Jared Levitt 
TGIF! Happy Friday y’all. We have ourselves a massive 14-game slate of MLB DFS tonight. It’s the largest slate I can remember this season. With this many teams in action, it will mean plenty of options on the mound and to stack. We’ll also need to make a decision on what to do with Chris Sale tonight. He’s by far the best pitcher and also by far the most expensive pitcher. At over $11k tonight, he’s going to take up a bunch of our salary.
Let’s Dig in and make some money!
MLB DFS Aces – Main
As it stands right now, I’m going to fade Chris Sale. Play him if you want to, he’s the best pitcher on the slate. For me though, his price is very restrictive and I want to make sure to grab top bats in certain matchups.
Carlos Rodon ($9.7k on DK) vs. Colorado Rockies
We saw yesterday what a lefty could do to this Colorado Rockies lineup away from Coors. Patrick Corbin, yes that Patrick Corbin, went 6 strong innings and struck out 8 Rockies while allowed just 1 run on 4 hits. I’m not saying it’s a certainty that Rodon can replicate that, but if Corbin can throw a masterpiece against them anyone can. We’ve seen a lot of volatility in Rodon’s performance this season. Last outing he gave up 4 ER in 3 innings of work against the Tigers.
A few starts before that, he struck out 10 Rays. With this type of matchup, I’m going to lean more toward a performance like his one vs. the Rays than the one against the Tigers. He has a ton of strikeout upside tonight. You’ll just need to close your eyes and hope for the best though with Rodon.
Luis Castillo ($9.8k on DK) vs. San Francisco Giants
This Giants team is really struggling right now. Over the last week, they’ve scored just 15 runs while striking out 32% of the time. Against righties this season, they’ve also struggled. They have a sub .700 OPS and a wOBA right at .300. This should set up very well for a pitcher like Castillo. While he’s coming off a subpar last game, we’ve seen Castillo at times throw gems this season.
2 starts ago he manhandled my Mets, going 6 innings and striking out 9. With this matchup, I could see him replicating his Mets outing. He’s done it numerous times this season so it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
Other pitchers I have an interest in tonight will be Chris Bassitt vs. a high strikeout Angels team, Hayden Birdsong vs. Seattle, and of course Chris Sale vs. Washington. Keider Montero vs. Chicago would be a great value pitcher today
MLB DFS Stacks – Main
New York Yankees vs. Kyle Freeland
The reason I’m mostly sacrificing paying up for Chris Sale tonight is that I want to grab the Yankees bats. While it’s still going to be difficult to go to 2 pitchers priced over $9k, we’ll have to look to our second stack for value. The stars have really aligned for us here. They get to take on a struggling Kyle Freeland and Rockies bullpen today. The Yankees have been one of the best teams in baseball vs. lefties this season, with a .720 OPS and a .160 ISO.
With Freeland, he’s coming into this one with a 6.66 ERA over the last month. Over his last 5 outings, he’s given up less than 3 just once and has given up 5 or more twice. Then we move to the bullpen, a bullpen that has an ERA over 6 over the last 2 weeks. Everything is setting up for the Yankees to have a monster night.
Core Plays: Aaron Judge, Juan Soto
Secondary Plays: Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Volpe, Jazz Chisholm
Value Plays: Gleyber Torres, Jose Trevino, DJ
Detroit Tigers vs. Chris Flexen
I doubt they will be sneaky tonight, but I do think the Tigers can put up a bunch of runs tonight. They face off against Chris Flexen who is a gas can at this point of his career. Over the last month, Chris Flexen has an ERA over 6 and both his SIERA and xFIP are just as high. He’s given up at least 4 ER in 2 of his last 3 outings. I’m not going to be overly concerned about splits against Flexen. Both sides of the plate have been crushing him of late.
That said, lefties are where the power comes from against him. Lefites have hit 12 of the 19 homers he’s given up and have an OPS that is pushing .900. The Tigers so happen to be lefty dominant.
Core Bats: Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter
Secondary Bats: Matt Vierling, Spencer Torkelson
Value Bats: Parker Meadows, Colt Kieth, Zach McKinstry
Other bats I like tonight will be the Cubs vs. Max Meyer, Braves vs. Mckenzie Gore, Marlins vs. Kyle Hendricks, and Blue Jays vs Jack Kochanowicz
Update (2:48 pm est): As I’ve dug into the slate more while my kids enjoy themselves on the beach, I’m really liking the Royals more and more. Taijuan Walker is way past his expiration date. I’d focus on the entire lineup where you can fit them. Righties/Lefties, they all excel vs. Walker.
Make sure you follow me on Twitter at @rangerzfan79 and be sure to sign up for a PREMIUM account here at Win Daily Sports. Gain access to our Projection Models and jump into our Discord where we will have our experts talking plays across every sport and slate!
