It is a really small slate due to travel. Picking the correct arm will be crucial.

Top-Tier Arms

Aaron Nola, Phillies at Padres ($9,600 FD, $9,600 DK): Nola has regained whatever he was missing early in the season. He allowed only one run in seven innings in his last start Wednesday against the Cardinals. He is now 4-0 with a 2.50 ERA in his last seven starts. He has not allowed more than three runs in any of those outings. He gets a juicy matchup against the Padres, who strike out at the second highest rate in the league against righties at 24.9% and they rank 21st in OPS at .152, The Pods’ wOBA is dead last at .291. This was supposed to be an exciting year for the Padres….well against righties it certainly is not. Pencil Nola in as your #1 target in cash games.

Walker Buehler, Dodgers at Diamondbacks ($10,400 FD, $8,900 DK): Prior to his last start against the pesky Mets, Buehler had four consecutive quality starts. He looks to get on track against a Diamondbacks team that ranks 20th in wOBA against righties at .320 and strikes out at a sixth highest clip of 22.6%. I prefer Nola as a pitcher and his matchup, so let’s make Buehler a GPP-only candidate, but love that price on DK! Make him one of you arms on that site.

Middle-Tier Arm

Robbie Ray, Dodgers at Diamionbacks ($8,000 FD, $9,200 DK): We all know the potential is there with Ray. His K rate is through the roof at 11.78 per nine innings. If he could only get it together and stop walking so many batters (35 batters walked in only 62.2 innings pitched) and go deep into games (he has not gone six full innings on the season yet) he would be one of the top pitchers in baseball, like in 2017 when he went 15-5 with a 2,89 ERA and 215 strikeouts in only 162 innings pitched. One thing in Ray’s favor tonight is that the Dodgers clobber righties but really are just average against lefties. Their ISO vs. lefties of .177 ranks 17th in the league. He is obviously a GPP-only choice in my book.

Bargain-Basement Arm

Eric Lauer, Phillies at Padres ($7,400 FD, $7,300 DK): Take the savings here and spend up on almost any bat that you want! Lauer has a 1.50 ERA in his last three starts, and he appears to have found his rhythm. The 23-year-old lefty hasn’t walked a batter since a May 10th start in Colorado, and he’s started to rely on his curve for weak contact and swings and misses. If the Phillies are over-anxious against Lauer it could be a long night for the bats. He is a GPP-only choice to allow you to spend up for almost any bat you want.