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 Pitchers
Tyler Glasnow ($10,600 on DraftKings): Glasnow is the most expensive pitcher on the slate and for good reason. He has a home matchup against the Baltimore Orioles -- a team that has probably scored more runs (13th-most) and struck out less (17th-highest strikeout rate) than one would expect so far this season. However, they are still trot out some pretty terrible lineups and sport a .296 wOBA. Tyler Glasnow has the numbers to suggest that he could be in for a big game tonight. In 2018, Glasnow put up an elite 29.1 percent strikeout rate with a 3.47 FIP, and he's got a 32.8 percent strikeout rate with a 13.5 percent swinging-strike rate this season.
Collin McHugh ($8,800): After spending most of 2018 in the bullpen, Collin McHugh has been starting in 2019 and has looked great. His incredible 33.2 percent strikeout rate and 2.72 FIP out of the bullpen last year were likely not going to be sustainable as a starter, but he has certainly done what he can to try to maintain those levels of excellence. Through three starts in 2019, McHugh has an even better 33.3 percent strikeout rate and 2.20 FIP. It's early, but McHugh is looking elite right now. We will see how long it will continue, but his salary doesn't reflect how good he's been.
Low-Priced Pitcher
Aaron Sanchez ($7,300): In both 2017 and 2018, Aaron Sanchez was a nightmare. He had recurring blister issues -- among other injuries -- that kept him on and off the disabled list. But through three starts in 2019, he has been pretty solid, throwing 89-plus pitches and striking out at least five hitters in each of his outings. While two of the games were easier matchups against the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians, his most recent start was versus the Boston Red Sox. His 12.7 percent walk rate could be an issue if it lasts, but for now, we can roll with Sanchez as a cheap pitcher option.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Mike Trout ($5,700): So, Mike Trout is pretty good. The best player in baseball is absolutely tearing the cover off the baseball right now. In just 54 plate appearances this season, he is already up to a 1.6 WAR, which is just astounding. If he continued at this pace -- hint: he won't -- it would land him at just over an 18-WAR campaign if he had the same amount of plate appearances as he did last season. He's already crushed five home runs and has a 1.475 OPS, and he's got an elite matchup against Texas Rangers left-hander Mike Minor this evening.
Joey Gallo ($4,800): Joey Gallo crushes the baseball, but he also strikes out. A lot. He's brought his average up to .217 since I last wrote about him, and if he can get that into the .230 to .240 range, he'd become so much more valuable. But, here we are again with his 33.9 percent strikeout rate, which is actually down from his career mark of 37.8 percent. However, it's still a horrid number. The positive -- other than his monster batted-ball profile -- is that he continues to have an elite walk rate at 17.9 percent. He's picked up five home runs already and should feast against Los Angeles Angels right-hander Jaime Barria.
Juan Soto ($4,700): Juan Soto certainly isn't dominating like he did to start his MLB career last season, but we're still expecting Soto to be among the best hitters in baseball this season. Soto had plenty of success against right-handed pitching in 2018, putting up an elite .401 weighted on-base average (wOBA) and a nice .231 isolated power (ISO). Tonight he's going to take on Dereck Rodriguez, who gave up a 39.4 percent hard-hit rate last season along with a troublesome 23.1 percent line-drive rate -- numbers that should benefit Soto.
Value Hitters
Justin Turner ($4,100): It's easy to expect more out of Justin Turner. It's not that he isn't good, because he's great. But it feels like there should always be more power than he brings to the table. He does very well against both righties and lefties, and up against Cincinnati Reds right-hander Tyler Mahle, Turner should thrive. In 2018, Turner put up a .377 wOBA and .187 ISO against righties. Mahle, on the other hand, got smoked across the board. He gave up a 41.5 percent hard-hit rate and an 18.5 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate, so perhaps Turner can get a hold of one tonight.
Ozzie Albies ($4,000): Ozzie Albies is off to a solid start, and he's in an intriguing matchup, so this price is certainly much lower than one would have anticipated. Albies is hitting for a .328 average with an .856 OPS. However, he has just one homer and two RBIs, which I guess would explain the lower price tag. The fact that he has 20 hits and just two RBIs is kind of crazy, but against Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Robbie Ray, he could have a good night. Ray had an elite 31.4 percent strikeout rate last season, but his 44.4 percent hard-hit rate and 17.4 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate can get him into a lot of trouble. Hopefully Albies can bring his 2018 effort against lefties -- .384 wOBA and .213 ISO -- to the plate tonight.
Rowdy Tellez ($3,800): Rowdy "Roddy" Tellez is somebody who is intriguing option against right-handed pitching thanks to his power against them. In 2019, he's put up a .380 wOBA and an elite .300 ISO in the split, and he produced even better numbers in 2018 with an absurd .503 wOBA and .400 ISO in the same split. The Toronto Blue Jays take on Minnesota Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson, a great matchup for Tellez. Gibson gave up a 39.0 percent hard-hit rate and 14.8 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate a year ago.
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.