Price: $9,600
Your stud pitching choice on this slate comes down to Gerrit Cole versus Masahiro Tanaka, and while most of Cole's numbers are better, Tanaka's matchup (in particular, the way in which he matches up with the Texas Rangers) pushes him over the top.
That's also not to say that Tanaka's numbers are bad by any stretch. His 3.45 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) ranks third among starters on the slate, while his 26.3% strikeout rate comes in as the sixth-best.
His strikeout upside gets a massive boost here, though, because if we just look at teams' active rosters (accounting for trade deadline moves and injuries), the Rangers' 25.6% strikeout rate against righties is the second-highest in the Majors. They also swing-and-miss at a top-10 rate against them.
That last number is particularly interesting for Tanaka, who not only leads starters on this slate, but who is tied for 5th among pitchers with at least 100 innings under their belt, sporting a 14.1% swinging-strike rate on the year.
The New York Yankees also sit as the day's biggest favorites (-210 moneyline), and priced almost $1,000 below Cole, that makes Tanaka the day's top arm.