This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
All teams are in action Tuesday, and there are no day games. However, we still lose out on a few teams on the main slate due to start times before 7:00 EDT. With 12 teams, there's still plenty of different builds available, and in particular a lot of viable pitchers with low price points to jam in the top stacks of the day.
Pitchers
Aaron Nola ($10,600) is the highest-priced pitcher on the slate. He has one of the safest floors in the league – his last single-digit DK point performance came on April 13 – and he put up 47.7 points his last turn through the rotation. Just beware the Diamondbacks aren't the easy matchup their record suggests. In the last 30 days, they are exactly league average as measured by wOBA and have only an 18.1 percent strikeout – lowest in the league in that span.
Max Fried ($9,900) is the cash game play of the day as he gets the Rockies in Atlanta. For the season Colorado has the third-lowest road wOBA. Even so, don't count on a massive performance for Fried, but he's among the bests for 20 DK points in the pitcher pool.
One tier down, there's a trio of pitchers worth considering: Brady Singer ($8,900), Kevin Gausman ($8,700) and George Kirby ($8,500). The group is very comparable from a skills perspective, but I'll lean the latter two based on win potential (Gausman faces the Cubs; Kirby the Tigers) and the slight savings.
Jameson Taillon ($7,700) is another cash game option worth mentioning thanks to a matchup against the Angels. The punt play of the day is Matt Manning ($6,700). He's still had a few down performances but has topped 23 DK points in three of his last five starts. Seattle isn't a great lineup (.292 wOBA last 30 days), and Kirby is likely to be very popular. That leaves Manning as potentially strong leverage.
Top Hitters
Mike Mayers was strong in his first outing as a traditional starter last week, but he's still allowed 2.1 HR/9 this season combined between his work as a reliever and starter. He's also surrendered 1.7 HR/9 to lefties for his career, so I like Anthony Rizzo ($5,400) as an option.
Atlanta is a pretty obvious lineup to get exposure to Tuesday, as it draws a matchup against Jose Urena. Across 58.2 innings this season, Urena has allowed as many walks as strikeouts while serving 1.4 HR/9. He too has particularly struggled against lefties, so I like Matt Olson ($5,100) as a good bet to go yard.
Taijuan Walker started the season well, but he has stalled out significantly in the last 30 days. For example, he's allowed 1.8 HR/9 and also has just a 3.3 K-BB%. This could be a chance to get the Dodgers at a relatively low roster rate, so I'll try to take advantage by rostering Freddie Freeman ($5,900).
Value Hitters
Since being recalled Aug. 9 by the Pirates, Rodolfo Castro ($2,400) has homered four times, tallied four additional extra-base hits and also swiped a pair of bases across 68 plate appearances. That's not likely to continue, but he's cheap enough to try to ride the hot streak while it lasts.
In contrast to Castro, Seth Brown ($2,900) has been ice cold at the dish recently. However, he'll get the chance to play in Nationals Park in a matchup against Erick Fedde. Nationals Park is the seventh-friendliest for homers in the league, while Fedde has a 4.97 SIERA for the season.
Max Kepler ($3,100) has taken over the third spot in the Twins order and draws a matchup against the Red Sox and Kutter Crawford on Tuesday. After a strong start to the campaign, Crawford has posted a 7.46 ERA and 1.8 HR/9 across the last 30 days (spanning 25.1 innings and five starts).
Stacks to Consider
Atlanta vs. Rockies (Jose Urena): Dansby Swanson ($5,300), Austin Riley ($5,500), Matt Olson ($5,100)
Urena is an easy pitcher to target as mentioned above. Atlanta is also an excellent lineup to target, because there are multiple ways to build a stack. Not mentioned above include relative value options such as Michael Harris ($4,200) and Vaughn Grissom ($2,800). Paying down may not be necessary in many tournament builds due to the number of viable pitchers on the low side of price points.
Dodgers at Mets (Taijuan Walker): Freddie Freeman ($5,900), Will Smith ($5,300), Max Muncy ($4,700)
It's not an obvious day to stack the Dodgers, other than the fact that their lineup is extremely dangerous. However, as was noted, Walker has just a 3.3 K-BB% and 1.8 HR/9 across the last 30 days. The trio listed above cuts out the top of the Dodgers' order in an effort to present a realistic stack from a cost perspective. However, for those paying down, it may be possible to jam one or both of Mookie Betts ($6,400) or Trea Turner ($6,300) into the lineup.
Brewers vs. Pirates (Mitch Keller): Christian Yelich ($4,100), Willy Adames ($5,000), Hunter Renfroe ($4,000)
A Milwaukee stack is reasonably priced, which is a bit surprising given the bouneback in form from Yelich in recent weeks. They face Keller, who had a fairly long stretch of effectiveness for the Pirates this season. However, like Walker, he's faded again with a 2.8 K-BB% and 5.33 SIERA across his last 19.2 innings (five starts).
