 There are not many better ways to kick off a weekend than last night's field of dreams game. It was a fun concept to begin with, because it's a fun movie and stuff like that. But then for the game to play out the way it did and for the park to look the way it did, it was awesome. So excited to kick things off in a fun way. And we get to keep the momentum going tonight with a 14 game slate for tonight. And I'll be DFS Lacasse for 705 looks like a pretty good one with good pitching options and some fun teams of stacks. Let's dive on in and get you set. Welcome on into the solo shot. That's right here on the FanDuel Podcast Network in Nuprfire.com. My name is Jim Sonnis. I am a senior writer and analyst for Nuprfire.com. You're to break down that 14 game main sleigh with once again, lock set for 705 for tonight. There is only one weather note for today. It is that there is a chance of rain in Pittsburgh as they host the Brewers. The rain odds increase as the game goes along. So another one that depends on the timeline there. Check back on that later on to see when the rain may be rolling through what it looks like and if we are good to go for that game. We'll talk more about that today in our 4 p.m. stream. But before that, we're going to have a fun one today. We're going to do a best ball season long draft live on air on the FanDuel YouTube, Twitch, Facebook and Twitter pages. It'll be myself, JJ Zacharias and Brandon Godulla. Rob Lopez doing a 12 team draft live on air tilting every reaction, every pick and going through our thoughts on players, why we drafted them, why we didn't draft certain guys, going through that live on air. That is at 3 p.m. Eastern today on the FanDuel YouTube, Twitch, Facebook and Twitter pages. It will be fun. We are excited to talk some season long stuff. I'm excited to get more best ball lineups out there. So that'll be today, 3 p.m. Eastern on the FanDuel YouTube, Twitch, Facebook and Twitter pages. Make sure you are subscribed there but also just swing by 3 p.m. Have some fun with us on a Friday afternoon. And also do not forget to check out the Number Fire Daily Fantasy podcast feed. Later on today, NASCAR podcast coming up for the Brickyard. It still can call it that, I guess, despite it being a road course for this year. Excited to see how things will play out. It's another schedule intensive week. So swing by today, 10.30 on the FanDuel YouTube page but also up on the Number Fire Daily Fantasy podcast feed after that. And while you're there, leave us a rating and review as well. Hey soccer fans, this season FanDuel and Captain Morgan are teaming up to give you a one-of-a-kind soccer contest. Introducing Captain Morgan's soccer pick'em, a weekly fantasy contest that is entirely free to play. The contest is simple. All you have to do is make quick predictions for Saturday games this soccer season. You will earn points for each correct pick and compete for a chance to win up to $3,000 in prizes every single week. Head over to FanDuel and enter the Captain Morgan's soccer pick'em today. Must be 21 plus to participate. For more details of the FanDuel.com or download the FanDuel Fantasy app. Eligibility restrictions apply and don't forget to make your game day more delicious and sub in the Captain. Pitching preview for this Friday main slate, Zack Wheeler is the highest salary pitcher, rightfully so on FanDuel for tonight. He checks in at $11,200. Followed by Robbie Ray at 10.7. Jack Flaherty, making his return from the injured list. He is 10.1. Julio Arias is $10,000. Shane McClanahan against the twins, $9,500. Dwayne Blake-Snell and Charlie Morton at $9,000. Cole Irvin, Tyler Malley, Zack Renke, Anthony DiScafani, Austin Gomber, Patrick Sandoval and Mike Minor are the others at $8,000 or higher. And as you can hear there, there are a lot of legit pitching options on tonight's slate. And there are a lot of different ways you can play this, but to me I do think that there are two guys who emerged in the pack. And the top one to me, number one on my list is Zack Wheeler. And it's hard not to put him there. And the reason he's there is he's so well-rounded. And when I say well-rounded, oftentimes that means there's not a high ceiling. Well-rounded often pertains to floor, but the ceiling is there too. The strikeouts very much in play for Zack Wheeler. He's at 12 starts since the sticky stuff discussion began. He has a 27% strikeout rate across those 12 starts, which is a very, very good mark. And he pairs it with tremendous marks elsewhere too. His walk rate is 6%. His hard hit rate allowed is 26%. He has a 22% fly ball rate. Again, that's over a 12 start sample. That is a pretty long stretch. And he has been elite. I feel okay tossing out that word elite the entire time. He's facing the Reds tonight. They are a very powerful offense. And that's tough, but they are one we can target as long as the pitcher can keep the ball in the yard. Wheeler has proven not just this year, but in years past, he can do that. He had a similar matchup against Atlanta back on July 23rd, powerful team that can strikeout a bit. He led up just one run across seven innings. He had eight strikeouts there. He had 12 strikeouts against the Braves back on June 10th as well. He shut down the Padres, shut down the Dodgers, which means we can feel good about Wheeler even while respecting the Reds as an offense. So I'm putting Wheeler number one at the top of my list and I'm not super concerned about it. I think that he deserves to be there and it would be hard for me to push him off there. Now, with that said, I do think that our number two guy is in the exact same tier as Wheeler and that is Robbie Ray. To me, it's those two guys who stand out above everyone else. There's not a ton of separation between them. I feel good putting Wheeler one Robbie Ray two because Wheeler's at home, Ray's in the road, but Ray isn't that same tier. Ray hasn't exactly been lights out recently, but I am expecting a good bounce back here. The down tick specifically for Ray has been with the strikeouts. He has not topped eight strikeouts since before the all-star break. He's had five or less in three of those five starts, which is not what you want when you're paying 10-7 for a guy, especially if you have a good alternative like Zach Wheeler and some guys we'll talk about later on, but some of that bumpiness with Ray is to do with the schedule. Three of those five starts he has had since the all-star break have all come against one team. They come against Boston. So not only are they very familiar with him, but they're also very good. They're ranked fourth in WRC plus versus the lefties. They have a top 10 strikeout rate. So they're a really tough offense for a team to face. It's not like he was bad in those games either. He just wasn't elite. He led up one or zero in runs in two of those three games. He just didn't get a lot of strikeouts. So he wasn't bad despite having tough matchups and a lot of repeat matchups. I would expect that all the change tonight. He's facing the Mariners. They have the second highest strikeout rate in the league against lefties. That's the first time Ray has faced a team outside the top 20 in strikeout rate since July 11. That was a game where he had 11 strikeouts over seven innings of one hit ball. He had 10 strikeouts against the Mariners back on June 29th as well, long enough ago where it's not a familiar matchup. So the upside is still there for Robbie Ray. Despite the fact that he had not seen in his past five starts, it is still there. I'm gonna give him a swing here and see if he can unlock that upside once again. I think he can. So it's me, he is second behind Wheeler, but they are on the same tier. And if I'm talking exposures, my exposure level between those two will be pretty even just because I do think that Ray is at least in that same tier. So I'm okay being relatively even between the two guys, seeing who pans out better. I think that they're both very much worth that. Our third guy usually go with a guy below $9,000. I am going to cheat a bit and go with one at exactly $9,000 because it's my podcast, my rules, man. And it's a decently low salary. So that guy's gonna be truly important against the Nationals. And this is a repeat matchup here. So take heed of that, take note of that. We saw last night with you, Darvish, much to my chagrin, struggling his second time facing a very bad team. Nationals also a very bad team, repeat matchup from board. So there is some risk here, but it's still a good spot, I think. The active roster WRC plus to the Nationals is down to 84 against righties. They have a 135 ISO, 24% strikeout rate with almost no fly balls. Morton has had some not so great starts for sure, but the overall profile has been awesome recently. The velocity on the curve ball from Morton has been up over his past 10 starts. Don't know why, but it has been. He has a 30% strikeout rate across those 10 starts, very much a large enough sample for that strikeout rate to stabilize. And that 30% strikeout rates is the highest mark on this entire slate, above Wheeler, above Ray, in each guy's most relevant sample. He does have good batted ball data in here and it's leading, not shockingly, to great results. Morton has a 2.47 ERA across those 10 starts. He has been beating up on some bad teams, so like that does matter, but Washington is also a bad team. The one slight concern you could have with Morton outside of the recent matchup is pitch count. He has gone 89, 87, and 85 pitches past three starts, which means they could be scaling him back, but I don't think that makes a lot of sense, given the way the standings look. You kind of want your race out there as long as he can be. And one of those shorter stints was because the Braves were blowing out the Mets. They were up 12 to three, decided to yank him. He topped 100 pitches in each of the two starts before that, he went at least six innings in two of those starts. So I'm guessing that he still has the leash to go long. And if he does get that leash, he could have a great ceiling. I will put him third behind Wheeler and Ray. The repeat matchup combined with the slight pitch count concerns is why I'm fine ranking those two guys higher despite the higher salaries that they come with. So to me, Wheeler won Ray two in the top tier. Morton number three in a tier of his own will talk about some pitchers with some potential pitch count concerns in things to watch. But before then, let's talk about some stacks and talk about some teams that could light up the scoreboard four tonight. And one of them, the scoreboard yesterday, in the Milwaukee Brewers, 17 runs against the Cubs. A lot of that was in garbage time and it was great, a big fan of it personally. So I was more than happy to go back to the Brewers once again today. They're facing the Pirates. I would not be all that shocked if they were to go back to the well. Mitch Keller is running here for Pittsburgh. His first two starts, he's coming back, haven't been great. He's led up four runs in both those starts across five innings both times. That's definitely not enough to erase the memories of what happened earlier in the year. And we can stack against that pitcher. Keller's most relevant sample is his past eight starts with more sliders. In that time, he has a 5.00 skill interactive ERA with a 50% hard hit rate allowed. Even those numbers, which are pretty rough might be a bit too generous because sick of those starts occurred before umpire started to enforce the sticky stuff, started making those checks of the pitchers. Keller's movement has been down in his two starts back since that enforcement began. He's letting up tons of hard contact. He has a lot of double digit hard hit balls in both those starts. He wasn't exactly lighting things up in the minors either. He struggled each of his final two starts before coming back up. So the overall profile, the larger sample says we can stack against Keller, but the even smaller sample says we should be even more inclined to stack against him. So I do think that we can feel great going back to the Brewers once again and stack them here today. You likely saw Luis Arias's insane day yesterday. Not sure if he'll play today because with Eduardo Escobar, will he adopt this all of those guys being in town, there is a bit of a roster crunch in the starting order here for the Brewers, but if he does play, I don't think that game was a fluke because we talked about Arias a bunch this year. He has good batted ball numbers against Reides. His ISO up to 202. So there's a lot to like in his salary is $2,600. Again, he might not play because they've got, they've got a lot of guys who can play, especially in the infield, but if he does play, it's not point chasing to use Luis Arias. I think he's legit. So hopefully he's in there. I'd love to get that value out of him and go back to him once again. It's a 75 point game. We'll go back to Luis Arias and see if he can do it again if he does wind up play. Number two is the Red Sox. They're facing Spencer Watkins. Their implied total is otherworldly. So just know if you stacked the Red Sox, you will not be alone. There'll be a whole lot of people waiting to jump on that bandwagon with you. Watkins does have some good, some positives and is in advanced numbers, but not sure if they'll stick, which means I am okay stacking against him here. The shining spot for Watkins is the hard hit rate allowed. The velocity for Watkins was pretty low in his first two starts, but it's been stable over his past four since the all-star break. And in those four starts, his hard hit rate allowed is 32%. That's a really nice mark. And that's a number that does stabilize more quickly. If it does stick, he's gonna probably be a decent pitcher despite the imperfections he does have in his profile. But I do think that there is room for that number to increase. And a big part of the reason it seems to be low is that some of the teams he's faced are not necessarily the most fearsome teams versus righties. He's faced the Marlins and the Tigers. And Tigers have been solid recently, but especially the Marlins not in the lead offense. Did face the Rays last time out and he let up four barrels in that game. There were 10 hard hit balls in the next velocity of at least 95 miles per hour. He did shut the Rays down the first time they squared off, but it shows that good teams can get to Watkins and the Red Sox are very much that. They have a 203 ISO against righties, which is tied for second best in the slate. I think we should be in on him here despite Watkins' one decent trait with the low hard hit rate against. So I'm okay going here despite the fact he has done well there and despite the fact the Red Sox will be very, very popular for tonight. Now, looking at Watkins very early numbers, the advanced ones say we should be okay bumping up righties against him. He is a righty, but that's not an issue with the Red Sox by any means. They have JD Martinez, Andrew Bogarts, Hunter Renfro, Kike Hernandez, all with really good numbers against righties, not opposed to the lefties, but those righties are the building blocks from me here. I would note though, Kyle Schwabber, there is a chance he makes his debut tonight, which would be pretty fun. So maybe Schwabber gets in there. I believe he played last night in a rehab game. So we'll see if he gets back in there, but if he does play, that could be a whole lot of fun. So we'll see how the things crank out with the Red Sox lineup, but they are indeed a good stack for today. Our third stack involves a revenge game? Question mark of sorts. It's Nelson Cruz against the Twins I question whether it's a revenge game because they seem to like each other a lot. I'm guessing that Cruz will probably get a standing ovation tonight at Target Field, but that's no fun. Doesn't fit the revenge game narrative. So let's just play this up and go with the anger instead of the love that should be spread for tonight. They're facing Michael Panetta, the Razor. Panetta has pitched well since he returned from the IL. His ERA is 4.10. He did have a start against Houston in that time as well. It's not just matchups, but some of the underlying numbers say we can stack good teams against him in the Rays are very much that. Primarily, Panetta is letting up a lot of balls in play. He has a 17% strikeout rate in those five starts, the 2% walk rate, which means he's letting up a ball in play about 80% of the time. Of those, 46% have been hard hit. 37% have been in the air. Those numbers typically lead to very bad things when you pair them together. That doesn't happen yet for Panetta, but it very easily could. And the Rays are a team that could bring that roughness for sure. They have a 116 WRC plus against Reides based on their current active roster. They have a 207 ISO. Mentioned the Red Sox were tied for seconds. They are behind the Rays for tonight. I think we could see Panetta's results regress toward the peripherals here. And if that does happen, the Rays will have a solid night offensively for today. Now I know it's the cruiser revenge game and I did talk that up, but we do want to bump up lefties against Panetta. His fly ball rate allowed to lefties is 46%. It is 36% to Reides. So Brandon Lau, Austin Meadows, as always the stars of this Rays stack. Jimon Choi, $3,000. 220 ISO for him against Reides. Great bad at ball data. And I will say too, Wander Franco has been starting to hit for more power since the all-star break. Another dinger yesterday, he's $3,100. So I am very in on all the lefties for tonight for the Rays. So see who winds up being in there. I think that the Rays lefties though will be a good source of some power for tonight against Panetta. Let's move now to things to watch and stick with a very similar situation. Talking about a guy similar to Panetta where he's been good since coming out the IL. That's Madison Beaumgarner. And the goodness for him is despite some concerning underlying numbers. He's facing the Padres here. They are hitting lefties much better of late than they were previously. Beaumgarner has a 47% fly ball rate allowed since returning and a 16% strikeout rate. That combo can lead to a lot of home runs. So to me, the Padres belong forth on our list. And I do want to be higher in them than consensus because I think people will see Beaumgarner's results since returning and think they want to stay away. But for me, I think that I'm not fully convinced by what Beaumgarner's done thus far. A couple of teams where I'm okay with some one-offs here, but don't really want to stack them are Cleveland and the Cubs. Cleveland's facing Tyler Alexander. They are too bad against lefties for me to stack them. But I do like the match-up a lot. So Fromm, they'll raise this tremendous. Hopefully our mirrors can work. So definitely in on Cleveland, as far as one-offs go. Cubs are facing Haystas Lozardo who has struggled even with the change of scenery he's had, at least through two starts. So Patrick Wisdom could work. Maybe Frank Schwindel or David Bode. Wilson-Kitaros is on the IL now. So Schwindel, Bode, Wisdom, those guys could work as one-offs who need some value. But I'm not stacking the Cubs. More inclined to stack Cleveland than the Cubs, but also don't really want to go there. More so just liking Fromm Meal and Ramirez. Finally, there are a couple of guys tonight with pitch count concerns who I would not be shocked if I get questions about today on the Q&A. Those guys are Anthony DiSclifani and Jack Flaherty. DiSclifani is coming off the IL and it's a shoulder issue. That is always a concern for me. So I'm okay being lower on him as a result of that. Flaherty is coming off the 60-day IL. Now, he's worked his pitch count back up. He went 31, 58, and 75 pitches. I'd project him around 90 or so tonight. That's good, but I will wait until it gets one start back in before I buy back in due to pitch count concern, not performance. I'm okay with performance for Flaherty. Just want to see the pitch count get back up before I fully buy back in. Let's finish up here today with some Dinger calls for tonight. We'll start things out in Boston with the Red Sox. JD Martinez, he's good. He came off the COVID IL, has shown no ill signs. He's been hitting the ball really hard. So JD Martinez, the boring pick for today. The fun one is the guy in Eduardo Escobar, who I don't think we regard as being a really good power hitter, but he puts the ball in the air all the time versus righties, like a 47% fly ball rates, makes good contact. He hits Dinger. So the homerun picks for today, JD Martinez and Eduardo Escobar, we'll see if they can go deep and follow the steps of Elohim Menez from last night. That is all that we have here for today on the solo shop. But as mentioned, a lot of stuff coming up later on, we have the NASCAR Podcast with 10.30 on the Fandal YouTube page and up on the Number of Fire Daily Fantasy podcast feed after that, and the Best Ball livestream coming up, 3 p.m. today we'll be doing a 12 team draft. Should be a lot of fun, breaking down our picks, tilting, discussing why we did or did not pick certain players. That is today, 3 p.m. Eastern, Fandal YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Twitter pages, subscribe there, but also subscribe to the Number of Fire Daily Fantasy podcast feed. If you have questions for me, I am on Twitter at Jim Sonnis, J-I-M-S-A-N-N-E-S. You can also follow the Fandal Podcast Network at Fandal Podcast. Big thank you to everyone for tuning in for today. Good luck to you tonight. We'll talk to you once again on Monday for a new week of MLB DFS. This has been the solo shot right here on the Fandal Podcast Network.