This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
The players featured in this piece each week will be building blocks that can work in several lineup configurations (cash and GPP). This Tuesday is unusual, as there were off-days and day games built into the schedule thanks to teams playing home openers Monday.
To that end, I'm focusing entirely on the evening Main slate.
There are two pricey pitchers at the top of the board, but stack options galore, including the Astros (always, but chalky), Nats, Mets, Braves, Angels and Padres thanks to Mike Wright, Julio Teheran, Ben Lively, A.J. Cole, Josh Tomlin and Kyle Freeland making starts for their respective teams Tuesday night.
Keep an eye on the weather in New York for the Phillies-Mets matchup, however, as rain is in the forecast throughout the day at Citi Field.
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Pitcher
Clayton Kershaw, LAD at ARI ($12,200) -- The wider range of pricing for pitchers on DraftKings for Tuesday, along with the smaller gap price-wise between Kershaw and Justin Verlander (also viable) makes Kershaw a slightly better play in this setting. The humidor hasn't had the expected impact through the first four games at Chase Field this season, but it's four games, and Kershaw, when healthy, is capable of shutting down an opposing lineup on any given day. The D-backs whiffed a lot as a team last season against southpaws (25.8% K%) and there isn't much that has changed for the better with their lineup construction since last season for those matchups. The slight difference in cost, and an easier matchup for Verlander should reduce Kershaw's ownership rate enough in tournaments to make it all work.
Also in play among the pricey starters: Justin Verlander ($11,600), ideally in cash games.
GPP Fade: Jack Flaherty, STL at MIL ($6,000) -- Blake Snell capably handled the Red Sox on Friday when I suggested fading him for similar reasons. Flaherty is a well-hyped pitcher on the rise, with strikeout upside, at a very affordable price. In very limited exposure to big-league hitters last season, Flaherty struggled against lefties (.448 wOBA, 3.72 HR/9). Those splits are from a very limited sample, but the Brewers can load three lefties into the top five spots in the lineup, as a team that should strike out considerably less this season with Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich in the first two spots, the high team K% that made the Brewers' lineup one to pick on at times the last two seasons is unlikely to repeat. Generally speaking, trying to pick on the Milwaukee lineup at Miller Park this season is going to be extremely risky.
Cheap GPP Consideration: Garrett Richards, LAA vs. CLE ($6,500) -- I don't feel as though I have a good read on how heavily Richards is going to be used tonight. Perhaps I'm dead wrong about Flaherty garnering more interest with Richards matching up against a Cleveland lineup that is generally feared due it's firepower and generally low K%. Richards has ace-upside when healthy, and the Angels ' defense behind him continues to improve. The win probability seems slightly higher to me than the -135 moneyline suggest since the aforementioned Josh Tomlin is starting for the Tribe.
Catcher
With Gary Sanchez and Willson Contreras on the early slate, the evening backstops are pretty ugly.
Welington Castillo, CHW at TOR ($3,400) -- Castillo has a .937 OPS against lefties going back to the start of last season, and his placement in the White Sox's lineup is a tick higher than many of the alternatives. J.A. Happ wasn't among my top pitching considerations on DraftKings, but he's not a great stack target either, so a one-off at a thin position with a player who does well in with the platoon advantage appears to be the lesser of all evils behind the plate.
At $2,100, Miguel Montero might be a smart GPP punt to simply save the cash at the position, as he would have a lefty-righty matchup against Teheran at SunTrust Park on Tuesday if he's in the starting lineup.
First Base
Matt Carpenter, STL at MIL ($3,500) -- Jedd Gyorko left Monday's game against the Brewers with a hamstring injury, so Carpenter seems very unlikely to get a day off after Mike Matheny gave him a late breather Monday with a double-switch. Chase Anderson is very expensive, which along with Carpenter's disappointing 2017, likely explains the deflated price. Even if you want to buy in to Anderson's home-run rate improvements from last season (and 2H 2016) as largely sustainable, Carpenter has a prominent spot in a good lineup, and he gets a big road park boost at Miller Park on Tuesday.
Second Base
Ozzie Albies, ATL vs. WAS ($3,600) -- The pricing on Albies is too low to pass up, and it will not stay that way for long. As I wrote Friday, he's extremely talented, locked into the No. 2 spot in the order, and this time around, he gets another inexperienced right-handed (A.J. Cole) to feast on. We are all going to look back at the early-season prices on Albies and laugh a month from now. In the meantime, profit. If you have concerns about the ownership rate being high (again) and want to look elsewhere for tournaments, two options in Toronto -- Devon Travis ($3,100) and Yangervis Solarte ($2,900) -- against Miguel Gonzalez help to open up extra cash to spend on upgrades elsewhere.
Third Base
Matt Chapman, OAK vs. TEX ($3,600) -- I'm intentionally writing up Chapman this way to suggest considering him as a fade. He's homered in back-to-back games -- including a three-run shot off Shohei Ohtani on Sunday, and he's going to get plenty of attention as a low-cost alternative to Nolan Arenado ($4,600) or Alex Bregman ($4,300). Optimally, I would use Arenado in the road matchup against Tyson Ross and the Padres if you have the cap space to pull it off, especially in tournaments. If the A's shuffle the lineup and Chapman ends up hitting significantly higher than seventh, he could end up being a useful cash play Tuesday, though I would attempt to find the extra $700 to use Bregman in cash lineups instead.
Shortstop
Marcus Semien, OAK vs. TEX ($3,600) -- Semien in the Oakland bat you actually want against Cole Hamels on Tuesday. He's hit first or second in each of the first five games, and he led off for Oakland in their only other matchup against a lefty (Tyler Skaggs) to this point. Last season, 16 of the 18 homers allowed by Hamels were hit by righties, who finished with a combined .245/.331/.419 line against him. Even better for Semien is Hamels' declining ability to miss bats, which included a 17.3% K% and 9.7% BB% against righties in 2017.
Outfield
Josh Reddick, HOU vs. BAL ($3,300) -- The Astros tax doesn't apply to Reddick yet, but he's hit second or fifth in the two matchups Houston has had against a right-handed starter during the first week of the season. Mike Wright allowed a .408 wOBA to left-handed hitters last season. Meanwhile, Reddick put together a quietly strong .314/.363/.484 line over 540 plate appearances last season, including a 131 wRC+ against right-handed pitching. He's among the best cash-game values on the board for Tuesday night.
Nomar Mazara, TEX at OAK ($3,300) -- Rangers-A's as the same over/under total (9.0) as the Cards-Brewers matchup. While I would like to have exposure to both games, Mazara at $3,300 against Kendall Graveman is very enticing. Last season, Mazara matched his home-run total from his rookie campaign (20) despite making 48 additional trips to the plate. His slash line barely moved, but there was underlying skills growth that included an increased walk rate (from 6.9 to 8.9%) and an increase in flyballs (from 34.2 to 36.4%). Considering that he won't turn 23 until later this month, his age-adjusted production through two seasons is very impressive. If there is a corner outfielder in the player pool primed to make a leap similar to what we saw from Marcell Ozuna last season, Mazara is my choice to make it happen.
Christian Yelich, MIL vs. STL ($4,800) -- The elevated price should keep the ownership rate light on Yelich for Tuesday. If I'm fading Jack Flaherty in GPPs, there must be a bat or two going off on the Brewers' side, and I prefer to take that shot with a lefty given the big power boost provided by Miller Park. I would rather use Bryce Harper at $5,300 in cash settings, budget-permitting of course, and there are other outfielders in the Cards-Brewers matchup who are better values because of their prices who should have much higher ownership rates than Yelich. (Marcell Ozuna at $4,000, Dexter Fowler at $3,300, Tommy Pham at $3,500 and Domingo Santana at $3,700 if he's back in following a day off Monday).
