Top-tier, mid-tier and value picks for Tuesday's MLB schedule.
If you’re getting ready to set those MLB DFS lineups, here are a few players that look to be in good spots Tuesday night.
Pitchers
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Top-Tier
Joe Musgrove ($11,000/$8,600): Musgrove is striking men out at a rate of 10 per nine innings, and he’s surrendered only one home run and two earned runs across his first 12.2 innings pitched. Tonight he faces the Reds, who have a 27.6% K-rate (second-most in the league) and are averaging only 3.18 runs per game.
Mid-Tier
Framber Valdez ($9,500/$10,200): Gone are the days that the Los Angeles Angels don’t strike out. The Angels – now likely without Mike Trout again due to a hand injury -- have the fifth-highest K rate in the league at 26.3% through the first two weeks of the season. Valdez struck out six Angels and surrendered no earned runs across six innings pitched in the season opener, and tonight he gets the start at home.
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Value Tier
Jon Gray ($6,900/$8,200): Gray struck out four Jays across four innings pitched while allowing three runs, but he also had to be pulled early due to a blister opening up on his hand. I’m giving him a mulligan against a far less-potent Mariners offense that is putting up an average of less than four runs per game. The play here is for a decent floor in order to spend up for big bats.
Hitters
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Top Tier
Rafael Devers ($4,100/$5,800): Devers has a 54% hard-hit rate to start the season, and he’s batting .545 vs. left-handed pitching so far this year.
C.J. Cron ($4,300/$4,700): He’s batting cleanup at Coors and he’s tied with Vlad Guerrero Jr. for the most home runs and RBI in the league. Enough said.
Mid-Tier
Connor Joe ($3,700/$4,400): Connor Joe continues to get no respect at this pricing, despite leading off for a .700 ballclub in the most favorable park for hitters. Joe is batting .329 with two homers on the season. Both homers came off righties, and he faces one tonight in Kyle Gibson.
Yordan Alvarez ($3,700/$5,500): Alvarez returned from illness yesterday and promptly hit a two-run home run. Twice.
J.D. Martinez ($3,700/$5,600): In his career, Martinez has dominated lefties, batting .308 and slugging .578. He’s also been slightly better at home than away. Yusei Kikuchi gets the nod for the Jays tonight. This could be good.
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Value Tier
Xander Bogaerts ($3,500/$5,000): I pick on Yusei Kikuchi for DFS and most of the time it works out. Kikuchi has already surrendered 2.7 home runs per nine this season, and Bogaerts is slugging 1.500 vs. Kikuchi in his career.
Christian Yelich ($2,900/$4,800): Yelich leads the league in hard-hit rate, he’s in the top 9% of the league in average exit velocity, he doesn’t chase and his speed is still in the 88th percentile. He hit his first home run of the season last night, and tonight he faces J.T. Brubaker. You know what to do.
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