DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Friday 7/5/19
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
Jacob deGrom ($11,300 on DraftKings): The season after winning the NL Cy Young Award, Jacob DeGrom has followed it up with another incredible season. He has put up an elite 30.3 percent strikeout rate along with a ridiculous 5.2 percent walk rate. In addition, his 3.36 SIERA is almost directly in-line with his 3.32 ERA which is encouraging. He'll face a Philadelphia Phillies team that doesn't strike out that often with a 22.9 percent strikeout rate — the 14th-most in the Majors.
Masahiro Tanaka ($9,500): While he doesn't have a very good strikeout rate this season at just 21.0 percent, he has dominated the Tampa Bay Rays in each of his last three outings. He has put up 47.5 DraftKings points, 23.7 DraftKings points, and 28.8 DraftKings points — compiling at least six strikeouts in each. This will be interesting because while Tanaka does not produce many strikeouts, Tampa Bay actually has a 23.6 percent strikeout rate against right-handed pitchers which is the 10th-most in the Majors.
Value Pitcher
Drew Pomeranz ($6,800): While there are certainly plenty of warts in his game, it is tough to ignore a 25.8 percent strikeout rate at a sub-$7k price tag. In addition, a .370 BABIP and 6.25 ERA versus a 4.43 SIERA show that Drew Pomeranz is getting unlucky for sure. The matchup is relatively neutral for Pomeranz this evening against the St. Louis Cardinals. They have a 20.7 percent strikeout rate against left-handed pitchers which is way down at 24th but their .313 wOBA ranks 18th which is a bit more encouraging.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Pete Alonso ($5,300): The New York Mets rookie has come onto the scene and completely blown the doors off of the Majors. Pete Alonso has been dominant this season and his numbers against right-handed pitching are fantastic. A .387 wOBA and a .299 ISO in his first season in the Majors are incredible numbers and he has a very good matchup against a struggling Phillies pitcher. Vincent Velasquez has given up a 45.3 percent hard-hit rate and a 46.7 percent fly-ball rate which has led to an 18.8 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate.
Lourdes Gurriel ($5,300): Not only has Lourdes Gurriel got his power stroke going now, but he is still producing a .303 AVG which is great to see. He is up to 15 home runs on the season including five in his last eight games. He's putting up a .362 wOBA and .248 ISO against right-handed pitching and while the power isn't elite, he's taking on a pitcher in Baltimore Orioles' Dylan Bundy who struggles to keep the ball in the park. While his 27.7 percent hard-hit rate is great, he's giving up a 42.6 percent fly-ball rate and an 18.4 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate which is brutal.
J.D. Martinez ($4,800): One of the best hitters in the Majors this season against left-handed pitchers has been J.D. Martinez. While 76 plate appearances are a small sample size still, his .508 wOBA and .449 ISO are unbelievable. He'll take on Detroit Tigers left-hander Ryan Carpenter — a pitcher with just 55 innings under his belt in the Majors. However, those innings have not been very good. He has given up a 42.3 percent hard-hit rate and a 36.4 fly-ball rate which has led to a laughably bad, yet completely unsustainable, 24.0 home-run-to-fly-ball rate.
Value Hitters
Khris Davis ($3,800): It is certainly not the rookie season that Yusei Kikuchi was hoping for when coming to North America to pitch in the Majors. The 28-year-old has given up a 35.0 percent hard-hit rate and a 33.8 percent fly-ball rate which has led to a 17.8 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate. In addition, his 5.12 SIERA is exactly in-line with his 5.12 ERA so this is pretty much what he has been this season. Khris Davis has crushed lefties this season with a .383 wOBA and .313 ISO which makes this a great matchup for him tonight.
Jose Martinez ($3,600): Sure, I wrote up Drew Pomeranz above, but Jose Martinez' success against left-handed pitching this season makes him an equally intriguing option this evening. He has absolutely smashed southpaws to the tune of a .452 wOBA and a .340 ISO. While the strikeout upside for Pomeranz is great, there are also issues within his game. He has given up a 37.2 percent hard-hit rate and a slate-worst 27.2 percent line-drive rate which is where Martinez can certainly take advantage.
Wil Myers ($3,500): Clayton Kershaw is not the pitcher that he used to be, especially from a strikeout perspective, but he has still been quite solid. However, he has given up a 39.6 percent hard-hit rate this season as well as a modest 29.1 percent fly-ball rate that has led to a 17.1 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate. Wil Myers has been pretty solid against left-handed pitchers this season as represented by his .363 wOBA and .238 ISO. This is pretty much in-line with his 2018 numbers which were a .344 wOBA and a .224 ISO.
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.
