DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Monday 7/9/18
Every day is unique for daily fantasy baseball, which is both a blessing and a challenge. Although we can’t simply plug and play our favorite studs day in and day out, each slate presents us with a chance for a new gem to vault us up the leaderboards.
Through the use of numberFire’s tools, we can better identify the players primed to succeed each day, making the process of filling out a lineup just that much easier. In addition to our custom optimal lineups, you can check out our batting and pitching heat maps, which show the pieces in the best spot to succeed on that slate. Put on the finishing touches with our games and lineups page to see who's hitting where and what the weather looks like, and you'll have yourself a snazzy looking team to put up some big point totals.
Which names stand out for today on the DraftKings main slate? Let’s check it out, starting with the pitchers.
Pitchers to Target
High-Priced Pitcher
Gerrit Cole ($13,100 on DraftKings): Gerrit Cole stands out considerably this evening with a 34.7 percent strikeout rate and 0.97 WHIP, both of which are the best on the slate. Additionally, he is sporting a 3.06 xFIP, which puts him just behind Clayton Kershaw's 2.90 xFIP at the top of tonight's pitchers. The Houston Astros are big favorites at -226, the second-highest on the slate, as they host the Oakland Athletics. This is not the easiest matchup, but Cole has been so good he has become nearly matchup proof.
Jose Berrios ($12,100): Although his strikeout rate is much lower than Cole's, Jose Berrios still has a solid 25.0 percent strikeout rate to go along with his sparkling 1.00 WHIP and solid 3.74 xFIP. Berrios has a much better matchup than Cole does as he takes on the Kansas City Royals, a team that cannot generate much offense. The Royals are dead last with a .290 team weighted on-base average (wOBA) and 80 wRC+. Although they don't strike out much (20.5 percent strikeout rate), which does cap the upside here, Berrios should have no problem posting a solid day.
Low-Priced Pitcher
Eduardo Rodriguez ($8,400): Boston Red Sox lefty Eduardo Rodriguez takes on the very swing-happy Texas Rangers, which certainly increases his ceiling. The Rangers strike out at a 24.6 percent clip, the fourth-most in the Majors, and are sporting a 94 wRC+ and .313 team wOBA, both or which sit in the middle of the pack. E-Rod has a very solid 24.9 percent strikeout rate, and he's limiting hard-contact to just 26.9 percent. He's in a great spot here, and he's pretty darn cheap.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Mookie Betts ($6,100): This is a very high price tag to pay for a hitter, as any slugger can go 0-for-4 on a given night. However, this is such a favorable matchup for Mookie Betts that it is very hard to ignore. He's absolutely feasted on left-handed pitching this season, putting up an elite .483 wOBA and .388 isolated power (ISO) in 80 plate appearances. He's opponent today is Mike Minor, a pitcher who has given up a 41.6 percent hard-hit rate, 44.2 percent fly-ball rate, 88.9 mile-per-hour average exit velocity and 196-foot average batted-ball distance. The salary could scare some people off Mookie, but man, this is a great spot.
Alex Bregman ($5,600): Frankie Montas of the Oakland Athletics has been hit real hard this season. He's giving up a 49.7 percent hard-hit rate along with a 28.1 percent line-drive rate, and he cannot get strikeouts as indicated by his 15.2 percent strikeout rate. Unfortunately for Montas, he is facing some of the best hitters against right-handed pitching tonight. Alex Bregman has destroyed righties this season, putting up a .371 wOBA and .216 ISO in the split.
Max Muncy ($5,200): Hello, Max Muncy. In a full-time role with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Munch is absolutely crushing the ball. His success against right-handed pitching is as elite as it gets. He's putting up a .422 wOBA and .342 ISO in the split and is showing no signs of slowing down. Tonight he's taking on Luis Perdomo, who owns slate-worst marks in WHIP (2.19), line-drive rate (33.3 percent) and average exit velocity (91.2 miles per hour).
Value Hitters
Brian Dozier ($4,000): It's odd that Brian Dozier is having so much trouble with left-handed pitching in 2018 -- just a .306 wOBA and .115 ISO -- because he crushed them in 2017 with a .437 wOBA and .303 ISO. Tonight seems like a great time to get things going as he takes on Danny Duffy of the Kansas City Royals. Duffy has been terrible with a 5.23 xFIP and astonishingly high 45.6 percent fly-ball rate. And they are not weak fly-balls, either, as he's giving up a 39.2 percent hard-hit rate, 89.4 mile-per-hour average exit velocity and 199-foot batted-ball distance.
Albert Almora Jr. ($3,900): Albert Almora is the standard leadoff guy for the Chicago Cubs, and tonight should be no different as they take on the San Francisco Giants. Andrew Suarez will be on the mound for the Giants, and his numbers have been pretty solid with a 1.23 WHIP and 3.19 xFIP. However, he has been getting hit hard as indicated by a 41.7 percent hard-hit rate, 16.1 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate as well as an 88.5 mile-per-hour average exit velocity. Almora has had some success against lefties this season, putting up a solid .362 wOBA and .151 ISO.
Francisco Cervelli ($3,600): I try to avoid writing up catchers as much as possible, because most of the time you are looking to just punt the position. However, Francisco Cervelli has a solid matchup tonight against Jefry Rodriguez of the Washington Nationals. Rodriguez has logged just 14.2 innings in his MLB career, but so far, they have not been great. He's got a 5.40 xFIP while giving up a 41.5 percent hard-hit rate and 45.0 percent fly-ball rate. Cervelli has crushed right-handed pitching this season with an elite .401 wOBA and .243 ISO.
Ryan Sheppard is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Ryan Sheppard also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username donkshow_. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
