A huge 15-game slate is on tap for Tuesday night, and that means tons of pitching options to choose from. In the heat of the summer, I am typically careful of the heat and humidity of the environment, and I often don’t want to spend up too much on pitching. On a slate like this, with so many top options, you need to capture upside, but you cannot forget about the bats as well.
Pitchers
Chris Sale is the No. 1 option on this slate by a pretty wide margin for me. If I spend up on any site, it will be for Sale first. Sale has been a little more inconsistent this year from time to time, but his strikeout rate is always reliable.
Chris Sale just tossed his 38th 12+ K game.
He ranks 5th all-time in those such games. pic.twitter.com/yqGhSPmK2q
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) July 18, 2019
The Rays offense is nothing to scoff at, but the biggest issues for Sale this season are big innings and home runs. Tropicana Field should help out Sale enough to limit runs, and Sale’s elite upside should take over from there.
Aaron Nola is the pitcher under Sale that I would like to get to if Sale is out of my price range. Nola faces a bad Tigers lineup in a big park. Nola has elite upside, and the Tigers have been a great team to target for big games all season long.
If you are looking to spend less and still have elite upside, I like Yu Darvish in San Francisco tonight. The Giants are winning games, but they are still not a great offense, and they are in a horrible park for batters. Darvish had major walk problems to start the year, but the Giants provide elite upside in this spot for a cheaper price.
Chris Archer is one of the most popular pitchers on DraftKings today, and I think I will be staying away from him, even against a watered-down Cardinals lineup in Pittsburgh. Archer just faced the Cardinals with decent results, but I think that seeing Archer again right away will benefit this offense a lot. I will look to build lineups outside of Archer’s price range or with pivots.
My favorite two pivots way from Archer are Merrill Kelly and Dallas Kuechel. Both pitchers are in worse parks, but they are both facing less-imposing offenses, and I expect them both to be in line for the win here.
Dakota Hudson is not the sexiest play in the world, but I think that I will find him in some lineups tonight. He is an average pitcher facing a solid lineup in a good park at $6.5K. Hudson is someone I would use as a “last man in” guy, as I don’t expect a ton of upside in this spot.
My favorite play down the board is Dylan Covey against Miami. Covey isn’t the worst pitcher ever, even though his major league stats would say differently. Covey has had success in the minors for years, and the Marlins might as well be a minor league offense.
Stacks
The Indians offense has looked much better the last few weeks, and I think they are a great team to stack tonight against Aaron Sanchez. Sanchez is someone that has talent but is completely lost right now and has shown absolutely no signs of life recently.
The @Indians are 13-3 since July 3rd#RallyTogether pic.twitter.com/KMUkqYa3Qg
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) July 23, 2019
The Diamondbacks offense has been a real surprise this season, and I think it is very easy to pick on Dylan Bundy in this spot. Bundy is a boom or bust pitcher, and he just gave up seven runs in one inning pitched in his last spot. There is clear upside in stacking against Bundy here.
On these big slates, you want to target teams with elite power, and I think that targeting the Yankees, Astros, Dodgers, Brewers, and Red Sox as mini-stacks is a great strategy today. None of these elite offenses face gas cans that we are dying to stack against, but I would be surprised if we don’t see each of these teams pump out a couple of homers tonight.
