Fantasy Baseball: Friday's DFS Advice
Coors Field and expensive pitching means you're going to have to make some tough choices Friday night.

Note: Don't whiff on this special FanDuel offer. Win your first contest or get your money back (up to $10) to keep playing. Try FanDuel now!
Friday night brings us a full slate with a game at Coors and several aces over $10,000. This isn't the first time this has happened, but it's somewhat of a rarity. The interesting part about this particular instance is that both pitchers at Coors offer some evidence that they might be decent. I still wouldn't expect that to be enough to keep people from stacking this game
Of course, stacking this game is impossible unless you use a cheap pitcher. I offer my favorite pitcher below $8,000 below, but he's far from the only (or most popular) option.
I would expect Jake Peavy to be the chalk under $8,000 on FanDuel. Peavy has a good matchup against the Phillies and a high win probability against Zach Eflin. One other choice with much more upside (and risk) is Jameson Taillon. Taillon was lit up by the Cubs in his last start, but the Dodgers are not the Cubs. There's good strikeout potential for the young pitcher and a decent win potential.
Of course, you could just avoid Coors. I've got a couple of stacks below in case that's the way you want to go.
Starting Pitchers
Steven Matz ($10,400, $10,600)
I know the Braves are hitting a little more and they don't strike out very often. I also know that Matz has struck out 23 Braves in 20 innings this year and the Mets get to feast on Aaron Blair. Even with the Braves' offensive improvements, they're the worst team in baseball vs. LHP with a .260 wOBA and a 22.6 percent K rate.
Max Scherzer ($11,900, $13,900)
Scherzer is the best pitcher on the slate and he certainly has more upside than Matz. The Brewers K 25.9 percent of the time against righties, and Scherzer strikes out 32 percent of the batters he faces. No one can touch his K potential tonight. There are two reasons he isn't a clear number one for me. The first is obviously price, the second is the long ball. Scherzer has given up 1.6 HR/9 and gets a negative park shift in Milwaukee. The Brewers are in the top third of the league in HR/FB rate at home. They also rank fourth in hard contact at Miller Park.
Cody Reed ($6,500, $7,200)
Cody Reed's first start against the Astros was very encouraging, with an impressive K total hampered only by home runs. Reed was arguably the Reds best pitcher in spring training, and I didn't see anything in his first start that makes me think he can't be now. The Padres have been all-or-nothing against LHP with a .340 wOBA and a 23.8 percent K rate. That makes this a tournament only play, that allows you to stack Coors.
Stack Attack
Archie Bradley has been up and down this season, struggling mightily with both home runs and walks. That's a bad recipe for Coors. He's having a lot of success this season vs. RHH, but he's getting crushed by lefties. Charlie Blackmon and Carlos Gonzalez would be my favorite plays unless the Rockies get some of their cheaper lefties in the lineup. Tyler Anderson has made two good starts in the majors, but that isn't enough to keep me from stacking right-handed Diamondbacks.
In between visits to the minor leagues Nick Martinez has been one of my favorite pitchers to stack again. To this point the 2016 version of Martinez has been even better (or worse depending on your point of view). The best part is Martinez hasn't given up a home run yet. That's going to change on Friday. Martinez has been a reverse splits pitcher so far in his career, but that doesn't mean he's been good against LHH. He just hasn't been as awful as he's been vs. righties.
Reds vs. Padres
Colin Rea is exactly the type of pitcher who is good for stacking because of his inability to get out of jams. Rea has pitched considerably worse out of the stretch in his career, giving up an .814 OPS with men on base. The Reds' middle of the order is fairly hot right now. Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Adam Duvall make up the base of this stack. How much you spend on pitching can help determine your fourth Red on FanDuel.
Lineups
I'm going to offer my early take on a cash game lineup, but of course you should always check out our Sportsline projections for lineup changes right up to lock. Also, check out our podcast on iTunes for extended thoughts on each slate from Chris Towers, Mike McClure and myself.
FanDuel
P Steven Matz $10,600
C Welington Castillo $3,600
1B Joey Votto $3,600
2B Brandon Phillips $3,000
3B Maikel Franco $2,600
SS Xander Bogaerts $3,900
OF Adam Duvall $3,600
OF Billy Hamilton $2,500
OF Aaron Hicks $2,000
DraftKings
P Steven Matz $10,600
P Cody Reed $7,200
C Welington Castillo $4,000
1B Joey Votto $4,400
2B Dustin Pedoia $4,100
3B Alex Rodriguez $3,800
SS Alcides Escobar $2,800
OF Joey Rickard $3,500
OF Charlie Blackmon $5,300
OF Yasmany Tomas $4,100
















