DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Tuesday 9/11/18
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
Jacob deGrom ($13,500 on DraftKings): Maybe Jacob DeGrom won't get rained out today? Maybe. He is in an elite matchup against the Miami Marlins, so it would be ideal if this game plays. On the season, DeGrom has a 31.3 percent strikeout rate along with a 0.96 WHIP and 2.72 xFIP. The Marlins' 22.5 percent strikeout rate is the 12th-highest against right-handed pitching, and they struggle to generate offense in the split. They have a 85 wRC+ off of right-handed pitching, which is tied for 26th, and the 28th-ranked team weighted on-base average (wOBA, .293).
Mike Foltynewicz ($11,200): Mike Foltynewicz has been pretty solid this season. He has a 27.8 percent strikeout rate, which sits fourth-best on the slate. Additionally, he has an elite 1.12 WHIP and solid 3.70 xFIP. He's taking on a San Francisco Giants team that strikes out at a 24.3 percent clip against righties, the sixth-highest mark. They also struggle to produce in the split, ranking 26th in both wOBA (.296) and wRC+ (85).
Low-Priced Pitcher
Marco Gonzales ($5,400): Gonzales may be on a pitch count tonight in his first start off the disabled list, so make note of that. However the price is low enough that he could do some damage even on the pitch count. Gonzales isn't much of a strikeout pitcher, with just a 21.1 percent strikeout rate along with a 1.28 WHIP and 3.60 xFIP. However, the Seattle Mariners are -210 favorites against the San Diego Padres, making them the second-biggest favorites on the slate. Given that the Padres have a league-high strikeout rate against right-handed pitchers (25.9 percent), there is some upside even on a pitch count for Gonzales.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Mookie Betts ($6,100): Mookie Betts absolutely crushes left-handed pitching. He has an absurd .487 wOBA and an equally elite .375 isolated power (ISO) in the split. His counting stats on the season are just as impressive with 29 home runs and 71 RBIs while sporting a .342 average and 1.066 OPS. He's taking on Toronto Blue Jays' starter Ryan Borucki, a left-hander who has struggled this season. Borucki has a 1.48 WHIP and 4.85 xFIP while being unable to generate strikeouts, as indicated by his 14.5 percent strikeout rate.
David Peralta ($5,600): Peralta is playing in Coors Field and taking on a right-handed pitcher, so this is a great matchup. Not only has he had plenty of success against righties with a .404 wOBA and .246 ISO in the split, he's hitting in the best park for hitters. Antonio Senzatela will be on the mound for the Colorado Rockies, and he hasn't been great. A 1.43 WHIP and 4.54 xFIP are not very good, and he could get lit up tonight.
Khristopher Davis ($5,400): Khris Davis has crushed 41 home runs this season and is in a prime position to add to that total. He's taking on Alex Cobb, a pitcher who has had some trouble giving up home runs. He has a 15.1 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate, and although his 31.8 percent fly-ball rate isn't bad, Davis' 46.0% hard-hit rate and 47.9% fly-ball rate more than make up for it. Cobb also has a 1.42 WHIP and 4.50 xFIP, which put him near the bottom of the list of pitchers on the slate. Davis has crushed right-handed pitchers in 2018 with a .374 wOBA and elite .312 ISO.
Value Hitters
Johan Camargo ($4,100): Johan Camargo is on a bit of a heater right now with three home runs and five RBIs over his last five games. Tonight he's taking on Andrew Suarez -- a left-hander who appears to have solid numbers on the surface but could be exploitable. Suarez has a solid 1.27 WHIP and 3.64 xFIP, but his 40.2 percent hard-hit rate and 18.4 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate are marks we can target. Camargo has been great against left-handed pitching this season with a .366 wOBA and .240 ISO.
Justin Upton ($4,000): It was 10 games ago when Justin Upton was $5,500 on DraftKings, which makes this $4,000 price tag extremely cheap. Even though he hasn't been that great recently, he is just way too much of a value to ignore. Upton has had plenty of success against right-handed pitching this season with a .371 wOBA and .225 in the split, and he will take on Texas Rangers' righty Adrian Sampson. Sampson hasn't done much in the minor leagues with just a 15.8 percent strikeout rate and 4.74 xFIP in Triple-A this season.
Mike Zunino ($3,200): This is an absolute home-run-or-bust play. Mike Zunino doesn't really bring much with a .293 wOBA against right-handed pitching. However, he has a respectable .234 ISO in this split and does have 19 home runs on the season. He has a premium matchup against Bryan Mitchell -- the owner of a slate-worst 1.93 WHIP and 6.06 xFIP. Additionally, Mitchell has a 40.3 percent hard-hit rate, 25.3 percent line-drive rate and 17.6 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate, the latter of which is the third-worst mark tonight.
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.
