Wednesday offers the same contest selection as the last several days, which includes a showdown slate for Game 3 the ALCS on Wednesday as well as a two-game slate that includes Wednesday's game as well as Game 3 of the NLCS on Thursday.
The Showdown slate has 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. 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 difficult to fill than it appears.
With some of the basics out of the way, let's jump into our picks for the day.
Pitchers
George Kirby ($17,100/$11,400) has been excellent for the better part of the last month and will square off against Shane Bieber ($16,500/$11,000). After a hot start in his return from Tommy John surgery, Bieber has four or fewer strikeouts in four of his last five starts. Kirby is the superior option and is a strong captain selection. Even for those who favor a Blue Jays' heavy lineup, Bieber is not a safe consideration – especially given his price.
Hitters
Given the pretty clear advantage for Kirby on the mound, Seattle
Wednesday offers the same contest selection as the last several days, which includes a showdown slate for Game 3 the ALCS on Wednesday as well as a two-game slate that includes Wednesday's game as well as Game 3 of the NLCS on Thursday.
The Showdown slate has 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. 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 difficult to fill than it appears.
With some of the basics out of the way, let's jump into our picks for the day.
Pitchers
George Kirby ($17,100/$11,400) has been excellent for the better part of the last month and will square off against Shane Bieber ($16,500/$11,000). After a hot start in his return from Tommy John surgery, Bieber has four or fewer strikeouts in four of his last five starts. Kirby is the superior option and is a strong captain selection. Even for those who favor a Blue Jays' heavy lineup, Bieber is not a safe consideration – especially given his price.
Hitters
Given the pretty clear advantage for Kirby on the mound, Seattle hitters are likely to be more popular. The one way to attack Kirby is with left-handed hitters, as he's allowed a 1.33 WHIP, 1.23 HR/9 and a .319 wOBA against them. The Blue Jays have stacked some lefties atop their order, including Nathan Lukes ($6,000), Addison Barger ($6,600) and Daulton Varsho ($8,000). That creates a nice contrarian stack through the middle of the Blue Jays' lineup, which can be supplemented by a big bat such as George Springer ($14,100/$9,400) and Vladimir Guerrero ($12,900/$8,600) in the captain slot.
It's a small sample, but Bieber has gotten demolished by righties to the tune of a 2.95 HR/9, 1.42 WHIP and .396 wOBA. Julio Rodriguez ($13,500/$9,000) and Randy Arozarena ($12,300/$8,200) are the top choices based on the matchup, but Cal Raleigh ($14,400/$9,600) can't be ignored.
Less obvious options include Eugenio Suarez ($6,400) and even Victor Robles ($3,600). Robles would open up a lot of salary, even if his skill profile is lacking relative to the other options.
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