Game 3 was a tense marathon that tested each team's depth, most notably their bullpens. That will continue in Game 4, with both the Blue Jays and Dodgers undoubtedly trying to get their starting pitchers as deep into the game as possible. Toronto will also be feeling pressure not go down in the series 3-1, so there will be a lot of factors to consider that will affect both the teams on the field and the potential fantasy performances.
It's stating the obvious at this point, but we're down to only showdown slates. The roster requirements are different than a traditional MLB slate. There are six total roster spots to fill, but without positional requirements. There's also a captain slot that earns 1.5X points but also has a corresponding increase in price. The starting pitchers are the most obvious Captain choices, they also cost the most and will make the rest of the roster difficult to fill. That makes the Captain slot more of an interesting and pivotal choice than it may appear on the surface.
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Pitchers
The pitching matchup will be Shane Bieber ($16,500/$11,000) against Shohei Ohtani ($17,400/$11,600). Bieber has struggled to pitch deep into games this postseason, working a total of 12.1 frames in three starts. He'll be a risky option, though the positive is that he has 15 strikeouts in those 12.1 innings. If he can survive
Game 3 was a tense marathon that tested each team's depth, most notably their bullpens. That will continue in Game 4, with both the Blue Jays and Dodgers undoubtedly trying to get their starting pitchers as deep into the game as possible. Toronto will also be feeling pressure not go down in the series 3-1, so there will be a lot of factors to consider that will affect both the teams on the field and the potential fantasy performances.
It's stating the obvious at this point, but we're down to only showdown slates. The roster requirements are different than a traditional MLB slate. There are six total roster spots to fill, but without positional requirements. There's also a captain slot that earns 1.5X points but also has a corresponding increase in price. The starting pitchers are the most obvious Captain choices, they also cost the most and will make the rest of the roster difficult to fill. That makes the Captain slot more of an interesting and pivotal choice than it may appear on the surface.
Try our DraftKings MLB Lineup Optimizer to discover more expert recommendations, customize the player pool, set exposure percentage and mass-enter DFS lineups.
Pitchers
The pitching matchup will be Shane Bieber ($16,500/$11,000) against Shohei Ohtani ($17,400/$11,600). Bieber has struggled to pitch deep into games this postseason, working a total of 12.1 frames in three starts. He'll be a risky option, though the positive is that he has 15 strikeouts in those 12.1 innings. If he can survive to the fifth inning without getting crushed, there's a good chance he'll be a very usable piece.
Ohtani is the obvious top choice at pitcher and at Captain. He has been excellent on the mound this postseason (19:4 K:BB, 3 ER across 12 IP).
Hitters
The Dodgers are the obvious team to target hitters from given the discrepancy in quality of pitcher, so that's where we'll begin. Bieber has a small sample of innings in both the postseason and regular season after his return from injury, but he has struggled significantly against right-handed hitters (2.95 HR/9 and 1.42 WHIP). With Ohtani unavailable to be rostered as a hitter, there's still a solid stack of right-handed Dodgers' hitters that should occupy the middle of the lineup in Mookie Betts ($12,900/$8,600), Will Smith ($9,600/$6,400) and Teoscar Hernandez ($11,400/$7,600). I'd consider each of those hitters in both a Captain or Utility slot.
Andy Pages' ($4,400) miserable postseason may never end, but he would be my favorite punt option on the Dodgers.
For Toronto, watching who could potentially take the place of the injured George Springer as the leadoff hitter will be a key value player. Similarly, Ty France ($3,400) is expected to enter the lineup should Springer be sidelined. Those will be two value options. The big-time hitters in Toronto such as Vladimir Guerrero ($14,400/$9,600) and Alejandro Kirk ($9,900/$6,600) are worth considering from the perspective that they'll very likely be underrated due to their talent level, but the matchup is not a good one. The hope with rostering players like them is that Bieber holds the Dodgers down offensively and the Jays can at least push Ohtani's pitch count and then get to the Los Angeles bullpen. In that build, it makes sense to stack Bieber with the Jays' top hitters.
