DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Wednesday 8/22/18
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
Jack Flaherty ($10,900 on DraftKings): Jack Flaherty is the most expensive pitcher on the slate, and for good reason, as he has the best strikeout rate (30.3 percent) among starting pitchers tonight. Technically, Ryne Stanek has a higher rate, but given that he will only be in for an inning or two we will ignore that. Flaherty also has an elite 1.08 wHIP and 3.40 xFIP. He's got a difficult matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who strikeout at a 22.3 percent clip against right-handed pitching -- 12th in the Majors -- but produce a ton of offense. If Flaherty can miss the bats, he'll be fine, but if he gets into trouble the Dodgers will really make him pay. Don't go too overboard on him, but be sure to get exposure this evening.
Noah Syndergaard ($10,200): In his six starts since a long stint on the DL, Noah Syndergaard has only eclipsed the 20 DraftKings points mark once. However, he has a matchup against the San Francisco Giants, and that could help him get back on track. The Giants' 23.6 percent strikeout rate against right-handed pitching is the ninth-highest mark in the majors. Additionally, they have a .299 team weighted on-base average (wOBA), which is 26th, and a 89 wRC+ that ranks 25th among all clubs.
Low-Priced Pitchers
Jon Gray ($7,800): Despite a 4.25 implied run total for his opponent -- the San Diego Padres, Jon Gray and the Colorado Rockies are the largest favorites on the slate at -228. Gray has been pretty good this season, with a 27.4 percent strikeout rate, 1.29 WHIP and a 3.08 xFIP -- the last of which is second-best on the slate. The Padres, on the other hand, have struggled and especially against right-handed pitching. They have an 81 wRC+ (28th), a .288 team wOBA (30th) and a 25.8 percent strikeout rate that sits atop baseball.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Francisco Lindor ($5,700): Lindor brings more power against right-handed pitching, but he has a much higher wOBA against left-handed pitching. That's reflected in a stellar .434 wOBA against lefties but with just a .208 isolated power (ISO). He's going to be taking on the Boston Red Sox' Brian Johnson, who hasn't been that great this season. He's got a 1.37 WHIP and 4.37 xFIP while striking out just 21.3 percent of the batters he faces. Additionally, his 40.5 percent fly-ball rate could get him into trouble against the Cleveland Indians.
Ronald Acuna ($5,700): Ronald Acuna has been tearing the cover off the ball as of late. Over his last 10 games, he has an elite .389 AVG, 1.306 OPS with 4 home runs and 9 RBI. He has also added three stolen bases into the mix. He has been pretty dominant against right-handed pitching this season, sporting a .390 wOBA and a .270 ISO. He's taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates' Trevor Williams, who has a 4.89 xFIP and 39.4 percent fly-ball rate. Furthermore, Williams struggles to get many whiffs (15.9 percent strikeout rate), so Acuna's both a safe and high-upside play here.
David Dahl ($5,200): Happy Coors Field day! David Dahl and the Rockies are hosting the Padres in Coors Field tonight, and this is a fantastic matchup for the left-handed Dahl. He has destroyed right-handed pitching this season, with a .404 wOBA and .260 ISO. It will be Jacob Nix on the mound for the Padres, and he has only had two starts this season, but in his last game he allowed five earned runs in just 0.2 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Having your next start in Coors does not bode well for a rebound in confidence.
Value Hitters
C.J. Cron ($4,200): His numbers as of late have been a bit better than his season numbers, but C.J. Cron has brought some decent power against right-handed pitching this season. He's got a respectable .333 wOBA and a .234 ISO. He's got a premium matchup tonight that should help exploit his power. He's taking on Jake Junis, who has been pretty brutal this season. He has a 1.32 WHIP and 4.37 xFIP -- which aren't too bad, but his 40.5 percent hard-hit rate and 39.2 percent fly-ball rate have led to a 16.8 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate.
Juan Soto ($4,100): Considering his very solid numbers against righties, Juan Soto has seen his price come down a ton. Granted, he has just a .147 AVG over his last 10 games, yet he is still a better hitter than his price indicates. He has a .389 wOBA and .216 ISO against righties, and while the power isn't as good as one might like, he's still been solid. Philadelphia Phillies' Zach Eflin will be on the mound, and his numbers are actually pretty solid, but his 41.2 percent fly-ball rate leaves a lot to be desired.
Corey Dickerson ($4,000): Corey Dickerson has a premium matchup tonight against the struggling Julio Teheran. On the season, Teheran has a 4.71 xFIP along with a 38.4 percent hard-hit rate and 40.7 percent fly-ball rate, which have led to a brutal 15.9 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate. Furthermore, he has an 88.2 mile-per-hour average exit velocity and 186 foot average batted-ball distance, which doesn't bode well for him. Dickerson doesn't have elite power on his side, but he has some -- .201 ISO -- to go with his .357 wOBA against righty pitchers.
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.
