Squad Up Daily MLB Late Fantasy Dose: Watch out Weaver
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Here is a look at the Squad Up daily MLB fantasy picture for the three-game slate beginning at 7:10 p.m. EST on Thursday, April 27:
Hitter Stacks
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. San Diego Padres (RHP Jered Weaver): Already a dominant force at home, the Diamondbacks draw the soft-tossing Weaver, Thursday evening. Despite notching three straight quality starts, Weaver has given up seven homers in 23 innings this year. Should the thin ice on which he has skated crack under him in this start, he'll turn the ball over to a bullpen with a 5.53 ERA.
2-player stack: OF A.J. Pollock (65K), 1B Paul Goldschmidt (76K)
- Oakland Athletics at Los Angeles Angels (RHP Ricky Nolasco): Though Weaver's 2.74 HR/9 is a horrid figure, Nolasco's 2.78 is worst in the league. His 34.1 hard-hit percentage was 12th-worst in the league last year, and unfortunately, he has opened this season with a near identical 34.2 mark. The Athletics have knocked 11 homers in their past six games.
3-player stack: 3B Ryon Healy (50K), OF Khris Davis (57K), 2B Jed Lowrie (39K)
Pitcher Breakdown
- TARGET - RHP Masahiro Tanaka (57K), Yankees (at Red Sox): Tanaka has rebounded after two poor outings to register back-to-back quality starts. Despite sitting third in OBP, Boston has failed to capitalize on the mark, averaging a meager 3.25 runs per game. The Red Sox also sit last in home runs, giving Tanaka owners a bit less reason to fear any sort of implosion.
- FADE - RHP Taijuan Walker (70K), Diamondbacks (vs. Padres): Walker doesn't have the career or seasonal numbers to warrant this price tag. With zero quality starts in four tries this year and a career 4.21 ERA, the only point potential investors can rely upon is a victory over San Diego. At this price tag, though, you should be getting a much more proven commodity.
Bargain Plays
- OF Aaron Judge (33K), Yankees (at Red Sox): All of the Yankees come at a notable discount with Sale on the mound. And while Judge could be an easy strikeout victim, he's also the most likely to go yard for the Bronx Bombers. The towering outfielder has four homers in his past seven games and is 4-for-10 against lefties this season.
- 1B Yonder Alonso (39K), Athletics (at Angels): Alonso's past seven games have resulted in a .350 average and a 1.250 OPS. In terms of counting stats, he has swatted three homers and collected six RBIs in those seven games. With Nolasco on the mound, Alonso is a realistic candidate to take him deep.
Top Fades
- OF Jackie Bradley Jr. (48K), Red Sox (vs. Yankess): Bradley Jr. knocked a homer in his second game back from the DL, but has since gone 0-for-7 in Boston's past two games. The 27-year-old is just 4-for-20 against RHPs this season and owns a .118/.200/.176. career slash line in 17 at-bats against Tanaka.
- 2B Brandon Drury (55K), Diamondbacks (vs. Padres): After being removed from Wednesday's game with a knee issue, it seems unlikely Drury will be rushed back into the lineup. With zero homers and an unknown injury status, Drury isn't worth a sizable investment which will force you to monitor Arizona's lineup throughout the day.
Contrarian Plays
- 3B Yangervis Solarte (48K), Padres (at Diamondbacks): Many fantasy owners will select either Diamondbacks 1B Paul Goldschmidt, 3B Jake Lamb, or Padres 1B Wil Myers at the 1B/3B/DH position in Squad Up, and rightfully so. Solarte offers a contrarian play who has registered three straight multi-hit games and has 15 RBIs on the season.
- OF Cameron Maybin (38K), Angels (vs. Athletics): Maybin picked up three hits and three RBIs, Wednesday night in a 3-for-4 performance. Though he is still hitting just .230 on the season, the speedy outfielder has a hit in five of his past eight games, along with two steals.
For up-to-the-minute starting lineups, check out Baseball Press.
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)