Eleven games comprise our main slate at FanDuel Friday night, with first pitch at 7:05 p.m. EDT. It's pretty top-heavy on the mound, with eight of our 22 pitchers (36.3 percent) priced at $9,000 or greater.
The Phillies (-270) are the slate's largest favorite, followed by the Padres (-210). Coors Field is present, giving us an 11.0 run total, with Athletics-Angels being the only other spot with a higher run total than 8.5. We need to monitor rain chances in Tampa, while wind could provide a boost in Baltimore.
Pitching
Cristopher Sanchez, PHI at MIA ($10,200): Sanchez has five quality starts in his last six outings, providing at least 31 fantasy points in each of those plus outings. Miami comes with a 76 wRC+ off lefties, the second-lowest number in the league, adding a .281 wOBA and .114 ISO. They don't strike out a ton, which will limit Sanchez' ceiling some, but while it's a small sample, he's dominated the Marlins lineup, allowing a .154 BA (4-for-26) with a .308 OPS.
Merrill Kelly, TEX vs. HOU ($8,700): There's nothing sexy about Kelly, but he simply logs decent inning after decent inning. He's currently on a stretch of four straight quality starts. He doesn't miss a ton of bats (8.2/9), so there's no ceiling, but Kelly can make for a stable cash lineup play. Current Astros are 8-for-43 (.186) with a .501 OPS.
Ian Seymour, TB vs. CLE ($7,400): Seymour can offer some sneaky upside for a cheap price. He's not highlighted as a starter, as the Rays will use Griffin Jax to open Friday's contest before Seymour assumes bulk relief innings. He's worked 10 innings over his last two outings, striking out 16 while allowing only one run and five hits. Cleveland comes with a weak 77 wRC+, .279 wOBA and 23.2 percent K rate off lefties.
Top Targets
We obviously start with the Padres in Coors Field. Kyle Freeland is allowing a .405 wOBA and .949 OPS to righties at home, making Fernando Tatis ($4,000) and/or Manny Machado ($3,800) clear building blocks.
Miami's Valente Bellozo has been better at home, but is still allowing a .387 wOBA and .899 OPS to lefties. Kyle Schwarber ($4,500) is just 2-for-21 since his four homer barrage on August 28th. Bryce Harper ($3,900) is in moderately better form with three multi-hit games and two homers in his last seven.
Bargain Bats
The Athletics' Mason Barnett allowed eight hits and five runs over four innings in his debut, and had a 6.13 ERA and 5.37 xFIP at Triple-A. The Angles don't come with elite splits against righties but remain worth targeting. Mike Trout ($3,000) and Yoan Moncada ($2,600) haven't shown much upside of late, but are tied for a team best .355 wOBA and 127 wRC+ against righties.
We've got two untrustworthy arms facing untrustworthy offenses with the Cardinals and Giants. San Francisco starter Carson Seymour is allowing a .414 wOBA and .966 OPS to lefties. Lars Nootbaar ($2,900) has eight hits in his last five, while Nolan Gorman ($2,800) offers a zero floor with a power ceiling. On the other side, Michael McGreevy isn't as targetable but still is allowing a .366 wOBA to lefties. Jung Hoo Lee ($2,900) offers a decent floor, while white hot Drew Gilbert ($2,800) is 10-for-18 with two homers and eight RBI in his last four starts.
Stacks to Consider
Athletics vs. Jose Soriano (Angels): Shea Langeliers ($3,500), Brent Rooker ($3,500), Lawrence Butler ($2,900)
Rare stacking instance where it's largely a BvP play. Soriano has shown elite stuff on occasions, but when he's off, he's really off. Over his last five starts, he's allowed no runs and seven hits in three of those, spanning 18.2 innings. In his other two, he allowed 12 runs and 15 hits in 9.2 frames, one of those coming against the A's. Langeliers isn't in great form but is 5-for-10 with two homers off Soriano. Butler is 5-for-14 (.357) with two homers, has hits in six of his last seven, four times collecting multiple knocks. Rooker has hit in six of eight and is 6-for-12 with a homer against Soriano.
Red Sox vs. Eduardo Rodriguez (Diamondbacks): Alex Bregman ($3,500), Trevor Story ($3,400), Nate Eaton ($2,200)
Rodriguez has a 5.69 home ERA (5.11 xFIP), allowing a .408 wOBA to lefties and .346 wOBA to lefties, so we can target the Red Sox lineup throughout. There's some decent BvP history with Bregman and Story, who are a collective 13-for-37 (.351) with three homers and four doubles. Eaton is a terrific stand-alone value play and can help round out this stack. He's likely hitting leadoff and has five hits and two runs over his last three.
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