Rays' Brandon Lowe to take a trip to Dinger City

FanDuel has scratched its Dinger Tuesday promotion (at least for this week), so it looks like we'll have to make them pay with a loaded MLB slate on deck. For this week's edition, we're looking to fade two starting pitchers who regularly run into barrels due to their high 4-seam fastball rates. You know what they say: The harder the pitcher throws, the farther the ball will go.

Let's target two sluggers who love jumping on fastballs for our own Dinger Tuesday celebration.

Dinger Tuesday two-pack

Brendan Rodgers (+600 FanDuel )

Washington Nationals left-hander DJ Herz has one of the highest 4-seam fastball rates (55.2 percent) in MLB this season. The 23-year-old averages only 94 mph on his heater, which is why he's given up 10 home runs in 12 starts and ranks in the 13th percentile in barrel rate (10.0 percent).

Rodgers will be salivating looking ahead to this matchup, as the Colorado Rockies second baseman is batting .374 and slugging .571 with a 50.7 percent hard-hit rate against 4-seam fastballs this year. He's also batting .500 with a 1.141 OPS against lefties over the last two weeks.

Brandon Lowe (+320 FD )

These odds are pretty low for a player who's batting only .180 over the last 15 days, but this is a perfect setup for Lowe. Although his recent batting average doesn't reflect it, Lowe is crushing right-handed pitching with a 64.5 percent hard-hit rate in that 15-day span. Now he gets to face Oakland Athletics righty Joey Estes, who gives up a ton of barrels and hard-hit balls due to his 53.5 percent 4-seam fastball rate. Well, Lowe has a .561 xSLG and a 56.1 percent hard-hit rate against 4-seamers this year.

The kicker, though, is the strong wind projected to blow out to right-center field at Oakland Coliseum during the game. That's ideal for Lowe, who's hit 15 of his 16 home runs this season to the right side. Ride that wind, Brandon!

In the news ...

Commanders officially name Jayden Daniels starting QB — On Monday, Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn announced that Daniels has won the starting quarterback job . This isn't shocking news considering Daniels has been working with the first-team offense throughout training camp, but now it's official. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft is right behind Caleb Williams at +475 to win Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Justin Herbert returns to practice for the first time this month — Herbert was in a walking boot for two weeks after being diagnosed with a plantar fascia injury in his right foot on July 31, but it looks like he'll be ready for Week 1. The Los Angeles Chargers quarterback returned to practice on Monday , and head coach Jim Harbaugh said he, "looked great with a capital G." The Chargers are +110 to make the playoffs this season.

Austin Riley suffers broken hand, expected to miss 6-8 weeks — The Atlanta Braves are fighting to hold onto the final wild-card spot in the National League, but they'll have to do so without one of their best hitters down the stretch. Riley, who ranks third on the team this year in home runs (19) and RBIs (56), suffered a fractured right hand after being struck by a 97-mph fastball on Sunday . He'll miss the rest of the regular season. The Braves are only 1.5 games ahead of the New York Mets in the NL wild-card race, but they're still -330 to make the playoffs.

Today's Bark Bets is written by Jack Dougherty