Scott Engel 
If you are playing on the two-game early DraftKings slate,you will be locked into Kenta Maeda at $8800. You will have to hope he pretendshe is at home, where he has a 1.64 ERA as compared to his 5.64 road figure.Maeda is the best pure starter on the short slate and the only other realrespectable choice to pair him with seems to be Jake Arrieta (8000), as the Padrescertainly appear to be an inviting matchup. Arrieta has been a bit moreeffective in the K department on the road.
At first glance, James Paxton would appear to be well worththe 11,300 against Toronto, but we still cannot be fully certain how far hewill be allowed to go into the game. If you want to risk it with Paxton he isstrictly a GPP play and he will not help your salary structure, either.
You could be looking at a bounce-back spot for Martin Perezagainst Cleveland, Perez is just 7400 and the Indians are ninth in MLB strikeoutsvs. lefties. On the other side of that matchup, I am not taking chances withthe erratic Carlos Carrasco against that potent Minnesota lineup.
Charlie Morton appears to be a quality cash game play andworth the 11,600 against a Tigers team that is fifth in strikeouts. But SpencerTurnbull may not make it easy on the Tampa Bay bats and garnering a victory mightnot be easy for Morton.
Jimmy Nelson (8200) cannot be used yet in his first startback, even against Miami, which could go hitless against him for five inningsafter scoring 16 runs last night.
The Orioles are Top 10 in the league vs. LHPs and John Meanscould hold the Rangers offense in check, so don’t spend 10,800 on Mike Minor.
German Marquez is worth the GPP play at 10,800. The Cubs aremiddle of the road in team hitting and Marquez is 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA in awaygames, with 42 Ks in 43.1 IP. He has struck out at least six batters in all ofhis road starts.
Chris Sale is the apparent cash game play at 10,600 vs. theRoyals but I would pivot off him with Marquez in GPPs.
Brad Peacock is a very appealing pick at 9600 against theMariners, who pace the league in strikeouts. They are also 19th in teambatting over the past seven days. Perez is my favorite non-Sale pick on thenight slate, followed by Peacock and Marquez.
Monkey Knife Fight Pick of the Day
Martin Perez over 4.5 strikeouts vs. Cleveland
This seems to be a very attainable feat for Perez, who has at least seven strikeouts in four of his past six games. He may continue to regress soon, but will get a break from a possible upcoming and recent downturn here. I’d go with the under vs. Carrasco too, as Minnesota is 28th in strikeouts overall. Punch Your Ticket to a Win with Perez here and get 100 percent Bonus!
