DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Friday 8/2/19
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
Lance Lynn ($11,700 on DraftKings): It's weird that Lance Lynn is far and away the best pitching option on the slate, but tonight is that night. While there are other pitchers on his level this evening, the matchup for Lynn puts him on his own pedestal. Lynn has a great 27.2 percent strikeout rate and his 3.75 SIERA is second only to Mike Clevinger. His matchup against the Detroit Tigers is about as good as it gets. The Tigers have an MLB-high 26.6 percent strikeout rate against right-handed pitching and their .281 wOBA is 29th.
Wade Miley ($9,100): There may not be enough upside to pay this price for Wade Miley tonight, but he is a solid pitcher in a solid spot. His 20.5 percent strikeout rate is not ideal, but he relies heavily on his 53.3 percent groundball rate and 15.8 percent line drive rate — both elite numbers. Tonight could be one of those nights where Miley does get a couple more strikeouts than usual as the Seattle Mariners have a 26.2 percent strikeout rate which is the fourth-most in the Majors.
Value Pitcher
Dustin May ($7,600): In Triple-A this season, Dustin May has a 60.0 percent groundball rate and in Double-A it was a 50.5 percent groundball rate. His strikeout rate is 21.1 percent in Triple-A and a bit higher at 25.8 percent in Double-A. He has a solid matchup that could help him rack up some strikeouts as the San Diego Padres team he's facing has struggled against righties. Their 26.0 percent strikeout rate is the third-highest and their .308 wOBA is tied for the seventh-worst in the Majors.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Nelson Cruz ($5,500): Nelson Cruz has absolutely smashed right-handed pitching this season. He's got a legit .389 wOBA and .279 ISO against righties and has a premium matchup against Kansas City Royals' Glenn Sparkman. Sparkman has a slate-worst 5.43 SIERA in addition to having the lowest strikeout rate at just 12.8 percent. It is not even like he is a great groundball pitcher as the 38.8 percent groundball rate he has is brutal. He's giving up a 41.2 percent hard-hit rate along with a 2.04 HR/9.
Trevor Story ($5,400): The San Francisco Giants visit Coors Field tonight and will be sacrificing Shaun Anderson this evening. Anderson has been terrible with a 41.9 percent hard-hit rate and 28.3 percent line-drive rate which does not bode well for him. In addition, he's rocking a 5.16 SIERA with a lowly 16.1 percent strikeout rate. Trevor Story has smashed right-handed pitching this season with a .365 wOBA and a powerful .277 ISO.
Carlos Correa ($4,600): Given the matchup, this seems like a pretty low price for Carlos Correa. He has absolutely tuned up left-handed pitching in 2019 with an elite .429 wOBA and .294 ISO. Mariners' left-hander Yusei Kikuchi has not had the success in his first season in the Majors as he had hoped. He's giving up a 35.2 percent hard-hit rate and a 35.6 percent fly-ball rate which has resulted in a horrendous 18.2 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate. In addition, his 5.15 SIERA isn't doing him any favors and sits as the third-worst mark on the slate.
Value Hitters
Scooter Gennett ($3,500): Scooter Gennett has been brutal against righties this season with a .237 wOBA and .054 ISO. However, he was great last season with a .375 wOBA and a .196 ISO. The power may not be there, but if there is any situation in which a hitter can dig deep and show any glimpse of power, it is in Coors Field. He'll face Peter Lambert — a Colorado Rockies right-hander that has struggled. He's given up a 39.2 percent hard-hit rate and an ugly 1.96 HR/9.
Eloy Jimenez ($3,500): Jason Vargas was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies and his fly-ball rate could become a real issue in this stadium. He's giving up a horrendous and a slate-worst 42.9 percent fly-ball rate and combining that with his 38.4 percent fly-ball rate has resulted in a 12.0 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate. He also walks way too many people as his 9.8 percent walk-rate would indicate. Eloy Jimenez has brought some decent power against southpaws with a .319 wOBA and .221 ISO. While the numbers aren't elite, they are good enough to make this a fantastic matchup.
Robinson Cano ($3,200): Obviously the power that Robinson Cano used to have is long gone, but there are still glimpses of the old Cano that comes out from time to time. He's got a very modest .310 wOBA and .205 ISO but for a $3,200 price tag, this is certainly a play worth punting. The Pittsburgh Pirates' Trevor Williams has also struggled this season and while the 35.1 percent hard-hit rate isn't terrible, he rarely keeps balls on the ground as indicated by his 36.3 percent groundball rate. With the hard-hit rate, his 39.2 percent fly-ball rate and 13.8 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate put him in a tough spot.
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.
