Good morning everyone! Below we’ve got a discussion on the pitching situation for the night slate on DraftKings. We’ve also got a discussion on which teams are the best to pick hitters from as well as player rankings for each position.

Forecast

The night slate looks like it might be haunted by some rain scares. Please monitor closely the game in Texas, Chicago and St. Louis as it appears that there are likely chances of rain in all three games. Forecasts can change throughout the day, but I’d still monitor these really closely up to lineup lock.

Pitching Perspective

First let me note that I really would like to use Yordano Ventura against a strikeout heavy Chicago Cubs team, however this looks like the game that is going to be impacted the most by the rain. Rain is especially bad for starting pitchers because delays increase their chances of not going deep into games.

Where it’s a little bit safer, Tyson Ross appears to be the clear number one option in the night slate. Ross gets a meeting with the Pittsburgh Pirates who have turned it around of late, but should be no match for his 10.59 K/9 and 64% GB rate. Ross is the perfect combination of affordability and matchup tonight and should be a staple in your cash games.

Next up is Michael Wacha who will face the Dodgers at home tonight. Wacha has been really good of late and gets a nice matchup tonight, but the weather is going to be a concern. It is going to be really tough to pay up for a pitcher in weather concerns because of the chances of them not coming back out if there is a delay, so this moves Wacha down my ranks just a bit. If you can deem that the weather is safe to use him, go ahead and do so.

Jesse Hahn would be my next option in cash games. Hahn isn’t a strikeout master (K/9 around 6) but he gets plenty of ground balls (51.7%) and will be dealing with a Yankees team getting a huge negative park shift. His xFIP suggests that he’s been pitching fairly well this season, and on a slate with not much else going on, he’s going to have to be an option.

You can also look to use “The Freak,” Timmy Lincecum. No, this is not 2010, but Lincecum has the matchup to succeed. The Braves are 25^th in the league in wOBA (.295) and get a park even worse than their home park. Lincecum’s ERA will tell you he’s pitching way better than his xFIP suggests (4.35) but he’s getting a solid amount of groundballs (48.3%) and he is striking out around 7 batters per nine innings. Right now the Braves team has a team total hovering around 3 runs, and I’d expect Lincecum can make that happen. He makes for a solid GPP play, and could also be used as a secondary cash game option.

Stack Options

 As is customary when we don’t happen to have many pitching options, there are few hitting options as well. The best of the bunch is the game in Texas featuring the Red Sox and Rangers bats.

The game will feature Chi-Chi Gonzalez and Wade Miley, two pitchers that don’t rate very well tonight. If the weather should hold, all the bats from this game are in play. David Ortiz has gotten the last few days off to try and correct some things, but if he’s in the lineup, I love his skills against right-handed pitchers. The rest of the Red Sox 1-6 is also in play in all formats as they are set to be one of the best offenses on the slate with a team total quickly approaching 5.

The Rangers on the other side don’t feature too many right-handed bats to combat Wade Miley, but Adrian Beltre should be at the top of your list of third basemen plays. I’m sure they will find a way to get a tad bit more right-handed near the top of the order, but if not than just stick to your guns with Beltre who has typically crushed left-handed pitching in his career.

Outside of the game I just listed, there isn’t much stack appeal elsewhere, so I’ll just briefly touch on a few games that might have players you can mix and match from, rather than full stack.

The Angels get a date with Shane Greene who allows a lot of contact, but the Angels offense is not one with full stacking capability. Mike Trout will obviously be one of the top hitters tonight, but you’ll have to pay up for him. Kole Calhoun and Matt Joyce might also provide value in spots.

The Giants get to face Williams Perez tonight and should have plenty of bats that combat him well. Everyone near the top with the platoon advantage is in play, as well as Buster Posey who will without a doubt be one of the top catcher plays today. I like this team as a contrarian GPP team because the ballpark should drive down their ownership percentages.

Last but not least, maybe the Mariners can get on track against Shaun Marcum. Marcum is past his prime in the big leagues, and I don’t think he’ll be in the Indians rotation too much longer. The Mariners bats will stack up well against him, particularly at the top of the order with all the left-handed bats. Cano has been out of the lineup the last few days, but should he find his way back in, he becomes a top second base play regardless of his declining power skills.

Player Rankings

Catcher

1. Buster Posey -$4,400 – San Francisco Giants
2. Salvador Perez -$3,900 – Kansas City Royals (weather)
3. Robinson Chirinos -$3,600 –Texas Rangers

First Basemen

1. David Ortiz- $4,800 – Boston Red Sox
2. Miguel Cabrera -$4,700 – Detroit Tigers
3. Brandon Belt -$4,700 – San Francisco Giants

Second Basemen

1. Robinson Cano -$4,100 – Seattle Mariners
2. Dustin Pedroia -$4,900 – Boston Red Sox
3. Ian Kinsler -$4,000 –Detroit Tigers

Shortstops

1. Hanley Ramirez-$5,200 – Boston Red Sox
2. Elvis Andrus -$3,900 – Texas Rangers
3. Brad Miller -$3,400 – Seattle Mariners

Third Basemen

1. Adrian Beltre -$4,500 – Texas Rangers
2. Kyle Seager -$4,100 –Seattle Mariners
3. Kris Bryant -$4,600 – Chicago Cubs

Outfield

1. Mike Trout – $5,500 – Los Angeles Angels
2. Mookie Betts -$4,900 – Boston Red Sox
3. Nelson Cruz -$5,600 – Seattle Mariners
4. Ryan Raburn -$2,800 – Cleveland Indians
5. Kole Calhoun -$4,400 – Los Angeles Angels

Starting Pitchers

1. Tyson Ross -$9,400 – San Diego Padres
2. Yordano Ventura- $7,500 – Kansas City Royals
3. Michael Wacha -$8,700 – St. Louis Cardinals
4. Tim Linceucm – $7,400 – San Francisco Giants
5. Jesse Hahn -$6,400 – Oakland Athletics