 We have ourselves a thinnest slated pitcher for today and daily fantasy baseball with a couple of guys I like in Zach Wheeler and Walker Bueller, but the falloff after that is Precipitous and you can see that by looking at the player pool over on fandal.com You see that those are the two guys above $9,500 and there's only one of the guy above $8,500 So our goal today is to decide is there actually a big of a falloff between The top guys and the rest how do we react as a result of that and do we just focus in the studs or can we deviate elsewhere? Welcome on into the solo shop That's right here on the fan dual podcast network and number fire comm my name is Jim Sonnis I am a senior writer and analyst for a number fire comm here to break down today's tenant game of Maine slight But locks ever 705 for tonight and thankfully unlike last night There is no weather to discuss for today Hopefully you were reading Kevin Roth and rotor grinders and reading what he was saying about that blue jays red sox game I didn't think it'd be that bad, but he did and he was right So hopefully you were in tune to that because it could have saved some sticky situations Luckily fandal did let people player swap out of blue jays red sox They pushed lock back on that so hopefully you saw that we're able to swap out if you did use some blue jays there But either way Unfortunate situation to be sure with that game. Thankfully no rain in the forecast for today We are good to play our favorite plays We'll talk about those in just one second but first make sure you are subscribed to the number fire daily fantasy podcast feed Wherever you get your podcast we have our PG or not PGA our golf DFS preview up for the men's Olympic Games That is up on the number fire daily fantasy podcast feed on Spotify Apple podcast Stitcher radio calm you name it. We're there. If you like what you hear leave us a rating and review as well Hey soccer fans this season fan duel and captain Morgan are teaming up to give you a one of a con soccer contest Introducing the captain Morgan soccer pick them a weekly fantasy contest that is entirely free to play the contest is simple All you do is make quick predictions for Saturday games the soccer season You will earn free points for each correct pick and compete for a chance to win $3,000 in prizes every single week head over to fandal and enter the captain Morgan soccer pick them today Must be 21 plus to participate for more details There's a fandal.com or download the fandal 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 Wednesday Main slate Walker Bueller is the highest salary picture on fandal checking in at $11,500 Zach Wheeler is 10-6 Lucas Geolito the one kind of floater in here He's $9,200 and then with Anthony D. Sclafani and Tyler McGill as the others $8,000 are higher. So it's a thin slate and When this occurs you can potentially deviate in certain situations But to me when it's thin I want to load up on the guys I feel good about and to me There's one guy I feel great about for today and I think that he has several tears above the pack That is Zach Wheeler I was on Zach Wheeler last week and I have no reason not to be high on him once again here I think he is the top guy on the slate by a decent margin He's based in the Nationals and they're not an auto target team with a righty, but They're also not a match we need to avoid They've got a 96 WRC plus with a 23% strikeout rate and a low walk rate And now you take Trey Turner out of that lineup And it does definitely make things a bit more intriguing for opposing pitchers That should give Wheeler a good floor something he already possesses by himself But his skills provide the ceiling we've seen Wheeler cut back on his forcing fastball usage over his past 10 starts and 10 starts to Me is a huge sample. I will use a three-star sample at times for sure 10 starts is luxury and Wheeler has been very good in those 10 starts a 31% strikeout rates 2.94 skill interactive ERA and he also is very good bad at ball data and I say very like not flippantly like Disgusting might be the better word for it He his fly ball rate and hard hit rate allowed are both under 24% in this time That means that the paths to failure for Wheeler are narrower for him than for most people And he also goes super deep in games. He's had 110 plus pitches twice in the past four starts His ERA over these 10 starts is 2.37. He has 8 plus strikeouts in 6 out of 10 starts So I really just don't see any reasons not to love him He is the top of my list for sure for tonight and to me I would say cash games go Wheeler single entry go Wheeler multi entry Have a lot of exposure to Wheeler that is why I'm gonna play things for tonight given how thin the pitching slate is and given the fact that Walker Bueller is second on my list, but My level of confidence in him is a lot lower than Wheeler, which does mean I'm gonna just jack up exposure to Wheeler and hope it pans out Wheeler is second or Bueller is second I should say I think there are concerns here So he's a healthy chunk behind Wheeler and I would proceed with caution and get a lot more exposure to Wheeler But Bueller does work as our number two option The reason I am so cautious about him is that he's facing the Giants again He just faced them last week and he was great. He was very good But this will now be the third star for Bueller against the Giants in a month He's been awesome each of the first two, but at some point that familiarity They're gonna have with him is going to hurt and that could well happen tonight That's why to me Bueller is a full tier below Wheeler the reason I would still put Bueller second is that He's a really good pitcher. He's gone back to using his cutter once again over his past eight starts And he has a 29% strikeout rate in that time a 3.47 skill interactive era He has good bad at ball data and it's much better than the last time he's lean in his cutter Remember earlier on this year where he jacked up his cutter usage let up a lot of hard contact He cut back on it He's back on it now and the hard contact has not been there So he's much better pictured now than he was earlier this year The Giants will strike out they have a 26% strikeout rate versus righties So it's possible Bueller could beast again That's why he is number two on this list But I think that there are a lot more again if we're gonna use this phrase There are more paths to failure with Bueller than there are with Wheeler So he is a distant second for me And I think that I do want to be aggressive in going Wheeler over Bueller for tonight Now if you're deviating from those two We'll talk about Lucas G Alito and things to watch if you're looking for safety You're not gonna find it. It is a very thin slate at the top and to me It's even thinner because I think that I'm probably gonna view a wider gap tween Wheeler and Bueller than most may and that's generally the case you're looking for a value play You're not gonna get safety, but it's especially true tonight. If you can't get safety You might as well shoot for upside I do think that Tyler McGill at least has upside so I will be okay talking about him here at $8,200 he's facing the Braves and they are not as tough of a matchup without Ronald Cooner, Jr Got a 98 WRC plus versus righties with a 25% strikeout rate They still have a lot of power. They still put the ball in the air a bunch And that's why there is risk with McGill, but it comes with upside McGill has pitched well in the big leagues so far He's up to six starts now. He has a 3.80 skill interactive. Yeah, Ray with a 27% strikeout rate He's not great elsewhere like couples too many walks not the best bad at ball beta But he's also not actively bad in those departments and they're letting him at least go deep enough in games be viable McGill has gone 92 plus pitches in half of his six starts. He went just 78 last time out But he still went six shutout innings against the Blue Jays were very very good McGill is shown he can hold his own against Atlanta He made his first two starts against them and he did let up some runs in these in both of them But he also needs strikeouts in the second one now. He's not facing Acunia So I think there is enough here to be interested in McGill He's $8,200 you can go not so at Hader if you want so if I'm multi entering So again, we talked about cash games and a single entry with Wheeler if I'm both the entering I would say Get as much Wheeler as you can stomach Given it is one guy I think 75% probably appropriate for me personally and then mixing in Bueller and McGill as the other options Andrew Hina consideration as well, but I prefer McGill among the value plays and Don't want to get too spread out among the non Wheeler line-ups for tonight. That is when I'm doing pitching for today It's all about Zach Wheeler everyone else fighting for second place and fighting to be viable for the player pool Let's move now to stacks and we'll be keeping Wheeler in mind here We'll have a value stack for the third stack and we'll talk about some value plays in the second stack as well But the top stack is one I like a lot. That's the angels facing Chichi Gonzalez We have been stacking against Gonzalez plenty of late That's true on the road to not just at Coors Field I want to do it again tonight with the angels Gonzalez has been increasing the usage on his horse in fastball recently he's using fewer sliders as a result that increase fastball usage and I'm not sure what the goal is of this probably trying to get more strikeouts But it's not working out right now He has a 5.16 skill interactive e-array with a 14% strikeout rates The only reason is skill interactive e-array is not higher than 5.16 that his walk rate is very low But that means he's letting it more balls and play which we love for DFS That's especially true when 45% of the balls and play are hard hit the fly ball rate is not astronomical at 37% But it is still higher than the league average So basically Gonzalez needs to excel in that department to cancel out the lack of strikeouts And he's not which is why these rough results continue He faced the Dodgers on the road last week led up four runs and five innings He also led up three runs to the Diamondbacks on the road across five innings That's a really rough offense. Whereas the angels are not So I like them a lot tonight the one thing that would lower me on the angels is a Jared Walsh has to sit again He missed last night's game due to what they're calling a side injury That's a red flag because it could be an oblique and those aren't the worst He has not gone on the IL yet, which says to me it might not be an oblique Walsh has struggled from a results perspective in July But still has six barrels and a 44% hard hit rating July So if he plays I will use him if he sits I will still like the angels a lot and I'll still love Shohei Otani as a one-off But I would be a bit lower on the angels as a whole So keep an eye Walsh see if he's in there for today That will likely lead to their lineup being out later than usual because they they'll probably want to Let him run around let him take VP before they put out the lineup, but I think it's worth the wait Given how good they could potentially great out for tonight. Now for the second stack I do think there is a value here. We were on the White Sox two nights ago against the lefty It did not pan out They scored just three runs and had just three extra base hits for the entire night We need more than that for DFS But I do like their matchup tonight more than the one they had back on Monday So I think we should stack the White Sox against Chris Bubic Bubic is a full rung below Mike Minor, which is a guy they faced on Monday Bubic has been in and out of rotation this year and that tells you something to begin with But over his past six overall outings He's been throwing more curveballs his strikeout radius 18% in that time with a 13% walk rate He's led up a lot of base runners his skill interactive era is 5.31 Which is the second worst on the slate and it's the worst among players facing a Relevant slash viable offense We have seen Bubic led up some Rough results in the stretch even when facing not a league competition He led up five run runs to the Reds who struggle versus lefties They he allowed three runs in two-thirds vending against the Rangers who are bad versus lefties The White Sox still among the league's best teams Against lefties the 116 WRC plus and they just got a little him in his back. So I think the White Sox should be able to get To him here and I do like them quite a bit now Jimenez not a value play for today We can go back once again to Andrew Vaughn and Adam Engel Obviously, Jimenez had that massive massive tank last night. So no lingering concerns there But as far as Vaughn and Engel go when Jimenez played on Monday against the lefty both those guys were still in the lineup And both these guys have some power especially versus lefties Vaughn really good iso versus lefties Engel It's actually sort of showed a little bit of pop. He can steal some bases, too So I would assume based on Monday's lineup that those two guys do play once again if they do Vaughn is $2,900 Engels 27 they can help you get to Jimenez at 33 or get to you know Jose Abreu to Manderson etc etc in this stack So I think we can make the White Sox work very easily with Wheeler And if you can find some value plays you can get to a break with Anderson as well in those we were line up So I do think that the White Sox great out. Well once again the one issue with Shohei Otani and the Angels With Wheeler is that it might be tough to get to Otani if you're second the Angels You want to get to Otani? He's just kind of like the guy in that lineup but I think we can make it work because our third stack is the Brewers and They got a lot of value other than the team the guys I want to use here all below $3,000 So if you want to stack Otani with Wheeler, you want to get to a break with Anderson with Wheeler I think the Brewers are a good place to turn to they're facing what looks like will be a bullpen game for the Pirates and I Think we can justify them here The Pirates traded away Tyler Anderson last night and had to start Luis Obie though He lasted just an inning so basically this is their second consecutive bullpen game That means they're going to be drained and using some sub-optimal options I would bet that Dwayne Underwood get some innings in he's really struggled so far this year And their overall bullpen ERA is 4.10 Which is not a lead especially when we don't expect much of it to come from Richard Rodriguez Who might not be on the team by the time we get to first pitch I would probably try to stick to guys who can get both lefties and righties in this team I'd expect Austin Davis to pitch in this game too, and he's a lefty so I Would keep that in mind, but it also shouldn't restrict us too much because the the main guys We want to stack here on the Brewers are guys who are righties who can hit righties? Will he had on this Luis Arias of ECO Garcia Lorenzo Cain if Tyrone Taylor plays I could get there as well He didn't play last night versus the righty despite Yelich being out So because Cain was back, but all those guys have shown power versus righties early some power And their righties so I would say those righties are the guys who want to focus on here When stacking the Brewers, and I think that they all great out well in a situation We don't really know who they will necessarily face if you stack the Brewers and go with Wheeler You can get to Otani for sure you can get to whoever you want on the white socks And I think that this is a good way to play things for tonight using the Brewers as value plays to get to The second stack that you want along with Wheeler. Let's move now to things to watch and talk about Lucas Geolito I think you can make the case for Geolito for tonight because He's had some good games recently, but the overall form is is rough The changeup is the pitch that had led to the breakout for Geolito a few years ago He's been throwing that pitch less and less over his past six starts and I don't know why He's strikeout raid that time is down to 22 percent. He's facing the Royals who are not a huge strikeout team That's kind of annoying. I'm still willing to consider him He did just have a good start against Houston out of the all-star break and they're very good. So Geolito has good games within his range of outcomes and that does matter He's just not in as good of overall form as Wheeler and Bueller So he's a consideration kind of in that McGill Bueller tier, but I think they he would probably rank Below Bueller for sure for me definitely below Wheeler by a wide margin and he's kind of on par with McGill as a consideration But not necessarily a priority for me for tonight. If you're looking for some more bats Specifically some value bats. I like both sides of the Marlins and the Orioles potentially being stackable The Marlins facing Jorge Lopez. He has minimal strikeouts. He lets up a lot of hard contact So the or the Marlins work and you know, obviously Haces Aguilar Adam Duvall Starley Marta, all those guys could get traded before first pitch. I probably not Duval given the contract but like You know those guys could be traded but Luindy is gonna play I'd assume they just called him up He's minimum salary Dinger last night good triple-a numbers I'm super into that whether be as a one-off to give you more flexibility elsewhere or as part of a potential Marlin stack I think that it's at least an option in a Baltimore for today As for the Orioles they're facing in Jordan Holloway. He has done a really good job of suppressing our contacts since he came back To the Marlins, but he's walking a lot of guys. Now. He's going to a hitters park and facing a DH I think the Orioles could jump on that so not looking at the value plays necessarily here But like Cedric Mullins is absurdly under sourced at $3,100 He hasn't had like a big pop game recently, but the the pillars for a pop game are still there For Mullins, so I will use them as a one-off. I will use them as part of a stack potentially too But I think the Orioles Marlins both in play for tonight may stacking perspective after you get past those top three options Let's finish up here today with the Dinger calls for Wednesday night. The boring one is truly boring and it's going to be Shohei Otani He's had a couple homeruns so far this year 36 to be precise I think he was deep once again tonight against a low strike out righty I think Otani is the top homerun call of the slate if you want to go a bit more fun My homerun call will be Andrew Vaughn of the white socks. He's been awesome versus left a 306 or a 305 I so I believe apparently Rosa is very into Andrew Vaughn as a homerun pick for today So I do think it's a situation where we just go hard at Vaughn and feel good about it So the homerun calls for today Shohei Otani and Andrew Vaughn That is all that we have here for today on the solo shot But as always we are back here once again for pm eastern on the Fando youtube twitch facebook and twitter pages taking your questions And getting you set for tonight's slate of mlb dfs. Make sure you are subscribed there But also make sure you subscribe to the number fire daily fantasy podcast feed wherever you get your podcast the Men's golf dfs slate locks tonight So if you are procrastinating like me make sure you get those lineups in check out the heat check with myself and brandon On the number fire daily fantasy podcast feed If you have questions for me before 4 p.m. I am on twitter at jim sonnis j i m s a n n e s You can also follow the vandal podcast network at vandal podcast big Thank you to everyone for tuning in for today. Good luck to you with your mlb Dfs lineups. We'll talk to you once again tomorrow. This has been the solo shot right here on the fan dual podcast network