The following Spotlight Pitchers, Hitters & Stacks were selected by Awesemo.com writer Jake Hari. For more analysis on the slate, check out Awesemo’s Rankings and Ownership Projections.
Pitchers
Noah Syndergaard ($10,200 DK/$10,500 FD)
Syndergaard is simply too cheap for the upside he has, especially coming off a dominant complete game with 11 strikeouts against the Giants. His one weakness is holding runners, but outside of Cesar Hernandez, there isn’t much speed on the Phillies as they rank 22nd in stolen bases against righties this season. Thor’s leash is longer than anyone on this slate, as he’s gone over 100 pitches in each of his last 5 starts, getting over 110 twice in those outings. This is a perfectly fine matchup for him, and despite the ownership he’ll see on the main slate, he’s easily the top option in all formats.
Jose Berrios ($8,000 DK/$8,300 FD)
Berrios velocity has been up and down since the all-star break, but the Twins keep trotting him out there every 5th day, so I have to believe he’s at (or near) 100%. Assuming he is, this is a great matchup against an underwhelming Royals team that has a total below 4 and has shown little to no power upside. Berrios strikes out righties near 24% with just a 30.7% hard-hit rate and the only 2 bats (Merrifield, Perez) that you’re remotely worried about in this matchup are from the right side.
Hitters
Brewers (vs. Chris Stratton)
The Brewers have a lot of lefty-mashers on their team, but they haven’t been too shabby against righties, especially lately, posting a 120 wRC+ against them over the last month with a .204 ISO in that span. Stratton is allowing over 45% hard-contact against righties with a 25.9% Line Drive rate in 2018, so matchups against Aguilar, Braun, Cain, and Schoop is not the recipe for success. Throw in good lefties like Yelich, Shaw, Moustakas, and you’ve got yourself a full Brewers stack with options.
Mariners (vs. Lance Lynn)
Bats are tough to come by on this slate, so getting some leverage on a volatile Lance Lynn is a pretty good way to go in GPPs. Lynn, as we know, has real issues against lefties, so guys like Kyle Seager, Denard Span, and Robinson Cano are all firmly in play for me. Nelson Cruz (141 wRC+) and Mitch Haniger (139 wRC+) both hit righties very well, and because of the modest 4.1 run total, you should be getting an ownership discount on these guys in addition to the leverage that they’ll get you if they’re able to light up Lynn.