Good morning! We had ourselves a classic bankroll management 101 type slate yesterday, with Justin Turner and Travis d’Arnaud making themselves must haves on a slate where overall, not many fantasy points were accumulated. If you happened to position yourself off of those two for a majority of your plays, you were essentially wiped. Not very fun! This is why we don’t want to play more than we’re comfortable with, as we want to give ourselves a chance to fight another day.

We have three total slates today, each with 10k prize pools. 30k up for grabs for MLB in a single day on Underdog is something I could only hope could take place at the beginning of the season, so I appreciate how far these niche contests have come. Let’s get into the first two slates.

DAYTIME DIAMOND
Tigers (Joey Wentz, LHP) @ Twins (Jose De Leon, RHP)
Orioles (Kyle Gibson, RHP) @ Cubs (Justin Steele, LHP)

3-person drafts with no ADP for this early slate, but a 10k prize pool still. I personally won’t be drafting many teams on this slate. Twins are going with a bullpen game, and Joey Wentz is sporting a 7.23 ERA and is somehow making his 13th start for the Tigers this season. If I was drafting, I’m taking Gibson or Steele before I’m left with likes of Wentz or JDL.

I am pretty worried about Justin Steele. He missed time with a forearm strain, but was really effective before then. My fear is the Cubs are rushing him back, but on this slate we have no choice but to lean in that he’s 100%. On the flip side of his game, Gibson has been worth every cent of his deal with Baltimore this season. He’s better served on large slates where he can be your in case of emergency pitching option as opposed to being a top 2 option on a slate. I have yet to jump in, but I wonder if the field will be punting pitching entirely or reaching like I am suggesting doing? There could be some big leverage in going with the top options in either Detroit or Minnesota and then taking one of Steele or Gibson. With two game slates, you really just want to cover a little bit of everything and call your shots after.

Here’s my top 15 players today for the Early Only (no lineups released as of writing this)
– Kyle Gibson
– Justin Steele
– Byron Buxton
– Kerry Carpenter
– Zack McKinstry
– Spencer Torkelson
– Carlos Correa
– Royce Lewis
– Kyle Farmer
– Austin Hays
– Adley Rutschman
– Christopher Morel
– Cody Bellinger
– Anthony Santander
– Donovan Solano

THE STRETCH
Blue Jays (TBD) @ Rangers (Dane Dunning, RHP)
Marlins (Braxton Garrett, LHP) @ Nationals (Cole Irvin, RHP)
Phillies (Cristopher Sanchez, LHP) @ Athletics (James Kaprielian, RHP)
Pirates (Mitch Keller, RHP) @ Brewers (Wade Miley, LHP)
Angels (Griffin Canning, RHP) @ Royals (Mike Mayers, RHP)
Reds (Hunter Greene, RHP) @ Astros (Brandon Bielak, RHP)
Cardinals (Adam Wainwright, RHP) @ Mets (Kodai Senga, RHP)
Rockies (Connor Seabold, RHP) @ Braves (Bryce Elder, RHP)
White Sox (Lucas Giolito, RHP) @ Mariners (Logan Gilbert, RHP)

Pitcher Preferences
Mitch Keller
Hunter Greene
Bryce Elder
Kodai Senga
Brandon Bielak
Griffin Canning
Lucas Giolito
Logan Gilbert

Happy Mitch Keller day to all who celebrate! He gets a pretty weak Milwaukee lineup today, but is in a hitter friendly park. On top of that, Keller has only recently bounced back from a few duds where his K rate plummeted. Slightly concerning, but not stopping me from being overweight Mitchy today.
Lucas Giolito and Logan Gilbert both receive the benefit of playing in TMobile Park today. The lineups they’re both facing are just threatening enough that I don’t find them to be slam dunks, despite the fact they both match up well facing two right handed dominant lineups.
Hunter Greene, I’m hoping, will be a bold call today as my SP2. It’s not great for baseball when two of its best hitters (Yordan and Judge) are both out due to injury, and especially not good for their respective clubs. The Astros are a dangerously mid lineup without Yordan Alvarez and I think Hunter Greene can feast today. This is mostly a cost adjusted play, as he will go in every draft, it’s just a matter of when you have to take him if you want him.

Favorite Teams
Braves (Connor Seabold, RHP)
Rangers (TBD)
Angels (Mike Mayers, RHP)
Mets (Adam Wainwright, RHP)
Phillies (James Kaprielian, RHP)
Nationals (Braxton Garrett, LHP)
Marlins (Cole Irvin, RHP)
Pirates (Wade Miley, LHP)

Braves are once again the top stacking option today. Sean Murphy should be back in the lineup today, he could be our d’Arnaud of the afternoon slate.
We are still awaiting the starter for Toronto today. Rangers have continued to win but haven’t been piling on the runs as of late. That could very well change depending on the Blue Jays plan at pitcher.
Our Pirates face a lefty today, which is good for their lineup. Rodolfo Castro no matter what, but also Connor Joe, McCutchen, and Hayes will also be a part of my player pool today.
Braxton Garrett is a pretty good pitcher. But the Nationals have been a pleasant surprise offensively, and they fare well against LHP. I’ll be mixing in a little bit of all their righties, including some 4 and 5 man stacks.

I’ll have some Main Slate thoughts up after I run to H-Mart with the missus, who just came back from a week long trip in Kenya. Have to earn my good graces to disappear for two hours while I draft loads of teams. I also missed her, unapologetic simp over here. Good luck today! Be back shortly.

Nez