Below I’ve included a discussion on tonight’s slate at DraftKings. As always, I’ve touched on the pitching options, the best teams to stack from as well as including a set of individual player rankings.

Forecast

It’s cold, dark and dreary for baseball. Be sure to check the forecasts closer to first pitch as especially the East coast is expecting rain.

Pitching Perspective

While there are a lot of pitching options tonight, I want you to make note that not all of the options are particularly safe given their teams current situation. For instance, while Jake Arrieta is perhaps the best pitcher on the slate, given that he will be the Cubs Wild Card game starter, tonight is a final tuneup, and shouldn’t be treated as a normal start. As a result, be aware of the situation for Arrieta and others like Jaime Garcia and Noah Syndergaard who belong to teams that have already clinched.

For those that haven’t, first look to Chris Sale. Sale is the ultimate DraftKings pitcher because of his immense strikeout upside. The best part? He’s got an incredibly accessible salary at below $12,000. He’s striking out nearly 12 hitters per nine innings and although his ERA doesn’t support it, he’s pitched to a 2.61 xFIP. He’s improved on his walk rate this season, and really has been solid all year. There is no reason to think that in his final start of the year he won’t come out guns blazing. I like him a lot.

After Sale, I’m focusing on Francisco Liriano who will be looking to try and keep the Pirates ahead of the Cubs and tune up for a potential start in the NLDS. Liriano won’t be going in the Wild Card game, so I expect he’ll get stretched out as far as possible tonight. The Pirates are drawing the Reds away from Great American Ball Park and are a sizable favorite with Liriano on the bump. As of right now the Reds are posting an implied runs total around 2.6 runs, the lowest of the day. Vegas likes Liriano, but I love him.

After Liriano, I’m moving my attention to Dallas Keuchel. Keuchel is pitching an incredibly meaningful game for the Astros as they try to keep pace with the rest of the AL in hopes of making the postseason. Keuchel has been a very solid run preventer, but it wasn’t until this season that we saw a remarkable improvement in his ability to strikeout hitters (K/9 up to 8.48 from under seven last season). The one murky factor in rostering Keuchel tonight is the fact that the Diamondbacks set up best to face left-handed starters. I see that as a minor smudge on his record though, feel free to use him.

If you’re looking to save some money at the pitching position, look to  Alex Wood and Chris Heston. Both guys will be taking advantage of their spacious ball parks and have matchups with less than threatening offenses. I prefer Heston, who gets the Rockies away from Coors Field, but don’t mind trying to differentiate in tournaments with Wood.

Stack Options

1. Los Angeles Angels – Everyone knows that the Angels badly need to win to stay afloat and a matchup in Texas against Martin Perez is good news. Trout and Pujols jolt to the top of their respective positional rankings but there is also value in Erick Aybar and David Freese for reasonable price tags. Their implied run total is only 4.3 runs, and I think that will play into a potential for lower ownership tonight.
2. Chicago Cubs – This is the second time in as many pieces that I’ve gotten to post the Cubbies in the top stacks section. Last time they banged out a bunch of hits and put up 10 runs. This time they’ll be facing a below average right-hander in another good park for offense, and one that doesn’t have any worry with weather. The left-handed heavy lineup will be out tonight, so have fun rolling out Schwarber and Coghlan to go along with the rest of the big boppers.
3. Houston Astros – They’re playing in a great offensive ball park and have a matchup with a home run prone arm. Add in the fact that they have a ton of speed upside as well and you’re looking at a perfect tournament lineup. The way to attack Rubby de la Rosa is with left-handed hitters and while the Astros don’t have many, they’ll filter in Colby Rasmus and Luis Valbuena to help the cause. These guys should fly under the radar again tonight as a contrarian tournament option.

Player Rankings

Catcher

1. Kyle Schwarber -$4,400 – Chicago Cubs
2. Buster Posey -$4,200 – San Francisco Giants
3. Jason Castro -$2,900 – Houston Astros

First Basemen 

1. Jose Abreu -$4,700 – Chicago White Sox
2. Albert Pujols -$4,500 – Los Angeles Angels
3. Anthony Rizzo – 5,200 – Chicago Cubs
4. Prince Fielder -$4,400 – Texas Rangers

Second Basemen

1. Jose Altuve -$5,400 – Houston Astros
2. Brian Dozier -$4,300 – Minnesota Twins
3. Neil Walker -$3,500 – Pittsburgh Pirates

Shortstops

1. Erick Aybar -$3,300 – Los Angeles Angels
2. Jed Lowrie -$3,200 – Houston Astros
3. Carlos Correa -$5,000 – Houston Astros

Third Basemen

1. Kris Bryant -$5,100 – Chicago Cubs
2. Luis Valbuena -$3,300- Houston Astros
3. David Freese -$3,600 – Los Angeles Angels

Outfield

1. Mike Trout -$5,500 – Los Angeles Angels
2. George Springer -$4,600 – Houston Astros
3. Andrew McCutchen -$4,700 – Pittsburgh Pirates

Starting Pitchers

1. Chris Sale -$11,700 – Chicago White Sox
2. Francisco Liriano -$10,000 – Pittsburgh Pirates
3. Jake Arreita -$13, 700 – Chicago Cubs (GPP only)
4. Dallas Keuchel -$11,300 – Houston Astros
5. Chris Heston -$7,300 – San Francisco Giants
6. Alex Wood -$7,000 – Los Angeles Dodgers