The NLCS has taken something of a surprising turn as the Diamondbacks protected their home field to knot the series at 2-2. We'll have the final game in Arizona on Saturday night before the teams head to Philly for at least one more game.
That leaves us with a showdown slate Saturday. As a very brief explanation for those new to showdown slates, there are no position designations. Instead, managers have $50,000 to fill six roster spots ($8,333 per spot). One of those slots is a "Captain", who scores 1.5X points and also has their salary increase.
Pitchers
Zack Wheeler ($18,000 Captain/$12,000 Util) has followed up his fairly impressive regular season with a standout postseason. He's maintained a 37.7 K%, 36.2 K-BB% and 2.37 ERA across three outings and 19 innings. On the other side, Zac Gallen ($17,400/$11,600) has unfortunately trended in the opposite direction. He struggled to close the regular season and has only managed a 16.7 K% and 6.9 K-BB% to go along with a 4.96 ERA from 16.1 frames. Saturday will mark his first home postseason start and he pitched considerably better at Chase Field during the regular season.
Hitters
I'd expect a low-scoring game, so I'll be hunting for players who can make the biggest impact with one swing rather than focusing on stacking a lineup. On the Philly side, the names are obvious with Nick Castellanos ($12,600/$8,400), Bryce Harper ($13,500/$9,000), Kyle Schwarber ($12,300/$8,200) and Trea Turner ($13,800/$9,200).
Using Wheeler as Captain will require value picks to fill out the rest of the roster. Brandon Marsh ($8,100/$5,400) would be one option. He quietly compiled a solid regular season (.181 ISO, .358 wOBA) and has a .261 ISO this postseason.
Finally, Alec Bohm ($10,200/$6,800) and Bryson Stott ($10,500/$7,000) are locked into the fourth and fifth spot in the order for those wanting to use a Philadelphia stack as they are great value selections.
For Arizona, Christian Walker ($11,700/$7,800) is a strong place to start. He hasn't shown it this postseason, but he can change a showdown slate with one swing. Other strong options include Lourdes Gurriel ($8,400/$5,600) (.201 ISO), while Ketel Marte ($12,000/$8,400) is cheap relative to the top Philly bats.
Roster Construction
It's difficult to imagine building a lineup without Wheeler in it, but using him as the Captain leaves only $6,400 per player for the remaining five spots. That's doable based on the same of the values highlighted above, though it's likely to look very similar due to the options at or below $6,400.
One way to change things would be to use a hitter as Captain. Marsh is an extreme example, but if he's rostered there, the budget is $8,380 for the other five. Locking in one more value play would basically allow anyone to be used in the final four slots. Of course, any of the mashers listed above are viable and offer some saving compared to Wheeler.
