MLB DFS Process | DraftKings & FanDuel Picks, Plays & Slate Breakdown | Wednesday, 09/16/26

We talked a little bit, wind blowing in a little bit in Wrigley. Man, these pitching options today, man, it's – It's not pretty. FanDuel a little bit better because you got Jones, Henderson, Wheeler, Snell that you could look at. But, man, when you get down to DK, you know, we're looking at George Kirby. Then we see Angeles. And everybody I know, everybody thinks, oh, righty against the Angeles. Let's do that. But, man, Kirby has not been very good here in recent times.

So he's kind of scary. He's not even been very good outside of Seattle, which is kind of concerning. And then you've got MacKenzie Gore, who in recent times has been about as bad as you get. So, I mean, I see he's going to get some 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 mean, but overall in the season, he's been good. But recent times, MacKenzie Gore's numbers have not looked good at all. So I'm a little concerned about Gore.

But Imanaga with the wind blowing in a little bit, I don't mind that. I mean, Robbie Ray and Coors, man, get me the whiskey bottle out for that. Kikuchi and you got a Javier guy, you know, like they're pretty much, you know, one in the same, you know, kind of high risk guys. So, I mean, we don't really got much to work with, if you ask me. I mean, I think you can poke holes in about anything, Matt.

So, for me, the one thing that does stand out, I do not like MacKenzie Gore. I just – I'm going to leave that alone. So, probably throw an eight-inning, one-hit shutout here tonight. But MacKenzie Gore, I just – I mean, he's not looked good at all here recent times. So nine earned runs in his last few innings, hasn't been getting any kind of strikeouts. His last four starts, he hasn't even been over four Ks. So I'm a little concerned with him.

But other than that, like I said, you can poke holes in everybody. There isn't anybody you're going to feel safe about. So obviously you can play about anybody you want tonight. As far as pitching, there's no really spend ups. But yeah, I think it's pretty tough here tonight. I mean, for me, I think like, and then maybe go down to Kikuchi, maybe Javier somewhere I'd go. I'm not even really a fan of playing George Kirby. What do you think?

Man, it seems like one of those slates where the chalkChalkChalk is the most popular, highly owned play on a slate. The term comes from sports betting, where the favorite is called the chalk.Don't label chalk good or bad. Ask whether each popular play deserves its ownership, then decide which chalk you'll eat and which you'll fade.Full explanation ↗ pitching, you know, just isn't that much better than the other guys. Kirby on the road, much worse stadium than Seattle. Going to get a lot of love because of the matchup and like the name, but I'm with you. Like, I'm not excited about playing Kirby here at all. I think I don't like Gore. And if I'm playing one lineup, I'm not playing Gore. So I want to just make that clear.

But I do think I like him a little more than you, just because of what we're working with tonight. And he is a lot better at home. That said, like, I got no confidence in it. So if I'm playing one lineup, I'm not playing him. In Manaea, I can't remember the last time I used a pitcher against the Braves. They haven't been amazing lately, but that lineup is just really hard to pick on. But in this spot...

You know, he's a guy that really plays into this ballpark when the wind is blowing in. Like the Braves are good and they might get him a little bit, but I don't think he gets rocked here. So I feel best about Imanaga, even though I don't think he's like an amazing player. On a lot of slates at $8,800, I'd be like, no, thank you. But on this one, I feel pretty good about it.

And then the other guy, which, I mean, this whole slate is full of guys you could play and then full of guys you could stack against in the same vein. And Kikuchi is number one example of that. At $6,600 against this lineup. Yeah, he's got to be one of the top options on the slate. Like the other side of the coin is that it's Kikuchi. And we've read this book before. He can get killed by anyone if he doesn't have his best stuff.

He puts guys on base. So he's had a weird career. Like at times he's been an amazing pitcher. Other times he's been a gas can. You never know what you're going to get with him right now. I think the other guy I would say is in play is Jake Bennett. I haven't felt great about him coming off a bad start, but in general, he's been pretty good and I don't hate the matchup. I guess it'd be remiss not to mention Robert Stock also, $5,300.

Not that I'm excited about him, but no one projects well and he's dirt cheap. I can't play Christian Javier, even though I know why people will. Yeah, I just I was checking with Kikuchi while you were talking. I mean, I like to. I mean, he's usually around the ninety pitch range. You know, he's going to get his he's going to get his work in. I mean, you're sitting at a game total sitting at seven and a half. You mentioned his walk issues.

I was concerned with us as pretty patient bats. You know, they got Crawford and Canzone. Yeah, big dump. The thumper is dumper, thumper, whatever he is, is pretty patient as well. So if Kikuchi can keep his control in check, I mean, I think that's what. We're what we're really looking at here for him. So I, for me, I think I feel probably best about him just because of his price. And then I'd probably go show that just because, you know, I, I, I like him.

I, like you said, with the Braves, but the Braves do have some strikeouts in that, in that lineup, which I do like. I mean, you got Acuña at almost twenty four percent Olson, twenty six in the bottom of that lineup, Riley Murphy and Kim. Are all thirty percenters. So he's got a handful of bats here that he could definitely get after. The only ones he's probably not going to get is Albies and Dubon. But after that, I mean, he's got some potential there.

I just, you know, I see someone here, is this a slate you'd fill in your bats and then pitchers? Yeah, for the most part for me, it generally would be. I would see what I have left just because pitching is so cheap. And you don't really, you're not really losing much if you're dropping, you know, down from a Gore at $7,800 or even showed it's $8,800. And then to me, drop into a Kikuchi.

I mean, I don't feel like you're really sacrificing much. So, yeah, I think today's a day that you could build on some bats. Now, with that being said, Matt, and is pitching being so cheap moving as we move into some bats? Like, do you feel like more people are going to go to like, you know, that Coors Field game?

And then they're going to end up with like kikuchi so kikuchi gets steamed up as the day goes on and the night goes on just because people are going to be looking at and optos are all going to take everybody to the Padres and Rockies so I mean do you think kikuchi could get steamed up I definitely do I mean Definitely. He's so cheap. Seattle strikes out a lot. And Coors is uber expensive. The San Diego side. I mean, Tatis is $7,200.

I can't remember the last time I saw someone over $7,000. Maybe Ohtani creeped. Right. Not named Ohtani. Right. You know what I mean? Like maybe Ohtani. That's the last guy I can remember even. But he hasn't been much higher than $7,000. So. You know, you've got uber-expensive tags there that are going to get played. It just makes sense that Kikuchi has played with them. That said, like, it's not like the other guys are expensive either.

So you can pretty much fit what you want with who you want. But, yeah, Kikuchi's tag stands out, no doubt. I think he's going to get steamed pretty heavy. Yeah, I see there Andrew and Aaron in the chat are mentioning Stock is out. Is Curry in play for the Mets? Curry, from what I, you know, just off the top of my head, his pitch count's going to be around . So I think that is very concerning. I mean, I wouldn't put too much in to Mr.

Curry. But, yeah, I think there's better options. I would rather just go up to, you know, the . And have somebody like Kikuchi. I mean, Chris Bassitt, too, maybe, if you wanted to look at, you know, Chris Bassitt. I mean, I don't really want to do so, but. I mean, if I'm playing a larger bunch of teams, I think Bassitt I would probably leave in my pool as well. But, yeah, pitching overall for me is kind of ugly.

If I had to rank them all, Matt, I think I would go probably Imanaga first, and then I'd probably go Kikuchi, and then I'm probably going Bennett, and then I'd probably go Curry. And then maybe Javier Bassitt. Yeah, it's some tough sledding here tonight. How do you feel about it? How do you got him ranked? I'm out on Curry. I just can't do it. He's an old Cleveland guy that's just not good. I mean, I'm with you on the pitch count.

I like Baltimore more now against him. So I'm out on Curry. I think if I were ranking him, it's got to be Imanaga. Yeah. Kikuchi. And then, man, I just hope there's no one I really want to play. Like, honestly, we didn't even talk about him, but maybe Merrill Kelly, $6,900 against the Marlins. This slate is full of, like I said, guys you can play and guys you could stack against. He stinks.

I know you probably like the Marlins a lot, but like the lefties for sure. That's what we're working with on this slate. So, you know what I mean? Like, I don't know. Yeah, it's some thin pickings that that's That's definitely for sure. I don't think there's anybody that's going to be overwhelmingly chalky. So, but the ones, you know, I just say I definitely wouldn't play. I definitely am not playing Gore. I don't like Gore. He'll get ownership too. Yeah, I believe so too.

Like he'll be like third highest owned, twenty-five percent-ish in my opinion. And I don't even think I could go any Robbie Ray either. So I'm not looking for any Robbie Ray. But, I mean, those are the times it kind of seems like to play Robbie Ray when nobody expects it. But it's still – like I said, get the whiskey bottle out. But, yeah, pitching's definitely pretty thin.

If anybody out there has got any other suggestions or whatever else or anything before we move on to bats, I know we only got seven games, so don't – don't want to uh leave anything out but hey while I'm thinking of it we got to keep the boss man happy but uh I know over on I was just trying to find it of course I can't find it because I never can find what I freaking want on here but uh either way go over to uh the Ship It Nation of course we have the uh shipping games So get over there and check out the shipping games.

I know what Tambo throws out a message in Discord. You get in there, you sign up. If you're one of the first, I don't remember how many it was. I watched the video, but it was one hundred ninety nine or something like that. But the top three get a $555 ticket and then you get entered into the to the shipping game. It's pretty cool. So make sure you guys are checking the Discord guys and gals. Make sure you're checking all that out.

And yeah, get you some extra bonus money. No other site is doing that, which we've done here for now two years in a row over here at Ship. A pretty cool thing they do here, man. I think that's pretty cool. Give back to the community. It's awesome, man. Like giving away so much money throughout the year, you know, gives people incentive to stay involved. And it's a really nice community that's been built up. So a lot going on over here. Yeah, absolutely.

But hey, let's talk some baseball here real quick. I know we got this first game here at seven, ten. And, you know, honestly, as a baseball fan, seeing what Alonzo did in that ninth inning, tie the game, hit a homer. That wasn't a bat flip, dude. That was a bat throw, like in your ass, man. Like he was like that had, that was a lot of emotion that dude let out. That's for sure.

How do you feel about bat flips in general? I feel like you don't like them in general. In general, I think I don't mind them. But I think if you do it too much, it just becomes like save it for that moment. You're like, right. Like what Alonzo did. I got no problem with that. But if you just want to be a Juan Soto and flip it every time you're up and like that, then it kind of gets old.

But like, man, if it's a special moment, playoff game or to win or a tie, man, have your fun, man. That's what baseball. That's what it should be. Let them be kids like that. They're playing a kid's game. I love every bit of that. So him throwing that bat like that, I was like, damn, he's mad as hell at them fans.

And then to see the interaction with the fans that caught the ball, and it was a pretty cool thing to see, man. He hooked them up with some bats and some balls, signed balls and jerseys, and they're all wearing Mets shit, and they're signing. He was signing for – you could tell he was kind of bummed the Mets got rid of him. Yeah, how do you feel about the fans, like, giving him a standing ovation, like, against their squad?

I feel like, honestly – They stink. So they don't have anything to root for really. And if they were like in the playoff hunt, like it would be different in my opinion. All I know is I saw the craziest shit in sports of all time when Chris Chelios became a Detroit Red Wing and the Chicago fans still cheered for him. That don't happen. You're going to see the exact opposite next week in Cleveland when Deshaun Watson starts.

It's going to be a spectacle because the fans hate it. You're never going to see a player booed more at their home stadium the next week if he's starting. Oh, I can see that. I mean, there's a lot of controversy surrounding Mr. Deshaun Watson taking a lot of money. I mean, he runs his mom. I mean, yeah. Yeah. A lot of working against them. Cleveland's a lot like Detroit, as you know. So you know how the fans can be.

It's a blue collar city and he is far from that. Yeah. But yeah, that was a pretty exciting game. Now, with that being said, in this game here tonight, we got. Obviously, we got the Mets pulling out Curry here. Stock is not in there. We have the Orioles. Man, I think Pete Alonzo is a pretty good play again, man. I think he could definitely do some damage again to this Mets team. So I don't mind him.

It seems like he's got a reason to get after the Mets, as excited as he was when he hit that bomb. So I think Alonzo would be in play for me as a one-off. I'm not looking to play any Mets here today against Bassitt, even though I don't mind attacking him. But, yeah, I just can't really get on board with any of these Mets today. But, yeah, I think you could definitely run Mr. Alonzo out there and maybe hope for another big night from him.

Yeah, I kind of like the Baltimore stack a little bit more. I mean, not that they weren't in play against Stock, but Curry, someone I don't mind picking on. Now they're going to a guy that wasn't expecting to start today, you know, stretches things out their bullpen, like just provides for, you know, pitchers, as we've talked about often, are creatures of habit. Now everyone's off their routine today in the Mets bullpen.

So going after that, I don't think is a bad idea, in my opinion. Like there are other really good stacks, but it's a seven-game slate. Not the best ballpark, but I don't hate the Orioles. The Mets, Bassitt, we didn't really talk about him. Yeah, they've been good enough. I think you could play them. Bassett himself, I don't see any reason why you couldn't play the Mets, even though they don't stand out to me. Yeah, I'm kind of indifferent towards them.

I wouldn't be shocked if they're on the winner, but I'm not going out of my way to play them.

Yeah, I mean, Bassitt, I mean it's just a low k you know k-rate pitcher uh you know maybe you know soto uh maybe young baddie I mean if you wanted to look at something like that but I think maybe I'd look at as more like minis or maybe some one-offs but I do think alonzo I mean you can't even argue that I mean maybe even bet on the night to get a double dong tonight like I mean, he seemed to be pretty locked in when, you know, they were interviewing him yesterday.

You could just see that fire in his eyes. So I actually thought yesterday, I'm like, dude, I'm going to bet on him every damn day of this series that he's over there in New York to hit a homer. I mean, I got a decent feeling he's probably going to hit another one. I don't hate it that way.

Was that I don't hate that call yeah I mean shit dude's got three hundred homers he's like one of nine players at three hundred homers and is that fast in his career like some of the players they group him with it's like you're thinking like damn and then you know I see here Justin like thirty year miserable Mets fan I can understand I kind of was a Mets fan myself as a thirteen-year-old was when the eighty-five Mets were uh kicking ass and I think I must have had a stack of dwight gooden rookie cards that was probably about eight inches high which are now basically worthless I

Thought he was going to be the greatest pitcher of all time and who didn't like daryl strawberry then too and then you know you see the videos and all that and kind of didn't understand what was going on behind the scenes there which you know hey makes for a great story but still Either way, like he said, the Knicks won. Michael said, the Knicks won. So relax a little bit. No, I don't know. I don't know how that works. Knicks, Rangers, Mets, Yankees.

Like, I don't know how it all makes up with everyone over there. But either way, good times. But we got another game here, seven forty. So what we got to nine forty games. We got a couple seven o'clock games. We got three games in the eight o'clock window. But this one here, Atlanta and the Cubbies, we got. Ritchie against Imanaga, like we mentioned. We got a little total of seven and a half. Covey's a minus one-sixty-ish or so favorite. Wind blowing in a little bit here.

I think Shota's at a pretty good spot. I don't really want to play any of these, any of the Braves.

I guess maybe if you were looking so, I mean, you could always play Acuña if you wanted to go there, but as far as the cubbies go against jr Ritchie uh man Ritchie just coming back I mean I think he threw a no hitter in the minors his last start did he yeah I'm pretty sure he did yeah did he go the whole inning did he go the yes yes okay okay okay yeah I know right like that's so rare in the minors to let them go though I know I'm with you right uh just thinking okay but uh either way I mean uh The Miners is a hell of a lot different than facing PCA and the rest of this crew.

Wind blowing in a little bit here. I don't know if you want to full stack them. I don't like going against that Braves bullpen, for one. So that usually takes out usually any kind of offense that I'm even thinking about against a Braves pitcher. So I'm going to definitely move them back a little bit. But, I mean, PCA has been hitting the shit out of the baseball. So I don't know if you want to look at him as like a one-off.

I don't love it just because that Braves bullpen. But, yeah, and, hey, Ritchie threw a no-hitter. He didn't. Maybe he's a little worn out a little bit. Yeah, I don't know where I got that, but now I'm seeing that that's wrong. So forget that. And he hasn't been good in the majors anyways. If the wind weren't blowing in here, I'd like the Cubs a lot. And I think that they're in play.

But man, it's just always hard to go to this park when the weather's not conducive to hitting, especially on a slate with cores, et cetera. You'll probably get the Cubs real low on though against a not good MLB pitcher. So I think that's intriguing and they've beaten some of these bad weather spots before, but man, it's tough when we've got other good spots. Like I know like the Miami Arizona game, much better for hitting.

We just talked about Baltimore and the Mets. So I think there's better spots, but yeah, Ritchie's a pitcher to pick on in general. Yeah, that's what Title and I were talking a little bit yesterday. I mean, we're getting into that time of year where, you know, the Midwest and the East Coast is going to start getting a little bit colder than the West Coast, especially the L.A. Games and the Arizona games and so forth. So, yeah, we're getting into that time of year.

But moving on, we got Bolton and Texas sitting here looking at Jake Bennett against MacKenzie Gore. Both pitchers look like they're going to be getting some 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 ↗. Now, I don't mind picking on a little MacKenzie Gore. Maybe Contreras would be interesting. Jumaane Jones, a pinch hit risk, though, has ever since couldn't hit freaking lefties when he's on the Tigers. He gets over to Bolton. All of a sudden, he's hitting lefties like he did last year. But definitely a pinch hit risk.

But you got any interest in any of these righty bats on either side? I think the Bolton bats against Gore are interesting, especially with him getting ownership. He hasn't been good. Yeah, I get that. And then Texas against Bennett. Bennett was not good. His last start against the Angeles gave up a few home runs. Maybe he's regressing. And if that's the case, Texas isn't going to get much love. Yeah, I think both these offenses have roles on this slate.

If I'm playing one lineup, I'm probably not stacking either. But Bolton is in consideration. I like them here. Yeah, I mean, like we said, Gore has not been very good lately. His K percentage has been down. His walk percentage the last thirty days to righties is at almost fifteen percent. So that's alarming. A lot of stuff trending downward for for Mr. Gore here and here as we wind down the season.

I got to imagine, too, you know, these elder the elder players as is Gore is, you know, they get they get worn down a little bit tired here. As they get into the season, especially if you're not really playing for much. But, all right, we'll move on. We don't really care for either of these offenses. But now in the next game here, I do have some interest.

We got Kansas City Lynch against the Astros, which I really like some Astros here against Lynch. Especially some of the righties I think I'm going to get after. I'm with Paredes. I think Christian Walker is a pretty good play. I think you could look at Cam Smith. So Lynch has not looked good here in recent times. So I think we can definitely pick on him. His K percentage to righties in the last thirty days is down to like eight percent, sixteen percent to lefties.

So, yeah, I think I think we can definitely get after some Lynch. And then that bullpen, too, is something that we want to get after. I put the Astros up there at the top of my ranks here today. I wouldn't say number one. But they're definitely up there. I think they definitely could compete with potentially like a Padre stack. I think that opportunity is pretty good here against Lynch. Yeah, I like Houston too. I like both offenses in this game, honestly.

Javier is someone I don't mind picking on ever. Man, this slate is no different. I don't think Kansas City gets any love. So I like Houston, similar as you do, but I also like Kansas City a lot as like a 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 ↗ upside stack. Houston stands out for sure. They look like one of the better stacks on the slate. Lynch, this bullpen. But then, man, Javier is a classic. Like, he's been okay recent, and the slate is off of her pitching, and he's cheap, so he's in play.

But if he's off, he gets hit hard. So I like Kansas City against him in tournaments. Yeah, last thirty days, Javier been getting barreled up nineteen percent by righties with a very high fly ball percentage of fifty-two percent. That's pretty alarming. So definitely – I mean, I just wish the Royals, you know, had a little bit more pop. But, I mean, you could obviously play Bobby Witt, Perez, if you want to go there, Garcia. So, yeah, I mean, I think definitely could get after Mr.

Javier here. But, yeah, I think both sides. But I do prefer the Astros over the Royals. Now moving on to the big one, the – The showcase game of the slate, obviously sitting out there in Coors Field. We got the Padres. You talked about, man, Fernandez Tatis, $7,200. I mean, that's that's ridiculous against the Rockies. And then you got Robbie Ray on the other side who the last thirty days, his K percentage has been down to the right side.

His walk percentage is at eighteen percent. So Robbie Ray, another elder player. Starter has not been looking good against righties in the last thirty days at all so Connor Norby I think is interesting Goodman interesting Carrick yesterday hit that bomb after a long at bat so yeah I mean we've seen Ray struggle in recent times he's been getting barreled up by righties too so I think the Rockies are, are, are in play yesterday. I just said, screw out full fading, both sides of that game today.

I think I'd like the Rockies a little bit more than the Padres who are a big, pretty big favorite at minus one seventy. But man, I think, I think, I think the Rockies for me are somewhere I want to go, especially with Ray's recent struggles. I think I like them a little bit more than I do the Padres, even though Padres will grade out as the best stack. Yeah, not only I like the Rockies yesterday, I like them today.

The only reason I like them slightly less is the Padres bullpen is more rested now because yesterday, like the day before yesterday, they had worked a lot of their guys and a lot of their guys have pitched like three out of four. Most of them got the day off yesterday because it was only Bueller, Peralta and Vasquez. Their main arms will be back here. And I don't know if they let Ray get like smashed, but I got no problem picking on Ray.

And if they get to Ray, they're not going to see the best arms out of the Padres pen anyways. So yeah, Rocky stack high upside Padres. I mean, I like them here. Obviously they're in cores and their offense usually plays in San Diego. So it's about as big of a ballpark 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 ↗ as you can get. That said, yeah, Obviously the price tags are what they are. And Adams has been like, I don't know their best pitcher, which isn't saying a lot.

Cause most of their guys stink and I'm not buying it, but he's striking out a bunch of guys. So if you can leave guys off base, then like, I don't know. It's an 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 ↗ fade, but you know, I don't think Adams is like a true gas can gas can. He's not good. And the Padres have the highest team total, but I, It's DFS, right?

Like, obviously, if we're doing a draft and just drafting the best hitters on the slate, a lot of the first and second round guys would be Padres. But we're playing an ownership game. And I think that there's other stacks that also look good that won't get nearly the love. I'm with you. Yeah, I mean, Adams, you look at him, he's he's been having some control issues to the left side.

Uh so far this year he's only had seventy seven plate appearances forty one to the left thirty six to the right and he's got a almost fifteen percent walk percentage which uh that's not gonna do you any favors uh in Colorado but like you said it's been striking a lot of people out I mean he's got uh thirty percent strikeout rate to the right side twenty six almost twenty seven the left side so if he can keep the ball over the plate um you may uh you may see you know you may see some

Uh trouble at the beginning for for the Padres but I think I just prefer the Rockies to be honest with just because like you said the ownership so Rockies for me are actually my favorite stack here today all right we're moving in that late window nine thirty eight nine forty we got Seattle and LA we're looking at a game total of seven and a half so probably not going to go after too many of the offenses now that being said I think we're going to see two of the chalkier pitchers in this game so is this anywhere that you like some one-offs do you like some minis maybe to get a little 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 ↗ on the field And if you don't overly love it, which one would you rather use?

Which pitcher would you rather attack? Would you rather go after Kikuchi, or do you think we'd just rather go after Kirby, who, as we mentioned, has struggled mightily on the road, and the Angeles do have some pops. So both pitchers, I think, are not safe by any means. So obviously that means that there could be a potential for some offense. So I guess which way would you lean here? So, a couple things. I lean the Mariners, and I like them a lot.

Like, even though Kikuchi's in play, and I get it. He's your favorite pitcher, and it makes sense because he's so cheap. But he's only your favorite pitcher because he's so cheap, not because he's, like, so good. He's got strikeout upside, and he's really cheap, and the pitching slate sucks. So, I think the Mariners have a really low floor here. I think their upside is some of the highest on the slate, and I don't think they get owned as such. So, I'd like Seattle a lot here.

They're in consideration for me at power playing 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 ↗. The Angels in the same vein, like I'm with you. I think both offenses look good for similar reasons. I prefer Seattle, but I get why you would like the Angels more, which I think you do. And I just want to comment on Andrew Martinez said just by Maton, Andrew Maton Adams against the chalkChalkChalk is the most popular, highly owned play on a slate. The term comes from sports betting, where the favorite is called the chalk.Don't label chalk good or bad. Ask whether each popular play deserves its ownership, then decide which chalk you'll eat and which you'll fade.Full explanation ↗ Padres. I don't hate that. Like pitching is awful. He's striking out. He's striking out. The Padres are going to be uber chalk.

So if you're not playing them, like why not consider Maton Adams? I don't think that that's like a ridiculous call at all. And then lastly, Jake Swales. I cannot believe Tatis really got into the $3,000 pricing earlier this year. That's wild. I don't remember ever seeing someone like double their price besides like a random $2,000 hitter throughout the course of the season. So that's where we are.

Yeah, I mean, Boca, if we had like four or five, like even the FanDuel pitching slate, I think you'd be kind of willing, you know, with four or five more better arms, like you wouldn't even be talking about Kirby and Kikuchi as much as now. So, yeah, I know like a really deep pitching slate. I think these would be guys we might be going after if it was all, you know, like opening day kind of thing here. These are two guys we'd be attacking.

So, yeah, that's how bad I think kind of pitching is in a whole anyway. So all right one more game left we have uh Miami at Arizona we got uh mr gusto against Merrill Kelly Merrill Kelly has not been very good against uh against lefties his uh walk rate has been very high the last uh thirty days he has seventeen percent walk rate thirteen percent k rate he's been getting uh Just hit pretty hard.

Both sides' fly ball percentages are a little higher than they normally are. So ground ball percentage is a mid-ground ball lean type pitcher. But I think they could get after Merrill Kelly here. Conine, I think, is a pretty good play. Stowers, I think, is a pretty good play. Marcy, I think I'd look at some of the lefties here are the Marlins. As far as Arizona goes, I got them ranked up pretty high as well.

Newt Barr, obviously, top of that lineup, is still pretty cheap, is a decent play. I think all of the D-backs would be in play for me here, all the way up and down. So I don't mind that at all. I mean, he's been getting beat up by righties. So, you know, I think we could definitely look at some of the righties here of the D-backs. I'd probably have them around maybe in my top three today.

But for me, overall on offense, I think the Rockies are my favorite. I also like some Astros, and then I'd probably look at some Marlins, and then I'd probably look at some D-backs. But, yeah, for me, I think you could look at both sides of this game if you want to, but even not a bad game stackGame StackIn baseball, a game stack means rostering hitters from both offenses in one game, typically in a hitter-friendly park or against two weak starting pitchers.Target games where the spread is close as well as the total high. A high total with a lopsided spread can turn into a blowout where only one side keeps scoring.Full explanation ↗ if you want to look at that. But for me, I think the D-backs are in a pretty interesting spot against Mr. Gusto.

Yeah, I mean, honestly, I know you – like, Kelly stinks. He's not good, but I do think that the beginning of the year for him was way worse than he's pitching now. Like, he hasn't gotten blown up a ton recently. Not that he's been good, but, you know, I don't hate this spot, but in the same vein, like, yeah, the Marlins are definitely in play against him. If he's off at all, like, he can get crushed by lefties. Obviously, a ballpark 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 Miami.

I can't imagine they get any love here. So, yeah, full stack in Miami – I'm intrigued because I'm not going out of my way to play Merrill Kelly. I just don't like pitching, so he's in play. And then Arizona also with you. Yeah, Gusto's not good.

Yeah, I mean, the bottom of the Arizona lineup drops off in a hurry, but it's really cheap, and it's a small slate, and there's – you know, outside of course, like we don't have any of the other premier hitting spots, whether it's wind is blowing in, in, in Wrigley, no Sacramento, no Cincinnati. So yeah. Um, I get it for sure. Yeah. Interesting.

Uh, slate we have, as we mentioned, I think I would start with some bats and then see what I got left for, for some pitching, but Matt, let me have your favorite three pitchers. Give me a couple of your favorite stacks, and let's throw a home run call and see if we can get the Ship It Nation YouTube station a few extra shekels for football this week. Let's go with my favorite pitchers. We'll go Imanaga. I'm going to – I'm just going to roll with it.

He's kind of expensive is the only thing about Maton Adams, so I can't do it. But I'll go Imanaga. Man, this is an awful pitching slate. Kirby and Bennett, but I don't feel good about any of them outside of Imanaga kind of. Favorite stacks, we will go with, I'll leave Coors off. I'm going to go with the Orioles. I'm going to go with the Royals and I'm going to go with the Astros. I like it. I like the Orioles call.

I think that one is definitely interesting that that that's for sure. Like I said, I, I liked, uh, I like what I saw out of Pete Alonzo yesterday. That's for sure. It's, uh, as far as a, uh, as far as a home run call, I'm going to say Cam Smith on Houston hits a Homer. I think, uh, For me, that's somebody like Christian Walker, Cam Smith. I like both of those guys here today.

But you got anybody throw a home run at us? Let's home run call. Let's go with Jackson Holliday. Jackson Holliday, I like it. Peter Alonzo seems too damn easy. I couldn't do it after you talked him off the whole show. Yeah, I think that seems a little too easy. But definitely, I think I'm going to throw a few bucks on Mr. Polar Bear to hit a bomb over there in New York. But I think that is pretty much going to do it for us.

Hit that like button for us. Hit that subscribe button. We definitely appreciate it. I know tomorrow we got some football, so I don't believe there will be a baseball show. So definitely we back next. Well, we'll be back Friday. I'm pretty certain with you and if you guys switch with title or ham, I know one of you guys will be you guys will be out on Friday. Then we'll be back Tuesday for some more baseball. But appreciate everybody joining us.

And we'll see you at the top of them tournaments. Let's ship it. I always fuck that part up for some damn reason.