DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Monday 8/13/18
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
Luis Severino ($11,800 on DraftKings): While Jacob deGrom is pitching better than anybody else on the slate, he's taking on the New York Yankees in a not-so-ideal matchup. So, we can target the opposite side of the game, with Luis Severino boasting some elite numbers of his own. The right-hander has a 27.7 percent strikeout rate, 1.10 WHIP and 3.20 xFIP on the year. As for the New York Mets, they have been much worse against left-handed pitching this season, but a 21.6 percent strikeout rate against righties still gives Severino plenty of upside. The Yankees are -185 favorites, which also adds to Severino's intrigue tonight.
Mike Foltynewicz ($10,500): Surprisingly, when you consider all of the aces on the slate, Mike Foltynewicz has the second-best strikeout rate at 28.0 percent. Additionally, he has a solid 1.19 WHIP and 3.67 xFIP while allowing just a 19.6 percent line-drive rate. He's got a matchup against the Miami Marlins, a team that really struggles to score runs. Miami has an 84 wRC+, which is ranked 26th against right-handed pitchers this season. Furthermore, they have an abysmal .294 team weighted on-base average (wOBA), which ties them for the third-worst mark in the Majors.
Low-Priced Pitchers
Sean Reid-Foley ($4,400): A highly regarded prospect of the Toronto Blue Jays, Sean Reid-Foley will be making his MLB debut tonight against one of the easier opponents in baseball, the Kansas City Royals. As a team, they are tied with the Marlins with the third-worst team wOBA (.294) against righties and are tied for the third-worst wRC+ (82). Reid-Foley has some solid strikeout numbers in Triple-A this season, as he's put up a 27.4 percent strikeout rate with a 1.15 WHIP and 3.04 xFIP. He should be low owned, so don't be afraid to target him in tournaments, especially at this bargain-bin price.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Jose Ramirez ($6,000): Let's be honest -- Jose Ramirez is a threat to win the AL MVP even with Mike Trout and Mookie Betts having dominant seasons of their own. He has done work from both sides, but he has done a large part of his damage against right-handed pitching, as indicated by the elite .452 wOBA and .370 isolated power (ISO) he has put up this season. Tonight, he's taking on Homer Bailey, who has been dreadful this season. Bailey has a 1.59 WHIP, 4.85 xFIP along with a 42.5 percent hard-hit rate and a slate-worst 17.5 percent home run to fly-ball rate.
David Peralta ($5,700): The Arizona Diamondbacks rank second on the slate with a 5.31 implied run total. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise as they are taking on the Texas Rangers' righty and old-man starter Bartolo Colon. He has been just awful, owning a slate-worst 13.1 percent strikeout rate to date. His 1.27 WHIP isn't the worst, but his 4.62 xFIP makes up for it. Colon is getting hit hard, as his 43.1 percent hard-hit rate would indicate, and has a 16.5 percent home run to fly-ball rate. This is great for David Peralta, who has smashed right-handed pitching this season with an elite .406 wOBA and .260 ISO.
Ronald Acuna ($4,800): Ronald Acuna just hit a home run in Game 1 of today's doubleheader, so let's hope he can continue this into tonight. With this being a twin bill, make sure you check the starting lineup as it will surely come out late. A pitcher by the name of Merandy Gonzalez will be on the mound for the Miami Marlins tonight, and he has struggled this season. He has slate-worsts in WHIP and line-drive rate, at 1.79 and 31.0 percent, respectively. Additionally, he has given up an 89.1 mile-per-hour average exit velocity and a 196 foot average batted-ball distance. However, just note that Merandy has only pitched 17.1 innings this season. But Acuna crushes right-handed pitching, with a .373 wOBA and .254 ISO in the split, so everything is lining up well for him this evening.
Value Hitters
Daniel Palka ($4,200): Daniel Palka is far from a household name, but he has hit 18 home runs this season and brings a lot of power against right-handers. He's put up a modest .326 wOBA but a very nice .277 ISO, and he has hit 3 home runs over his last 10 games. He's got a matchup against Artie Lewicki -- a pitcher with just 34 innings in limited action. However, those innings have been awful. He's got a 1.56 WHIP, 4.33 xFIP, a slate-worst 47.3 (!) hard-hit rate and slate-worst 91.2 mile-per-hour average exit velocity.
Christian Villanueva ($4,100): With multi-hit games in 5 of his last 10 games, Christian Villanueva has been more than just a guy you count on for home runs as of late. He has a solid .353 AVG with a 1.006 OPS over that stretch. Unfortunately, he plays for the Padres and has only been able to knock in two runs, one of which being a solo home run. Well, he smashes lefties pitching, and taking on Andrew Heaney is a solid matchup in his favor. His .478 wOBA and .419 ISO are among the most elite hitters in the Majors. As for Heaney, he has pitched solid, but his 39.6 percent hard-hit rate could be exploited.
Gleyber Torres ($3,700): This might be a silly play considering he will be taking on DeGrom, but Gleyber Torres priced down at $3,700 just screams value. I know, targeting an ace like DeGrom almost never works out, but you save a lot, and he's had success against right-handed pitching this season (a .351 wOBA and .236 ISO). He has been abysmal over the last 10 games, which could also be a reason for the very sharp decline in price (he was $4,600 in his last start), but it's rare that you get the chance to use a talented player like this for sub-$4K, even in a difficult matchup.
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.
