We've had heavy schedules on Monday for the last few weeks, which has led to Wednesday slates that are splintered throughout the day. That's once again the case, with the biggest contests of the day kicking off at 7:05 pm ET. Six matchups are included, and those will be the focus of today's article.
Pitchers
The top of the pitcher pool is pretty interesting for such a small slate because it pits some slumping pitchers with excellent overall results this season against pitchers who have been on a hot run but more mediocre overall. Hunter Brown ($10,000) and Joe Ryan ($9,600) have both been excellent this season, but they have lacked ceiling in recent starts and face tough matchups. It's at least worth considering Kevin Gausman ($8,800) over them, as he's struck out at least eight in three of his last four starts and draws a slumping Cubs lineup.
It might also be time to start considering Shohei Ohtani ($8,000) as a starting pitcher. He has an excellent 32.5 percent strikeout rate this season and has stretched out to four innings. Ohtani is still unlikely to qualify for a win, but he has to at least enter the conversation on a weak pitching slate and at a relatively reasonable cost.
Cade Horton ($7,500) is the last relatively reliable option to recommend. His skills are unspectacular (10.4 K-BB percentage, 4.46 SIERA), but he's thrown scoreless outings in three of his last four starts. A matchup against the Blue Jays is tough.
There isn't much in terms of value options to choose from, and there will be significant risk in rostering any option below $7,500. Of the group, J.T. Ginn ($6,800) and Walker Buehler ($6,000 would be my choices. Ginn has a solid 3.35 SIERA and 18.4 K-BB percentage, just paired with an ugly 2.01 HR/9. If he can keep the ball in the yard against Tampa Bay – something he has struggled to do at home – he should be in for a strong outing. Buehler has some of the worst skills on the slate but has popped 17.55 and 21.3 DraftKings-point performances across his last four starts. A matchup against Houston is admittedly not ideal.
Top Hitters
Getting some Houston batters in lineups is a near requirement for Wednesday night, because of Buehler lacking the most skills of the starting pitchers on the slate. Jose Altuve ($5,300) is an obvious choice, but Jesus Sanchez ($4,200) offers some nice value given that he hits second in the lineup against righties.
Value Bats
Cam Schlittler has managed to escape his starts without catastrophic damage despite posting a 1.66 WHIP in his big-league sample. His luck may not run out against a subpar Twins lineup – who are a sneaky stack – but I still want exposure against him. Trevor Larnach ($3,600) and Matt Wallner ($3,500) are both classic streaky power hitters and have been hot of late.
Stacks to Consider
New York Mets vs. Atlanta (Carlos Carrasco): Francisco Lindor ($5,700), Juan Soto ($6,000), Pete Alonso ($5,400)
The Mets entered Tuesday's game as the worst-hitting team as measured by wOBA in the last 14 days, but perhaps their 13-run outburst can get the lineup on track. The matchup will certainly help, as Carrasco has the second-lowest K-BB percentage among the pitchers available on this slate as well as the second-highest SIERA and HR/9.
Tampa Bay Rays vs. Athletics (Ginn): Chandler Simpson ($4,600), Brandon Lowe ($4,900), Junior Caminero ($5,400)
Ginn has some of the better skills among the pitchers on the slate, but he has struggled to a 5.54 ERA and 1.50 WHIP at home this season. That's enough to put the Rays on the radar on a stack, particularly because much of the top of their order has been swinging the bat well lately.
This also highlights that Wednesday likely isn't the day to pay down for pitching and is a reminder of some of the difficulties of playing on smaller slates.
