Editor’s Note: This game has been postponed due to COVID-19 protocols.
On the first night back from the All-Star break the MLB has a single game slate featuring the Boston Red Sox vs. the New York Yankees. The SuperDraft single-game MLB slate features a champion and 4 flex spots, for 5 total players. We’ll walk through the advantages to starting two pitchers in this game mode, and which hitters to stack.
How to Handle Pitchers
Eduardo Rodriguez (1.95x // 2.95x), Jordan Montgomery (1.6x // 2.4x)
The SuperDraft single-game MLB slate allows for five total players, with no cap on pitchers. That means, you can play as many as both starting pitchers, and potentially relievers, or as little as 0. With an eye on value, our projection models have dramatically higher projections for line-ups including both starting pitchers tonight: Eduardo Rodriguez and Jordan Montgomery. While a pitcher may get knocked around early, the probability that both pitchers have decent to great starts is too high to ignore.
As a result, we will start both pitchers in a majority of our line-ups in this single-game slate model. The model gives a slight lean to Rodriguez tonight, despite the Yankees being slight betting favorites with Montgomery on the hill, Rodriguez has a much better 1.95x multiplier. As a result, look to get Rodriguez involved in the champion spot, with some exposure to Montgomery or a position player of choice.
Picking a Side, or Not
Xander Bogaerts (2x // 3x), DJ LaMahieu (1.75x // 2.65x)
If deciding to start both pitchers, it means we’re looking for a game that stays moderately to low scoring with a few runs potentially from both teams. Vegas is projecting a close game, and as a result, whereas in a normal slate we look to stack highly correlated players, tonight we can select one-off players and look for more individual success.
Looking at the projections, we have a tight group of hitters projecting similar values. Xander Bogaerts is the highest valued batter, he has a 2x multiplier which is the 10th highest for the Red Sox’s tonight, despite leading the Red Sox’s with a .321 batting average, a .385 OBP, and 103 hits halfway through the season. The second highest valued hitter tonight is DJ LeMahieu, his 1.75x multiplier is likely higher than it should be as well, and he’s shown an ability to play well in pressured series against the Red Sox’s. He has 10 hits in 27 at-bats in the first 6 games against the Sox’s to start the season. Some other players rounding out the top 5 from a value perspective are Alex Verdugo, Aaron Judge, and Luke Voit.
Projections
While you could lean a pitcher and offensive stack slate, there is too much value in starting both pitchers. For this Red Sox vs. Yankees matchup tonight, look to get both pitchers involved and take a shot on some of the higher valued hitters tonight to build out the rest of your line-up.
This article expresses the personal views of the writer and does not reflect the view(s) of SuperDraft in any way.
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