Welcome to the MLB DFS Roses of the Day, a column highlight some MLB picks for FanDuel and DraftKings.
My name is Chris Randone and if you ever watched The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, then you know getting a rose means everything. It symbolized the guy or girl giving them out has an interest in you. When you get a rose, it means you survive to keep fighting for love.
Well in daily fantasy sports it’s no different. We go through a list of players deciding who will survive and make the cut into our lineups. These players fight to help us win. A true definition of love. I’ve learned being on the show that you never give out roses just for fun, there has to be a meaning behind it. We’ll take that same approach here. Tonight’s rose ceremony I’ll give my Top Stack, Top Pitcher, Surprise Pitcher, & Surprise Stack of this main slate.
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Surprise Team
Chicago Cubs, will you accept this rose?
Shaun Anderson will face a Cubs team who ranks third in ISO (.214) and fifth in wRC+(118) against right-handed pitching on the road this season. The Cubs rank fifth in walks drawn with a 9.7 percent walk rate which pairs nicely when looking for runners on base. The Giants right-hander primarily throws a four seam fastball over fifty percent of the time combined with a slider as his secondary pitch. The Cubs have seven batters with a .250 ISO over 350 pitches seen with these two combined pitch types on the road against right-handed pitching. They also own the MLB’s fifth best wOBA (.339) against right-handed pitching and have hit 64 home runs on the road this season.
Surprise Pitcher
Marco Gonzalez, will you accept this rose?Â
The Texas Rangers currently rank as the worst strikeout team in baseball against southpaws with a 27.8 percent strikeout rate. Texas will face lefty Marco Gonzalez on the road where their strikeout rate increases even more to 32 percent (worst in MLB). Marco Gonzalez isn’t your typical strikeout pitcher (6.5K/9 innings) but he’ll face a high-strikeout team that gives him the opportunity to see more strikeouts than usual.Â
Marco Gonzalez throws change ups and sinkers primarily. The Rangers have five batters in the lineup with a sub .100 ISO against change ups and sinkers. Combine the Rangers limited power against those left-handed pitch types with seven batters striking out over 27 percent, Marco Gonzalez is a reasonable option as a SP2 on Draftkings.
Potential Tournament Fade
Gerrit Cole, will you NOT accept this rose?
Gerrit Cole is expensive tonight as we should always expect. The Houston ace has been nothing but dominant this season. But tonight is a night to maybe go against the grain. Oakland is a stingy team when it comes to facing right-handed pitching. The Athletics strikeout 21 percent of the time against righties which ranks seventh best in the league and own the 6th best walk rate percentage (9.6 percent).Â
Discipline could be trouble at the plate for Cole which leads to high pitcher count quicker and potential runners on base but it’s Oakland’s power that could draw the biggest issue for Cole. The Astros ace loves the 4 seam fastball as do the Athletics. Oakland has eight batters in the lineup who own greater than a .264 ISO against right-handed 4 seam fastballs with Mark Cahna (.366 ISO) and Marcus Semien (.393) being the highest.Â
Finally this article is back