It is Friday, which means we’re looking at a sizable main MLB DFS slate ahead of another football weekend. There’s only about a week left in the baseball regular season, so let’s try to go out on a high, shall we?
We’re dealing with Coors Field yet again, this time with the lowly, no-good Angels visiting the Rockies. This is still a lineup with decent power at the top of it, yet it’s also…the Angels. Ownership should be interesting as a result, as it’s not like we’re hurting for quality bats to play outside of Denver.
I reckon we can cross that bridge when we get to it. Let’s go!
SP1 – Garrett Crochet, Dylan Cease, Hunter Brown, Bryan Woo
Another slate with a pretty good crop of aces at the top, just like we had last night. You’re allowed to play guys like Sonny Gray, Robbie Ray, Trevor Rogers, and Pablo Lopez if you’d want, but I’d focus more attention on those listed in the header.
Garrett Crochet is the ace of aces on this slate, as he usually is. His numbers (31.3% Ks, 5.6% walks, 49.2% GBs) are fabulous, and the Sox are regularly letting him throw around 100 pitches as they continue to hunt a playoff spot. The ballpark in Tampa Bay is a little scary, but they also have a sub-.300 wOBA vs. lefties along with a groundball rate pushing 48%. Crochet is also just $10,500, so we’re not necessarily even paying top dollar. He’s the SP1 overall if you can afford him.
Hunter Brown and Bryan Woo will face each other in a huge game in Houston. These teams are tied for the division lead with a week to go, making this something like a playoff game. While Brown has been the higher-strikeout pitcher for the season, Woo’s up over 30% Ks over the last month. He’ll also have the platoon edge over the majority of Houston’s righty-heavy lineup. While I slightly prefer Woo overall, I won’t fault you for preferring the $500 discount you get with Brown instead. They’re essentially the same play.
Dylan Cease is the most erratic option here, and he gets a #RevengeGame in Chicago against the White Sox. Cease can still pile up the Ks (29.9%), but, as ever, he’ll also walk many of those he doesn’t strike out. The one thing the White Sox do very well is take walks (9.5% vs. RHP), so there’s a clear path to things going awry for Cease if he’s not on his game. Given that risk, I’d probably rank him last among the core 4 at the top in terms of personal priority.
| Pitcher | Single-Entry Viable? | Multi-Entry Viable? |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Garrett Crochet | ✅ | ✅ |
| 2. Bryan Woo | ✅ | ✅ |
| 3. Hunter Brown | ✅ | ✅ |
| 4. Dylan Cease | ✅ | ✅ |
SP2 – Janson Junk, Jacob Misiorowski, Clayton Kershaw, Ryne Nelson, Brandon Sproat
The group of SP2s leaves plenty to be desired. Enough so that paying up at both SP spots is pretty appealing if you can swing it.
If anyone down here is an ace, it’s Jacob Misiorowski. The problem is he’s a rookie, and he’s only been an ace sometimes. The K-rate for the season is still sitting at an excellent 33.5%, but it comes with high walks (9.5%) and, usually, limited innings. If everything goes well, he’s most likely ticketed for something like 80 pitches across 5 innings. Can he strike out 10 Cardinals in that fairly limited time on the mound? Yes. He can also walk 5 of them and get chased before the 3rd.
I do like the matchup, as he gets a park boost, and the Cardinals have no power of which to speak in this lineup (.134 ISO). Miz is also $8,000, so there’s room for upside on the salary. Because we hunt ceiling in GPPs, he’s certainly in play.
If you want to punt, you’re probably doing so with Janson Junk against the Rangers. Strikeouts (16.8%) are not a part of his game, but his control is about as elite as it gets. This is also a shorthanded Texas lineup that is on the verge of postseason elimination, so I’m not scared of the opponent. I am not expecting another Colin Rea performance here, but for $5,500, he doesn’t have to rack up double-digit Ks to pay off the salary.
Uhh…Clayton Kershaw? Sure, maybe. He’s an old man making his final career regular-season start at home after announcing retirement plans yesterday. Beyond the narrative, though, it’s a decent spot. The Giants have been high-strikeout (24.4%) against lefties with limited power (.155 ISO). Kershaw’s strikeout rate is down to 17% on the year, but he also keeps the ball on the ground and generally doesn’t get blown up. For $7,000 flat, I think he’s worth a look. 5 innings/80 pitches is also probably close to his ceiling, worth noting. If I’m rolling the dice on a cheap SP2 who might only throw 80 pitches, I’d rather chase the Ks with Misiorowski in tournaments.
Ryne Nelson is another solid pitcher, albeit in a scary spot at home against the Phillies. Nelson is more real-life good than fantasy good, but he typically limits damage. I prefer Kershaw or Miz if I’m shopping in the $7,000 range, but Nelson makes the multi-entry pool given the lack of cheapish depth on this slate.
Brandon Sproat is one of the many children occupying the Mets’ rotation these days. He’s been passable so far, but the strikeout numbers in the minors weren’t great, and the Mets have been holding him around 70 pitches. The Nationals don’t usually offer a ton of resistance, I just don’t think he’s worth $7,800.
| Pitcher | Single-Entry Viable? | Multi-Entry Viable? |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Jacob Misiorowski | ✅ | ✅ |
| 2. Janson Junk | ✅ | ✅ |
| 3. Clayton Kershaw | ❌ | ✅ |
| 4. Ryne Nelson | ❌ | ✅ |
| 5. Brandon Sproat | ❌ | ✅ |
Primary Stacks – Angels, Rockies, Padres, Orioles, Phillies, DBax
Ok, so we’ve got the Coors game, and it happens to feature what are quite possibly the most embarrassing teams in the league at the moment. The road team is usually the chalk, and the Angels take their swings against the atrocious Bradley Blalock in this one. Blalock has a 9.4% strikeout rate, no groundball ability, and is allowing a 10.6% barrel rate with lots of power to both sides.
I hate it, but the Angels do still have enough thunder between Taylor Ward, Jo Adell, Mike Trout, Logan O’Hoppe, and Luis Rengifo to make for a good-looking stack on paper. The cost is the high ownership that comes with Coors.
The Rockies draw lefty Mitch Farris. He’s not as awful as Blalock, but the Rockies always profile better vs. LHP. Hunter Goodman, Jordan Beck, Brenton Doyle, Blaine Krim, and Ezequiel Tovar have all hit for some power against lefties. Tyler Freeman is not great, but he’ll probably lead off with multi-positional eligibility.
The matchups are weird on this slate, and none of the other offenses really jump out. I suppose my next stop would be the Padres with a park boost going into Chicago to face Davis Martin. Martin has moderate groundball stuff, and that’s about it. I’m almost always starting with Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado in stacks, followed by Jackson Merrill, Ryan O’Hearn, Ramon Laureano, and Jake Cronenworth.
The Phillies? Why not, I guess. I’m not all that eager to pick on Nelson, but this is a lineup with a collective .200 ISO and .354 wOBA vs. RHP on the year. The obvious Kyle Schwarber/Bryce Harper duo cracks lineups first. Max Kepler, Bryson Stott, Harrison Bader, and Brandon Marsh are next.
The DBax will take on a piggybacking situation with Taijuan Walker and Walker Buehler slated to pitch for the Phillies. Both guys are old, right-handed, and generally bad. The Arizona stack is pretty easy to build, just focus on the top 5-6: Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll, Geraldo Perdomo, Gabriel Moreno/Adrian Del Castillo, Blaze Alexander.
The Orioles have been a disappointment all year, but they once again find themselves in a decent spot against Will Warren. Warren’s K-rate is down to like 19% over the last month, while he’s had trouble with lefties all season. The Orioles have essentially nothing but lefties in the lineup. Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday, Dylan Beavers, Samuel Basallo, and Colton Cowser all have that coveted platoon advantage.
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