Mark Paquette 
The weather looks to be rather quiet for this 15-game schedule on a Saturday in mid-June.
Upper-Tier Arms
Chris Sale, Red Sox at Orioles ($11,900 FD, $11,600 DK): It seems like whenever Sale or Max Scherzer take the mound the past month or so, lock them in and try to find bargain bats to make it work. That just might be the way to go today with the Red Sox ace. Sale has been magnificent in his past two starts, combining to give up no earned runs while walking one and striking out 22 over 16 innings. Sale has been very good against Baltimore in his career, going 7-2 with a 2.37 ERA in 13 career starts. Sale has held opponents to a .634 OPS this season, while the Orioles strike out 26.1% of the time vs. lefties, good for seventh most in the league. Sale is cash-game worthy if you can fit in some cheap bats that you like.
Stephen Strasburg, Diamondbacks at Nationals ($10,800 FD, $10,700 DK): Imagine going into a series against the Nationals knowing that you have to face Scherzer and Strasburg back-to-back as good as they are pitching right now. For you baseball historians, is it a repeat of Spahn and Sain and pray for rain? Anyway, Strasburg is pitching very well recently and it is probably no coincidence that he has found a way to keep the ball in the yard recently, giving up just two homers in his last eight outings, after giving up six homers in his first six starts. Even though Strasburg has been very consistent, his upside might be a little limited here because of how well the Nationals hit righties. So, we might consider him a GPP-only option in this spot.
Middle-Tier Arms
Noah Syndergaard, Cardinals at Mets ($9,000 FD, $9,300 DK): Thor’s up-and-down season has caused his price to drop to an affordable level. Syndergaard’s upside (he has mixed a few dominant starts onto his ledger, with a 52 FD point last time out and a 67 on May 2nd) gives him GPP appeal. In his last start, Syndergaard allowed just one hit to the Rockies, striking out seven in seven innings. In his three previous starts, he produced a 6.00 ERA showing the inconsistency that I wrote about. Though the Cardinals do not strike out much out against righties (22.6%), they do not have much pop either (.155 ISO).
Frankie Montas, Mariners at Athletics ($8,700 FD, $9,900 DK): His price on FD may cause him to be my cash pitcher on that site while on DK that choice is not as easy. Montas has been a very consistent pitcher recently, having not lost since April 29 vs. the Red Sox, a stretch of seven starts during which he’s gone 4-0 with a 2.74 ERA. He has been very good at home this season, going 3-0 over five starts with a 3.54 ERA. The Mariners strike out the seventh most frequently vs. righties at 24.7%.
Bargain Basement Arm
Reynaldo Lopez, Yankees at White sox ($6,200 FD, $5,000 DK): I wrote about the weird pricing Lopez had in his last start and he pitched a strong game: six innings pitched, four hits allowed, eight strikeouts, one walk, one earned run and one victory in Kansas City. This time he takes on a stronger opponent in the New York Yankees but this team has struggled on the road recently. In their last five road games they have scored two, four, seven, four and two runs. If you need a cheap GPP pitcher with strikeout upside and want to spend up on bats, Lopez might be your guy.
Monkey Knife Fight Picks
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Chris Sale over 9.5 strikeouts: Sale has recorded 10 or more strikeouts in eight of his last nine starts. He should be able to make it nine out of 10.
