This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Unlike with Friday's NLDS showdown slate where we had serious star power and offense expected, Saturday afternoon's ALDS game comes with a meager 5.5 run total and no clear must-use players.
The Tigers are slight (-124) road favorites thanks to the availability of ace Tarik Skubal, who threw seven shutout innings Monday, striking out eight and inducing 10 ground balls. Cleveland counters with lefty Matthew Boyd, who didn't allow a run when facing Skubal last time out, but went only 4.2 innings, striking out four and retiring nine via fly balls. Boyd had a meager 31.4 percent ground ball rate in the regular season, which could come into play in a game where runs won't likely be frequent.
Cleveland's bullpen is borderline elite and should have all hands on deck, while the Tigers will ride Skubal as long as possible. This is not going to be an easy showdown slate, and it feels like borderline guessing. But that's what we've got, so lets see if we can find an edge.
MVP
Steven Kwan, CLE vs. DET ($8,500): Look, Jose Ramirez ($10,000) is the clear and obvoius answer here, and I'd be shocked if he wasn't close to 100 percent rostered in nearly all tournaments. And he's 9-for-24 (.375) with a .983 OPS off Skubal. The question is how do you use him. He's a star, but not guaranteed to break the slate, so not putting him in your MVP slot should immediately make your lineup different. Kwan has three hits in each of the series' last two games and eight overall in four games. If he gets on and Ramirez drives him in, this can give Kwan upside with the 2x multiplier.
Star
David Fry, CLE vs. DET ($6,500): If we believe Kwan is a relatively safe option to not flame out as the MVP, maybe we take an upside shot at this 1.5x multiplier. And going with two Guardians not named Ramirez in these spots is surely to be a different build. Fry had a .418 wOBA, 179 wRC+ and .279 ISO off lefties in the regular season. He's likely to hit second, giving us a 1-2 mini-stack, or more if you're also playing Ramirez, and when he connects, it's big. He has three hits in this series, resulting in a homer, five RBI and two runs scored.
Utility
Justyn-Henry Malloy, DET at CLE ($5,000): Malloy got two hits in three tries off Boyd in game two, but no other scoring stats so there's minimal appeal there. But he led the Tigers in the regular season with a .384 wOBA and 155 wRC+ while posting a .250 ISO. Malloy could potentially hit leadoff, which would give him extra opportunity against Boyd, who we don't expect to last extensively.
Brayan Rocchio, CLE vs. DET ($4,500): I'm going to sneak this in to almost every showdown column as we enter the final stretch of the season. This column is not meant to give you a five-man lineup to set and roll with. It's meant to give options and make the reader think and see what they believe is the best path. I'm really curious what the winning score in tournaments is going to be, and I'm expecting it to be incredibly low. As such, any points are good points. Rocchio doesn't have great splits off lefties with a .284 wOBA, but he's somewhat quietly hit safely in every game in this series, two of which went for extra bases, while walking twice to boot.
Spencer Torkelson, DET at CLE ($6,500): It's honestly hard to feel great about any Tiger bat, but as the favorites, this column became too Guardian focused. It's exponentially easier to use four of your five roster spots from one lineup and if you're on the right side, you should cash in some capacity. But good luck picking four Tigers to click; they're just not an offensive club. Torkelson is priced higher than I'd like, and he's only homered three times since September 1. But also has a .272 ISO and 17.9 percent soft contact rate off lefties. He's feast or famine for sure, but would seemingly have the best chance at a power boom for Detroit.
