 What's going on and welcome to the solo shot. My name is Tom Vecchio. We have an 11 game MLB slate tonight. It starts at 7.05. As a reminder, Jim Sonis is out for the remainder of this week in the beginning of next week. I will be here every day doing the solo shot live on the Fandle YouTube page. I'll be back at 4 p.m. for the Q and A to take your questions on the Fandle, the Twitch page, on the Fandle Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook page to take all your questions. As always, this is one of the many shows on the Fandle podcast network. You can find that anywhere, whether it's iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play. Make sure to give it a like, follow, or subscribe. You can follow me on Twitter at DFS underscore Tom. Before we hop into things, listen up, baseball fans. Fandle is giving you an exclusive way to get in on the action with the MLB single entry series presented by Roto grinders. Each week, enter a featured single entry contest win cash prizes and compete for a seat in the $40,000 online final. Just play daily and we'll add your four highest point totals together to give you a combined score for the week and rank in that week. Head over to Fandle and enter the MLB single entry series today. Eligibility restrictions apply. Head over to Fandle.com or download the Fandle app for more details. All right, so an 11 game slate tonight locks at 705. In terms of the weather on tonight's slate, we are looking pretty good. We really should have no issues. Obviously, Coorsfield was a bit of a hangup yesterday, but we are good to go today. There's some slight wind blowing out at Dodger Stadium for the Astros at the Dodgers. But other than that, we are basically free of weather. Jumping into the pitching on tonight's slate, it is loaded, absolutely loaded for an 11 game slate. We have three pitchers above $10,000. I think that they're all fantastic tonight. We have another set of options in the mid-tier. We can certainly be looking to. But let's start off with what could be the AL MVP, Shohei Otani this season coming in with an absolutely fantastic 30.1% strikeout rate this season. He does have a 10.8% walk rate, which is a little bit higher than we want to see from an ace pitcher, but he does have a very strong 3.82 Sierra and a 3.66 expert. He's allowing a lower 33.7% fly ball rate, which is good to see. He's also allowing a 51.9% medium contact rate. So he's keeping the ball down. He's limiting that hard contact, which is great to see. He's going up against a very, very depleted Texas Rangers lineup that with their current starting our current roster, they have a 23.8% strikeout rate versus right-handed pitching, which is 16th in the league. It's right at the league average, but more importantly, they have very, very limited power in this lineup with a 143 team iso versus righties, which is 26th in the league. And then they come in with an absolutely terrible 80 WRC plus versus righties, which is 29th in the league. We have seen Otani go six innings or so on a consistent basis for the angels when he's pitching. We also see his pitch count get into the upper 90s at time. So really no concerns with him in terms of getting deeper into the game. We really just want to see him limit those walks, rack up the strikeouts in what truly is a very, very soft matchup for him going up against this Rangers lineup. That as I've said before of the past few days, they weren't great to begin with. You remove some power like Joey Gallo from that lineup. They are even worse. Next up we have Max Scherzer who was just $200 cheaper compared to Otani and Scherzer is set to make his Los Angeles Dodgers debut. Coming in this season with a phenomenal 34.3% strikeout rate, a 6.5% walk rate is absolutely unbelievable. He's coming in with a 3.01 Sierra that is absolutely phenomenal and a 3.46 exit. Now, he is going up against this, going up against the Astros lineup who we can say is slightly weaker than their normal because they are in a National League Park. So they are getting a pitcher in their lineup instead of the DH. Now, we saw Walker Beeler have a pretty solid game last night. They didn't have a whole lot of strikeouts, granted the Astros don't strike out a whole lot versus right handed pitching this year. But we did see a bit of a playoff environment in that game and that's kind of what I'm anticipating again tonight. I guess I would lean the under in this game for what is it, the eight and a half total. I think I would lean on the under on this just based on the pitching that we have specifically from Max Scherzer. So I'm expecting more strikeouts from Scherzer than what we saw from Walker Beeler last night. Yes, it is an always dangerous Dodger, excuse me, an Astros lineup going up against Scherzer making his Dodgers debut, but I'm still gonna be rolling with him. And granted, I do like Scherzer tonight. He is half a step behind Otani. We're dealing with a $200 difference which really isn't that much all things considered, but the matchup for Otani is just so, so much easier going up against the Rangers that I am going to be taking Otani as arguably my number one overall option. Now, we can make the argument for Kevin Gospin at $10,000 to be the potential number one option or pitching option on this slate because he also comes in with a very solid 30% strikeout rate this year, which is slightly behind Otani, but he does have a 7.8% walk rate which is slightly better than Otani. So again, we're splitting hairs here with three pitchers that are all above $10,000 and realistically very, very close in terms of their salary and their matchups. Now, Gospin is also a pitcher that is known for limiting the hard contact. He comes in with a 50.8% medium contact rate, only a 31.6% hard contact rate. He has a very solid 3.50 Sierra and a 3.45X tip. He's allowing a low 6.8% barrel rate this year which is also great to see and he has predominantly a ground ball pitcher at 42.5% this year. So when push comes to shove, like we have three fantastic options at the top tier of pitching tonight. We can say that maybe Gospin has a equally easy matchup going up against Arizona. So you might actually wanna lean towards Gospin to take the $700 of savings. If that's what you end up deciding, I think that's fine. I'm gonna be siding with Otani. I want that strikeout upside. I think it's a little bit greater with him in the matchup specifically going up against the Texas Rangers and just what is an overall weaker line compared to Arizona. Not by much, I'm just leaning slightly towards Otani there. So three very, very strong pitchers all above $10,000. I'll circle back a little bit later to touch on a few more pitchers that I like to close things out. Now, speaking of great pitchers on this slate, I guess the or I could say the opposite of great pitchers is there's a lot of bad pitchers on this slate. And when it comes to stacking on tonight's slate, we are going to be in a fantastic spot. And ultimately we should see several of the teams that were very popular last night also be very popular tonight. We saw the Yankees have a huge game last night. They're in a great spot again tonight going up against Matt Harvey. We saw the Angels have a good or really good game last night. They should be relatively popular tonight going up against Kobe Allard. But tonight the slate will be led by the Toronto Blue Jays going up against JC Meijer from the Cleveland Indians or the Cleveland Guardians, whatever we want to be calling them now. Toronto of course comes in with plenty of power and that should really be shining through versus Meijer who's on 2.00 home runs per nine this season. But he has a smaller 45 inning sample size this year which is his first year in the major league. So of course take the 2.00 home runs per nine with a gradient of salt. He only has a 21.5% strikeout rate this year a 9.5% walk rate coming in with a 4.45 Sierra. Again, smaller sample size from him but the power on the Toronto Blue Jays is absolutely undeniable in this slate going up against right-handed pitchers. And this is something that we absolutely want to be banking on and you can realistically assume that the Toronto Blue Jays will likely be one of if not the most popular stacks on tonight's slate and they have a number of options you can be going to. Of course led off by Vlad Guerrero with a 368 ISO versus right-handed pitching this year with a 199 WRC plus is absolutely fantastic. George Springer is back. He is looking great and especially in some of these recent games with a 362 ISO versus righty is at a 163 WRC plus. Marcus Simeon 252 ISO, Gritchick with a 189 ISO, Bo Bichette with a 189 ISO. It really doesn't matter where you go in this Blue Jays lineup. We're getting plenty, plenty of power. We look to the fly ball rate for some of these hitters because Mayehai is struggling with home runs and it's much of the same. Marcus Simeon with a 45.8% fly ball rate in this split Springer with a 44.9% fly ball rate. Danny Jansen at 41.4% Gritchick at 39.9. Vlad Guerrero at 39.1. Hitter after Hitter for the Blue Jays is really just everything we could possibly want. We are dealing with some expensive salaries on these hitters. Looking up at Vlad Guerrero who's 4600, George Springer who's 42, Bo Bichette who's 41 and Marcus Simeon who is $4100. We also have Coors Field on this slate. So we are dealing with, I'm gonna say, a stack specifically this first four in the lineup for the Blue Jays that can realistically go pound for pound as the best stack on the slate, even including Coors Field. Now we're dealing with essentially similar salaries for a lot of these players, but I still think that the Blue Jays are in a fantastic spot. This is not to say that I don't like the hitters at Coors Field, so I of course want some exposure there, but the Blue Jays are really shaping up to be just an absolutely unbelievable stack on tonight's slate. Now, talking about Coors Field, talking about stacks, that's actually something I don't do when we have a game at Coors Field. I don't mention them specifically. I think that Coors Field is a bit of a given. It's a bit of an easy answer. Really don't want to be wasting time. It's like, hey, play the hitters at Coors Field. We already know that everyone knows that. We saw what the Rockies did last night. We know the upside that they can bring. So that about does it for Coors Field. Really, really liking Toronto tonight again. They should be one of, if not, the most popular stacks on tonight's slate. Now, we flipped to the Atlanta Braves. The team I was pretty interested in last night. I'm going right back to them tonight. They're going up against Jay Hap for the now St. Louis Cardinals being traded from the Twins to the Cardinals this season. Said to make his Cardinals debut. He's coming in allowing 1.92 home runs per nine this season. He has a low 17.3% strikeout rate, a 7.0% walk rate this year. A bad, bad 4.960 era and a 5.28X dip. Allowing too many fly balls, 44.2% this season. Now specifically, we do see Hap struggling significantly more with right-handers compared to left-handers. He has a left-handed pitcher. He's only allowing 0.52 home runs per nine to lefties this year, but he's allowing 2.22 home runs per nine to right-handed hitters. So really don't want to be targeting too many lefties from the Atlanta Braves lineup. We want to be siding with the right-handed hitters because ultimately that's where we're going to be getting the home run upside. And that's what we want to be targeting. He's allowing a 46.5% fly ball ratio specifically to righties this season with a 36% hard contact rate. So we want to be targeting all of those power hitters from the Atlanta Braves. Starting off, we can of course be going to Ozgalbis who has a 267 ISO versus righties. I'm still gonna be saying we can be going to Freddie Freeman. He's probably the only leftie I'd be willing to go to from the Braves with his 1.74 ISO and still a 104 WRC plus. The recent additions of Adam Duvall and Jorge Soler to the Braves lineup make them a very, very interesting stack which has plenty of power upside. And more importantly than the power upside that we are potentially getting from the Braves, whether it be Albies or Austin Riley or Soler or even Danesby Swanson or Adam Duvall. The salaries on these hitters are very, very affordable. Freddie Freeman is the most expensive. He is mainly the one leftie you'd be targeting at $3,700 but Austin Riley is 3,500 Jorge Soler is 33. He had a home run last night. Swanson is 32. Adam Duvall is $3,200. These salaries overall are very, very affordable especially in comparison to some of the hitters from Coors Field or their hitters from Toronto. And they still had that same home run upside going up against Hap who again is allowing 2.22 home runs per nine versus righties this season. So certainly looking like a fantastic matchup for the Braves. I do think that the Yankees are in a phenomenal spot going up against Matt Harvey tonight. You know, the Yankees went crazy last night for 13 runs against the Blue Jays. I know that Harvey has been pitching well as of late. He's been putting up some solid performances. I'm gonna say he's been overproducing as of late. You know, going three straight starts, six plus innings in three straight starts allowing zero earn runs in every start is not something that I'm gonna be anticipating from Matt Harvey moving forward. So I don't wanna talk about the Yankees specifically. I think that they are absolutely phenomenal tonight. We should be looking to stack them, especially at home going up against Matt Harvey and ultimately the Blue Jays, excuse me, not the Blue Jays, the Orioles, the Baltimore Orioles, their bullpen is a spot that we can certainly be attacking regardless of Harvey overproducing as of late. So the Yankees are a team, I still wanna be focused on stacking tonight but I wanna go to in-depth term because I also think that they are very, very clear tonight. I actually wanna be going to a team that could fly slightly under the radar tonight. That is the Washington Nationals who come in with a 4.77 applied run title. They're going up against Chase Anderson from the Phillies. A picture we can also be looking to attack 11, 1.43 home runs per nine. He has a low 17.1% strikeout rate and a 9.5% walk rate. I really don't think Chase Anderson is that good of a pitcher and if you've been following baseball, you know that the Phillies bullpen has also been struggling significantly this year. So even if they don't put up massive numbers against Chase Anderson to begin with, the Phillies bullpen is one that we can certainly be looking to attack. Now, yes, the Nationals, part of the reason I'm interested in going to them slightly tonight is that I think that they're gonna be under the radar due to the fact that their lineup is just significantly weaker than it was earlier in the season. No more Trey Turner, no more Kyle Schwarber. You know, their lineup is no more Jan Gomes. Their lineup is depleted overall. So I'm not looking to go, probably not looking to go to the Nationals as like a full four player stack tonight. It's likely gonna be Juan Soto and Josh Bell as the main two. And then filtering in one of, maybe it's gonna be Kharkibu, maybe it's gonna be Luis Garcia, depending on what their lineup looks like. Victor Robles is normally lower in their lineup and has been significantly underproducing this year and really does not bring a whole lot of power. So he's not a player. I'd be looking too much. You could be going to, I'll say these Escobar if he is in the lineup. He's dealing with a risk injury now. Ryan Zimmerman is also in the mix. It's also only gonna be one of Josh Bell or Ryan Zimmerman, depending on who gets to start at first base, it's not gonna be both of them. So if it's gonna be Soto and Bell or Soto and Zimmerman as the main two and then adding in one of the other players, I do think that is certainly viable. Chase Anderson allowing a 42.9% fly ball ratio this year. We should certainly be looking to attack him again. If it doesn't get done against Chase Anderson, it also can get done against the Phillies, a bullpen. Certainly a unit that has been struggling this season. So I'll be looking to the Nationals tonight. They might seem like a bit of an off the board pick tonight, but I do like them for that home run upside whether it's against the starter or the bullpen. And more importantly, I do think that they are in a good spot and again, should not be as popular as even the Red Sox then touch on them, the Yankees, the Blue Jays, the teams of course field, et cetera, et cetera. So that's why I'm slightly interested in them because if they do have a good game, you also can be pairing them with the other teams because some of the salaries on these hitters outside of one Soto who's $4,200, they are very affordable. Josh Bell would be the next most expensive option on the Nationals at only at $3,100. And then everyone else is $3,000 and below. So the Nationals makes sense as kind of a secondary stack who brings a bit of salary relief tonight. That is what we want to be seeing. Now, when it comes to the final three things for tonight's slate, I only touched on three pitchers and they were all $10,000 and above. And obviously that can be difficult, especially when it comes to lineup construction when you're looking to roster a team like Toronto that has potentially four hitters that you're interested in that are all above $4,000 that can make roster construction a little bit tighter. So Lucas Geolito at $9,200, I think is a very clear answer if you need a little bit of savings, he's $1,500 cheaper than Otani. I think we can be strongly looking to Geolito tonight going up against the Kansas City Brawls. We saw a big game from Dylan Cease last night. I think we can be seeing much of the same from Geolito tonight who we know is a strong strikeout pitcher coming in with a 28.4% strikeout rate this season along with a 3.72 Sierra. One of the strongest pitchers in the league over the past, two or so seasons. I think we can be trusting him against a weak Kansas City team. I think that he is firmly in play tonight. Jameson Tyone is $8,000 for the New York Yankees. He's also been looking much better as I've laid you in through some struggles in the mid portion of the season, but he has bounced back in some of these recent games. Going up against the Baltimore Orioles, I think that we can be looking to Tyone comfortably tonight, not overly confident in him due to the fact that he's still allowing 1.43 home runs per nine. He has a lower 23.1% strikeout rate, but he's mainly a ground ball pitcher and can certainly limit the damage against him, get deeper in the game, hopefully pick up the win, pick up the quality start points, boosting his overall value. And more importantly, his $8,000 salary is something that you can be looking to really get into your lineups if you are looking to pay up for some hitters tonight. So if you want to drop down a little bit further, I understand that we'll need the salary relief because we can't be paying for Otani or Scherzer or Gospin and jamming in all of the Toronto hitters that we'd like. We do need a bit of salary relief. So I'll be looking to a few shares of Tyone and some shares of Lucas Geolito as well. Another team you can be looking to stack tonight. One, I'll touch on certainly more when we get to the 4pm Q&A, which you can find here on the Fandle YouTube and Twitch page. I'm slightly interested in going back to the Angels tonight. They're going up against Kobe Allard for the Texas Rangers. He's allowing 1.67 homeruns per nine. He has a low 21.6% strikeout rate this season. Really not too much from him that really has me worried in any capacity. So the Angels are a team I'm interested in. If Otani isn't in the lineup, I know there's sometimes that he pitches. He's also in the lineup. He pitches and he goes to the outfield after he gets pulled from pitching. Depending on what their lineup actually looks like that will determine how much interest I have in the Angels because we know that still no Trow, still no Jared Walsh in their lineup. But it's significantly weaker than it could be, although they did put up 11 runs last night. They still have some upside and I think it's more about the matchup for them tonight. So depending on what their lineup actually looks like, if Upton's in there, if Joe Dell is in there, et cetera, et cetera, I'll get more into that at the 4 p.m. Q&A show. And then we'll really break that down as a potential under the radar stack again, just going up against the bad Texas pitching staff. Then we'll be looking at a homerun call for now. Give out one homerun call now and then one at the 4 p.m. Q&A show. Tonight, the homerun call, where I should say the first homerun call is going to be Rafi Devers for the Boston Red Sox. He has unbelievable power in this split going up against right-handed pitching. The pitcher he's going up against is Casey Meis for the Detroit Tigers. Now, Meis is allowing 2.40 homeruns per nine versus left-handed hitters this season, which is absolutely terrible. He's allowing a 35.6% fly ball, rates any 45.7% hard contact rate, which is absolutely horrible. Devers on the other side comes in with all the power we could possibly want versus a right-handed pitcher with a 353 ISO, a 159 WRC plus a 43.5% fly ball rates and a 50% hard contact rate is absolutely insane. So yes, Devers is at the top of my board tonight when it comes to potential homeruns going up against Casey Meis who is allowing 2.40 homeruns per nine to lefties this season. So we are in a good spot on tonight's slate. We have great pitching options up the top. We always have Coors Field to go back to for some hitting stacks. We have basically no weather issues on this slate and we have some value stacks that we can be potentially looking at. All right, so that does it for the solo shot now. I'll be back at 4 p.m. for the Q&A to go over any of your questions. As always, this is one of the many shows on the Fandal Podcast Network. You can find that anywhere whether it's iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play, make sure to give it a like, follow or subscribe. You follow me on Twitter at DFS underscore Tom. Until next time, good luck in your contest.