Below we’ve got a discussion of the starting pitching situation as well as the best teams to use for stacks for Tuesday’s 15-game slate on DraftKings. We’ve also got projections derived from Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projections, and we have rankings of the top plays at each position.

Forecast

The only rain concerns appear to be in Boston and Denver tonight. There’s a chance of rain later in the game in Boston and at the beginning of the game in Denver. Denver may be in line for a delayed start, but it appears that once they get going in Denver, they may not be interrupted. Boston is at more risk of a mid-game postponement, so pitchers in that game might be a bit dicier.

Check DailyBaseballData.com and @KevinRothWx closer to game time for updates.

Pitching Perspective

If there were only one pitcher slot in lineups, James Shields ($9,700) would have the be the guy. He has both the best projection of the day according to my model below, and he also grades out as the best value, both by decent margins. It makes plenty of sense. First of all, Shields is going nuts with the strikeouts this year. His strikeout rate is up over 30 percent, and he has the third best swinging strike rate among qualified starters. He also has a great matchup against the Cubs who have the highest strikeout rate in the league against right-handed pitching. And then there’s also the Petco bump. Everything is coming up roses for Shields today.

Of the other expensive options ($8,500 and up), none grade out as being worth their price according to my model. Gio Gonzalez ($9,000) comes the closest to being worth his price, but I don’t like paying up for both pitchers and I’m paying for Shields today.

Moving down to the mid-price range, Anibal Sanchez ($8,100) is the guy I like there. He’s got an excellent matchup with the Brewers who have the fifth highest strikeout rate and fourth lowest wRC+ against right-handed pitching this year. Sanchez’s 4.76 ERA might scare you off, but his strikeout and walk rates are both comfortably above average. He’s simply had quite a bit of bad luck with runners on base so far this season. He’s a sub-4.00 ERA quality pitcher with an above average strikeout rate. So go with Shields and Sanchez unless you’re spending a ton on hitters.

If you’re looking for a bargain, Yordano Ventura ($6,600) has an above average projection but a below average price tag, which is always a good thing. His opponent, Cincinnati, is middle of the pack in terms of strikeouts and 10 percent below average against right-handed pitching. It’s not the best matchup a guy can have, but it’s a good one. Sadly, Ventura doesn’t have the strikeout potential we all thought the flame-thrower would have. And he’s actually a bit less of a flame-thrower as his velocity is down 1.5 mph to 94.5 mph. But at this price point and with this matchup, Ventura is a value.

If you need to go even cheaper, Taijuan Walker ($6,000) is about as cheap as I can go. His matchup against Baltimore makes him a high risk-high reward play for the day. On one hand, the Orioles are five percent better than league average against right-handed pitching, and the game is in Baltimore, which isn’t ideal. But the Orioles have the third highest strikeout rate in the league against right-handed pitching. That gives Walker some upside. Walker has an above average strikeout rate, so maybe it turns out to be the perfect storm of Ks tonight. Walker has had an incredibly tough time keeping the ball in the park, so his downside is significant. But his upside might be worth a shot in tournaments. Avoid in cash games.

Here are our projections for today’s starters. You’ll see each starter’s salary, the average number of fantasy points the starter is projected to score per game and how far above or below average his projection is compared to his salary in the value column. You’ll also see adjustments being made for matchup and ballpark. As for the colors, they rank as follows from good to bad: purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, burgundy.

Stack Options

First the obvious, there’s a game in Coors between the Rockies and Phillies. With Justin Morneau still out and Corey Dickerson likely out as well, the Rockies just aren’t as intimidating as they usually are at home. Plus, Philadelphia’s starter, Aaron Harang, has been decent this year. His almost 2.00 ERA is a mirage, but he has been worthy of an ERA around 4.00, and he’s keeping the free passes to a minimum. But he is a fly ball pitcher in Coors, so I have n oobjection to using some Rockies, I just don’t like them for a heavy stack.

On the other side of that game, the Phillies look pretty good against Chad Bettis who has a 6.90 ERA in 74.1 career innings. They Phils are the worst team in the league against right-handed pitching, so I totally understand if you can’t go with them even in Coors. But my model grades them pretty well with the ball park bump. I won’t mention specific names, but I’d focus on the left-handed hitters, which is pretty much everyone other than Maikel Franco and Carlos Ruiz.

The other obvious team is the Blue Jays, who currently lead the league in runs scored. They’re at home facing Hector Santiago who had a 1.11 HR/9 in two years in homer-friendly Chicago before moving to the more pitcher-friendly Angels park. Toronto’s park was just a shade less homer-friendly than Chicago’s last year, so Toronto has a decent chance to hit a few out tonight against Santiago. Focus on the top five of their lineup, which hopefully includes Devon Travis ($3,500, 2B) again.

If you’re looking for some more under the radar stacks, the Marlins and Pirates are options. They’re not great against right-handed pitching and they’re playing at home, which are not offense-friendly parks. But they have good matchups against shaky pitchers. If you’re into the whole idea of finding low ownership percentage stacks to use in tournaments, these are the teams I’d lean on.

You can view and download our hitter projections here. These projections are an average of what each hitter is projected to do on a per game basis according to the ZiPS rest-of-season projections. The projections have then been adjusted for splits, quality of the opposing starting pitcher and ballpark.

Player Rankings

Catcher

1. Carlos Santana – $4,200 – Cleveland Indians
2. Christian Bethancourt – $2,700 – Atlanta Braves
3. Carlos Ruiz – $3,800 – Philadelphia Phillies
4. Russell Martin – $4,600 – Toronto Blue Jays

First Base

1. Ryan Howard – $4,400 – Philadelphia Phillies
2. Edwin Encarnacion – $5,200 – Toronto Blue Jays
3. Albert Pujols – $4,100 – Los Angeles Angels
4. David Ortiz – $4,100 – Boston Red Sox

Second Base

1. Chase Utley – $4,400 – Philadelphia Phillies
2. Neil Walker – $3,700 – Pittsburgh Penguins
3. Odubel Herrera – $3,700 – Philadelphia Phillies
4. Martin Prado – $3,400 – Miami Marlins

Third Base

1. Josh Donaldson – $4,700 – Toronto Blue Jays
2. Chris Davis – $4,200 – Baltimore Orioles
3. Kris Bryant – $4,200 – Chicago Cubs
4. Pedro Alvarez – $3,400 – Pittsburgh Penguins

Shortstop

1. Troy Tulowitzki – $4,700 – Colorado Rockies
2. Hanley Ramirez – $4,400 – Boston Red Sox
3. Freddy Galvis – $4,200 – Philadelphia Phillies
4. Marcus Semien – $4,300 – Oakland Athletics

Outfield

1. Mike Trout – $5,400 – Los Angeles Angels
2. Jose Bautista – $4,800 – Toronto Blue Jays
3. Carlos Gonzalez – $4,500 – Colorado Rockies
4. Ben Revere – $4,500 – Philadelphia Phillies
5. Giancarlo Stanton – $5,200 – Miami Marlins
6. Andrew McCutchen – $4,800 – Pittsburgh Pirates
7. Christian Yelich – $4,000 – Miami Marlins
8. Gregory Polanco – $3,500 – Pittsburgh Pirates

Starting Pitcher

1. James Shields – $9,700 – San Diego Padres
2. Anibal Sanchez – $8,100 – Detroit Tigers
3. Yordano Ventura – $6,600 – Kansas City Royals
4. Gio Gonzalez – $9,000 – Washington Nationals
5. Taijuan Walker – $6,000 – Seattle Mariners
6. Miguel Gonzalez – $6,200 – Baltimore Orioles

*Rankings are price sensitive