This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Wednesday's DFS action starts early at 12:35 p.m. EDT with an "Early-Only" four-game slate and an "All-Day" slate as well. The "Main Slate" starts at 7:05 p.m. EDT and features eight games, including one at Coors Field.
Pitching
There are three pitching options over the $10,000 threshold with Clayton Kershaw, Matthew Boyd and Chris Sale ($11,000) all taking the mound. Sale makes the most sense of the three given his matchup against the Orioles. The Braves, Kershaw's opponent, hit lefties extremely well and the Angels don't strike out a lot against lefties (15.4 percent) like Boyd, but the Orioles are a bottom-11 team in wOBA (.296) and strikeout rate against southpaws. Sale has looked like his old self as of late with 39, 43 and 58 fantasy points over his last three starts. There's enough value to use him in either cash or GPPs.
It's always tough to read the tea leaves and figure out ownership on any given night when it comes to pitchers. It seems though that Kyle Hendricks ($8,200) should be a popular pick in cash given his recent success and relatively low price. Hendricks has 46 and 64 fantasy points in two of his last three starts and gets the juicy matchup against the Marlins at home. The Marlins continue to be a good team to fade against right-handed pitching, sitting last in wOBA (.269) and 27th in strikeout rate (26.4 percent). He's a great pick for cash, since using him will allow multiple Coors bats into your lineups.
One of the better contrarian plays will be Jon Gray ($7,500) pitching in Coors. Most will shy away from him completely because of the ballpark, but he's worth using in GPPs. Last season Gray had a 10.2 K/9 at home which is an elite number. Those strikeouts help mitigate some of the run damage and the Giants aren't a good hitting team against righties. They have the second worst wOBA (to only the Marlins, .278) and they strike out 23.6 percent of the time, which is actually around league average. The price and low ownership here are what make Gray an attractive option in tournaments.
Key Values/Chalk
Kyle Schwarber ($2,400) has been a repeat offender in this part of the column and for good reason. He continues to be underpriced for a player who has a career. 362 wOBA at home against right-handed pitching. Jose Urena is a good matchup for all the left-handed Cubs' bats, as he's allowed a .333 wOBA to opposing RHB.
It seems like a logical route that after figuring out which pitcher to use in cash games, you lock in Nolan Arenado ($4,900) and Trevor Story ($4,700). Using both even with Sale is possible and leaves an average of $2,400 per bat for the rest of a roster. There are plenty of reasons to love the Rockies duo tonight. Arenado had a .488 (yes, that's correct) wOBA against left-handed pitching at home last season while Story had a .442 mark. Both have had success in the past against Derek Holland, who is making his first start coming off the IL. Combined, Story and Arenado have gone 10-for-23 with six walks, two home runs and three doubles against Holland in their careers. Start by filling those two in and then worry about finding value with the rest of the bats.
Sticking with the Rockies, Garrett Hampson ($2,500) makes a lot of sense at second base as well. There aren't a lot of dependable options at the position who are cheaply priced and Hampson checks the Coors box and the "matchup with a lefty" box as a right-handed hitter. He's shown signs of life at the plate after a slow start and has hit lefties better in a limited sample this season.
This pick depends on the availability of Khris Davis, but Kendrys Morales ($2,000) looks like a good option given his minimum price, matchup and recent play. He's a notoriously streaky hitter (eight home runs in seven games last August) and has gone 7-for-13 over his previous three games heading into Tuesday night.
Stacks
Rockies vs. Holland (Giants)
Story (SS), Arenado (3B), Hampson (2B), Ian Desmond (OF - $3,500), Mark Reynolds (1B - $3,000)
Reynolds isn't a sure thing now that Daniel Murphy is back, but he could be in the mix facing a lefty. In GPPs, swapping out Arenado or Story for someone else is a good idea as this will likely be the most popular stack of the night. Therefore, use them but maybe don't go the overly popular route when picking the four batters. Look for the Red Sox stack to be popular as well.
Astros vs. Jorge Lopez (Royals)
Michael Brantley (OF - $4,100), George Springer (OF - $4,500), Jose Altuve (2B - $3,900), Carlos Correa (SS - $4,100)
Houston is so good, auto-playing a stack of them every night would likely be profitable over the full course of a season. Taking one of these guys out and throwing in lefty Josh Reddick ($3,000) might be a good strategy against Lopez. He has allowed four earned runs in each of his last four starts, suggesting the Astros are a good pivot off of Coors.
Braves vs. Kershaw (Dodgers)
Freddie Freeman (1B - $4,000), Ronald Acuna (OF - $3,800), Ozzie Albies (2B - $4,000), Johan Camargo (OF - $2,300)
Dansby Swanson ($3,400) and others can be used here as well, as the Braves have a bunch of hitters who rake against lefties. Are we sure Kershaw is all the way back? Even the best aces have poor outings and the matchup will have this as a stack with low ownership.
