only three games behind their division rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Expect more of the same from your fan-favourites Pence, Posey and Panic.

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.

Chris Durell

It feels like forever and a day since we had NFL football and specifically daily fantasy football. I hope you are as excited as me to get started. Every week I am going to be bringing you a stacks article for your lineup that will be out on Wednesday/Thursday and will cover my favorite teams to stack each week when looking at the Sunday/Monday slate. At the start of the season, you are going to see a ton of references to last year’s stats and rankings as we just don’t have enough data yet. As the data for 2016 rolls in I will slowly integrate it into my models. Let’s get started!

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Washington Redskins
QB – Ben Roethlisberger
Elite WR Option – Antonio Brown
Value WR Options – Markus Wheaton, Eli Rogers, Sammy Coates

Week 1 is a great opportunity to pay up for some elite combos in tournaments as there are a ton of values on both sites as initial pricing has been out for weeks now. You can’t talk elite QB/WR combos without mentioning Big Ben and AB. Brown, who was second only to Julio Jones in 2015 with an average of 12.1 targets per game and receiving yards per game with 114.6. Ben only played 12 regular season games last year, but put up an impressive volume in those games with an average of 39 passing attempts per game while completing 68% of those passes for 8.4 yards per attempt average(3rd highest in the league). Monday night should be another high volume passing attack as they face the Redskins who rank 25th in passing yards against per game last season. With such a high volume passing attack it opens up value at the other wide receiver positions but is only recommended as contrarian plays. DraftKings is only offering the Monday Night games on their Thurs-Mon Slate unless things change between now and Sunday. FanDuel offers both Thurs-Mon and Sun-Mon slates.

Detroit Lions vs. Indianapolis Colts
QB – Matthew Stafford
WR Options – Golden Tate, Marvin Jones Jr.

If you are looking for some value on Sunday, look no further than the Lions/Colts game which ties the highest points total(51) on the entire slate this week. It is also projected to be one of the highest paced games as both teams ranked near the bottom in overall defense last season, and until I see major improvement, I will target them on a weekly basis. I lean on stacking the Lions more this week as I feel the Colts are the better team that should be able to jump out front early putting the Lions behind from behind position. This will force the already pass-happy Stafford to throw 40+ times. Stafford was terrific down the stretch last season throwing for 1,655 yards and 17 touchdowns while completing 73% of his passes in the final six games under Jim Bob Cooter. He lost Calvin Johnson which shouldn’t hurt too much as they have been adapting the passing style over the last couple years while dealing with Megatron’s injuries. They added the talented Marvin Jones to pair with Golden Tate. This is a team I would possibly stack both WR’s with Stafford as there is no clear #1 at this point. I, personally, love Jones a bit more this week as he is vastly under priced.

Oakland Raiders vs. New Orleans Saints
QB – Derek Carr
Elite WR Options – Amari Cooper

I think the Raiders provide an excellent low-ownership stacking opportunity in Week 1 at home against the Saints. This game has one of the three totals that eclipses the 50 mark this week with the Raiders coming in as slight underdogs. Much like the Lions above I feel the Raiders are the inferior team and will be playing from behind creating a situation where Carr will have to throw lots in keep up mode. He threw the 9th most passes in 2015 accumulating 3,987 yards and 32 touchdown passes. It was Amari Cooper who tallied nearly 25% of that production with 1,070 yards and six touchdowns. The connection should have no problem picking up where they left off against the Saints who allowed the second most passing yards among all NFL teams last season.

The day is finally among us, opening day of the NFL. But, that’s not why you’re here, we still have Daily Fantasy MLB to play! Even though there are only six teams to choose from tonight, we have come up with the best choice in each option tonight. So let’s get on with it.

STACKS

Washington Nationals vs. Alec Asher
Park – Nationals Park

With only six games to choose from on the main slate, the Nationals will undoubtedly be the highest owned stack tonight. The Nats have unquestionably found their bats, as of late, and when everything starts ticking for them, their offense can be quite deadly. I expect this lethal offense to continue as they are going up against the inexperienced Alec Asher. Since the inception of his MLB career, Asher’s numbers have been abysmal, through only 30 innings he has already given up eight home runs and an atrocious .425 combined wOBA. Until these young pitchers continue to develop, they are likely targets for offense stacks. While we all know the big names on the team; Harper and Murphy, there’s a whole slew of impressive bats after them. Since Bryce and Murph-dog will be more widely used than Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, I am a fan of the sneaky stack.

Main Stack – Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy, Trea Turner, Jayson Werth

Sneaky Stack – Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy, Wilson Ramos, Anthony Rendon

PITCHERS

A.J. Cole FD FD 6500 DK 8300
Opponent – PHI (Asher) Park – @WSH
FD – 30.39 DK – 19.67

With slim pickings tonight a lot of this play is because of how dreadful the Philly bats are. They have the worst offense in baseball; they’re horrible versus both Left-handers and Right-handers. In fact, the Phillies have a league-worst w0BA ~.300, which also happens to be the same w0BA that the young A.J. Cole has. Striking out a near league-leading high of 8.24 K’s per game, the Phillies also lack power. Which is a good thing, since Cole has proven to be a fly-ball pitcher that struggles with long balls occasionally. Even though we are at the beginning of Cole’s MLB career, this matchup is just too good to pass up.

Chris Durell

Welcome to another Hump Day edition of our daily fantasy baseball picks. With just four early games we are going to turn our attention to the 11-game main slate, which starts at 7:00 PM et tonight. It is an excellent night for pitching with multiple options from the top tier and down into the value plays which we will need if you want to roster some Coors Field bats. Let’s dig in and take a look at a few pitchers and stacking options for tonight.

PITCHERS

David Price FD 10800 DK 13100
Opponent – SD (Cosart) Park – @SD
FD – 38.71 DK – 25.34

It’s been a tale of two halves for Price this season. Before the AllStar Break, Price was striking out over ten batters per nine innings but gave up a 15.2% HR/FB rate giving him a 4.34 ERA. Looking at the second half of the season he has a much better 3.12 ERA and 8.3% HR/FB rate, but the K rate has fallen off the table down to a 7.19 per nine innings. Although the Padres are a much better hitting club against left-handed pitching, the K is the 2nd highest rate in the league at 25.1%. He is a GPP play only on DraftKings due to the $13K+ price tag but is safe in all formats on FanDuel as the 3rd most expensive option today.

Jameson Taillon FD 7400 DK 9200
Opponent – STL (Leake) Park – @PIT
FD – 29.87 DK – 19.91

Taillon has carried his minor league success over to the majors this season and is having an excellent rookie campaign. He has recorded a quality start in 11 of his 14 starts with an impressive 3.25 ERA and 3.28 xFIP. He has just an average K rate (7.27 K/9) but excels with an elite 54.1% ground ball rate. Taillon has also excelled at home in PNC Park with a 2.70 ERA while limiting opponents to a .227 average vs. a 4.09 ERA/.269 average against on the road. The matchup isn’t ideal against the Cardinals, but he ranks as a top play in any format from a PTS/$ perspective.

STACKS

San Francisco Giants vs. Jorge De La Rosa (Rockies)
Park – Coors Field

The Giants and Rockies let us down last night in a 3-2 snooze fest for those looking for offense. I think the bias from that game will help create a lower ownership on these teams tonight making them an elite stacking option. Being that four out of the top five hitters in the game are on the Rockies, I’m partial to the visiting team as they are much easier to fit into a lineup. De La Rosa has been a bit better at home when looking at the season ERA but certainly struggles with the long ball with a 19% HR/FB rate at Coors. Your top options on the Giants are Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, Brandon Belt and Eduardo Nunez (if he is back in the leadoff role again tonight).

Texas Rangers vs. Ariel Miranda (Mariners)
Park – Safeco Field

If you are looking for a secondary option to pivot away from Coors tonight, there are a few sneaky stacks with hot teams in bad parks. The Rangers don’t seem to be bothered with Safeco Field as they have scored 16 runs in the first two games of the series and are the hottest team in the majors over the last seven days with a .443 wOBA and 179 wRC+. The Rangers also rank in the Top 10 in wOBA and wRC+ against left-handed pitching. Build your stack around Adrian Beltre, Carlos Beltran, Ian Desmond and even the red-hot Roughned Odor (who holds a .331 wOBA and 101 wRC+ against southpaws).

Nick Rodriguez

We have a full 15-game schedule on our hands today, so things should get exciting! There are plenty of stacking options to target on this slate, So let’s dive right into the picks and make some money!

Pitchers

Corey Kluber FD 10800 DK 12600
Opponent – HOU (Keuchel) Park – @CLE
FD – 38.63 DK – 25.39

Corey Kluber is having another Corey Kluber type season, which is why he is my guy for cash games. Yes, he’s a bit expensive, but he’s got a great offense behind him, which helps his chances of picking up a Win. He has an excellent floor with an extremely high ceiling. Don’t believe me?

Then let’s take a look at his numbers:

In 2016, Kluber has been astounding. He’s sporting an ERA, xFIP and SIERA all under 3.50, to go along with a 26.0 K%. Do you see why I say he’s got big upside? Not only does he have upside of his own, but this matchup against the Astros puts the icing on the cake – as they own a whopping 23.5 K% on the year (4th in MLB). Yes, this offense is streaky, but they will be going up against one of the top pitchers in the game today.

Jason Hammel FD 8700 DK 7500
Opponent – MIL (Peralta) Park – @MIL
FD – 33.24 DK – 21.54

If you don’t trust Kluber, are an Astros’ fan, or fear Altuve and company – then go ahead and go with Jason Hammel. Not only is Vegas on his side (-173 money line), but he also draws an incredible matchup going up against the Milwaukee Brewers.

2016 has not been a good year for the Brewers’ offense, especially against right-handed pitchers. They own the highest K% on the year along with an 86 wRC+ (26th in MLB). I know that Hammel can be a bit inconsistent, but this matchup is too good to pass on and has a nice price tag. He’s in play in all formats for me tonight.

STACK TARGETS

Washington Nationals vs. Williams Perez(ATL)

Williams Perez made his MLB debut in 2015, and since then his numbers are less than attractive. For his career, he owns a 4.73 xFIP along with a 1.45 WHIP and 9.1 BB%. He struggles with control and command in his pitches, which is why I’m all over this Nationals’ squad. They are a suitable pivot from Coors Field and have a lineup that has major upside. They are my top stack of the night, and yes – ahead of any team playing at Coors Field.

My top 4 guys to stack:
Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Daniel Murphy and Jason Werth.

Colorado Rockies vs Jeff Samardzija (SF)

I know I said the Nationals were my favorite tournament stack of the evening, but I can’t leave out the Rockies as they will be playing at home. Not only that, but they will be going up against a pitcher that owns a 4.74 xFIP in the 2nd half of the season. He also owns an 8.9 BB% and a 4.88 SIERA. Things haven’t been all that notable for the hard-throwing right-hander, and I don’t expect it to get any better tonight, especially against this offense at Coors!

My top 4 guys to stack: David Dahl, Nolan Arenado, DJ LeMahieu and Carlos Gonzalez.

Happy Labor Day everyone! A lot of aces on the mound today with a few offenses in prime position to put up some runs. Let’s take a look at the stack and pitcher breakdowns for this holiday slate.

STACK TARGETS
Oakland Athletics vs. Jered Weaver (Angels)
Park – Oakland Coliseum

The Oakland Athletics are against of the worst pitchers in the league today, Jared Weaver. His numbers are dreadful versus both lefties and rights. Since the start of 2016, Weaver has been one of the most hit pitchers in the league with a terrible .370 wOBA. Even though the Athletics are mostly a right-handed team, they hit the fastball remarkably well with a lot of strength. The Oakland Coliseum being a pitchers park, should not deter you as you can rest assured the Athletics have a tendency to hit Weaver well. Most of the public will be on this stack, as such the sneaky stack may be the better play.

Main Stack – Marcus Semien, Stephen Vogt, Danny Valencia, Khris Davis

Sneaky Stack – Danny Valencia, Khris Davis, Ryon Healy, Joseph Wendle

Washington Nationals vs. Ryan Weber (Braves)
Park – Nationals Park

The Nationals are up against Ryan Weber, who has numbers have been abysmal since entering the majors. Versus lefties, he has a >.400 wOBA. Even though he has a suitable SP4 or 5, he has yet to mature. The big names in the offense will be highly owned here, so don’t be afraid to throw out a sneaky stack in the larger field tournaments. Being that National Park is neutral, it should not factor too much into this play.

Main Stack – Daniel Murphy, Jayson Werth, Wilson Ramos, Trea Turner

Sneaky Stack – Daniel Murphy, Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon, Chris Heisey

PITCHERS
Max Scherzer FD 11400 DK 13700
Opponent – ATL (Weber) Park – @WSH
FD – 40.33 DK – 25.95

Max Scherzer always seems to land at the top of our lists, as is deservedly so. Coming off of a solid performance versus the Phillies, he K’d 11 batters over eight innings. No surprise, Scherzer is elite performer against both lefties and righties with a combined wOBA ~.255. The Braves has been utterly atrocious versus right-handers, showing a .303 wOBA and a .703 OPS over the course of 1300 innings. As evident by his 20 strikeout performance in the early part of the season, Scherzer is a master of his craft. Even though the Braves put the ball in play a lot, Scherzer can make any team befuddled with his variety of pitches. He is easily a top candidate in both cash games and tournaments.

Cole Hamels FD 9700 DK 12200
Opponent – SEA (Hernandez) Park – @SEA
FD – 34.23 DK – 22.61

Cole Hamels should be a strong play for tournament games today. The majority of the Mariners lineup struggles against lefties as they have a lackluster 21.4% contact rate over 2000 plate appearances. Furthermore, their .168 iso and .317 wOBA are further proof that Hamels should do well against their lineup. The game takes place at Safeco Field today, one of the best pitcher ballparks in the league. Given all of the facts, Hamels certainly has a lot of upside potential.

Chris Durell

Welcome back to another day of daily fantasy baseball. We are now in the final month of the season, and playoff races are starting to heat up. Although only two of the six divisions are within two games there are 12 teams all within four games of a wildcard spot (including the team’s leading the WC). Friday brings us just one early afternoon game so we will be turning our attention to the 14 games. Let’s take a look at a few of the top pitching and stacking options below.

STACKS

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Jorge De La Rosa (Rockies)
Park – Coors Field

My top stack on the day is easily the Diamondbacks going into Coors Field against a southpaw. They are currently projected to score right around six runs today which I feel is conservative as they crush left-handed pitching, tied for 1st in wOBA(.347) and lead all teams with a .204 Isolated Power and .818 OPS this season. The top play to build your stack around is by far Paul Goldschmidt who sits with a crazy high .444 wOBA and 176 wRC+ against lefties this season. You can also go heavy on Yasmany Tomas, Welington Castillo, and Rickie Weeks who all have .400+ wOBA’s and .298+ ISO’s against southpaws. After that, it will mostly depend on the starting lineups which should be out in an hour or so.

Baltimore Orioles vs. Chad Green (Yankees)
Park – Oriole Park at Camden Yards

The Orioles are -130 home favorites today and projected to score around 4.75 runs according to Vegas. Since the Orioles are one of the top 3 teams in wOBA(.340) and wRC+(110) and lead all teams in ISO(.202) against right-handed pitching this season, we should discuss them more frequently. Anytime there is a game in Coors where both teams are projected to score a ton of runs you can find fantastic value and relatively small ownership with some other teams. The Orioles are one of these options today and get a great matchup against the Yankees and Chad Green who they touched up for seven hits and four earned runs just under a week ago. They loaded their lineup, but the core of your stack should include Manny Machado, Chris Davis, and Mark Trumbo. The rest will depend on starting positions.

PITCHERS

David Price FD 10300 DK 11900
Opponent – OAK (Triggs) Park – @OAK
FD – 38.51 DK – 25.45

Leading the way at pitcher tonight is the Red Sox ace David Price. He has been much better as of late, winning four straight starts while limiting opponents to six earned runs while striking out 27 batters and walking just five. He gets a huge park boost as well going from Fenway Park to the Oakland Coliseum to face the A’s who rank near the bottom against left-handed pitching for the season and have struggled lately with an awful .288 wOBA and 23.4% K rate over the last 14 days. Price is an elite play in all formats tonight.

Julio Urias FD 8400 DK 9600
Opponent – SD (Richard) Park – @LAD
FD – 33.04 DK – 21.25

Julio Urias makes a very intriguing GPP play today. He will be making his final start of the season before the Dodgers move him to the bullpen to limit his innings. The team has stretched him out over his last two starts as he has gone six innings in both and limited the Cubs and Reds to a combined one earned run while striking out 14 batters. While the Padres are much better against left-handed pitching this season they K at a high 24.8% rate opening the door for some tremendous upside should Urias be allowed to stretch it out one last time this year.

Pitchers

Jose Quintana FD 9700 DK 10200
Opponent – MIN (Santana) Park – @MIN
FD – 31.81 DK – 21.24

Not too much going on in the MLB world today as there are only 3 games on the evening slate. Jose Quintana seems to be the best of the bunch, as a lefty he is extremely effective against both sides of the plate. Supporting a sub .320 wOBA against both righties and lefties, there isn’t too much to worry about in Twins lineup. Although the Twins have some homerun power they have a propensity to strikeout a lot. The problem with Quintana could be the high price, you think that if you are going to pay that high than why not go with DeGrom? However, everyone else will more likely have the same mindset, so you should be able to get low owned upside in tournaments. Though, personally, I prefer DeGrom, Quintana could benefit tonight.

Stacks

New York Mets vs. Jose Urena (Marlins)
Park -Citi Field
With only 3 games on the schedule, the stack options are not as generous as usual. However, one of these teams, The New York Mets, has the potential to score a great deal of runs. The Mets will be taking the field against the Marlins and Jose Urena, who is easily the worst pitcher on the docket. According to Sportsbooks, the Mets are projected to score the highest total of runs at 4.39. Urena has sported a .352 wOBA against his opponents and he is currently showing signs of no positive regression. With little choices on the menu, the Mets may be heavily owned tonight. Because of this, I believe the sneaky stack has the same upside as the Main stack since the sneaky stack will have the same upside at a much lower ownership.

Main Stack – Jose Reyes, Yoenis Cespedes, Jay Bruce, Curtis Granderson

Sneaky Stack – Asdrubal Cabrera, Yoenis Cespedes, Jay Bruce, Travis D’Arnaud

Chris Durell

Happy Hump day to all you DFSers out there still grinding away as the MLB season is about to enter it’s final month of the regular season. Before the calendar flips we have one day left in August to crush the competition. Wednesday brings us a split slate with six early and nine evening games. If you are one of those players who normally avoids the early slate I suggest changing your pattern today. There are some terrific pitching options as well as another game in Coors Field. Let’s dig in and take a look at a top pitching option and stacking option from each slate today.

Pitchers

David Phelps FD 6700 DK 8500
Opponent – NYM (Colon) Park – @NYM
FD – 27.61 DK – 18.23

After Phelps’ short outing against the Padres last Friday, it’s no doubt he will be low owned today, creating and interesting scenario. He was pulled after 3.2 innings but wasn’t actually that bad. He fanned 6 and only allowed 2 hits but the guys behind him let him down. Yes he will be low owned, and that’s nice, but the upside is the more interesting part. Since August he has an 11.84 K/9 rate, which is certainly elite, yet is giving free passes in the form of walks at over 3.5 per nine. If he can limit the BB’s today against NYM, he should return solid value for the salary, especially on FanDuel at under $7K.

Corey Kluber FD 10800 DK 11200
Opponent – MIN (Dean) Park – @CLE
FD – 41.23 DK – 26.78

Corey Kluber comes into tonight’s matchup absolutely dealing since the All Star break. He has gone 5-0 in eight starts with a 1.84 ERA and 9.39 K/9 rate. He sits in a terrific spot to build on those numbers tonight as the Indians are gigantic -300 home favorites vs. the struggling Twins who have lost 12 straight games and sit as only one of two teams who have yet to reach the 50 win plateau. After their hot streak earlier in the month they have fallen to the middle of the pack against right handed pitching with a 21.6% strikeout rate. Kluber is an elite option in any format tonight.

Stacks

Boston Red Sox vs.  Drew Smyly (Rays)
Park -Fenway Park
The Rockies /Dodgers game will obviously be the favorite stack for most of today as the projected total sits around 12 runs. I am going to turn my attention away from Coors and lock on Fenway today as the Red Sox are the highest scoring team in the league and projected to score around 5.3 runs today in a great matchup. They will face off against Drew Smyly who’s heavy fly ball rate isn’t ideal in Fenway with the Monster in left. He does have some K upside but the Red Sox have the 6th best K rate(18.9%) against southpaws and rank 3rd in wOBA and wRC+. Dustin Pedroia is again leading off making him a top value in the stack with huge upside provided by Xander Bogaearts and Mookie Betts. You will have to make a decision at 1B today as both David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez qualify at the position. I side with Hanley who is most likely lower owned and hits left handed pitching slightly better.

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Matt Garza (Brewers)
Park – Miller Park
The Cardinals are an excellent value stack as they get a big upgrade going into Miller Park facing the brewers. They rank 4th in wOBA and 2nd in Isolated Power against right handed pitching and get a matchup vs. a below average pitcher tonight. Matt Garza is coming off his best start of the season pitching 5.1 shutout innings while striking out nine batters. This is definitely not the norm as he sits with an awful 4.77 xFIP and low 5.86 K/9 rate for the season while walking just over 3.5 batters per nine. The top plays for the Cards are Brandon Moss, who is raking in August with eight home runs and 21 RBI, and Matt Carpenter is back hitting leadoff and starting to heat up with hits in seven of his last eight games.  To figure out the rest of the puzzle we will need to see the lineups come out as the Cards shift guys around a ton- which can open up tremendous value if some lower guys in the lineup move up the order.