DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Thursday 8/15/19
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
Yu Darvish ($9,700): Well this is certainly an ugly pitching slate, but there are a couple of pitchers that still stand out above the rest in their price range. Yu Darvish is one of those guys and he leads the slate with a 28.6 percent strikeout rate. In addition, he's sporting a solid 4.01 SIERA but has struggled with control as his 9.2 percent walk-rate would indicate. However, the walk concerns were an early-season issue as in June he has a 6.8 percent walk-rate, in July he had a 1.7 percent walk-rate and in August he's sporting a perfect 0.0 percent walk-rate.
Sonny Gray ($9,100): Sonny Gray has always been known as a heavy groundball pitcher. This season is no different as he has an elite 53.3 percent groundball rate. In addition, he's sporting a 3.97 SIERA which is a bit higher than his 3.10 ERA but still a solid number. However, he also has a 27.9 percent strikeout rate which is fantastic. Now, his control is also a bit of an issue as his 9.1 percent walk-rate would indicate, but he's been pretty solid this season. He'll face a St. Louis Cardinals team with a 23.1 percent strikeout rate which ranks as the 11th most and their .305 wOBA which ranks 25th.
Value Pitcher
Aaron Sanchez ($7,700): Since coming to Houston, Aaron Sanchez has been fantastic. Of course, this has been just two starts and they were against the Baltimore Orioles and Seattle Mariners, but the numbers were solid. He put up 27.7 and 21.7 DraftKings points in the two games, allowing just one earned run and striking out six hitters in each. Tonight he'll have another solid matchup against the Oakland Athletics — a team with a 21.8 percent strikeout rate which is 21st and a 20th ranked wOBA at .315. It's still a solid matchup and while the 19.6 percent strikeout rate isn't great, he produces plenty of groundballs at 47.4 percent which is where he should get his outs.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Giovanny Urshela ($5,200): About one year ago, the Toronto Blue Jays traded Gio Urshela to the New York Yankees in exchange for cash considerations. Now, he's got a .335 AVG with 18 home runs, and a .964 OPS. In addition, he's smashing right-handed pitching with a .407 wOBA and a .251 ISO. This looks like a big mistake by the Blue Jays. He'll take on Cleveland Indians' Adam Plutko — a right-handed pitcher that is sporting an ugly 5.44 SIERA. Furthermore, he's giving up a 47.9 percent fly-ball rate and a 16.3 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate which is a disaster.
Aristides Aquino ($4,900): It is just 31 plate appearances, so clearly take these numbers with a grain of salt, but Aristides Aquino has destroyed right-handed pitching in the early part of the season. With a .481 wOBA and an insane .600 ISO, Aquino has dominated righties and has a matchup against a right-handed pitcher that has struggled mightily. Michael Wacha has some real ugly numbers this season. He's giving up a 40.1 hard-hit rate and a ridiculous 23.9 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate. Now, he's only giving up a 31.2 percent fly-ball rate so he has that going for him but when the ball is hit in the air, it goes out of the park way too often.
George Springer ($4,800): There are so many Houston Astros that smash right-handed pitching but we're going to roll with George Springer tonight. He's putting up an elite .391 wOBA and .301 ISO against righties and has a great matchup tonight. He'll take on Mike Fiers of the Oakland Athletics — a pitcher that doesn't strike anybody out as indicated by his 16.6 percent strikeout rate. He's been getting pretty lucky this season as his .241 BABIP and 3.30 ERA look way better than his more accurate 5.22 SIERA.
Value Hitters
David Peralta ($4,000): This is a fantastic matchup for David Peralta and the Arizona Diamondbacks as they take on a struggling San Francisco Giants' right-hander Dereck Rodriguez. Rodriguez has a brutal 14.6 percent strikeout rate, 8.7 percent walk-rate and a 5.41 SIERA. In addition, he's giving up a 45.4 percent hard-hit rate and 24.3 percent line-drive rate which puts him in a horrific spot tonight. Peralta has been solid against right-handed pitching as indicated by his .365 wOBA and .221 ISO.
Franmil Reyes ($3,900): The Yankees will be utilizing Chad Green as an opener tonight as they host the Cleveland Indians. I cannot find who is expected to come in for Green as the long-term reliever / main pitcher, but with that said we will look at Franmil Reyes' numbers against both righties and lefties. Against right-handed pitchers he brings a bunch of power with a .277 ISO along with a modest .330 wOBA. In addition, his numbers against lefties are a .324 wOBA and .229 ISO which is solid but not that great.
Eloy Jimenez ($3,400): Andrew Heaney has just 10 starts under his belt this season, but the numbers are certainly interesting. He's got a very solid 26.9 percent strikeout rate but has struggled with his 9.3 percent walk-rate. However, he's also giving up a 48.5 percent hard-hit rate and 48.5 percent fly-ball rate which has resulted in a 14.1 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate. Now, Heaney is a left-handed pitcher and Eloy Jimenez hasn't had the most success against them. He's putting up just a .302 wOBA and .182 ISO which isn't great but has a solid matchup potentially.
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.
