MLB

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Wednesday 9/12/18

Nolan Arenado is underpriced against a left-handed pitcher in Coors Field. Who else is in play on DraftKings?

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

Aaron Nola ($11,500): Aaron Nola is the highest-priced pitcher on the slate and one could argue is the best pitcher on the slate. He does have a tough matchup, though, which obviously hurts his value a bit. However, his numbers are very good as he is sporting a 26.6 percent strikeout rate, a slate-best 0.96 WHIP, a 3.23 xFIP and a slate-best 25.2 percent hard-hit rate. He's taking on a Washington Nationals team that doesn't strike out much at just a 20.2 percent flip — the sixth-least in the Majors.

Luis Severino ($9,400): Luis Severino went through some struggles at the end of July and into August, but he seemingly turned things around posting a four-out-of-five game stretch where he put up 22-plus DraftKings points (DKpts) with at least 8 strikeouts in four of them. His numbers on the season are fantastic, with a 28.5 percent strikeout rate, 1.16 WHIP and 3.10 xFIP. Severino will face the Minnesota Twins — a team that strikes out just 21.6 percent of the time — but his ability to generate strikeouts should offset the Twins discipline against right-handed pitching.

Low-Priced Pitcher

Jon Gray ($6,900): Jon Gray is pitching in Coors Field tonight which is not really ideal. However, Gray actually averages more DKpts per game at home (17.4) compared to on the road (15.6). On the season overall, Gray has a 25.0 percent strikeout rate, 1.29 WHIP and 3.39 xFIP — pretty solid numbers all around. The Arizona Diamondbacks haven't been great against right-handed pitching this season with a 23.8 percent strikeout rate which is the eighth most, along with an 81 wRC+ which is tied for the second-worst in the Majors and a .303 weighted on-base average (wOBA) which is the fifth-worst.

Hitters to Target

High-Priced Hitters

Shohei Ohtani ($5,800): He will be headed for Tommy John surgery sometime in the near future, so just make sure he is in the Los Angeles Angels starting lineup. Until then, he can continue to tear a strip off the ball — especially doing damage against right-handed pitching. Among those with at least 50 plate appearances against righties, Shohei Ohtani has the third-best wOBA in the Majors, at .445. Additionally, he brings plenty of power as indicated by an elite .353 isolated power (ISO).

Nolan Arenado ($5,000): Nolan Arenado has struggled as of late, hitting for just a .194 AVG over his last 10 games. However, he crushes the ball at home with a .336 AVG and a 1.063 OPS in 71 games in Coors Field this season. Arenado is best against left-handed pitchers, a split that he gets tonight. Among all hitters with at least 50 plate appearances against southpaws, Arenado has the second-best wOBA at .491, and he brings and insane amount of power with a .384 ISO. Although Arenado taking on Patrick Corbin who has been solid this season, he gives up an abnormally high 42.4 percent hard-hit rate which can be exploited in Coors Field.

Javier Baez ($4,800): Javy Baez has had a pretty good season so far, hitting for a .293 AVG with 30 home runs and 100 RBI. He has also been pretty much a splits-neutral hitter with just a slightly better wOBA against left-handed pitching but an identical ISO. Against righties, he has a .366 wOBA and a .269 ISO and takes on Milwaukee Brewers' Chase Anderson this evening. Anderson has struggled with a 4.78 xFIP, 43.8 percent fly-ball rate and a 183 foot average batted-ball distance which has lead to a 15.8 percent home run to fly-ball rate.

Value Hitters

Ramon Laureano ($4,300): The Oakland Athletics lead-off hitter Ramon Laureano has been great in that spot. His success has been predominantly against right-handed pitching, where he has posted an elite .396 wOBA and a .311 ISO. His matchup against the Baltimore Orioles' Andrew Cashner is premium one as Cashner has struggled in numerous facets of the game. He cannot generate strikeouts with his lowly 14.7 percent strikeout rate along with a 1.54 WHIP and a 5.17 xFIP.

Shin-Soo Choo ($4,100): The power has really tailed off for Shin-Soo Choo since the start of the season, but he still brings an elite .392 wOBA to the table against right-handed pitching with a good-not-great .217 ISO. The matchup Los Angeles Angels' Felix Pena isn't fantastic, as Pena has modest numbers in a 1.26 WHIP and 4.04 xFIP. They aren't great, but a bit better than what we like to target. However, he does have a brutal 39.9 percent hard-hit rate which we hope that Choo can muster some power up to exploit.

Yoan Moncada ($3,900): This has been a pretty disappointing season for Yoan Moncada as he is on-pace to break the single-season record for most strikeouts. He's been leading off for the Chicago White Sox lately, and will take on Kansas City Royals left-hander Eric Skoglund. Moncada hasn't been very good against lefties with a horrendous .254 wOBA and a .099 ISO. However, Skoglund has been brutal with a 1.39 WHIP and 4.70 xFIP and has slate-worsts with a 44.2 percent hard-hit rate, 91.3 mile-per-hour average exit velocity and a 16.7 percent home run to fly-ball rate.



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.