Padres (Yu Darvish, RHP) @ Pirates (Rich Hill, LHP)
Reds (Andrew Abbott, LHP) @ Orioles (Tyler Wells, RHP)
Giants (Bullpen Game) @ Blue Jays (Kevin Gausman, RHP)
Marlins (Sandy Alcantara, RHP) @ Red Sox (Garrett Whitlock, RHP)
Brewers (Julio Teheran, RHP) @ Mets (David Peterson, LHP)
Twins (Joe Ryan, RHP) @ Braves (Bryce Elder, RHP)
Astros (Framber Valdez, LHP) @ Cardinals (Jordan Montgomery, LHP)
Phillies (Ranger Suarez, LHP) @ Cubs (Jameson Taillon, RHP)
Tigers (Matt Manning, RHP) @ Rangers (Martin Perez, LHP)
Guardians (Gavin Williams, RHP) @ Royals (Brady Singer, RHP)
Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw, LHP) @ Rockies (Connor Seabold, RHP)
Rays (Taj Bradley, RHP) @ D-backs (Zac Gallen, RHP)
Yankees (Jhony Brito, RHP) @ Athletics (Paul Blackburn, RHP)
Nationals (Jake Irvin, RHP) @ Mariners (Bryan Woo, RHP)
White Sox (Michael Kopech, RHP) @ Angels (Shohei Ohtani, RHP)

Good grief. Fifteen games. Dodgers at Coors. We’re not scared though. We smile in the face of this beast and go straight for the best plays. Who/what are they? Let’s waste no time and dive in.

Pitching Preferences
Framber Valdez
Kevin Gausman
Yu Darvish
Zac Gallen
Bryan Woo
Taj Bradley
Clayton Kershaw
Michael Kopech
Joe Ryan
Gavin Williams
Ranger Suarez
Andrew Abbott
Martin Perez
Jordan Montgomery
Paul Blackburn

For a fifteen game slate, the pitching options today are shallow. Blame that on a few teams not announcing a starter (per MLB) (edit: we now have starters for the Cubs and Cardinals), the Giants throwing a bullpen game, and Julio Teheran mystifying us every start and leaving me clueless on how to proceed with him. This makes the dynamic much different in our two contests today. In The Cycle, I’ll likely have my pitcher drafted by round three. For the main slate, I’ll more often than not be waiting until round six.

Taking a look at early ADP, and I’m honestly shocked Kershaw is SP1 at ADP 4.2 as of writing this. I’m on record disparaging the Colorado Rockies, and they just recently were shellacked by the Angles (not a bad team), but this is not a price I’m buying at. I suspect this ADP will come down significantly as drafts rage on, but until it does this is a no from me. Coors takes no prisoners, even future hall of famers.

Zac Gallen and Taj Bradley are set to face in a fantastic pitcher’s duel. Both are backed by good offenses, but I’m going under on this total. Both are great clicks today.

Andrew Abbott has been really, really good. A pinch of luck has helped, as he is sporting a 100% LOB thus far and a .190 BABIP, but the early results are the results. I think he’s a sneaky sharp pick today.

Favorite Teams
Dodgers
Padres
Guardians
Phillies
Red Sox
Marlins
Reds
Rangers (banned)
Mariners

The Rangers are on this list, but they’re squarely on the banned list. They have only existed to take my money the past two weeks. I’m over them. You all can go ahead and draft them today though, because this is certainly the day they explode and positively regress.

Dodgers are at Coors Field against Connor Seabold.
The highest team totals from non-Dodgers are from the Rangers (lol) and the Padres at 5.5 runs.
The Dodgers have a team total of 7.5 runs. This is insane, and an extremely tough game to fade today. But we will ultimately have to do so on a majority of our teams today. There’s 29 other teams to draft today, so we can get creative and find some spots elsewhere. But the disparity is hard to stomach.

Red Sox, come on down? They get 2023 Sandy Alcantara, who has been getting hit very hard. Lots of lefties in this lineup, so that’s fun. On the flip side, the Marlins get Jazz Chisholm back today against Garrett Whitlock. I really like Whitlock, but this seems like a pretty bad spot for him. Marlins have a fun lineup. They will be stacked a few times in my portfolio today as well.

The Reds disappointed me yesterday, but cover boy Spencer Steer got there yesterday, so we’ll take a moral W there. They get a personal favorite of mine today in Tyler Wells. So naturally, a right handed heavy lineup like the Reds facing one of my favorite pitchers in 2023 would be a team I am fading right? Surprise, I have deceived you. Wells appears to be a tried and true reverse splits pitcher. Enter the Reds. Matt McLain, Spencer Steer, Jonathan India are fun ways to attack this game. I foresee them being low owned today.

I’m going to tie a bow on this with that note. Best of luck today everyone.

By the way, congrats to BESTBALL VIPER for taking down the main slate last night! A day one supporter of mine and the Badge Bros, he’s as sharp as they get in our streets. Certainly won’t be his last 1st place finish on the season.

Nez