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The A’s and Mariners kick off the MLB season in Tokyo bright and early on Wednesday at 5:35 a.m. ET while other teams will have to wait until next week to begin the season. They also play again on Thursday morning.
DraftKings and FanDuel are offering single-game slates for these two games. FanDuel doesn’t offer a starting pitching option for their single-game slates, so if you’re playing over there, there’s no need to worry about that option.
Starting Pitchers
- Mike Fiers (R) $9,600, OAK vs. SEA
- Marco Gonzalez (L) $9,200, SEA vs. OAK
Fiers checks in as the most expensive pitcher on DraftKings, which isn’t surprising since the A’s are currently -117 favorites against the Mariners. But I think a case can be made to use Gonzalez over Fiers, especially in the captain slot.
Gonzalez was much more consistent than Fiers last season, averaging 15.08 DraftKings points per game with a +1.92 Plus/Minus and 67.9% Consistency Rating, compared to 14.23 DraftKings points per game and a +1.24 Plus/Minus with a 56.7% Consistency Rating for Fiers (per our Trends tool).
Fiers will likely regress after he posted an ERA of 3.56 last season with a FIP (Field Independent Pitching) of 4.75, which is quite poor (FanGraphs). That said, given the volatility of hitters in baseball, I think it makes the most sense to roster both pitchers, who have manageable salaries.
If you prefer to choose just one pitcher, Gonzalez is where I’d lean with his 12-month 44.9% ground-ball rate, 34% hard-hit rate, 7.83 K/9 and 203-foot average batted-ball distance, all of which are superior to Fiers’ marks.
Hitters
Khris Davis hit a career-high 48 home runs last season, and he likely has the most upside in this game among hitters. However, he’ll be facing a left-handed pitcher, and he fared better against righties last season, sporting a 117 Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) and .340 Weighted On-Base Average (wOBA) against lefties, compared to a 141 wRC+ and a .374 wOBA vs. righties.
Edwin Encarnacion hit 26 of his 32 home runs off of right-handed pitchers last season, so it’s not surprising that his splits favor righties, against whom last season he had an above-average wOBA (.352) and wRC+ (119) and elite ISO (.247). He’s a solid anchor over Davis given his splits, and he’s slightly cheaper on both DraftKings and FanDuel.
If you don’t have the salary space to roster either Davis or Encarnacion, Mitch Haniger isn’t a bad alternative. He was excellent last season, averaging a team-best 8.69 DraftKings points per game and 44.8% Consistency Rating. He’s on the negative side of his splits, but his numbers against righties are still pretty good: He posted a .376 wOBa and 144 wRC+ against righties last year.
Jay Bruce will be on the positive side of his career splits against the right-handed Fiers. Bruce possesses a career .348 wOBa and 115 wRC+ against righties compared to a .308 wOBA and 89 wRC+ against lefties.
Because this game starts at 5:35 a.m. ET, there aren’t any confirmed lineups at the time of writing. But some viable cheap options who could be hitting near the top of the order are Jurikson Profar and Domingo Santana.
If Omar Narvaez is in the lineup, he’s not the worst punt for the stone minimum. He has a league-average wOBA and wRC+ in his career against righties.
Good luck, and be sure to check out The Action Network if you’re looking for more in-depth MLB analysis.
Pictured above: Domingo Santana and Edwin Encarnacion
Photo credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
