An ace who’s lacked his normal gaudy strikeout totals thus far this year has a plum draw at home, and he headlines a trio of pitching picks. He’s joined by an impressive rookie hurler and a sophomore hurler who both received a shout out from me earlier in the week in a season-long piece. The hitting selections feature an underpriced slugger at Coors, a pair of teammates in homer-friendly Miller Park, and a trio of lefty-mashing teammates.
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Pitchers
Noah Syndergaard (NYM): $10,100 vs. Tigers
Syndergaard’s season ERA sits at 4.50, but his 3.69 SIERA, according to FanGraphs, is much more respectable. He got off to a rocky start, but he’s been in better form this month. In four starts spanning 30.0 innings in May, he has a 2.40 ERA (3.82 SIERA) and 0.87 WHIP. His strikeout rate of only 21.4% this month is underwhelming, but he’s been stingy with the free passes (3.6% BB%), and there are no red flags in terms of velocity. Thor will have a dreamy matchup at home, where he’ll look to carve up the visiting Tigers. Detroit’s tied for last in wRC+ (68) against righties this year, and they have a 26.2% K% against them that should help Syndergaard tally strikeouts aplenty. Syndergaard’s the cheapest of the six pitchers with five-figure salaries, but his upside is on par with the other heavy hitters thanks to his favorable matchup.