Welcome to the postseason! All four wild-card series get underway Tuesday afternoon, resulting in FanDuel's main slate starting at 1:08 p.m. EDT and spanning well into the evening out west. As of Monday early evening, Blake Snell is not confirmed as the Dodgers starter but appears in line to do so, while the Cubs' Matthew Boyd isn't highlighted by FanDuel as the starter. There are eight pitching situations and eight offenses to sort through, and both American League series feature divisional matchups, so we could have a little BvP to lean on.
As always, postseason games are usually tighter and lower-scoring. All four feature run lines of 7.5 or less. Unlike the regular season with bigger player pools, sometimes we have to settle for a 1-for-4 performance and take our three points.
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Pitching
Max Fried, NYY vs. BOS ($8,800): There's certainly nothing wrong with the options above Fried, save for maybe Hunter Greene at $9,200 against the Dodgers, but Fried's form and history against the Red Sox suggest we can get similar upside for a slight discount. He faced Boston three times in the regular season, and while he allowed some baserunners (19 hits, seven walks), he had 22 Ks across 18.1 innings and allowed four runs (1.96 ERA). He comes in with six quality starts in his last seven, earning more than 40 FDP five times.
Gavin Williams, CLE vs. DET ($8,400): Williams faced the Tigers three times in the regular season and was borderline dominant, allowing two runs and eight hits across 17.0 innings while fanning a massive 29. Two of those outings were his last two starts, so facing a team a third straight time is a touch concerning, but he's been too good against this roster to fade for that reason alone. Detroit limped into the playoffs, and their roster is a collective 16-for-103 (.155) with a .492 OPS against the right-hander. There's terrific upside potential here at one of the slate's lowest salaries.
Top Targets
If you're paying top dollar for offense, you really can't afford to miss, and perhaps a more balanced approach is the preference. I'm a little perplexed by the Padres' low 3.5 run expectancy, as Boyd had a 5.31 ERA in four September starts. Fernando Tatis ($4,100) homered in three of the final four regular-season games, though he's just 1-for-6 against Boyd. Manny Machado ($3,500) had four hits in his last four, and is 5-for-13 with two doubles off the Cubs' starter. Double-check weather here to confirm no inbound winds.
I certainly am not intending to stack this game, but it feels like malpractice to not mention Seiya Suzuki ($3,600), whose last five hits have all been homers, and who is riding an eight-game hitting streak.
You can use Shohei Ohtani ($4,700) and Fried and still have roughly $3,000 per player for the rest of your lineup, and I prefer him to Aaron Judge at $4,600 on Tuesday.
Bargain Bats
Javier Baez ($2,600) is the lone Tiger with any semblance of success against Williams, going 3-for-6 with a homer. He closed the season with six hits and five RBI in his final four games.
Andy Pages ($3,000) has faced Hunter Greene five times and homered three times.
Dansby Swanson ($2,900) is an intriguing BvP play, going 10-for-34 (.294) with two homers off Nick Pivetta. Justin Turner ($2,200) is 5-for-8 (.625) with two homers if he's in the lineup and you want a zero-or-hero play. Staying in Chicago, San Diego's Ryan O'Hearn ($3,000) has 16 hits in his last nine. Again, I have no intention of stacking this game, but there is a lot of appeal on multiple fronts.
Stack to Consider
Yankees vs. Garrett Crochet (Red Sox): Giancarlo Stanton ($3,400), Cody Bellinger ($3,400), Paul Goldschmidt ($2,600)
Stacking on a playoff slate is a challenge, and I absolutely prefer a mini-stack, or a combo. The Yankees have incredible numbers throughout their lineup against lefties though, which can allow us to build outside of Judge and still benefit. Crochet faced this lineup three times during the year, and while he posted a 3.29 ERA, he allowed five homers in 27.1 innings. Bellinger has odd LvL splits, posting a .427 wOBA, 180 wRC+ and .248 ISO, and he's 5-for-14 off Crochet. Stanton sits at .396/158/.277 in that split, and Goldschmidt, though in poor form, has compiled .412/169/.235 numbers against LHP and likely hits leadoff. Jose Caballero ($2,700) is also in play should he draw the start, and offers four-position flexibility.
