This weekend could be very consequential for teams around the league. We just got the news that Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly are heading west to the Los Angeles Dodgers, joining Kike Hernandez and Amed Rosario. Who knows what else will go down in the next few days, but it’ll interesting to monitor which teams are selling and which teams are buying. The Mets just dealt David Robertson, who was their most effective healthy reliever. There is some talk around Justin Verlander, who the Astros and Rangers are interested in. A team to watch closely are the San Diego Padres as they probably have the most impactful players that could potentially be dealt. If they decide to deal Hader, Snell or Soto, those are the kind of guys that can put some teams over the edge and turn them into title contenders.

As for today’s slate, there are some really fun matchups and interesting storylines headlined by Aaron Judge’s return in Baltimore. It is a massive slate with 14 games on the docket and aces going for a few squads. Watch for rain in that Yankees-Orioles game, as well as in the Rockies game and in the interstate matchup going on in Pittsburgh. We have four games with run totals sitting in double digits, which should tell you the high potential for offense in tonight’s slate. The highest run total on the board is the game at Coors field in which the Rockies welcome the Athletics.

This is for the 7/28 4:05 PM PST classic slate on Draftkings.

Writer’s Record

40-21-1

Oakland Athletics @ Colorado Rockies u11.0 Runs (-110)

The A’s have scored the lowest amount of runs in the league this season and the Rockies are in the bottom 10. You’re looking at two offensively challenged teams and this is about as high as run totals come. Despite the venue, the pitching matchup is actually not that terrible. Kyle Freeland returns tonight for the home team and JP Sears leads all Oakland pitchers in ERA at 4.19.

DFS Pillar Plays

Zack Wheeler

Position: P

Salary: $9,800

Of the pitchers going tonight, there are four priced over $10,000. All four of those have tough matchups ahead of them. Maybe Gausman is the most attractive going against the Angels, but he’s a full $1,000 more expensive than Wheeler who has a much easier matchup against the Pirates. The Pirates don’t really know what they’re doing in terms of their roster construction. Any momentum they had earlier in the season is long-gone and they’re talking about dealing their closer and their best starter. They just dealt Carlos Santana, who led the team in RBIs. Wheeler has been inconsistent this year, but has managed to keep his strikeout totals among the best, ranking 15th. He’s also 10th in xERA this season and the matchup should put him over the edge tonight. 

Mookie Betts

Position: 2B/OF

Salary: $6,300 

You’re going to want a few Dodgers in your lineup as well as a few Braves probably, due to the matchup against their respective opposing pitchers. Brandon Williamson gets the start for the Reds and despite him being really good recently, this is a different level of opponent for him, especially at Dodger Stadium. Williamson started against the Dodgers earlier in the year, where Mookie homered off him. Mookie is on a six game hitting streak going into tonight. 

Michael Harris II

Position: OF

Salary: $4,300

The Braves return home to welcome the Milwaukee Brewers, who are starting right-handed Adrian Houser. Houser’s most recent start came against this same Atlanta team where he struck out 10 but gave up three runs in six innings. Harris managed a single off Houser in the 4th inning in that game. Most of the Braves are expensive tonight, so at $4,300 that is a good price for Harris who has been good after a terrible few months to start the season.

DFS Value Plays (<$3500 Salary)

Bo Naylor

Position: C

Salary: $2,800

The younger Naylor has registered two hits in each of his last two games. It seems like Cleveland is focusing on developing some of their young players with Naylor chief among them. In the game before last, Naylor hit two home runs. In last night’s game against Dylan Cease, Naylor went 2-for-4 with a stolen base and an RBI. 

JJ Bleday

Position: OF

Salary: $3,500

There are going to be runs scored in this game. It’s a little difficult to try to pinpoint which Oakland player will be responsible for those runs as they have just not scored that many this year. It has mostly been guys popping up for a stretch here or there, but Bleday has been okay in July by Oakland’s standards. He has 13 of his 25 RBIs this season in July. Compare that to his three RBIs in May and nine RBIs in June. Bleday has gotten a hit in his last three games and is averaging 9.1 FPPG over his last 10 games.