Milwaukee: The Brewers are an excellent offensive baseball team. Heck, they are excellent overall! But at home they are the reincarnation of the 1927 Yankees. They have a .341 wOBA, .220 ISO and a .472 slugging percentage, all which rank among the best in the league. Unleash them against an average at best Sonny Gray and watch out. Of course, look for the studs against righties like Christian Yelich ($4,700) and Yasmani Grandal ($3,300) but don’t overlook Ryan Braun ($3,400). Suddenly, he is hitting righties almost as well as he does lefties, to the tune of a .273/.335/.487 triple slash with a .822 OPS.
Texas: Tommy Milone is starting for Seattle. Poor Tommy. Texas bats in the warmth at home are lethal. They have a .334 wOBA, .212 ISO and a .786 OPS. The red-hot left-handed bats of Joey Gallo ($4,400) and Rougned Odor ($3,200) are the ones that jump out at me right away. And don’t overlook speedster Willie Calhoun ($3,400) if he is starting. Over the last week or so, he has provided quite a spark at the top of the lineup.
Houston: Baseball’s best team the last few weeks, they were quieted a little bit by Chris Sale on Sunday but they made him work. Sale gave up three runs, including a jack by Carlos Correa ($4,100),. and last night they were only able to put three runs on the board. Well, hopefully that limits ownership somewhat! Now they get Dylan Covey. He is not a bad Major League pitcher, but he is also one who does not have an overpowering fastball and thus does not strike out many batters. That spells trouble for the White Sox. Look for cheaper players like Josh Reddick ($3,100) and Tony Kemp ($2,100 if George Springer is injured and not playing) to attack the righty Covey, but of course do not overlook the previously mentioned Correa and superstar Alex Bregman ($4,300). Michael Brantley ($4,000) is a fine choice as well. Over the last seven days as a team, the Astros have a .881 OPS, a .255 ISO and a .368 wOBA.
Los Angeles Angels: Most of my DFS lineups will be filled with the previously mentioned three teams, but how can you not like the Angels at home against Michael Pineda? He has big problems with the long ball, having given up three homers in each of his last two starts and an alarming 13 in only 47 innings this season. Both lefties and righties are hitting him well, with five of those homers being hit by lefties while righties have smashed him to the tune of a .934 OPS. All the regular cast of Angels are in play here, but Tommy LaStella ($3,200) and Shohei Ohtani ($3,800) might be my favorite duo. Ohtani did have to leave the game last night after after being hit on a finger while swinging at a pitch. He looked to be in a great deal of pain.