Tonight we have a battle between two pitchers that do not flash much upside. Starting with Logan Webb. Webb has been solid this season, allowing just a .133 xISO to lefties and a .102 xISO to righties. However, he has just a 17% K rate, which severely limits his upside in DFS. We still like Webb on this slate, and is your optimal captain, but you could go a different route at captain in GPPs if you want to be different. As far as bats go against Webb, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper both smash Webb’s pitch types and are great spend ups in GPPs. From a pt/$ perspective, Brandon Marsh stands out from the left side, and Johan Rojas and Edmundo Sosa are viable as pure punts. We expect the Phillies studs to be much lower owned due to their prices, therefore making them solid pivots in GPPs if you fade a pitcher.
Toeing the rubber for the Phillies tonight will be Taijuan Walker, who did not look sharp in his first start. He allowed six earned runs while giving up two home runs and walking two. The X stats from this start were putrid as well, as the xISOs to both sides of the plate were nearing .400. Walker is viable in optimal formats, but he should see a good bit of ownership, so a fade in GPPs is something we recommend. When looking back over Walker’s career, we see that he has allowed consistent damage to both sides of the plate, so we will just focus on guys that smash his pitch types. Against righties, Walker heavily relies on his sinker, which brings Matt Chapman (.264 xISO/.375 xwOBA), and Wilmer Flores (.158/.360) into play. From the left side is where we really want to attack, as the Giants lefties stand out the most. Walker relies on his cutter against lefties, and Lamonte Wade (.269/.434), Michael Conforto (.291/.439), and Blake Sabol (.243/.340), all smash the cutter. We like for these Giants bats to do some damage against Walker, and this is the optimal way to utilize bats on this slate.
If you choose to utilize bullpen arms as value, we prefer Hoffman and Alvarado from the Phillies, and Taylor Rogers or Tyler Rogers from the Giants. Camilo Doval is also a great reliever play if you believe the Giants will win, as he would come in to close the game.