DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Thursday 8/2/18
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
Max Scherzer ($13,000 on DraftKings): Max Scherzer is the most expensive pitcher on the slate, and with good reason. He has an elite 34.4 percent strikeout rate, which is far and away the best on the slate. Additionally, his 0.90 WHIP leads the slate while his 3.10 xFIP is second only to Clayton Kershaw's. He doesn't have the easiest matchup as the Cincinnati Reds are solid against right-handed pitching, but with Scherzer being a -258 favorite, the largest of the slate, he has the highest upside of any pitcher.
Low-Priced Pitchers
Nick Pivetta ($8,500): Considering his low-ish price, Nick Pivetta actually has the second-best strikeout rate on the slate at 29 percent. He has a modest 1.33 WHIP, but his 3.25 xFIP is also impressive. He's got a great matchup against the Miami Marlins. While Miami is a team that doesn't strike out a ton (22.9 percent), they struggle to generate offence. They have a .300 team weighted on-base average (wOBA) against right-handed pitching, which is 27th, and a 24th-ranked wRC+ of 88.
Mike Montgomery ($7,000): Some of Mike Montgomery's numbers look really ugly, especially his 14.5 percent strikeout rate. But for his price, he's not a bad option as the Chicago Cubs are -179 favorites, which is the third-highest on the slate. He has limited hitters to a 31.6 percent hard-hit rate, 19.4 percent line-drive rate and a 27.3 percent fly-ball rate. Luckily, he's taking on the San Diego Padres, a team that strikes out at a 25.1 percent rate against left-handed pitchers, the third-most in the Majors.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Rhys Hoskins ($5,200): Rhys Hoskins brings a lot of power against right-handed pitching as he owns a very impressive .385 wOBA and .280 isolated power (ISO) in the split. Recently he's been on an absolute tear, hitting for a .341 average with 6 home runs and 12 RBIs over his last 10 games. Now he gets a matchup against Marlins' pitcher Pablo Lopez, who has given up five jacks in 28.2 innings.
Giancarlo Stanton ($5,100): Giancarlo Stanton has completely destroyed left-handed pitching this season. With a .471 wOBA and .378 ISO, the numbers he has put up against southpaws are about as elite as it can get. The New York Yankees are in Fenway Park to take on Brian Johnson and the Boston Red Sox. Johnson has a not-so-great 1.40 WHIP along with a 4.40 xFIP. Additionally, his 39.1 percent fly-all rate and 88.2 mile-per-hour average exit velocity could get him into trouble against the power of the Yankees, even without Aaron Judge.
Shin-Soo Choo ($4,900): The pop that Shin-Soo Choo is bringing this season, especially against right-handed pitching, has been incredible. His numbers against righties are outstanding as he's posting a .403 wOBA and .247 ISO in the split. He has been struggling a bit as of late, but a matchup against Andrew Cashner is a great way to get back on track. Casher has struggled with a 1.50 WHIP and 4.47 xFIP, and he's allowing an 88.9 mile-per-hour average exit velocity which is the second-worst on the slate.
Value Hitters
Randal Grichuk ($4,300): Randal Grichuk has some pretty solid numbers against right-handed pitching this season with a 347 wOBA and .290 ISO. Additionally, he may be getting some awful luck with a BABIP of .239. Felix Hernandez is sitting near the bottom of the slate with a 1.41 WHIP, 4.54 xFIP, 39.6 percent hard-hit rate and 89.1 mile-per-hour average exit velocity. This is a solid spot for Grichuk.
Christian Villanueva ($3,900): After an insanely hot start to the season, Christian Villanueva has really cooled off. However, one thing that remains is his absolute dominance against left-handed pitching. His numbers are about as good as it gets with an elite .450 wOBA and an astonishingly high .417 ISO in the split. These are power numbers only few can match right now. Villanueva takes on Montgomery, who even though he has some solid numbers isn't an overly scary hurler.
Cody Bellinger ($3,900): The price is low for what he can bring to the table as Cody Bellinger still has some solid numbers against right-handed pitching. With a .340 wOBA and .224 ISO, there is nothing wrong with utilizing him and the Los Angeles Dodgers in a stack against Jhoulys Chacin. Chacin is giving up a 37.5 percent hard-hit rate and 34.6 percent fly-ball rate, and the Dodgers could fly under the radar a bit with so many offenses in a good spot.
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.
