Sunday’s main Major League Baseball slate features eight games starting at 1:05 pm ET. The Twins vs. Yankees and Rangers vs. Red Sox games have been postponed already. We will be using Bales Model to highlight some of the top options to consider.
Pitchers
The three pitchers projected to score the most fantasy points are:
Adam Wainwright (R)
Framber Valdez (L)
Steven Matz (L)
One of the highest-rated pitchers on Bales Model for both DraftKings and FanDuel is Adam Wainwright from the St. Louis Cardinals. Wainwright has been surprisingly effective in his 16th MLB season. In 154.2 innings, he has a 3.26 ERA, 11-7 record, 1.09 WHIP and 141 strikeouts. The most impressive statistic for the 39-year-old pitcher is that he has increased his K/BB to 3.62 after five poor seasons.
Wainwright will be pitching against the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are projected for the lowest implied-runs total on the slate (3.2 runs). Not only is the projected run total low for the Pirates, but they have the lowest team value rating (28) on the entire slate. This is great opportunity for Wainwright to score a large sum of fantasy points against a team he held to a two-hitter a couple starts ago.
The highest-priced pitcher on both DraftKings and FanDuel is Framber Valdez from the Houston Astros. Valdez is coming off back-to-back quality starts, in which he allowed only four earned runs over 12.2 innings. Valdez did a great job with damage control, as had quite a few batters reach base. Five walks and 13 hits against show there is still room for improvement for the Astros’ lefty. Valdez will be on the mound against the Seattle Mariners, who are projected for the second lowest implied runs total on the slate (3.6 runs).
A pitcher who has been extremely inconsistent since the beginning of July is Steven Matz from the Toronto Blue Jays. In his past seven starts, he has accumulated three wins, while being recorded as the losing pitcher four times. It seems as though every other outing a different Matz appears. Hoping for consecutive strong games, he will be on the hill against the Detroit Tigers. Matz is the highest-rated pitcher on Bales Model for FanDuel. Although Matz averages just over a strikeout per inning, the Tigers rank third in MLB in team strike outs (1,195).
Value
The two pitchers projected for the most points/salary are Chris Archer and Carlos Hernandez.
Chris Archer is set to make his first start since early April as he will be activated off the 60-day injured list. Archer is a proven pitcher at the major league level and will hope to get back in form before the MLB playoffs. On FanDuel, he is considered a 92% bargain as he is priced at only $6,500. Archer does have a tough task as he will be up against the Chicago White Sox. They have averaged 5.4 runs/game in their last five, owning the fifth-best run differential (+136) in the league. Oddsmakers believe Archer and the Rays can win this game, as they are listed as -121 favorites.
Carlos Hernandez from the Kansas City Royals is a name some may be unfamiliar with. He is 24 years old from Venezuela and this is his first full MLB season. Recently, Hernandez has put together a few strong performances. Although he was rocked last start, in his three prior outings, he allowed two earned runs over 17.2 innings. If he can continue this run of form, Hernandez might be set for a big fantasy output as he takes on the rebuilding Chicago Cubs.
Hitters
Notable Stack
The top projected points stack comes to you from the Toronto Blue Jays (-226):
- Marcus Semien (R)
- Bo Bichette (R)
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R)
- Teoscar Hernandez (R)
The Blue Jays are projected for the highest implied-runs total on the slate (6.1runs). After only scoring a total of four runs in their last two games, the Blue Jays will be hoping their bats heat up. 84 is by far the highest team value rating on the slate as they take on Drew Hutchison from the Detroit Tigers. Hutchison’s first start was not pretty. In only 1.2 innings he gave up six runs including three walks compared to only one strikeout. On FanDuel, this stack will cost you $16,000 in salary and are projected for a combined 52 fantasy points.
Other Hitters
An eight-game slate ownership shouldn’t be too much of a concern, as there are quite a few options.
The highest-rated batter on Bales Model for both DraftKings and FanDuel is Kolten Wong from the Milwaukee Brewers. Wong is projected to lead off for the Brewers who scored nine runs in Saturday’s game. In that contest, Wong collected two hits, scored two runs and added an RBI.
Another batter worth consideration is Jorge Soler from the Atlanta Braves. Soler has been very effective this season. His .201 batting average is not attractive, but the 17 home runs and 46 RBIs are noteworthy.
Value
Lastly, here is a handful of batters to consider while completing your lineups projected for a high fantasy points/salary:
- Derek Hill
- Jesus Sanchez
- Isan Diaz
- Jesus Aguilar
- Yadier Molina
