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
Clayton Kershaw
Kershaw has dominated over his last 5 starts, going 36 innings with 35 strikeouts and looking close to the Kershaw of old. On a 6-game slate with little to like at the pitching position, he’s the obvious #1 in all formats if you are able to afford him. The Cardinals are not the easiest of matchups, but Kershaw has been so good at missing bats, getting chases, and preventing runs as late that he’s become a tough fade once again. He will be heavily owned because of the safety he provides, but it makes sense to lock him in and differentiate elsewhere in GPPs.
Sandy Alcantara
**It looks like Alcantara will not be starting the game on the main slate. There isn’t another pitcher in this range that I like, so I would recommend getting up to Eduardo Rodriguez or punting with Heath Fillmeyer on DK.**
While many will look to the other side of this Marlins-Mets tilt (including myself) for starting pitching, Alcantara showed a lot of positive signs in his last start. In addition to the great surface results (7 IP, 6K, 2BB, 0ER), Alcantara posted a 14.4% Swinging-Strike rate with a 56.9% Z-Swing%, suggesting some of the Phillies hitters were taking pitches in the zone that they shouldn’t have. He is certainly not the safest option on the board, but he does have a solid matchup with a Mets team that has 5 players in the projected lineup that strikeout over 23.5% vs. RHP, so he’s on my short list for GPPs.
Stacks
Athletics (vs. Dylan Bundy)
3rd time’s a charm? The A’s have yet to have a blowup against some sub-par Orioles starters and a terrible bullpen this series, but a matchup with a volatile pitcher with home run problems should be able to get them going. Bundy, while able to miss bats at times, has given up at least 1 home run in each of his last 11 starts and allows over 2 per 9 innings against lefties on the season. In Baltimore, where it’s warm and humid, guys like Jed Lowrie, Matt Olson, Khris Davis, and Matt Chapman are all fantastic options tonight.
Dodgers (vs. Austin Gomber)
Austin Gomber has been getting away with an awful lot of hard-contact to righties in his short time in the majors, but that spells problems against a Dodgers team that is filled with righty power. On the year vs. RHH, he’s allowing a 37.7% hard-hit rate, 25.6% Line Drive rate, more fly balls than ground balls, but just a .267 BABIP. He’s also struggling with putting guys on base, walking over 4.5 righties per 9 innings, and looking at this Dodgers lineup, they could potentially run 9 righties against him, and good ones at that. Justin Turner, Manny Machado, and Matt Kemp are all at the top of my list tonight for hitters, but I’m not overlooking Chris Taylor and David Freese either, as they make excellent fillers in a 4 or 5-man stack on DraftKings.
Hitters
Whit Merrifield (vs. Stephen Gonsalves)
Randal Grichuk (vs. Eduardo Rodriguez)
Renato Nunez (vs. Brett Anderson)
