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SP: Eduardo Rodriguez, BOS ($7,600) at OAK
Rodriguez’s first start of the year was a big yikes, giving up five earned over 4 1/3 innings with three walks. I wouldn’t worry too much about one start in March, though, as Rodriguez still has a lot of upside. His strikeout potential is what we’re chasing here, after putting up a 26.4% K-rate last season. While the Oakland Athletics are a tough lineup, Rodriguez is much more attractive on the road away from Fenway. E-Rod comes in as an affordable contrarian play, as many owners will be avoiding him after his last start.
SP: Spencer Turnbull, DET ($5,800) vs. KC
Turnbull wasn’t great in his first start of the year, but if you still believe in the preseason hype, he could be useful on Wednesday. Turnbull gets to face one of the worst lineups in the league in the Kansas City Royals and is the cheapest starter on any slate outside of Alex Cobb. All Turnbull needs is a decent outing to be valuable at this price, which is insanely cheap for a starting pitcher. With Turnbull, you can load up your lineup with expensive players while still getting an effective start.
2B: Rougned Odor, TEX ($4,100) at LAA (RHP Matt Harvey)
Odor is the ideal boom-or-bust type player to target in GPP contests. He’s got 30-homer power and can do some serious damage against Matt Harvey, who had a 1.57 HR/9 last year with a 4.94 ERA. Odor will get plenty of opportunities out of the Texas Rangers two-hole and even has some speed upside in his profile as well. At this price, Odor is an outstanding pick.
OF: Jesse Winker, CIN ($4,100) at PIT (RHP Jordan Lyles)
Winker’s cold start is the perfect buy low opportunity. His 0-for-13 start has been mostly bad luck, but even if it weren’t, a 13 at-bat sample isn’t enough to matter anyway. Winker is in an awesome spot batting leadoff for the Cincinnati Reds, where he will get a ton of chances to give you points. The Reds should put up some runs against Jordan Lyles, who probably shouldn’t be in a big league rotation. Buy in on Winker while the price is still low, as he showed off his righty-mashing abilities with a 137 wRC+ last year.
Tournament Stack: Cleveland Indians vs. TOR (RHP Aaron Sanchez)
I’m loving the Cleveland Indians bats against Aaron Sanchez, who is coming off of an awful 4.74 FIP in 2018. Jose Ramirez (5,300) is really the only guy you have to pay up for, as the rest of the lineup is very affordable. Leonys Martin ($4,100) out of the leadoff spot is a great value, while Jake Bauers ($4,400) and Carlos Santana ($4,500) are also guys to target. It’s tough to go wrong with any Cleveland hitter in this matchup.
I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is troyklauder) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.