Written by Greg Landry | @glandry on LineStar | @GP_Landry on Twitter

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Andrew Luck's sudden retirement last night is a good opportunity to remember that DFS and fantasy sports in general are meant to be for entertainment purposes only. We all want to strike it rich and take down that monster GPP but if you're investing money you don't have in hopes of reaching that goal, you're doing it wrong. These guys are human beings we are investing money in on these sites and they are prone to get hurt, make mistakes, and any number of other variables that we just can't predict. Don't be the guy tweeting Luck last night after the biggest decision of his life had just gone public asking why he couldn't have announced that before he drafted him. These are the reasons why players tell us they don't care about our fantasy sports team. It makes the industry look bad. Luck's retirement sucks, no doubt, as I was really looking forward to seeing that Colts offense in their second year under Frank Reich but his decision is obviously bigger than football and I certainly respect him for making it.

Wait, isn't this a baseball article? My fault, but this is undoubtedly one of the biggest sports stories in the last decade. We have a loaded Sunday slate today with plenty of top name arms taking the hill. We also have several players being recalled for spot starts. A few of which I cannot believe are the next man up in these organizations and we should be looking to attack as much as possible. The games get going early today so I won't waste anymore time. Here's a look at the Vegas lines:

Weather Outlook

Very similar to yesterday in terms of weather. Cooler temperatures around the league without a single game forecast to be over 80 degrees. There are no threats of rain. A couple of parks have winds projected to be blowing in but not overly strong and not enough that I would base any major decisions on it.

Stay up to date on all weather conditions and confirmed lineups as soon as they are released over on the Daily Dashboard!

Pitchers to Consider

Trevor Bauer, CIN | DK: $10.7K, FD: $10.4K | RHP | @ Pittsburgh

Bieber and Nola are the obvious arms in the top tier with both being in plus match ups. I'd give the slight edge to Nola who is a bit less expensive going up against the weaker offense in Miami (assuming you can forget about what they did to Philadelphia earlier this week). If you want to pivot off of those guys Bauer is in play on every slate and can hang with any pitcher in baseball in terms of ceiling. Just understand his floor is awful which makes him incredibly risky when we factor in the price tag. He hasn't been very good since joining the Reds going 1-2 in four starts with a 5.87 ERA and 1.35 WHIP. We have to take these numbers with a grain of salt, however, as most of the damage was done against him in one inning when he gave up eight runs against the Nationals a couple of weeks ago. His 3.82 SIERA tells us he's been seriously unlucky. The 29.7% strikeout rate and two games with eleven strikeouts show his ceiling is still very much in tact. The other two games with just four strikeouts show his floor. The Pirates are much better against right-handed pitching with a .322 wOBA, .165 ISO, and a very low 18.9% strikeout rate. Bauer should carry very low ownership with his bloated ERA, volatility, and Nola and Bieber sitting right above him in much better spots. If anyone is capable of breaking the slate, however, it's him.

Robbie Ray, ARI | DK: $9.8K, FD: $9.2K | LHP | vs. Milwaukee

Speaking of volatility, low floors, and high ceilings the poor man's Trevor Bauer, also known as Robbie Ray, takes on the Brewers today. He's third in the majors with 187 strikeouts but also has the second most walks with 63 in 142 innings pitched. He'll come off the IL after experiencing back spasms in his last start that forced him to leave early. He threw a 35 pitch bullpen session on Tuesday and felt fine afterwards so he should be all systems go today. It's not an easy match up against a powerful Brewers lineup but you already know you're taking a risk if you decide to roster Ray, regardless of the opponent. The good news with the Brewers is they do have an above average strikeout rate of 23.2% against left-handed pitching. Ray is either going to throw a gem and have double-digit strikeouts or he's going to walk a dozen batters, give up two home runs, and get pulled in the second inning. He has arguably the widest range of outcomes of any pitcher in baseball. If you play him today and you're multi-entering, I would definitely hedge.

Brock Burke, TEX | DK: $6.2K, FD: $6.7K | LHP | @ Chicago

I'm not overly confident in anyone in the cheap tier today so if forced to choose I think we can take a flyer on Burke today. I don't love targeting pitchers with such small sample sizes in the big leagues but this one is tough to ignore because it's a very cheap pitcher against the strikeout heavy White Sox. Burke's stint at the MLB level was originally only supposed to last for one start but he pitched well enough that the Rangers are giving him a second look. His numbers in the minors are outstanding this year. Across four levels, most of them in Double-A, he has a 3.90 ERA, 64 strikeouts, and just 18 walks in 62 innings pitched. In his MLB debut against the Angels on Tuesday, he pitched six scoreless innings allowing four hits and picking up four strikeouts. Ideally, we'd like to see more strikeout upside, but I'm giving him a pass because 1) it was his major league debut 2) he was facing the Angels who don't strikeout. Burke should have more opportunity to reach his ceiling today and given that the Rangers are already in planning mode for next season it makes sense for them to give him a chance to get as many innings under his belt as possible.

Team Stacks to Target

Quick Note: Keep in mind, there’s no rule saying you *have* to roll out four and five man stacks. Sometimes mixing and matching two and three man stacks with some one-off hitters is the better route to go in order to give yourself more exposure to different offenses.

Cincinnati Reds vs. Dario Agrazal, PIT

With Chris Archer placed on the IL earlier this week, Agrazal was recalled from Triple-A and is expected to take his place in the rotation. His track record at the major league level is far from attractive. In eight starts, he has a 4.09 ERA (5.92 SIERA) and a ridiculously low 10.8% strikeout rate. He's given up ten home runs in just 44 innings pitched (2.05 HR/9) and all of this is despite a generous .234 BABIP against him which won't stay that low for long. Any conversation about the Reds offense has to start with Aquino. He's certainly cooled off a bit but since he was basically standing on the surface of the sun before even him cooling off can lead to above average fantasy production. He's a bit expensive, but to help fit him in guys like Barnhart (.826 wOBA+ISO in his last 57 PA against RHP), Iglesias (.620 wOBA+ISO in his last 61 PA against RHP), and the newest member of the Reds, Galvis (.587 wOBA+ISO in 59 PA against RHP) are all $4.2K and under on DraftKings today.

Cleveland Indians vs. Eric Skoglund, KC

I'm afraid to ask if this is the best the Royals can do. But apparently it is, so here we are. Skoglund hasn't pitched in the majors yet this season but he's been absolutely dreadful in Triple-A. In 11 starts, he has a 6.14 ERA (6.48 xFIP), 1.52 WHIP, and only 15.5% strikeouts. I repeat, those numbers are in the minors. Franmil Reyes is my favorite value bat on the slate today at just $3.8K on DraftKings. He has a 44.4% hard contact rate, 98.6 mph average exit velocity, and a 3.90 FP/PA in the past two weeks. The usual suspects for Cleveland are certainly on the table as well including Santana (.994 wOBA+ISO in last 30 PA against LHP) and Lindor (.560 wOBA+ISO in last 230 PA against LHP). Jose Ramirez left yesterday's game early with wrist discomfort and is scheduled to receive an MRI. I doubt he makes the lineup today but keep an eye on it. Cleveland likely won't need him today and if he sits out it should open up more value for us.

Houston Astros vs. Jaime Barria, LAA

Barria has given up at least one home run in nine straight starts. A total of 14 home runs during that span. He allows 40% hard contact, a 44.6% fly ball rate, and a 19.2% HR/FB ratio. None of this will lead to good things against this Houston lineup today. Bregman has three straight games of double-digit fantasy production and a .997 wOBA+ISO in his last 53 plate appearances against right-handed pitching. He is one of, if not my favorite, bat on the slate today. It's worth noting that Barria has reverse splits. Against right-handed hitters, he's allowed a .381 wOBA and .240 ISO in his last 20 starts. Against left-handed hitters, he's allowed a .322 wOBA and .170 ISO in his last 20 starts. This doesn't mean avoid the lefties (you weren't really thinking of fading Brantley and Alvarez in a Houston stack were you?) but it's worth pointing out. Some of the cheaper upside bats in this lineup like Jake Marisnick could benefit from Barria's struggles with right-handed hitters.

One-Off Hitters

Here I’ll highlight players at [roughly] different price points (high, mid, low) that could be used as a ‘one-off’ piece in lineups -- or perhaps part of a two man mini-stack.

Jorge Polanco, MIN | DK: $4.5K, FD: $4K | SS | vs. Matt Boyd

Great buy-low opportunity on Polanco today. His price has been a little all over the place recently (along with his fantasy production). Last week, his price dropped into this range and if you bought low on him you were rewarded. On 8/18 he was $3.9K and put up 21 fantasy points, on 8/19 he was $4.4K and put up 25 fantasy points, and on 8/20 he was $4.5K and put up 20 fantasy points. His price climbed to $5K and he cooled off for a few games but now he's back down in this mid $4K range once again creating opportunity for value. He has 3.48 FP/PA against left-handed pitching in his last 20 games.

Ozzie Albies, ATL | DK: $4K, FD: $3K | 2B | vs. Steven Matz

Similar to Polanco, we are able to buy low on Albies right now as well. Typically close to $5K on DraftKings, this is a solid discount for him in a good match up. He's actually been under $4K his last two games and has put up 10 and 16 fantasy points so I'm a little surprised his price isn't recovering more quickly. We should take advantage while we still can. Albies owns a ridiculous 1.029 wOBA+ISO in his last 23 plate appearances against left-handed pitching.

Adeiny Hechavarria, ATL | DK: $3.5K, FD: $2.4K | 2B/SS | vs. Steven Matz

The Braves look like a solid source of value today in a plus match up against a volatile lefty. Hechavarria is taking advantage of every opportunity with his new team after signing a one year deal last week. He's played in seven straight games and has put up double-digit fantasy points in three of them. During that span, he has a .860 wOBA+ISO against left-handed pitching with 2.60 FP/PA. His recent production is based on a small sample size and his career track record certainly paints a different picture (hence why the Braves were able to claim him off waivers in August) but there appears to be extra motivation here as he fights to keep his career alive. He's a low risk dart throw that has flashed recent upside and is still dirt cheap.

Best of luck today!

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