Don’t overthink it with your top starting pitching selection tonight. While there are a few aces getting the ball tonight, one’s an easy selection as the top SP1. He gets the nod below, and he’s joined by a pair of cheap options to pair with him. The hitting selections in tonight’s piece feature a pair of stacks with ample scoring upside.
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Pitchers
Gerrit Cole (HOU): $12,200 at Royals
Cole’s having an excellent season that puts him in the American League Cy Young Award race, and he’s pitched like a man on fire down the stretch. In 10 second-half starts spanning 67.2 innings, he has a 2.13 ERA (2.19 SIERA), 0.74 WHIP, 5.2% BB%, 44.4% K%, and 18.1% SwStr%, according to FanGraphs. No, his strikeout percentage isn’t a typo. That mark in the second half is more than 10% clear of Max Scherzer‘s 34.0% K%, second highest in the second half among tonight’s slate’s starters. Cole faces a Royals squad tonight that punched out 12 times yesterday (12 of 24 batters faced, good for a 50% K%) against Lucas Giolito. For the season, the Royals rank 23rd in wRC+ (86) against right-handed pitchers. Cole and the Astros are monstrous -353 favorites tonight, per Pinnacle. Cole’s easily my favorite SP1 tonight. He’ll likely be chalky, but there are other spots to differentiate from the field.
