Below we’ve got a discussion of the starting pitching situation as well as the best teams to use for stacks for Friday’s 14-game evening slate on DraftKings. We’ve also got rankings of the top plays at each position.

Pitching Perspective

Chris Sale is in a class of his own today based on both salary and production. With the exceptions of Matt Harvey and Justin Verlander, who are not their old selves, no pitchers going today have ever produced at an elite level. For that reason, Sale is hard to pass on in cash games. That said, he hasn’t been off to the dominant start that his 1.79 ERA indicates. His xFIP is 3.56, and his strikeout rate is in the mid-20’s as opposed to being over 30 percent like it has been the last two years. His swinging strike rate is way down, so the strikeout rate can’t be expected to rise. And he’s had some good fortune with a .206 BABIP and six percent HR/FB rate. I’d be fading him in GPPs anyway just to be contrarian, but with some concerning underlying numbers, he’s an easy fade in GPPs.

Of the four other pitchers priced above $9,000, Rich Hill is the only one to consider. He ranks second among today’s probable starters in strikeout rate, and he has a matchup with some upside against a Rays team that has the ninth highest strikeout rate vs. LHP. Hill’s xFIP of 3.69 means he’s probably over-priced at $9,700, but pitching is not pretty today and Hill does have upside that makes him worth considering.

In the mid-price range, Nate Karns and Josh Tomlin are your options. Karns has the better ERA, xFIP and strikeout rate, and he has a decent matchup with the Angels who have the fourth lowest wOBA vs. RHP. The matchup does lack upside as the Angels have the lowest strikeout rate in the league vs. RHP. But thankfully that’s because they make a lot of contact rather than doing it with extreme patience. I say thankfully because Karns has struggled a bit with walks, but the Angels have a below average walk rate.

Tomlin has the better matchup and the better price tag ($700 cheaper). He’ll face the Twins who have the 10th lowest wOBA and seventh highest strikeout rate vs. RHP. The knock on Tomlin is that he doesn’t induce enough whiffs and thus doesn’t strikeout enough guys, but he’s extremely stingy with the walks, which limits his downside. I prefer Tomlin, but I could at least see the case for Karns.

Cheap options today include Jeremy Hellickson and Ricky Nolasco. Hellickson has the better matchup as he’ll face the Phillies who have the sixth lowest wOBA and ninth highest strikeout rate vs. RHP. Don’t let his 4.91 ERA scare you off as his xFIP is over a full run lower thanks to better-than-average strikeout and walk rates. Home runs have been a problem, but a 22 percent HR/FB rate can’t hold. Nolasco also has a decent matchup against the Indians who are mid-pack in wOBA vs. RHP but have the eighth highest strikeout rate vs. RHP. Nolasco has one of the five best xFIPs among today’s probable starters thanks to a slightly above average strikeout rate and a walk rate that is much better than league average. Inducing weak contact has always been Nolasco’s problem, which is why his ERA is once again much higher than his xFIP. But he has enough skills to have a good day in the right matchup and perhaps with a bit of batted ball luck. That all makes for some value potential at his price point.

Stack Options

As always, feel free to stack the teams in Coors if you’d like, but I’ll fade Coors and leave Rockies and Mets out of my GPP stacks.

Houston Astros – The three stacks discussed below are a bit chalky per Vegas implied run totals, but the Astros have a slightly below average implied run total. Presumably Vegas doesn’t like them as much because the opposing starter, Steven Wright, has pitched fairly well this year. But he hasn’t pitched as well as his 1.52 ERA indicates with his xFIP sitting just over 4.00. Wright hasn’t been bad by any means, but he certainly hasn’t been great. He’s had good fortune with a .219 BABIP, 82.5 percent strand rate and a HR/FB rate that’s about half the norm. And he’s a knuckleballer which could always lead to a big outing for the opposing offense if the pitch happens to not be dancing on a given day. George Springer is probably the best option on the team, Carlos Correa is in play since shortstop is thin, and then Jose Altuve, Jason Castro and Luis Valbuena can be stack options. Castro and Valbuena tend to hit at the bottom of the order so they could hit consecutively with the big boys going 1-2-3. Keep an eye on the weather in this one.

Milwaukee Brewers – The Brewers improbably got blanked at home last night against San Diego and James Shields. They’ll get an excellent shot at redemption tonight against Christian Friedrich making his first start of the season. Ryan Braun and Chris Carter are great options, and Hernan Perez could make for really good salary relief if he’s in the lineup (same goes for Martin Maldonado). Jonathan Villar and Jonathan Lucroy could also be used in a stack.

San Francisco Giants – Obviously the Giants are getting a big positive park shift playing on the road in Arizona, and they have the pleasure of facing Shelby Miller. Miller has a 7.36 ERA, 6.12 xFIP and more walks than strikeouts. He has lost velocity and lost the zone, which says he might be hurt. But he’s still pitching for now, and there’s absolutely nothing that indicates a turn around is in order. Brandon Belt, Buster Posey and Denard Span are the guys that can be used in cash, and Hunter Pence, Joe Panik and Matt Duffy could be included in any Giants stack.

Toronto Blue Jays – Martin Perez doesn’t join Miller in the “more walks than strikeouts club” but it’s close. In seven starts Perez has 25 strikeouts and 23 walks. That’s horrific. He does keep the ball on the ground and manages to largely keep it in the park, but he’s wildly un-intimidating. He unsurprisingly has more trouble with right-handers, and Toronto obviously has some big right-handed bats to throw at him. Jose Bautista is the most reasonably priced and the best cash option. Josh Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion, Troy Tulowitzki and Russell Martin could be included in a stack.

Player Rankings

Catcher

1. Buster Posey – $4,300
2. Jonathan Lucroy – $4,100
3. Martin Maldonado – $2,200
4. Stephen Vogt – $3,000
5. Matt Wieters – $3,100

First Base

1. Miguel Cabrera – $4,200
2. Chris Carter – $3,900
3. Paul Goldschmidt – $4,800
4. Albert Pujols – $3,400
5. Steve Pearce – $3,000

Second Base

1. Neil Walker – $4,300
2. Jose Altuve – $5,500
3. Dustin Pedroia – $4,200
4. Hernan Perez – $2,300
5. Jean Segura – $3,700

Third Base

1. David Wright – $4,700
2. Anthony Rendon – $4,100
3. Adrian Beltre – $4,100
4. Jake Lamb – $3,300
5. Nolan Arenado – $5,100

Shortstop

1. Carlos Correa – $4,500
2. Asdrubal Cabrera – $3,800
3. Jonathan Villar – $4,200
4. Manny Machado – $5,100
5. Zack Cozart – $3,300

Outfield

1. Bryce Harper – $5,100
2. Ryan Braun – $4,800
3. Curtis Granderson – $4,700
4. Mike Trout – $5,000
5. Carlos Gonzalez – $4,600
6. Jose Bautista – $4,400
7. Mookie Betts – $4,500
8. Denard Span – $4,200
9. George Springer – $4,600
10. Kole Calhoun – $3,500
11. Alex Gordon – $3,300
12. Desmond Jennings – $2,700

Starting Pitcher

1. Chris Sale – $12,300
2. Josh Tomlin – $7,500
3. Rich Hill – $9,700
4. Jeremy Hellickson – $6,600
5. Nate Karns – $8,200
6. Ricky Nolasco – $5,700
7. Luis Severino – $6,500
8. Justin Verlander – $7,100