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 ($12,400 on DraftKings): He's the most expensive pitcher on DraftKings, and while the matchup against the Washington Nationals is far from ideal, the aces on tonight's slate all have relatively difficult matchups. But Jacob DeGrom has been so good that his high price tag is warranted. He has an elite 31.9 percent strikeout rate, which is the third-best tonight. Additionally, his 0.95 WHIP and 2.68 xFIP are second only to Chris Sale. Other than his 22.7 percent line-drive rate, all of his numbers are among the best on the slate, making him an ideal pitcher in cash games.
German Marquez ($10,500): German Marquez has been an absolute stud this season. Over his last 10 games, he has averaged 26.9 DraftKings points (DKpts), putting up 10-plus strikeouts 4 times and eclipsing 30 DKpts 3 times. On the season, he has a solid 26.7 percent strikeout rate with a 1.23 WHIP, 3.26 xFIP and a slate-best 29.4 percent fly-ball rate. He's taking on a Arizona Diamondbacks team that has a 24.1 percent strikeout rate against right-handed pitching -- the seventh-highest mark in the Majors -- which adds to Marquez's upside tonight.
Low-Priced Pitcher
Sean Reid-Foley ($6,400): In five career starts, Sean Reid-Foley has been an absolute roller coaster. He has two games at 30-plus DKpts points and the other three games at less than six. He's put up a very good 27.6 percent strikeout rate, though his 1.54 WHIP and 4.31 xFIP leave a lot to be desired. In addition, he has some troubles with the long-ball, giving up six home runs in those five starts, and a 38.8 percent fly-ball rate and 191 foot average batted-ball rate, which has led to a 23.1 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate. However, his price is so cheap and he does have strikeout upside with at least six strikeouts in three of his five starts, including two games in the double-digits. Even against the streaky Tampa Bay Rays, he's a dart worth throwing.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Christian Yelich ($5,800): Christian Yelich is the most expensive hitter on DraftKings this evening, but he has been playing fantastic as of late. Over his last 10 games, he has a .361 AVG, 1.175 OPS, 3 home runs and 7 RBI along with 3 stolen bases. This has led to a 12.4 DKpts average over that timeframe. He's taking on Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Ivan Nova, and Yelich has crushed righties this season. He has an elite .411 weighted on-base average (wOBA) and a more-than-solid .268 isolated power (ISO). Nova has struggled a bit, with an 89 mile-per-hour average exit velocity and a 14.9 percent home run to fly-ball rate.
Manny Machado ($4,800): Against left-handed pitchers, Manny Machado has been a bit better. He has a very good .391 wOBA with an equally solid .241 ISO. While neither number stands out considerably, his matchup against San Diego Padres' Eric Lauer makes up the difference. He has a 1.58 WHIP, which is the second-worst on the slate, and a 27.8 percent line-drive rate that is the worst on the slate. He also sports an ugly 41.1 percent hard-hit rate and a 19.5 percent strikeout rate, which is pretty poor though favorable for Machado.
Tyler White ($4,700): Tyler White only has 67 plate appearances with against left-handed pitchers, but he has been extremely successful in that limited time. He has an elite .430 wOBA and a .309 ISO, which are among the best against southpaws. It feels like no matter how well White plays, his price seems to be suppressed. He's taking on the Los Angeles Angels' Andrew Heaney, who has a solid 1.18 WHIP and a 3.73 xFIP, but his 38.4 percent hard-hit rate and 23.5 percent line-drive rate are concerning and will benefit White in this game.
Value Hitters
Rougned Odor ($4,200): He has struggled lately, with just a .125 AVG and 1 RBI with 15 strikeouts over his last 10 games, but Rougned Odor has solid numbers against right-handed pitching. While the numbers aren't insanely good, his .336 wOBA and .211 ISO are both solid. Luckily, he has a premium matchup against the Seattle Mariners struggling Erasmo Ramirez. He has a slate-worst 89.8 mile-per-hour average exit velocity to go along with a 40.7 percent hard-hit rate, 186 foot average batted-ball distance and 38.6 percent fly-ball rate, which has led to a slate-worst 23.2 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate.
Matt Chapman ($4,100): The Oakland Athletics are hosting Jose Berrios and the Minnesota Twins this evening, and that is an okay matchup. Berrios has a solid 1.15 WHIP and an acceptable 3.91 xFIP which is in-line with his 3.81 ERA. Matt Chapman has been pretty solid against right-handed pitching this season and looks to get back at it again tonight. He has a .386 wOBA and a .266 ISO in this split, and although the matchup against Berrios isn't the best, the Athletics crush right-handed pitching so he should get plenty of RBI opportunities.
Jorge Polanco ($4,000): Jorge Polanco has been getting a bunch of hits lately, unfortunately his teammates don't get on base for him to knock them in. Over his last 10 games he has a .372 AVG with 16 hits, but only picked up 2 home runs and 4 RBI along the way. Liam Hendriks is starting the game for the Athletics and although he hasn't really been stretched out at all, Polanco might be able to get to him in his first at-bat, which is the goal here. Hendriks has a slate-worst 1.61 WHIP and 193 foot average batted-ball distance, albeit in just 18.2 innings, so while the sample size is small, he has struggled.
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.