Welcome to the Sunday Funday edition of Aces and Bases. Today we have a big 11 game main slate on Fanduel and that’s what we’ll focus on.
First, Happy Mother’s Day to all those moms reading this.
Outside of Jacob Degrom today, there’s no clear ace. However, there are a few intriguing options that while they carry some risk, they should carry some reward too. It has the make-up for a fun slate though.
With that being said, let’s dig in to today’s slates!
MLB DFS: The Aces
Jacob Degrom ($12.5k) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks – All signs point to Degrom making his start today. Luis Rojas said after the game that he was good to go after throwing a bullpen and also playing catch.
1.39 xFIP, 48% K rate, 23% swinging strike rate. That’s all you really need to know about DeGrom. He’s one of the best pitchers of our generation. If he’s throwing, he should either be in your lineup or a strong consideration for your lineup. I’d continue to monitor his status all morning leading up to first pitch, but all signs point to him being good to go.
Sandy Alcantara ($9k) vs. Milwaukee Brewers – Brewers snapped their 6 game losing streak last night. But they also faced a pitcher that isn’t of the same quality as Alcantara. Brewers for the season are striking out at a near 27% clip vs. righties this season. I wouldn’t call Alcantara a strikeout pitcher, but he’s been striking out about a batter per inning this season.
With the Brewers striking out so much against righties, I could see Alcantara exceeding that average today. Another encouraging sign with Alcantara is that he’s been doing an excellent job of limiting hard contact. His hard contact rate for the season is only 24%. One of the lowest marks of any pitcher going today. When looking at pitchers, I try to find spots where guys can have a ceiling game. Brewer represent that opportunity today.
Nick Pivetta ($8.5k) vs. Baltimore Orioles – Pivetta is rolling right now. Two really solid starts in a row. One vs. the Mets, one vs. Tigers. Today he gets to take on a not so scary Orioles lineup. The Orioles haven’t been as bad as advertised this year. But they are still an attackable team.
Orioles K at a 25% clip vs. righties to go along with low OPS and wOBA. Pivetta’s pitch of choice after his fastball is the curveball. This is not a pitch that the Orioles handle all that well. Look at some of the whiff rates below. Again, I try to find ceiling opportunities for pitchers when they start. Orioles today represent that opportunity for Pivetta.

Some notes on other pitchers. I also really like Tyler Mahle ($8.9k) vs. Cleveland Indians. It’s a great matchup for him. There’s some serious risk in that game with weather and when targeting pitchers, I don’t like that kind of risk. Lucas Giolito ($9.6k) has been performing much better of late, with 15 K’s in his last 2 outings. A strong case could be made for him today. I just liked the other 3 guys better.
MLB DFS: The Bats
Boston Red Sox vs. Dean Kremer – Kremer is relying on his fastball more this season than he did last year. 57% vs. 51%. His fb has been hovering around the high 92 mph range. The good thing for us is that this is a pitch and velocity that the Red Sox tee off on.
Alex Verdugo ($3.2k), JD Martinez ($4.3k), Xander Bogaerts ($3.6k), and Rafael Devers ($3.5k) all have ISO’s greater than .230 against this pitch to go along with low whiff rates and very high hard hit rates. This is going to be a tough matchup for Kremer. Red Sox are my favorite stack of the day.
New York Mets vs. Riley Smith – It’s been a while since I’ve written up the Mets as a stack. They just have a really good matchup today and are finally hitting the ball well. For the season Smith has an xFIP of 5.53, the worst of any pitching going today. He hasn’t really been giving up the long ball much with only 2 homers surrendered this year. But he also hasn’t been fooling batters with a super low K rate of 11.5%.
Smith is a sinker ball pitcher. Jeff Mcneil ($2.9k), Francisco Lindor ($3k), and Michael Conforto ($3.2k) have all had a lot of success against this pitch. While sinker ball pitchers tend to throw more ground balls, the three guys I mentioned all have average distances over 300 feet against it. I’m not as worried about the ground balls from them.
Both Mcneil and Lindor are finally coming around with their bats. They’re still cheap compared to what they are doing and what they can do. Look for them to keep rolling today.
Chicago White sox vs. Mike Minor – White Sox for the season have been superb against lefty pitching. They have an .847 OPS and a .367 wOBA. Today they get to face a lefty in Mike Minor who has a 4.58 xFIP for the season, is giving up fly balls, and has surrendered 6 long balls. This has the makings of a great matchup for the White Sox. Guys like Tim Anderson ($3.8k), Yoan Moncada ($3.2k), Yermin Mercedes ($2.9k), and Jose Abreu ($3.8k) should all feast today.
Other spots I like today for hitting are the New York Yankees vs. Joe Ross and Miami Marlins vs. Brett Anderson. Miguel Rojas ($3.1k), Jesus Aguilar ($3.9k), and Adam Duvall ($2.9k) all could have themselves a day against Anderson.
MLB DFS: The Wrap Up
Weather will be a major factor today. The games in the Midwest all appear to be at some type of risk today. So Detroit, Cleveland, and St. Louis all need to be monitored. Outside of the weather this looks to be a fun slate. We have the best pitcher in baseball throwing and some bats that should tee off!
Good luck and hope to see you in the green!
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