MLB DFS Process | DraftKings & FanDuel Picks, Plays & Slate Breakdown | Monday, 08/31/26

It's deGrom and then everybody else on DraftKings slate. Obviously, Fandu is a little different. You do have some other games over there, but primarily DraftKings is the focus on the show. Pitching, like I said, pretty gross in general outside of deGrom and Even deGrom, deGrom coming off his worst starts of the season. It was on the road. He is much better at home. Globe Life is a really good place to pitch. He's got a really good matchup. His projections off the charts.

Dry run, you get a hundred percent. DeGrom just running projections. He is two hundred dollars cheaper than Tyler Harrison, who is the most expensive arm on the slate. Pitching in that Wrigley win game against a pretty good Cubs team that is smashing baseballs right now, especially PCA. I think in tournaments, Tyler Harrison's a little interesting. It's probably pretty hard to get there if you're playing two to five teams, something like that. But I will just say Harrison going to be five percent.

DeGrom will be sixty percent. Right. So any given Sunday. Right. They say any given Monday. Those two are obviously the top two guys on the slate. But then ownershipOwnershipOwnership is the percentage of lineups in a contest that include a given player. Projected ownership is an estimate made before lock; actual ownership is posted once the contest locks.Ownership isn't something to avoid; it's something to build around. The goal is understanding how the field is likely to build, then finding your edge relative to that.Full explanation ↗ behind deGrom is going to be spread out amongst guys like Tosh Bradley, Peter Lambert a little bit. Guys like Aaron Nola down cheap and Elder Rodriguez.

In terms of $8,000 and above here Matt what's your interest level on guys like urania brendan fott Clay Holmes Lambert bradley deGrom Harrison break down this top tier and then we'll go below $1,000 here it's definitely the grom and everyone else I mean yeah he's coming off that awful start but a couple things there on the road I'm not playing to grab much on the road unless it's like an elite spot He's been so much better at home this season.

And it was against the White Sox, who I hate using right-handers against. So he matches up today with a basically triple-A lineup. And I like the A's for the most, as you know. So I think it's definitely Grom and then everyone else. To your point, though, ownership's going to be there. So you're not, like, getting by anyone playing to Grom. My problem with not playing him is, one, giving up a lot of projection.

And two, there just aren't really two guys I like a lot. So other than ownership reasons, I'm just going to play deGrom. Outside of him, I think Taj Bradley is interesting. We've seen him have some really good starts this year. I'm not scared of Detroit. A little bit more expensive than I'd like, but we're not working with a ton on this slate. I don't hate Peter Lambert.

It was awful two starts ago and then started off awful last start before kind of redeeming himself. Gage Jump, a lot better on the road, or are we sticking with $1,000 and above or talking about all of them? Yeah, $1,000 and above, and then we'll talk about the value tier. All right, cool. So, yeah, for me, honestly, if I'm playing one lineup, I think the only guy $1,000 or above I'm playing is deGrom.

Urania has been also better at home this year. I'm fine with him, but he just doesn't have the strikeout upside, and I don't love this matchup for him. So, deGrom for me. Nike for Harrison in this matchup doesn't project well. I think you're only playing it because of ownership and I'm just not there. Yeah, I agree with a lot of what you said. It's really hard to get away from deGrom on this pitching slate. Just know ownership is going to be there.

That's really, like you said, right? The only argument against deGrom here in this strikeout matchup is the ownership, right? You're talking single entrySingle-EntryA single-entry contest allows each user exactly one lineup. It can be a cash game or a tournament.In single-entry, one or two contrarian decisions are usually enough. Pair a strong, popular core with a lower-owned piece instead of fading everything the field likes.Full explanation ↗ stuff. He's probably going to be eighty percent owned in MME, fifty, sixty percent on depending on what contest you're playing in. That's really the only thing. And I mean, it's he's $8,800. It's not like he's ten, eight or eleven K. On this slate.

You can play deGrom and you can afford pretty much anything else you want on the slate as well, because there is spend on arms, which majority of the SP two ownership is going to be focused around outside of maybe a guy like Taj Bradley or Peter Lambert. I struggle with Peter Lambert a little bit. I just hate playing right-handed pitchers against the White Sox here.

I mean, Lambert projected to be right around twenty five to thirty percent ownership as kind of the projected second-highest-owned pitcher on the slate. Obviously, it's all in hindsight here between him and guys that are cheaper, right? Anthony Kaye, Nola, Rodriguez, Gage Jump, Urena, Bradley. All those guys are going to kind of soak up SPT ownership, and it's going to be shuffled around those two guys around deGrom. It's just... Peter Lambert, I think, has upside.

He ranks pretty good in our pitcher rankings, as you can see there on the screen. I just do struggle with him. I'd rather take a shot on some of these cheaper guys personally. So up for me, I agree with you up top. It's really deGrom. And then Taj Bradley would be my second favorite arm on the slate if I'm not going cheaper.

So Those two guys up top, Tyler Harrison, I'm going to leave in my large field tournamentGPP (Guaranteed Prize Pool)A GPP is a tournament whose prize pool is guaranteed to pay out in full even if the contest does not fill. Payouts are steep: a small group at the top wins most of the money.Before you enter a tournament lineup, ask how it finishes first, not just how it cashes. If you cannot name that scenario, rebuild it.Full explanation ↗ stuff just because you're going to get him at like five percent ownership. And he has thirty point upside any given matchup. He has pitched really good against the Cubs. I understand the wind's blowing out. I get all the reason is there. But I mean, you're talking to five percent versus a seventy percent difference on one one game on tonight's slate only.

I know you're giving up seven points of projection. I know all of that. DeGrom's the much better play, but. On a slate where a lot of people are going to be chasing tickets for tomorrow. So many people are going to have deGrom. Having some Harrison in interest is not the worst play in the world, in my opinion here. Not messing with guys like Clay Holmes, Brendan Fott. Urena, I think, is kind of interesting. He's been better at home.

Yankees, I think, are going to command some ownership from the offensive side. Urena typically keeps the ball on the ground there, and he does have Some upside there. I don't love it. I'd rather just get up to Taj Bradley if I could find that seven hundred dollars, which I don't think is the worst play. So long story short, deGrom and Bradley are the two guys that I'm most interested in up top.

Little interested in Lambert, but I'd rather just take a shot on a guy like Tyler Harrison over Lambert, I think, at the ownership and just take my chances in that one. Down below $1,000, I think there is a lot of guys you can play down here. And I don't think it's the craziest play in the world to play two of these guys or maybe play like a Taj Bradley and one of these guys and just in a non-deGrom team, something like that.

Gage Jump looks pretty good to me. I think he's pretty interesting. People are going to have some interest in Aaron Nola. Elmer Rodriguez down at $6,300. Gets the strikeout happy. Angels matchup there. Young prospect for the Yankees. A couple starts on his belt. Anthony Kaye showing upside at times. The lefty going against Houston doesn't sit too well with me, but I think he has upside at $6,500. Any of these other guys down here that you have interest in really hit on Nola.

Anthony K, Rodriguez, engaged jump. Those four, how do you rank those four and anyone else? Yeah, I like Nola a lot here. It's way too cheap. In good form right now. I don't mind the matchup either, the Arizona lineup. You know, we know that I like Arizona in general, but no control Marte. The lineup falls off a cliff. Yeah, I'm in Nola at this price point on this slate. I don't mind five. I don't mind jump. $7,700. He's been better on the road, too.

So I think he's fine at $7,700. I don't really love Anthony K. I just don't love the matchup for him. I just think Nola is a much better play. So I'm there. You know, Elder Rodriguez gets the Angeles matchup. So I think he's probably the next guy for me. I think if I'm listing three pitchers, it's deGrom, Nola, and Elder as my three kind of top dogs. Elmer is just a play on price in the matchup.

I don't think he's particularly good, but he's really deep in the best matchup in baseball. So, yeah, that's kind of how I see it. Yeah, I agree. I do have Gage Jump probably third behind deGrom and Taj Bradley. Five and a half K prop heavy juice to the minus one seventeen on the over checks out pretty good there for me. And then it would be Elder Rodriguez probably fourth for me. Four and a half K prop juice to the over there.

I'd like that. I'm not a big Aaron Nola guy, especially against. I know you love you. You love yourself some D-backs here. Uh, he does have a four and a half K prop. It is just the over there. Um, I think he's fine. I just rather, I mean, I'd rather mess with a guy like Elmo Rodriguez or find the extra.

Uh, five hundred dollars and get up to gauge jump at, which is probably going to be lower ownershipOwnershipOwnership is the percentage of lineups in a contest that include a given player. Projected ownership is an estimate made before lock; actual ownership is posted once the contest locks.Ownership isn't something to avoid; it's something to build around. The goal is understanding how the field is likely to build, then finding your edge relative to that.Full explanation ↗ just from the name recognition alone. I don't think Aaron Noah, um, I don't know. I'm not a big Aaron Nola guy anyways. At this point of his career here, you look at the matchup for him against Arizona. They just don't strike out. I mean, seventeen percent strikeout rate in the last month against right handed pitching.

I know Nola has been really good over the last month. I understand it. I can see the upside there. It's just I don't know. I like jump better. I like Emma Rodriguez better. And I don't want to have a massive pitching pool overall. So that's kind of how I rank pitching. I'll go deGrom number one, Gage Jump two, Bradley three, Elder Rodriguez four are kind of the four main guys that I'm looking at here. How do you see your top four?

I'm looking at my top four. I like Nola more than you. I get it. Like, I don't feel great about it. I don't think he's safe. And maybe he's going to be over, if he's going to be over-owned, I'm probably not interested. But as of now, I'm going to say deGrom, Nola, Elder jump. Yeah, for sure. Nola would be Nola would be five for me. I just top four. I like those little other guys a little more. I'll definitely have some Nola.

I think he's a good play for sure. Outside of that, I don't really think spreading. I think you're kind of spreading too thin a pitcher here. It is only a seven game slate. There is some good offenses on the slate. Obviously, we've got Coors Field on the slate. We've got the Wrigley win game with the Cubs and the Brewers. We got Houston looks pretty good. There's some other good offenses, obviously the Yankees, things like that, the Phillips, stuff like that. There is high powered offenses.

So I'd rather be more condensed that picture personally myself and spread out on offense is kind of how I'm seeing it here. So those are kind of the main guys you're looking at for pitcher overall. Let me go ahead and refresh our stone, the regular stone here that breaks down the team and the matchups. First game on the main slate here, Jackson Jobe going in to Minnesota, Taj Bradley on the other side here. What's your interest in the offenses here, Twins and the Tigers tonight?

Yeah, I mean, not super hot. Joe has good stuff, certainly hasn't put it all together. He's a guy you can pick on. I think the Twins are in play here, but I'm not excited about them. Detroit against Taj Bradley... I don't hate it if Bradley's going to get owned. I mean, I think it's more of a leverageLeverageLeverage is the edge you gain by rostering a play the field is underweight on, compared with how often it ends up in winning lineups. When that play outscores the popular option most lineups chose instead, you gain ground on those lineups, though the rest of your roster still decides where you finish.Look for leverage on players connected to the chalk, like the other side of a popular game or a teammate who can steal the popular player's touches.Full explanation ↗ play than anything. Like, if I'm playing one lineup tonight, hard for me to sit here and say I'm going to stack either of these teams.

But I think ownershipOwnershipOwnership is the percentage of lineups in a contest that include a given player. Projected ownership is an estimate made before lock; actual ownership is posted once the contest locks.Ownership isn't something to avoid; it's something to build around. The goal is understanding how the field is likely to build, then finding your edge relative to that.Full explanation ↗ is low enough, both sides, that makes them worthy tournament stacks on a smaller slate. You've got cores in play, but not the best offenses in play there. Other than that, it's not a slate with elite offensive spots or hitting. No Dodgers, no Sacramento, no Great American. So, yeah, I think these two are kind of mid-tier for me. I think you get the worst pitcher in Joe, but you get the ownership leverage going against Bradley.

So these teams look pretty similar in my mind. Yeah, I agree. It's lefties on both sides here is what you want. So Brooks Lee, Cody Clemens, Larnock. There's some pinch hit risk there with a guy like Larnock for sure. But Brooks Lee switch hitter, third base, $3,900. Good price point there. Cody Clemens has been really, really good all season. He's got a ton of upside. $5,300. His ownership should be pretty held in check.

Josh Bell has some upside to a first base. There is some opportunity cost there at that position. But I think he's interesting. You got a cheap guy at the back half there in Jenkins at $3,000. And then on the Tiger side, it's lefties to right. Cole Keith McGonigal, Bratt Callahan, super cheap there. I know he's he's a righty, but he's been playing playing pretty solid over the last month or so.

Uh Max Clark if he cracked the lineup I did just see Detroit drop their lineup I didn't see if he made it I would assume he made it here against taj bradley there but bradley um historically struggles against lefty and gives up power and fly balls to the left side so that's where you're looking at guys like Callahan Colt Keith um clark mckinstry

Some of those guys um have some upside I think both these teams are in play um they're not on top of my charts they're probably like sixth or so six seven something like that in terms of stacks sounds like you're pretty similar there as well um I would not be shocked to see the upside here but I can't put it ahead of some of the other stacks and spots on the slate overall takes us to Wrigley um Like projected be like twenty plus mile an hour gust here in this game.

Clay Holmes, Tyler Harrison. Harrison's been up or down over the last month. He is still a pretty solid arm overall. The Cubs have been the best team in baseball over the last month against lefties and righties in terms of OPS. Obviously right in the back of PCA who has what five home runs and seven at bats or something like that. As of late, the dude's just absolutely murdering baseballs, lefty-lefty, doesn't really matter.

Tyrone Taylor, Suzuki, Shaw, Kelly, all these guys hit left-handed pitching pretty well. Over the last month, Harrison has actually given up some right-handed power for sure and some fly balls a little bit as well. So you're looking at, like I said, Tyrone Taylor, Bregman, Carlson Kelly. Cubs are expensive. Nobody's going to play the Cubs. They're going to be super low on the slate amongst teams like Baltimore, the Yankees, the Brewers are going to be higher on for probably a better reason.

Clay Holmes is a more tackle pitcher with his no strikeouts as of late. But I do think this is a really good game for offense. I think there's really good pivot off of Coors Field in much better hitting environments. You're talking like seventy degrees in Coors Field with ten to twelve mile an hour winds blowing straight in there. This game is going to play much more hitter friendly. We see these wind games all the time. Runs just just produce here.

So I think this game looks really good on both sides for offense. I have a lean more to the brewer side just because I'd rather attack clay homes a little bit more than Tyler Harrison, but I think both sides are firmly in play and Cubs are going to be super low ownedLeverageLeverage is the edge you gain by rostering a play the field is underweight on, compared with how often it ends up in winning lineups. When that play outscores the popular option most lineups chose instead, you gain ground on those lineups, though the rest of your roster still decides where you finish.Look for leverage on players connected to the chalk, like the other side of a popular game or a teammate who can steal the popular player's touches.Full explanation ↗ on a seven game slate with a ton of upside. Yeah, I mean the Cubs are going to be super long. Harrison's been good. It's lefty so PCA.

Played on Saturday four percent ownershipOwnershipOwnership is the percentage of lineups in a contest that include a given player. Projected ownership is an estimate made before lock; actual ownership is posted once the contest locks.Ownership isn't something to avoid; it's something to build around. The goal is understanding how the field is likely to build, then finding your edge relative to that.Full explanation ↗ in a wind blowing out spot they were playing uh he was playing also fixing a lefty a way worse lefty and Andrew Abbott now I don't know man I don't know how much higher pc gets he's so pricey this is not a good spot on paper for them but when they When they get to Harrison in this spot, I think they wreck the state. So it's definitely worth keeping them in your pool in tournaments.

Even though when Harrison has his good stuff, you're probably not cashing with the Cubs. So it's the ultimate boom-bust GPPGPP (Guaranteed Prize Pool)A GPP is a tournament whose prize pool is guaranteed to pay out in full even if the contest does not fill. Payouts are steep: a small group at the top wins most of the money.Before you enter a tournament lineup, ask how it finishes first, not just how it cashes. If you cannot name that scenario, rebuild it.Full explanation ↗ spot. I definitely get being overweight on the Cubs here. The Brewers, yeah, they look much better on paper. I think they're all expensive, but a little bit cheaper. Facing a pitcher that's not as respected or not having as good of a year as Harrison, the road teams are guaranteed nine at-bats. I think both these teams look really good.

You can make the case that these are the one-two on the slate, as you mentioned, with the weather. And they're just better offenses than the Orioles or Rockies. So, yeah, lots of like offensively from this game, no doubt about it. Yeah, I like this game a lot for offense here. Cubs did use four bullpen arms yesterday, three on Saturday and three on Sunday or on Friday, excuse me. So got kind of taxed.

Brewers do get your rebate back, which does hurt the Cubs stack in terms of the back end. But if they get on Harrison early, you're going to probably see the Brewers pump this game off. This is a big game for the coming down the stretch here. Obviously, this is one of two in the central here. Brewers, I think, seven and a half game lead, something like that. So the Cubs are going to be gunning for the top here. And I think both teams have upside here.

So for sure, I think this is a good spot. I will say Aaron Ashby hasn't pitched in for sure. I know Aaron Ashby is probably going to be available here. So you're probably looking at a lot of pinch hit risk for any other lefties that do get the start here. Or excuse me. Yeah. Any other lefties, but I'm assuming that it's only PCA and Bush, which ain't going to pitch hit those guys.

So, um, some of these righties like a Tyrone Taylor, a Matt Shaw, Maya, some of these guys are probably pretty pinch hit risk free. Um, if they go Harrison at Ashby in this game, obviously it's hard to see what they do, but there is still some pinch hit risks with some of the back half of that Cubs lineup. Some of those righties in there, if Ashby doesn't come in after Harrison.

So didn't want to mention that a little bit, but looks really good on paper, both sides for sure. Brewers overall, the better stack, just a more attackable pitcher in Clay Holmes, I think. Next spot, Rangers, Athletics, Gage Jump, Jacob deGrom, two pitchers we had a bunch of interest in. This ballpark is horrible for hitting. We've seen some slate-winning performances in this park this year. But, I mean, outside of just leveraging Jacob deGrom, I think the A's are a pretty easy cross-off overall.

Larry Butler, you can play him. He's been pretty decent as of late, so I think he's fine at .三九百 with some power upside there. Rangers, I mean, Rangers have been hitting the ball well. I got to give you credit last week jumping on the Rangers. They won me a bunch of money at like two percent ownershipOwnershipOwnership is the percentage of lineups in a contest that include a given player. Projected ownership is an estimate made before lock; actual ownership is posted once the contest locks.Ownership isn't something to avoid; it's something to build around. The goal is understanding how the field is likely to build, then finding your edge relative to that.Full explanation ↗. So that was a pretty good call by you. I don't love picking on Gage Jump here. He's much better on the road here, obviously, outside of Sacramento.

No shocker there. So a huge park upgradeBallpark FactorsBallpark factors, also called park factors, measure how much a stadium raises or lowers scoring compared with an average park. Altitude, fence distances, foul territory and typical weather shape them, and some parks favor one side of the plate.Check whether a park factor is split by handedness. Some parks boost left-handed power while doing little for righties, and that split can change which hitters you stack.Full explanation ↗ for a guy like Gage Jump here. And a huge park downgrade for the offenses here in terms of the A's. I think this is pitching in this one. I don't love offense. I wouldn't be shocked to see the Rangers. You do still, if they get on a gauge jump, you do still have that really bad bullpen behind him. It's not a spot where I love the Rangers overall, though. How do you see this one?

I'm more with you than against you here. I think you can play the Rangers because it's a small slate and they're not facing an elite pitcher, but they don't look great on paper or anything. I think really if you're playing them, you kind of hope they get to jump a little bit and make him work. And then you get to that bullpen because that bullpen can give it up quickly. So pieces like Lankford against lefty always in play. Seegers.

Know I think mini stacks more for Texas than me probably wanting to full stack them but on a smaller slate you know anything goes they're not going to get much love and they're cheap so they have that working for them there is some pinch at risk with like the cheaper righties that you're not really interested in playing unless you're fully stacking them and then yeah I'm with you on the a is like Man, the only thing I'll say is if you get a start like deGrom gave up last week, his last start, you're winning a lot of money tonight because he's going to be Uber chalk and the A's aren't going to get any love.

Now, I don't buy it and I'm not playing the A's, but it is baseball. I mean, you know, weirder stuff happens, as you said earlier. I need to get in Sunday, Monday, whatever day it is. So that would be the case to play the A's. I'm not doing it. Yeah, I mean, deGrom's showing some home run issues. So, like, that's why if I'm doing it, I would just pick off, like, power guys. There's not a lot of power guys left in this skeleton lineup here for the A's.

So, Larry Butler, like I said, Giloff, McNeil, if you believe in his kind of random power surge over the last two months or so, those kind of three guys, two, three, four in the lineup, I don't think are the worst plays. Cortez and Jonah Heim have some power at times too. Jonah Heim at a onesie position, I don't hate, I think that's fine.

But you're really kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel and just betting on a seventy percent on pitcher not having his best stuff. I just rather find other spots personally myself than kind of go in on it. But I mean, it is leverages the slate completely, right? It could be a spot where this random shit happens on a night where everyone's chasing for those tickets to get into that Milly contest tomorrow. So I wouldn't be shocked to see it. It's not something that I really love.

I'd have more interest on the Texas side. Berger, Duran, and Langford, my three favorite guys there. Three, five, six. I think that's pretty interesting. Seager, lefty, lefty. He can hit lefties too. But it would just be more minis on both sides here overall. Next spot on the slate here. Real quick. Real quick. Yeah, sorry. A couple things I want to address. One, I see Cattell Marte will be back tonight for the Diamondbacks. So, you know, downgrade Nola accordingly. Like, certainly don't love that at all.

And then Ezekiel Duran leading off for Texas, as we were talking about the Rangers. Liked that a lot. So, top of their lineup, I think, in play. But it's about it. Sorry. Go ahead. Yeah, Darren's been really good. Third base is kind of a ghost land, a wasteland position. I probably would definitely not play during in the outfield unless you alter unless you're stacking up Texas and you need him.

Third base, I think he's a really good play, and some of those other righty power guys I think are in play for sure. Next spot, Astros, White Sox, Anthony Kaye on the mound, and Peter Lambert. Anytime the White Sox are playing a righty, I mean, even though Peter Lambert been pretty good, he ranks good for our stuff, Anytime they're in play against the righty, I don't care what the slate is. I don't care who it is. This team has a ton of power.

They've broken a ton of slates this year. They just up and down, right? Tristan Peters has been really, really good over the last month and a half. He's been their best hitter. Three thirty nine. I saw thirteen percent K rate, a twelve percent walk rate. I mean, he's just seeing beach balls at the plate. Nobody ever plays them. He's always buried in the back half of the lineup. I think he's an elite one off. DraftKings never raises his price.

He's still $2,900 against the righty there. I think he's really good play. You got both the Montgomery been attending Murakami Antonacci. This team is definitely in play. I don't love picking on Peter Lambert, but would not be shocked. I mean, over the last month, Peter Lambert has declined big time against lefties. I mean, his strikeout stuff has dropped. His walk rates have come up. He's getting hit more for fly balls. So the lefties are where you want for the White Sox.

That's what you want anyways. If they jump on Lambert, you're not going to see guys like Josh Hader and the good arms in that Houston bullpen on the back half, right? They're all late inning arms, right? Their mid-relief guys are not good. The back half is solid. So their bullpen ranking is kind of a little smoke and mirrors when you add in those back halves. But you're not going to see those guys if the White Sox do jump on them. So I think they're pretty interesting.

But on the Houston side, I definitely have a lot of Houston interest here. Anthony Kay against righties is really bad. He's going to see a bunch of righties and then two or one for sure. Really good lefty. Jordan, even though he's been struggling lefty lefty over the last month or so, but Cam Smith looks really good. Altuve, Perides, Jeremy Pena, Yiner Diaz, a cheaper catcher, Christian Walker. I think that Houston side flies under the radar here.

They're projected to be right around like twenty percent five man stack ownershipOwnershipOwnership is the percentage of lineups in a contest that include a given player. Projected ownership is an estimate made before lock; actual ownership is posted once the contest locks.Ownership isn't something to avoid; it's something to build around. The goal is understanding how the field is likely to build, then finding your edge relative to that.Full explanation ↗. I would not be shocked to see the Astros break a slate here. You've got a bad bullpen behind Anthony Kay as well. I think the Astros are one of my favorite tournament stacks on the slate here. Matt, what do you see? I like that call. I don't think they're going to get any love at all, especially with the big-time games. Like, you know, we talked about core.

We talked about the Cubs game, and then we'll get the core. So I think it's a good call. White Sox, yeah. Lambert had showed some big reverse splits, but that's evened out a little bit. They're just been playing against a mediocre righty, and that's what Lambert is. I think he's pitching over his head for much of the beginning of the year. I don't really understand why he's getting so much ownership here. So that makes me like the White Sox even more.

Yeah, I mean, the White Sox gets a mediocre righty. What else really needs to be said? And then I like your Houston contrarianContrarianA contrarian play or lineup is one built around choices most of the field will not make, such as low-owned players, unpopular teams or an unusual salary structure.Pick one or two contrarian spots per lineup and ground each in a real reason. The rest of the roster can look like the field.Full explanation ↗ call because I think they come in real low on. They're expensive where you want them, which will really cut into their ownership.

Yeah so like on a different slate if we had spent up pitching I probably won't play Houston here because salary would be much more at a premium right on this slate I'll set it I mean the ground's even underpriced right for for the slate at hand I mean we don't have spent up pitchers the highest price guy is Tyler Harrison against the Cubs with the wind blowing out at in court or in in Wrigley right so you have salary to spend on hitting everyone's going to go to Baltimore and spend it on Baltimore and if they don't go to Baltimore they're going to spend it on either the Brewers or the Yankees I think Houston makes a ton of sense here Anthony K not great against

Righties you got a lot of guys at the back half that just aren't going to get played I just don't see a scenario where Houston gets played here and I'm going to take a chance on a team that I can think can separate them that's how you play a deGrom team differently right you don't go in and play Coors you don't go in and play the Brewers you play a different offense that has a ton of upside against the mediocre lefty right and then the white socks same thing right I think the white socks are super interesting as well I just I mean Lambert's getting the ownership because he's got the second best props on the slate but I mean he's

Got a five and a half k prop I understand but it's like minus one forty on the under right so They just lit up deGrom. DeGrom's a much better pitcher than Peter Lambert. I know it's a different slate. I know it's a different matchup, all of this. But, I mean, if you just closed your eyes and said who you'd rather have, deGrom or Peter Lambert, I mean, everyone's going to side with deGrom.

And the White Sox just posted a slate-breaking performance against him, right? So I get it, different matchup, different park, all of that. But Houston's bullpen in the mid-arms are not good. The back half arms are good, like I said. So I like this game for offense on both sides. This is one of the sneakier spots on the slate. I think on both sides of it. Next spot, Orioles, Rockies. Both sides are going to get love here for sure.

Definitely on the Orioles side, they're going to be the highest on stack on the slate. Tanner Gordon, not a good arm. Cade Povich, not a good lefty. He is getting the start now for the Orioles. It was going to be Tyler Braddish. Now it is going to be Cade Povich. So make sure you, for whatever reason, you're playing Tyler Braddish against the Rockies. Make sure you do not because Cade Povich is going to go here. I don't think he's a very good arm.

Rockies look pretty good to me here. I mean, Johnson, Castro, Moniak, McCarthy. Run field. I think I at ownershipOwnershipOwnership is the percentage of lineups in a contest that include a given player. Projected ownership is an estimate made before lock; actual ownership is posted once the contest locks.Ownership isn't something to avoid; it's something to build around. The goal is understanding how the field is likely to build, then finding your edge relative to that.Full explanation ↗. I prefer the rocky side of this game, but both sides have to be in play. I'm personally going to be underweight on the Baltimore side just because I think they're just getting thrusted into massive ownership because of their total and in Coors Field. I get the reasoning. It's not the best hitting environment here. This typically isn't a home run park anyways, but.

Even more so going to play less hitter friendly than it typically would with wind blown in temperatures in the upper sixties here how do you see this game the most important game um and deciding factor on the slate so many teams are going to be anchored with the grom and the Orioles here yeah I mean I recognize that the Orioles are the best stack on paper tonight by a pretty clear amount high total Rockies and cores bad pitcher bad bullpen all that I don't want to dive into an expensive high-owned team.

Baltimore, I just don't think they're good enough to be owned at this rate, at these price tags. So I'm going to be under the field on Baltimore, most likely, unless the ownership comes in lower than I'm expecting or projects come in lower than I'm expecting. I like the Luis Robert pickup for them as far as another high upside bat. Well, I doubt he plays tonight, though. The outfield needed some major league improvement, and they did that. Kudos to them for making that move.

And, again, they're the team that's most likely to score the most runs tonight. They have the highest ceiling in the slate. But I just think the ownership is going to be there and then some. So I don't think you're getting any advantage over the field playing them. One through nine, they're going to be owned.

So I'm probably going to look at some other spots and maybe play them as many stacked one-offs because obviously they're in a good spot and they're going to score runs tonight. So, yeah, I mean, they're typical with teaming cores. They've been better recently, but they're just not an offense I really want to buy into at this ownership at those price tags. The Rockies, on the other hand, I like a lot. They're a little bit more affordable.

Povich is a pitcher I also don't mind picking on, and I think the ownership is substantially lower. So I'm in on the Rockies, probably out on the Orioles, but it's just an ownership thing. That's really the only reason. Yeah, I'm with you there. It is a smaller slate, so ownership condenses even more.

There's not a lot of great pivots from the pitcher perspective, so I think it's pretty hard to play the Baltimore stack differently, especially if you're playing limited lineups compared to a lot of people that are just going to shove the chips in on Baltimore. We always talk about it, right? Anytime a team is getting this kind of ownership on a smaller slate, you have to nail them perfectly, right?

I mean, you could hit four out of the five guys right, and that fifth one, if you played Colton Cowser and it was Leote Tavares instead, right? Well, now you go from – having a chance to ship it all to probably Min Cashin, right? So that's just not the way I like to play. I understand it on paper. They look like the best team. I get it. Rocky's bullpen is not good. Tanner Gordon is not good.

The Orioles still do strike out a lot, though, against right-handed pitching. So, I mean, you could see a lot of strikeouts here. There's only three guys in the lineup that have less than a twenty five percent strikeout rate against right-handed pitching over the last month. And that's Tavares, Holliday and Gunnar Henderson. Right. So a little nine one three mini stack there, I think, pretty, pretty interesting if you want to do that.

I'd just much rather prefer to differentiate with a team like the Cubs, the Brewers, the Astros, the White Sox that we talked about, the Rockies even. We're going to talk about the Yankees here coming up. So we see it eye to eye there. I'd much prefer the Rocky side overall here. Next spot, Yankees, Angeles, Urena, Elder Rodriguez. We talked about both these pitchers when we talked about pitching just because pitching slate is pretty gross in general. Yankees do have a bunch of upside here.

They're going to be unownedLeverageLeverage is the edge you gain by rostering a play the field is underweight on, compared with how often it ends up in winning lineups. When that play outscores the popular option most lineups chose instead, you gain ground on those lineups, though the rest of your roster still decides where you finish.Look for leverage on players connected to the chalk, like the other side of a popular game or a teammate who can steal the popular player's touches.Full explanation ↗ on the slate compared to other teams that we just talked about. How do you see this game in Angel Stadium here in terms of the weather? Decent place to hit here tonight. Got some wind blowing out right around ten miles an hour or so. Temperatures in the mid-seventies, so a typical September game out in Anaheim. How do you see this one, though? Yeah, I respect Urania enough, even though Cleveland got to him last week. I don't really love the Yankees here.

I think it's pretty neutral. Wouldn't be surprised if Urania has a good start here. Wouldn't be surprised if the Yankees got to him. I don't love either side. If I'm playing enough lineups, I get to both. But I'm playing minimal lineups, so I probably won't get to neither. I'm more likely to get to some Yankees bats, one-offs. Urania's been good, even though he doesn't have a strong strikeout upside. Go ahead. No, go ahead. I thought you were done. Sorry. Go ahead.

The Angeles versus Elder is interesting to me because Elder is not good. His underlying stuff isn't good. He doesn't strike anyone out, but he gets the matchup with the Angeles. That said, the Angeles are bad. They strike out, but they get the matchup with Elder. I kind of like the Angeles as a contrarianContrarianA contrarian play or lineup is one built around choices most of the field will not make, such as low-owned players, unpopular teams or an unusual salary structure.Pick one or two contrarian spots per lineup and ground each in a real reason. The rest of the roster can look like the field.Full explanation ↗ stack tonight. Yeah. Not sure I have the components to play them, but I like them. Yeah, I get the reasoning for sure. I definitely get it. I can see it.

I mean, you can always play Trout and Netto. Grissom has been pretty solid as well. You got Josh Lowe in there as a lefty guy that can hit for some power at times. You got a cheap guy in Ballesteros that should be in there that at one time had some power. Haven't quite seen it. Meckler's cheap. I mean, this Angeles team is free. And Elder has not been good this year for sure. So I get the reasoning. Yankees side, I tend to agree with you too.

I'd probably rather side with teams like the Cubs at similar ownership, if not even lower ownership at kind of similar price points. Urena keeps the ball on the ground. I know his strikeouts aren't there like you alluded to, but fifty four percent ground ball guy. I know the Yankees all they the issue is they all hit the ball in the air. So you could see kind of A tale of two tapes here, right? Ground ball pitcher meets a fly ball offense.

Not sure what's going to happen here. Would not be shocked. You still do have that Angeles bullpen behind Urena, but Angeles bullpen's actually been better over the second half of the season here than it did to start, so... I'm with you. Would not be shocked to see these teams kind of be there. It's not a game that I really love targeting overall amongst some other spots. I'd rather go to the White Sox and Houston game personally.

I see these two games kind of similar and I'd much rather side with that game overall, which seems crazy to say when when the Yankees are on the road in Anaheim. But just kind of how the how the slate shakes out for me overall. Last spot on the slate here. You alluded to it, Ketamarte back in the lineup for the D-backs here. That's a big boost to this roster in general. D-backs just don't strike out ever. Aaron Nola has upside. He's a good pitcher.

He still does give up power. I think what he was... Does he have the most home runs given up on the year or something like that? I mean, I know he's pretty close to the most home runs given up on the year. So guys like Corbin Carroll, Marte, all the BVP guys out there are going to love Kettle Marte pulling up the BVP there. So naturally, Marte first came back after his fake injury or whatever the hell is going on with him there.

I think the D-backs, I know you're going to talk about them. You love your D-back squad. And then on the other side, Philly. Brandon Fott, I think, is a better arm than people give credit for, but he still is susceptible to lefties, and nobody's going to play Tyler Schwarber. Nobody's going to play Bryce Harper. I think those two guys are elite plays. Trey Turner been better after the second half of the year here. Brandon Marsh has power hitting in the back half there.

You've got Stott, who always has stolen base upside. Arias just never strikes out. I think this game is kind of sneaky here for offense. And I prefer this game to the last game we just talked about. The Angeles-Ankies game. Talk to me here. Last game of the slate. I'm with you. I think Noel is in play because of his price tag. I liked him a lot more when Quetel Marte was not in.

I mean, he had some big bat in the middle of the lineup. I'm in Arizona here for sure as a contrarianContrarianA contrarian play or lineup is one built around choices most of the field will not make, such as low-owned players, unpopular teams or an unusual salary structure.Pick one or two contrarian spots per lineup and ground each in a real reason. The rest of the roster can look like the field.Full explanation ↗ tournament stack Philly. I think it's definitely in play against five. He's been better than expected, but not good. It's a good matchup for Philly and Arizona. I think it's really sneaky. I definitely like this more than the last game for offense. I'm not liking more than cores at ownership. I like both sides quite a bit. It's not be my favorite.

Like you love the white socks Houston game. I really like this game, both sides. Yeah, I agree. You look at Phillips bullpen, pretty taxed as well. Three arms yesterday, two Saturday, three on Friday, forty nine, thirty seven, thirty two pitches from three other guys in that pen. And then look on the Arizona side in terms of bullpen they used with. Did they have a double header on Saturday and Friday? I mean, I see they used five arms on Friday and six on Saturday.

So obviously they had a day off yesterday. So that does help. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so, I mean, they're pretty taxed as well, and I would not see – I wouldn't be shocked to see this game kind of shoot out to end the slate. So, I'm with you. I do slightly prefer that White Sox game. Probably prefer the Rockies a little bit more, but as a game in total, I prefer that to Coors Field as well this game. So, we do see an eye-to-eye there.

Matt, end of the show, your top three pitchers, your top three stacks, and a home run call if you have one, and we'll get out of here and build these teams. My top three pickers, I'm going to say, I'm going to switch up from what we said earlier. I'm going to say deGrom, Taj Bradley. Then I'm going to say, man, I just don't like anything I said. I'll say jump, just because I think probably stack on the road, et cetera.

Favorite stacks, we're going to go Rockies, and then we'll go both sides of the Diamondbacks picks. Gosh, I lost my train of thought for a second. The Dimebacks game. Home run Phillips. Excuse me. If we're going to go right to the Phillips for the home run call, I'm going to kind of take the low-hanging fruit. Give me Tyler Schwarber. We're going to hit a leadoff bomb off five tonight. It's not going to be PCA hitting a leadoff bomb.

He might, though, too, but it's going to be Tyler Schwarber. I like that call there.

I'm going to go deGrom, Bradley, and then I will throw in – throw engage jump as well so the three same three guys um it's just pretty tough in this pitching slate we're kind of in lockstep on the arms you want to use their offense for me I'm going to go Houston I'm going to go Rockies and I will go Brewers as kind of three guys three main teams I'm looking at their home run call I'm gonna go to the Twins and I'm gonna go to the guy that I alluded to earlier hitting number nine Walker, Walker Jenkins, top big prospect here for the Twins.

Hasn't quite come to fruition yet, but I like this matchup. Joe gives up a ton of power to lefties. He's hit ninth, $3,000 in the outfield, unownedLeverageLeverage is the edge you gain by rostering a play the field is underweight on, compared with how often it ends up in winning lineups. When that play outscores the popular option most lineups chose instead, you gain ground on those lineups, though the rest of your roster still decides where you finish.Look for leverage on players connected to the chalk, like the other side of a popular game or a teammate who can steal the popular player's touches.Full explanation ↗. Give me some Walker Jenkins to hit a home run here tonight. Matt, good luck tonight in those contests. Hope to keep your momentum rolling, right, as we try to pick up some more tickets for tomorrow. And hopefully one of us ships that Milly in the nation over here. For Matt, I'm Nades. Good luck tonight in those contests.

We'll see you guys tomorrow. We're out of here. Peace.