DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Monday 6/4/18
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
Zack Godley ($10,200 on DraftKings): Whoa, this is an ugly four-game slate tonight in terms of pitching options. Zack Godley is the top dog, and he's just OK. He had a solid 26.3 percent strikeout rate last season with a 1.14 WHIP and 3.32 xFIP. His numbers are worse this season, but he's taking on a San Francisco Giants team that strikes out at a 24.6 percent clip, which is the seventh-highest mark in baseball. Godley has just a 21.4 percent strikeout rate this season, but it is the second-best of the eight starters.
Low-Priced Pitcher
Domingo German ($8,700): Domingo German actually leads the slate in strikeout rate at 27.5 percent, but his issue is that he doesn't go deep into games. He has pitched six innings only once this season, though he has made just four starts. This will be the second game of a doubleheader for the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers, so they could ask German to go a bit deeper if need be. The Yankees are -183 favourites, the largest on the slate, making it more enticing to go with German and hope he gets you the five innings needed for a win.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Mike Trout ($6,000): On a four-game slate without any aces to pay up for, Mike Trout is going to garner very high ownership. That is understandable -- I mean, it's Mike Trout. He's taking on a left-handed pitcher in Danny Duffy, a split in which Trout has hit for a .490 weighted on-base average (wOBA) and .405 isolated power (ISO) so far this season. Duffy, on the other hand, has been horrible. He has slate-worst numbers in a bunch of categories such as his 1.58 WHIP, 5.19 xFIP, 44.3 percent fly-ball rate and 199-foot average batted-ball distance. The Angels should feast tonight, and Trout is expected to lead that charge.
Paul Goldschmidt ($4,800): It has been mentioned before, but I'm going to say it again: Paul Goldschmidt is still crushing left-handed pitching this season; it is righties he has had the trouble with. Everybody knows that Goldy has been struggling this campaign overall, but his numbers against southpaws are still elite with a .477 wOBA and .436 ISO in the split. Derek Holland is pretty average compared to other pitchers on this slate, but on a normal-sized slate, he'd be near the bottom given that he has a 4.81 xFIP, 39.4 percent hard-hit rate and 43.3 percent fly-ball rate.
Value Hitters
Eric Hosmer ($3,800): Eric Hosmer smashed right-handed pitching in 2017 to the tune of a .400 wOBA and .193 ISO. While the power was only OK, he got on base well as indicated by his .410 on-base percentage (OBP). In 2018, Hosmer has been slightly worse against righties with a .383 wOBA, .171 ISO and .405 OBP, but he has a great matchup against Julio Teheran. Teheran has struggled this season with a 4.96 xFIP, 38.6 percent hard-hit rate, 88.8 mile-per-hour average exit velocity and 190-foot average batted-ball distance.
Tyler Flowers ($3,800): Recommending a catcher is always tricky, because nobody likes to use them and most like to punt the position. However, Tyler Flowers is taking on a left-handed pitcher in Clayton Richard, a split he has dominated over the last two seasons. So far in 2018, he's crushed it off southpaws with a .558 wOBA and .300 ISO, though that is in just 27 plate appearances. In 2017, he was awesome in the split with a .370 wOBA and .246 ISO. Note: if Kurt Suzuki starts over Flowers, he's a great option, as well, and comes in at $200 cheaper.
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.
