 Tonight's slay for MLB DFS is a lot less shaky than the ones we've had the past couple of nights Like I if you had asked me what my level of confidence was heading into the past couple of nights I would have given you a low number tonight to feel a lot better I think that we've got three good pitchers that I feel solid about for today We've got some good stacks who want to use one stack I definitely want to use and then one that was added throughout the day for today to make us feel really good about The slates let's get you said for tonight's sleight of MLB DFS by taking your questions live on air This is the fan to a live Q&A right here on the fan to a YouTube twitch Facebook and Twitter channels My name is Jim Sonnis. I am a senior writer and analyst for number fire calm here to take your questions For the next half hour get those questions in no matter where you are watching We'll take them from YouTube in the chat section from twitch Twitter and And Facebook as well as the Schmoden steen is over on Periscope saying hello be and up Ari is also over on YouTube saying hello Welcome to both of you the fan to a live Q&A for today Now do I start things off here by talking about the one change we have had since this morning I'd assume that Jordan Holloway was gonna start for the Marlins for today and Holloway is not bad You know, he's got he's had some solid starts this year instead of the Nick Nidart making the start for the nationals for today Nidart's four or five appearances in the big league so far have been They've had their boat their ups and downs for sure in those times six point two three skill interactive. Yeah, Ray 14% strikeout ray 14% walk rate a lot of hard contact and a decent number of fly balls That is a profile against which we can stack which to me says although the nationals were not super high my list this morning I need to have the number two So to me the new rankings for stacks for today are going to be blue jays one the blue jays are still won by a significant margin They are the one really good offense and a really good matchup So it's still blue jays one, but to me nationals are now number two Given they will face Nidart at home, which is a key 82 degrees in Washington for today And it's outdoors unlike Miami So really good situation and it does mean that we want to stack the nationals the reason we are Focusing so much in that second stack is because I want to spend up a picture my top two guys for today are going to be Lance McCullers and and Robbie Ray and those guys are ten two and ten six So if I want to get to them while stacking the blue jays, it's gonna be tough Like let's just kind of play this out here hypothetically My thought process was I wanted to pepper the mid-range of the blue jays hitters So let's go a springer bachette tail scar and I'll go gritchick. I guess it's either him or Gurriel We'll go with gritchick though 2675 left for the remaining batters Which means our second stack has to be pretty low salaried and that's even with McCullers as opposed to Robbie Ray as a pitcher We would need to go 4-3-1 with Ray because of the blue jays, but if it's Ray, it's 2575 That's definitely tough, but I think that given We have the Rangers the Tigers and the Nationals all to choose from now from a value perspective We can make it work. So to me, I think the Nationals deserve to be high on our list from a value perspective Let's talk to DJ over on Facebook. DJ wants to know the thoughts on Eric Fetty for tonight I absolutely will not get there because there's not enough strikeouts You see here a lot of red on his profile Obviously the the matchup is very good, but I need more than a good matchup to go out of pitcher The sample here for Fetty is five starts with fewer cutters and more sinkers sinkers are in general bad pitches for DFS because They may help you in the bad at both part And as you can see here Fetty is getting a just a letting up just a 27% fly ball right in the sun So that's probably accomplishing his goal But it has come very much at the expense of strikeouts a 16% strikeout rate 14% walk rate 5.74 skill interactive era. I can't touch that no matter how good the matchup is So Fetty, I think that if you maybe choose, I'd rather stack against him than use him as a pitcher for tonight Let's talk to Kyle over on YouTube. Do you like Wayne right tonight? The Cubs provide enough strikeout upside I think that Adam Wayne right is much more in play than Eric Fetty, and I think that he is worth discussing at least Wayne right will not be my top three. However, like there's a path to a good game here for sure As you can see Wayne rights, this is over his past six starts with less movement on his curveball 4.02 skill interactive era 25% strikeout rate is letting up some hard contact But enough ground balls to partially cancel it out 86 WRC plus of the Cubs lot of strikeouts. So So I've got McCullers one ray to I've Dylan C3 But I think Wayne rights probably right there at four. So Kyle if you were drawn towards Wayne right based on your research I'm not gonna push back on that. I think that's totally fine So I think that that is a solid one to shout out to Wayne rights salary for today is $8,800 So a bit higher than season 86, but still not high. So yeah, Wayne right definitely works No objections from me with regards to him would rate the other guys higher, but still on board with him for sure Let's talk to you diffuse. How do you feel Michael Panetta with the white socks lefties or a socks stack in general? So the numbers here on Panetta are So this is his past five starts a decreased velocity on his slider So it looks like his Velo is not good his first start back. I don't know why why is it linked to you Darvish? That's very strange. This is it's Panetta up here. I don't know why Google wants me to go to you Darvish Anyway, let's just click and do the seal fashion way and check out Panetta his first start back Velo was low 82 pitches for him Let's check out how low that Velo was and how concerned we should be so looking at the fast balls and these sliders here Yeah, it's actually pretty low in line I thought it was on the start where he got hurt in this time in force or five starts with decreased velocity He has a six point three five era He let up five runs against the white socks last time out Didn't get a lot of strikeouts. So I do think that the white socks are a team I would be broadly okay with stacking the reason the white socks were not behind my stacking list is because We have been kind of deprived of guys. We truly want to use on this team. It's my stacking perspective I'm okay with you know, some of the ancillary type pieces But you know Gavin sheets has shown his power how to walk off Dinger a couple nights ago. So we can do that I don't tend to use Vaughn versus righties Abray you works but expensive or high sour I should say Anderson 37 a dollar same thing so to me the reason for not going at the white socks was more so about the fact that I just don't have a lot of guys in that Team that I want to use right now given all the injuries But I do think that they are a consideration because the matchup does seem pretty good And they did just see Pineda last week one guy would shout out as being good value plays Brian Goodwin $2,800 has shown good pops so far this year versus righties actually really versus lefties too But I think the good one if you want like a value play one-off outfielder. He works pretty well at $2,800 Let's talk to Patrick over on Facebook is web of viable tonight against the Dodgers So web is not fully stretched out yet He came off the interlist to start to go in the two starts since he has gone 45 pitches and 60 pitches I need that number a bit higher. So Logan web when he's been using his curve balls been pretty good pretty effective Really good skill interactive era a decent number of strikeouts He's just not going deep enough in games yet It does help that he's facing the Dodgers that does make it a lot easier to say no But I think that what I would do Patrick here is like if you Enjoy watching baseball and you want to like check out his why did go to Alec Mills? Oh my goodness I am having so much trouble with this stupid sheet. Let's go to Logan web directly Alec Mills is like six days ago. Maybe it's two. I don't know whatever same thing Anyway, I would try to watch Logan web start and see how he looks in that game Because if he looks good then it could be a situation or return to him for his next start So I guess I haven't quite been there yet since he came back So we do want that swinging strike rate to get higher But we'll see so I would say Patrick watch him tonight if you can you know digging to the box score up to the game Because he should go around 75 pitches for tonight and if he can get you know 75 there that puts him around 90 for his next Start that might be enough. So I would Keep an eye on him for tonight, but don't use him as of yet. Let's talk to Danny over on Facebook Do you like the Astros stack the Astros facing Eli Morgan? Morgan has gotten a weird number of strikeouts with his velocity increasing and that's kind of Oh my goodness this stupid. I'm just gonna go direct. I'm not gonna stop trying because it's not working so we're gonna go Eli Morgan and Pull him up his results. I don't think you've been very good But the peripherals are a bit more interesting So let's go here the velocity increase was over his past four starts So these specific ones here most of the strikeouts came against the Cubs in that one game But you know, he did get six against Oakland. They're a tough team Obviously has let up some runs still so it's definitely not out of the question to stack against him But I think that he's a decent pitcher, you know, he's not terrible by any means So I think the Astros work the reason that I'm not super high on them Is that if I'm ranking out the high salary stacks and the Astros very much are part of that I'm gonna go the blue jays first by a pretty significant margin against Richards So to me, it's it's more so I like the blue Jays more than I don't like the Astros at all If I'm choosing to pick a high salary stack. So Danny, let's say you don't like the Jays against Richards Or maybe you want to avoid them due to popularity Then the Astros could be the place you go from a high salary perspective But for me, I do like the blue Jays a lot and want to get there a lot And that does naturally push the Astros lower just because I probably can't get to both Even if I go cease as my pitcher for today Let's talk to Michael over on YouTube. Which nationals would you favor in a stack? Let's see if the lineup is out yet Let's see where I'll see today's Escobar is batting for today because he's got to get the Most powerful hitter in baseball in there no lineup yet for the nationals let's pull up their projected lineup here and see what that is looking like and I actually want to go back here and plug in McCullers as a pitcher just so I know How much flexibility we have For our hitters for today, so let's go with McCullers Obviously want to get to Soto and Turner if we can Soto forty four hundred dollars. That's a lot for sure Definitely worth it, but they but it is a lot and then trade Turner is forty three hundred dollars So both guys are tough. I'll see the Escobar as a wrist injury. That's fun I'm bruised right wrist. Okay, so Potentially good to go. I guess we'll see either way I think the first guy you turn to here from a salivating perspective is Josh Bell Josh Bell $2,400 likely to bat in the middle part of that order and against righties this year He doesn't have one 88 ISO so he's hit for good power Not a big five ball guy, which is super super super super super annoying, but I think here It's kind of hard to be too picky just given the fact we need to save some salary in order to get to Soto and Turner while using a high salary pitcher So I would say go to Josh Bell first if I'll see this Escobar does wind up playing. I I don't know This is just like desperation for value, but I'm not opposed to using him at $2,600 He had five home runs in triple a before you got called up He's had a home run here He's actually hit for a bit of power in a small sample versus righties the ISO for I'll see to Escobar 159 obviously, it's a it's we're grading on a scale here because a 159 ISO is not high, but it's also not low So I don't hate it I would say he had two stolen bases or one maybe in triple a before he got called up hitting fly balls Now make a ton of our contact, but like hey, I need to save salary I'll see these Escobar helps me do that might bat first if he plays I Know So I think that I could talk myself into it I would say if he winds up being the lineup Michael I would be okay using him, but Bell's the first guy I turned to you because Bell I can better project Power going forward than I can with I'll see these Escobar Let's put Turner there and let's put Soto in the outfield and then we are at 2775 it might be tough to get there with the Blue Jays. Maybe you're looking at more of a Choose your your preferred option between Soto and Turner might not be able to get both But I do think that we could still get there for sure So that's the the four I would turn to first may Blue Jays perspective if Ryan Zimmerman is in there for today Then I would go to him too good numbers versus righties But just not expecting him to start with Josh Ball at first base. Let's talk to DJ Do you like John and Bertie's matchup for a lower salaried second baseman? Facing Eric Fetty, I just don't think Bertie has a lot of power himself so Like the matchups fine and we talked about how before I'm not into Fetty, but like just from an individual batter perspective I don't see a lot 105 ISO versus righties for Bertie does get stolen bases So that works, but just not enough there for me to feel super drawn towards him So let's try to find a different lower salaried second base. Let's go $2,500 or lower Kevin Vigio works his bad at ball numbers are really bad recently. So That's why I'm trying to pepper the mid-range of the blue Jays not going down there But hey, it's access to the blue Jays $2,500 probably bad nath for tonight, but you know, I think that could work The Giants are facing Julio Rios don't want to go at Flores there Ian Hap is facing Wayne right don't want that's Horner facing Wayne right as well Later to Garcia not a big upside guy Yeah, I don't think there are a ton of great lower salaried second baseman They really want to use here. He's on Diaz actually would work. He got sent down a couple times Let's check out what his numbers are versus righties See if we can get there 129 ISO 40% fly ball rate decent on hard contact. Let's see what the Baseball Savant and Stackcast numbers are on Diaz so far this year He's bad in second same match we were targeting with birdie, but probably a higher upside guy 292 expected Wilbur for him versus a 241 actual Woba. I Don't mind that actually the numbers in triple a 240 ISO for Diaz there So I would say if you're looking for a lower solid second baseman Don't go birdie go with his teammate. He saw Diaz as a guy at minimum salary could work Actually, I'll mind that overall So give me Diaz as a lower salary in second baseman Danny is asking for my favorite GPP stack. I would say it's probably going to be the Nationals I think that there are good situations when We don't know in the morning who a team will face because when you know that the people like me who are creating their content are Talking about that situation. They don't know who that team is facing and here it actually changed I thought it'd be Halloween wound up being knighted So the Nationals probably didn't get a lot of buzz during the day as a result of the way the content works They're implied total a bit lower, but I think it's a great matchup So I'd say the Nationals are a tremendous Tournament stack for today and they will be my number one and this actually does relate to what Patrick asked He said where do you put a Philly stack on your list over on Facebook Patrick is asking about the Philly stack? I think they're a good tournament stack as well facing Asher Wojahowsky Wojahowsky and triple A is getting a good number of strikeouts Which is why they're not as high on my list as the Tigers and the Rangers, but hey, you know I still think it's situation that we can go at and feel okay about so the Phillies to me do work And they are a team I'm willing to stack. I believe the lineup is out We got DD baton 6th. We've got Brad Miller betting 7th both those guys lower salary both those guys Have a path upside so I think that those are two more value places circle whether it's a mini stack or a full stack I'm not really sure yet, but I would say they're probably 4th or 5th on my list Patrick, but definitely one I'm willing to consider for today Diffuse on YouTube white socks lineup is out now seems that they are going righty heavy with no sheets or good win Does that downgrade them for you? Yes, because there are just fewer guys. I want to use Adam Engel I tend to use mostly versus lefties not versus righties He's spent I'm okay using him versus lefties because he actually does have a little bit of power I don't really want to go there versus a righty though. Andrew Vaughn is the guy who tends to be Mostly just in play versus lefties You know, I just don't think there's quite enough juice here to feel great about them So yeah, that would downgrade them for me They weren't super my high on my list to begin with but I'm okay bumping them a bit lower as a result of that Erin says Minnesota slim. I mean Jim. Is there a Minnesota slim thing? Is that like a thing? I've actually never heard this phrase before either way. I like it What's up, Eric? Welcome to the fangirl live Q&A. I feel like we haven't really talked a lot about this Rangers versus Tigers game yet And this is a spot that I do want to go for stack and we do have a lineup out So Nate low batting second here for the Rangers that works $2,500. I Am very okay with that John Hicks batting fifth. I've not checked on John Hicks in a while because I don't tend to Stack the Rangers all that often I try to avoid it whenever I can Let's see what John Hicks has been doing versus righty I think he's only 10 plate appearances if I remember correctly 16 plate appearances But a whole lot of power my goodness That doesn't matter in 16 plate appearances, but hey, I don't have a good 16 plate appearances and bad 16 plate appearances Overall looks like he's due for some pretty serious regression, but you know, it's not terrible. So I Could be talked into that. Let's actually clear out these nationals here and Let's go to the Rangers stack check that out I'm gonna go with low first At first base. Let's go Hicks does occupy my Utility slot, but that's okay. I can live with that and then let's go Gallo and At least Garcia If we do that It's gonna be tough to stack those mid-range blue jays we were discussing Maybe you go East on Diaz at second base as like a one-off type thing and then get three blue jays 3700 left that's enough where you could actually stack the blue jays. So I think this is actually a pretty Solid team to stack for today low and Hicks both guys I'm willing to use from a value perspective was the rest of the lineup there for the Rangers Brock Holt batting leadoff The last time that I wanted to stack the Rangers hole is leadoff and I completely ignored him And I'm pretty sure he hit a home run 111 ISO versus righties. I really really really really really really really don't want to use Brock Holt Just as a general rule of thumb Just don't want to do it really don't want to do it Okay, I'm not gonna do it. I'm not gonna do it We'll just stick with the the two through five in this lineup David doll has had a really rough year See if it's perked up at all a bit 157 I saw it's actually better than I thought let's see what his game logs look like from a bad at ball perspective and see If those gains have been earned and whether we should expect them to continue in the future Okay, so there's actually not a whole lot there Let's go here and I want to check out his stack has numbers. Let's say since July 1st. So since he came back We've got a 39% hard hit rate just one barrel so far the bad at ball data a lot of ground balls Okay, so I think that mainly for the Rangers. It's two through five I think that's probably where we're cooking the most part for today DJ is asking for a home run call for tonight. So Trying to remember of the this morning the home run calls were Joey Gallo and Akhil but do both those guys in the lineup So in order to maintain the integrity of the solo shots daily fantasy podcast I will be sticking with Joey Gallo and Akhil but do both those guys really sought options for DFS But also guys who we know can't go deep if I were to add one from where I was this morning And I want to take the cheap way out. I would go want so too So we'll go so too Gallo and badu as the home run calls for today Fuse is asking about your Moncada as a one-off Moncada has had some issues this year from an upside perspective I think it's just lingering stuff from when he had COVID last year He said it took a lot out of him and it seemed like he wasn't fully back yet 161 ISO versus righties does have a steal now. So maybe he's starting to run again I think that he works as a one-off He's a he's a good player. I want to see him back to being in his old form So yeah, I think that he works probably not super high on my list But I think that I would be willing to go there Julius is asking for the best picture for tonight I think it depends on the format Julius if you were going single entry. I Really do think that Robby Ray is interesting I'd expect people to avoid him because the implied total for the Red Sox is super high Because it's a tough matchup etc etc because McCullers and a better matchup But I just think Robby Ray is really good So I think that the tournament appeals there now if you're trying to play it safe You're trying to if you're multi-enter for tournaments, your top guy should be this guy McCullers right here I would have my most exposure to him just because he's a good pitcher pitching well recently in a good matchup at home So McCullers is one if you want safety Ray is one if you want to be different from the crowd while also having upside and then Dylan Cease Does work as well for a value play perspective $8,600. Okay, so Cal has clarified for me that also Cal is not here, but he's here. So just a mind warp here But Minnesota fats they were now in pool player It's maybe Minnesota slim is renowned DFS analyst Jim Sonnis potentially I'll work on this Minnesota slim It sounds more like a like a nicotine product. That's what it sounds like to me So we'll workshop this I'll get the the people behind the scenes workshop shopping a nickname here Let's talk to de Prince over on Tex or over on YouTube. I was in the comment while saying that Texas hasn't been scoring though. They're bad. So yes, you're right. They have not been scoring I think the match up here does make a big difference against Matt Manning a guy who has struggled so far in the big leagues Struggle struggled in triple a two before the promotion. So yeah, they're not a team. I use very often I try to avoid them. I used scuba against them last night and DFS didn't get enough strikeouts But you know, they didn't score runs So I am not a big rangers person in general I just think this matchup is good enough to advantage them, but you're right to Prince They have not been doing a whole lot offensively Let's see here talk to Patrick who would be your best one-off power bad for tonight So let's let's disregard the stacks because I'm Stacking the blue Jays. We can't do them talking about one-offs here Stacking the Nationals can't go there and we'll cross off the Tigers and the Rangers too just because I do think that they will be Focal points for me from a stacking perspective From a one-off perspective if we're looking for some power looking for a guy whose team We might not want to stack but who is really good. I would say John Carlos Stanton is a pretty good option Facing the Phillies their bullpen is not great. It is a bullpen game today for the Phillies. Obviously, we know we can go at Opponents facing them the problem that out of the Yankees and why I don't want to stack them is that They're just down a lot of good hitters a lot of good hitters Why would want to use but Stanton's like the one lingering guy So if you want like a dude with upside on a team that I'm not super into stacking just because there aren't a lot of guys I want to use there I would say that John Carlos Stanton is the Number one option for me for tonight. I look back question to Patrick. So good question there But I think that he'd be the guy for me. Let's talk to Danny over on Facebook best of value player $2,500 and under so we talked about the The Rangers guys in low and Hicks before I would say that they're up there if I'm picking just one though It's probably gonna be Josh Bell. We talked about that national stack before He's $2,400 and he has had some decent power numbers this year not like amazing power numbers But decent $2,400 probably gonna bat in the middle part of that lineup Decent power outstanding matchup. I would say that the number one from a value perspective in that salary range Would be Josh Bell for me if you're looking for like a One-off punch play. It's on Diaz. I think I've talked myself into being pretty into hints Like let's say you're stacking the Jays just wants some salary flexibility. So let's just use for funsies I'm curious. This is not for Scientific reasons. I'm just actually curious how this works out. Let's go Diaz there got my colors Then let's go. I want Vlad just be for funsies. Let's go with Vlad I'm gonna go with the shit cuz he's under salaried I'm gonna go with pay Oscar and I'm gonna go with springer So if we have Diaz baked in there for that that Vlad stack It's $2,500 left you go Bell and then depending on what happens with the Nationals. I think that does work. So I Would say this is a good option for today Getting Diaz there, but also Bell number one from a value perspective Aaron is 4.33 implied total all that high for tonight's slate I don't think so for Ray against Boston Fanduel salary is not a value though. So it's a lot of things combined. It is the Salary combined with the fact that there is a guy in a better match right beneath him who is also at home, but it's not about The implied total being high relative to the slate. It's that there are other vial of pitchers with lower implied totals So guys beneath Ray include Dylan Cease Adam Wainwright and Lance McCullers all guys who talked about on the show already So if we're looking at this from that perspective, I would expect that Maybe the colors Wainwright and Cease won't all be more popular than Ray, but it is going to naturally push down the interest in them as a result of That so it's not like a high implied total overall. It's just high relative to other relevant pitchers on this slate Let's talk to you Bradley. What's more important pitching or hitting? I always start every lineup with pitcher The first position I plug in that's why when we're building out stacks here I will have a pitcher in there just so I kind of know where I'm at because pitching just It makes up the bulk majority of the scoring for your lineup, but also It's more predictable. We kind of know what's going to work and the true floor for every batter is zero It's zero every guy can go for more. Mike Trout has gone over for I'm sure Not thousands but enough times in his career for sure So if you're looking for Predictable upside you want to go pitcher and that's why to me you probably all get annoyed with me talking about, you know The high salary guys all the time. I'm talking about McCullers here talking about Ray here But like you kind of got to break the bank if you want strikeouts and I want strikeouts So to me it's always about pitching first and then going to power hitters second Maybe that does mean you're in a tight binds and times, but I think we can make it work You can definitely make it work tonight given guys like bell like low, etc. Etc Let's talk to kyle on youtube. Do you like toro as a one-off four two nights? Okay So the astros lineup. Let's see if it is out Doesn't appear to be as of yet. Let's see what toro's salary is The answer is going to be yes. I'm fine with him, but it's $2,500. I think that works I'm okay with that for sure. So yeah, I think the toro works for sure I would rank him below bell and the rangers guys But yeah, I think that toro is someone who would be on my list here Bradley is into jordan liles Personally, I am not just because liles does not get a lot of strikeouts and it seems like he's been struggling since the Since the sticky stuff discussion began. This is a sample with more sinkers 16 strikeout rates really rough bad at ball beta And I would say that it's been a tough a tough stretch for him for sure And I would note that detroit has been a lot better recently They beat up cow Gibson a couple nights ago. So I think the The tigers in general not as much of a punching bag for pitchers as they would have been Previously and harry johnson is asking about Whoops, uh, anyway, uh, hello hj. We'll call you hj for funsies. Um Yeah, that's why we knock go liles for tonight erin. Uh, he likes to be colors for forder less against cleveland Minnesota can kill seas. Yeah, I think that ceases risky for sure, but does have upside Patrick doesn't like to tonight But if a pitcher faces the same team back to back starts Can that hurt or help the pitcher definitely hurt? Very good question though, uh, because familiarity matters, you know seeing The way a guy operates. You just saw the guy. You just studied the guy. I definitely do ding pitchers facing a guy Facing a guy who they just saw it definitely does ding them for me So Yes, good question and it does matter for me now downgrade pitchers Facing a a lineup for the second consecutive time. Let's go to things out here with cow cow is going to go with a boston to houston stack and uh, he's going to go with, uh Don't get to use mccullers and going against from me. Okay, so he's going to go with mccullers Okay, so cow is on full houston with mccullers and the houston stack although cow doesn't like the athruss I'm intrigued by this either way Cow is on mccullers. I like the colors. I think I like raymore for single entry But uh, if you're multi-entering, I like mccullers more but also dylan sees in there as well That is all the time that we have here for today on the fan dual live q&a But as always we are back here once again tomorrow To break down your questions on nlb dfs. We will be live here 4 p.m. Thursday and friday So make sure you are subscribed to the fandal youtube twitch facebook or twitter page and get those questions in Each and every day if you have additional questions for me. I am on twitter at jim sonnis j i m s a n n e s big Thank you to joy aflac for running the video side of things here today awesome job joy and thank you very much We'll talk to you all once again tomorrow. Good luck tonight. This has been the fandal live q&a