We have another Game 5 Saturday night, and we can only hope it lives up to the standard from Friday's Mariners-Tigers matchup. There are two different contests to choose from, including the Showdown slate and a combo of Saturday's NLDS Game 5 and Game 1 of the ALCS on Sunday.
The Showdown slate offers the bigger prizes and more contest types and sizes to choose from, so that will be our focus. The roster requirements are different than a traditional MLB slate with six total roster spots to fill and no positional requirements. There's also a Captain slot who earns 1.5x points with a corresponding salary increase. Starting pitchers are the most obvious Captain choices, though they also cost the most and will make it difficult to complete the rest of the roster.
With some of the basics out of the way, let's jump into our picks.
Pitchers
This happens to be the one slate where it's not tempting to roster a starting pitcher. The Brewers haven't formally announced their plans, but Jacob Misiorowski ($16,200 Captain/$10,800 Utility) will reportedly play a major role. Shota Imanaga ($15,900/$10,600) will go for the Cubs after struggling for most of the second half.
See which projected starters are going and when with RotoWire's Probable Pitchers page!
Hitters
Jackson Chourio ($13,800/$9,200) and William Contreras ($12,600/$8,400) stand out as the top options as Captain and Utility as Imanaga allowed 2.22 HR/9 to right-handed hitters. Chourio should be highlighted as he posted a .411 wOBA and .241 ISO against lefties this season.
Other Brewers of interest include Andrew Vaughn ($6,800), who recorded a .460 wOBA and .167 ISO versus lefties while regularly batting fifth against southpaw starters in the postseason.
The value pick on Milwaukee is Blake Perkins ($5,600) due to his success against lefties.
It's a bit more difficult to project the Cubs as we don't exactly Milwaukee's pitching situation.
Michael Busch ($13,500/$9,000) has been the Cubs' best hitter by a significant margin this year and checks in at a relative value. Nico Hoerner ($10,500/$7,000) is hitting second in Chicago's order and has been excellent at reaching base during the playoffs.
Some of the wider-variance options are Seiya Suzuki ($12,000/$8,000) and Ian Happ ($9,300/$6,200). Neither has been consistent, yet they've hit for power and make for decent Showdown selections.
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Sample Lineup
Captain – Jackson Chourio - $13,800
Michael Busch - $9,000
William Contreras - $8,400
Andrew Vaughn - $6,800
Ian Happ - $6,200
Blake Perkins - $5,600