Cubs (Marcus Stroman, RHP) @ Pirates (Johan Oviedo, RHP)
Cardinals (Jordan Montgomery, LHP) @ Nationals (Mackenzie Gore, LHP)
Mariners (George Kirby, RHP) @ Yankees (Gerrit Cole, RHP)
Rockies (Noah Davis, RHP) @ Reds (Ben Lively, RHP)
Athletics (Luis Medina, RHP) @ Guardians (Aaron Civale, RHP)
Red Sox (Kutter Crawford, RHP) @ Twins (Bailey Ober, RHP)
Mets (Justin Verlander) @ Astros (Framber Valdez, LHP)
Rangers (Nathan Eovaldi, RHP) @ White Sox (Dylan Cease, RHP)
D-backs (Ryne Nelson, RHP) @ Brewers (Colin Rea, RHP)
Padres (Seth Lugo, RHP) @ Giants (Anthony DeSclafani, RHP)
Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw, LHP) @ Angels (Reid Detmers, LHP)

Good morning! It is Tuesday, a day I used to coin as the worst day of the week in my corporate days. The weekend feels as far away as it did on Monday, and you’re in the heart of the work week. I have your remedy for a case of the Tuesdays, however – an 11 game baseball slate with some words on how to approach it! Let’s start with pitching.

Pitching Preferences
Marcus Stroman
Framber Valdez
Gerrit Cole
Clayton Kershaw
George Kirby
Nathan Eovaldi
Aaron Civale
Dylan Cease
Justin Verlander
Bailey Ober
Johan Oviedo
Jordan Montgomery
MacKenzie Gore

Arms city over here. This slate has no shortage of quality pitching, which means I will not be anywhere close to even with the field on Gerrit Cole at his current 3.4 ADP. It’s rare that you don’t need to reach for pitching in The Cycle, and today is certainly one of those slates. And if we can wait in The Cycle, then we can absolutely wait in the Main Slate.

Do we buy in on Justin Verlander today? He’s being drafted as the SP9, aka undrafted on average in the Main Slate. The Astros, stop me if you’ve heard this before, are without Yordan Alvarez. Unfortunately, I will be scooping some Justin Verlander in both contests today. Fool me thrice? Well, I have horrible short term memory, so I will forget any wrongdoings and go back to the well for a fourth time, if a fourth time arises.

It’s hard for me to do any sort of bull case writing when the slate is this loaded with Aces, but I will offer a word of caution as I’ve alluded to with Gerrit Cole. He’s an excellent season long pick because he is incredibly durable and rarely gets blown up for a lineup killing score. He is the king of the 1st inning long ball, however. He faces a lot of righties today on the Mariners, so in theory he is a great pick. I just find his path to a huge separation game against his peers very thin today. If I lose money today because of that stance, it is what it is. But I can’t justify his 3.4 ADP as of writing this with the other options on the slate and Cole’s propensity for the long ball with these big boppers on the Mariners. If you are in a legal betting state, I would put some money on Eugenio Suarez +650 to homer, or Ty France +750.

Favorite Teams
Guardians (Luis Medina, RHP)
Reds (Noah Davis, RHP)
Padres (Anthony DeSclafani, RHP)
Dodgers (Reid Detmers, LHP)
D-backs (Colin Rea, RHP)
Nationals (Jordan Montgomery, LHP)
Cubs (Johan Oviedo, RHP)
Brewers (Ryne Nelson, RHP)
Rangers (Dylan Cease, RHP)

The Reds were pretty big chalk yesterday with their lineup full of righties, and despite winning the game, fell flat yesterday in fantasy. They’re once again going to be a top stacked team today. No need to fear McLain, India, or Steer against righties, and De La Cruz, Votto, and Friedl will be excellent targets today as well. This lineup is somewhat chalky today for us, as four infielders have top 30 ADPs. It’s warranted, so find ways to get unique by tacking on stacks of other teams or two one-off players.

Dylan Cease might be back? Who is to say. I’m staying true to my word and making Rangers lineups, because when Cease is bad, he’s bad.

The Guardians are also chalky today. They’re up against my favorite bad pitcher in the league, Luis Medina. I don’t see this going well for the right hander against this barrage of lefty sticks. José Ramírez is a warranted top-three pick today. He’s heating up as of late, and could have a monster game today. I’m of course also interested in my large son Josh Naylor, along with his little brother Bo if he ends up starting today. Josh Bell, Will Brennan, and Andrés Giménez will be a part of my portfolio as well.

Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout are, to me, tough clicks against Clayton Kershaw today. I will likely get to them later in the day as I’m finishing up my drafts, but until then I will likely avoid. Kershaw is just so good. And I am spooked.

That will do it for my thoughts on today. Best of luck in your drafts and other fantasy ventures. Here’s some bonus words.

The Reds have, overnight, become America’s team. Elly De La Cruz is brute forcing his into becoming a household name, Joey Votto is back, and they’ve won nine straight games, taking lone position of first place in the NL Central. The Reds, like the Pirates, have had their fair share of hardship over the last decade, too.

But, thanks to some truly incredible talent development and savvy trades, the Reds are seemingly wiping their hands clean and saying goodbye to the rebuild, entering their new “window of opportunity”. I hate that term, but it’s how executives operate. This team still has talent waiting in the wings, and hasn’t had Nick Lodolo and Hunter Greene healthy together at the same time this season for very long at all. I’m happy for my friends who are fans of the Reds. Good for you guys, and enjoy the baseball.

As a Pirates fan, I’m envious. I just want my teams exciting stud healthy and on the field making highlight plays and crushing bombs too. (Miss you, Oneil.) I would love for my team to show some semblance of being able to develop a player that isn’t a can’t miss sure-fire thing. However, that’s just not the reality I or Pirates fans live in. The cheapness on the field quite obviously does not stop there. There’s quite obviously a gap in the resources spent to helping minor leaguers become valuable big leaguers. On top of this, the eye for talent in trades has been abysmal as well. The Marlins netted Jesus Luzardo for Starling Marte from the Athletics. The Pirates, a year+ prior, received Liover Peguero and Brennan Malone. The former hasn’t played in a professional game in over two years, and the latter is blocked in the infield and doesn’t have the bat (yet) to force his way into playing time.

To watch this team is to make an agreement with yourself. That you understand this is a team that, if they win, is done despite the flawed front office, not because of. With this team holding the first overall pick in the 2023 draft, there are about four names they have been rumored to be considering. I will do my best to not get tied down to one option, but if I was making the decisions, I’m taking Dylan Crews knowing good and well that he is the most pro-ready hitter with less risk than an arm such as Paul Skenes, another potential 1.01 option. Personally, I think they look at their needs and take Skenes. However, they’d be much better served with Crews, and shipping off Jack Suwinski, Nick Gonzales, and Liover Peguero for some controllable pitching instead. /end rant

Once again good luck today, and if you’re reading this, thank you!

(Sub to Underdog Fantasy HQ on YouTube)