Folks, I know football is officially upon us, but there is plenty of money to be made before the MLB season finishes up! As always, below I’ve included a discussion on the pitching options, the best teams to stack from and an individual set of player rankings for tonight’s slate on DraftKings!

Forecast

Some of us were probably burned on the weather last night, and always stay up to date by using Twitter and other resources closer to game time. Tonight it looks like the midwest might get hit with some decent rain, as both the game in Cincinnati and Cleveland need to be on watch.

Pitching Perspective

The rest of the guys that do this piece are all really flexible, so we’re always swapping dates and pieces. I tried to be a nice guy and pick up Brett’s piece today, and upon doing so was rewarded with a terrible slate for pitching. As a result, perhaps use tonight as one of those nights where you shift your gameplay focus, and either play a smaller amount, or use a larger emphasis on tournaments, as the night “predicts” to be unpredictable from a pitching standpoint.

From what we have though, Chris Archer is the clear number one. Archer has been fantastic all season long, striking out 10.95 hitters per nine innings while pitching to an xFIP below three, and blossoming into one of the best starters in the American League. He’s taking on a fairly tough Boston Red Sox team, but they’ll be adjusting to a negative park shift in Archer’s favor. The Sox are 6th in the league in terms of wOBA and don’t strike out all that often, but Archer’s upside and talent blasts through anything that would hold me back in this matchup. The only thing that should be holding you up potentially, is his salary. However, since there aren’t many top notch options, you can afford to pay for him, and round out your team nicely.

Aside from Archer, look to David Price and Hisashi Iwakuma. Price is the more expensive of the two and is pitching in a great hitters park, but he’s one of the best arms in the league and should be treated as such. He’s a fairly sizable favorite facing the New York Yankees, who are boasting an implied run total of 3.4 runs. The good thing about DraftKings scoring as I’ve noted before is that the ability to strikeout hitters can really mitigate any potential damage in terms of earned runs. I guess it’s a good thing then that Price strikes out close to a hitter per inning. Again, you’ll have to pay for him, but there’s not much else tonight.

Hisashi Iwakuma is the cheapest of the three, but has perhaps the best on paper  matchup against the Colorado Rockies in his home ballpark in Seattle. As you may well know, the Rockies offense is not much of threat when away from Coors Field, and that’s what we’ll be trying to take advantage of tonight. Iwakuma isn’t going to “WOW” you by any means, but he’s consistent. He strikes out about seven hitters per nine innings, and gets over 50% ground balls. Don’t let his ERA fool you, as his xFIP suggests he’s been better than typically advertised. Take advantage of a solid price for a nice matchup to allow you to pay up for other studs.

Last but not least, Steven Matz is the last guy I’d consider rolling in cash games. Matz was really good in his last start against the Marlins and has flashed a lot of potential in his first big league season. The one concern for me is that last time was his first time back off the DL and he left early with a blister issue. Assuming all is well, given his salary he’s fine to deploy against a hapless Braves team, but it’s something to be cautious of.

If you’re “nah waving” at all of these options for tournaments, look to use someone like Gio Gonzalez who has a proven track record for strikeout upside, and isn’t going to break the bank.

Stack Options

1. Globe Life Park in Arlington – No Coors Field? No problem. Colby Lewis and Jesse Chavez will duel it out to see which pitcher can give up less runs tonight as the Rangers and A’s square off. While these teams don’t have the most appealing options or deepest lineups, the reason I’m listing them first is the ability to stack them as a whole. Neither team has a salary cap breaking lineup, allowing you to maximize your potential and output by using the core group of hitters from either team. The Rangers have one of the highest implied run totals today (5.1 runs) and are the better of the two teams, however the A’s get a full nine at-bats, guaranteed!
2. The Chicago Cubs – This one will be tough because the Cubs will be playing the second half of a double header, and you won’t know the lineup until really late, however thanks to DraftKings late swap, it shouldn’t be much of an issue. The Cubbies are going to try to win as many as they can now to try and overtake the Pirates and Cardinals so expect the big boppers to be in there against young right-hander Alec Asher. Asher has not been good, and the Cubs are a powerful, high upside offense. If Javy Baez, Kyle Schwarber, Rizzo and Bryant are in the lineup, you’ll be looking at a solid mini-stack with a lot of power potential.
3. Arizona Diamondbacks – You won’t find the D’Backs on too many other “recommended” sheets today, but they’re my contrarian pick of the night against Alex Wood at Chase Field. Wood hasn’t been extremely bad against right-handers, but his numbers do trend downward against them (his K/BB ratio drops by nearly 5 and his xFIP raises to 4.36) and the D’Backs have a lot of hitters that are good options against left-handers. This is going to be the stack that wins you the money tonight, because I don’t think a lot of others will be on them. Thank me later.

Player Rankings

Catcher

1. Wellington Castillo -$3,400 – Arizona Diamondbacks
2. Kyle Schwarber -$4,600 – Chicago Cubs
3. Buster Posey -$3,900 – San Francisco Giants

First Basemen

1. Paul Goldschmidt -$5,000 – Arizona Diamondbacks
2. Anthony Rizzo -$5,400 – Chicago Cubs
3. Prince Fielder -$4,300 – Texas Rangers

Second Basemen

1. Justin Turner -$3,800 – Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Rougned Odor -$4,000 – Texas Rangers
3. Javier Baez -$4,000 – Chicago Cubs

Third Basemen

1. Kris Bryant -$5,000 – Chicago Cubs
2. Matt Carpenter -$4,700 – St. Louis Cardinals
3. Joey Gallo -$3,800 – Texas Rangers

Shortstops

1. Carlos Correa -$4,300 – Houston Astros
2. Troy Tulowitzki -$3,800 – Toronto Blue Jays
3. Ian Desmond -$3,400 – Washington Nationals

Outfield

1. Will Venable -$3,000 – Texas Rangers
2. AJ Pollock -$4,900 – Arizona Diamondbacks
3. Andrew McCutchen -$4,600 – Pittsburgh Pirates

Starting Pitchers

1. Chris Archer -$12,600 – Tampa Bay Rays
2. David Price -$12,100 – Toronto Blue Jays
3. Hisashi Iwakuma -$8,400 – Seattle Mariners
4. Steven Matz -$8,400 – New York Mets
5. Dallas Keuchel -$13,400 – Houston Astros
6. Gio Gonzalez -$7,900 – Washington Nationals