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
Blake Snell ($11,300 on DraftKings): In a solid nine-game slate, Blake Snell is in a premium spot this evening. His 31.6 percent strikeout rate from 2018 is the best on the slate with his 3.30 SIERA coming in a solid second. He was absolutely dominant last season in his AL Cy Young season. Snell has a great matchup against the Toronto Blue Jays who have a 25.2 percent strikeout rate against left-handed pitching which is the 10th most in the Majors. In addition, the Jays have a horrendous .275 weighted on-base average (wOBA) which sits 28th in all of baseball.
Robbie Ray ($8,200): This is going to be the ultimate boom-or-bust tournament-only play. Robbie Ray seems to either be dominant or horrendous and tonight's matchup in Colorado at the infamous Coors Field seems to be another night that could swing either way. Ray had a dominant 31.4 percent strikeout rate last season which is second only to Snell on tonight's slate. However, he had a slate-worst 44.4 percent hard-hit rate. The Colorado Rockies have a 26.6 percent strikeout rate against left-handed pitchers — the fourth most in the Majors — but their .327 wOBA ranks 12th.
Value Pitcher
Pablo Lopez ($6,600): It seems like Pablo Lopez is getting a bit unlucky this season. While his .301 BABIP is in-par with league average, he has a 5.40 ERA despite a 3.95 SIERA. He has a solid matchup against the San Francisco Giants — a team that strikes out at a 24.6 percent clip (11th most) and a .273 wOBA (29th). Lopez relies on his 51.0 percent groundball rate as his 22.8 percent strikeout rate is not necessarily scaring anybody. Luckily, the Giants struggle to produce offense so Lopez could still have a solid game even if he doesn't rack up many strikeouts.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Austin Meadows ($5,600): I wonder if the Pittsburgh Pirates regret trading Austin Meadows yet? He has been absolutely dominant this season — especially against right-handed pitching. His elite .482 wOBA and a .374 isolated power (ISO) is very encouraging. He certainly has an expensive price tag, but he has a fantastic matchup against Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Trent Thornton. In the early part of 2019, Thornton is giving up a 37.2 percent hard-hit rate and 38.5 percent fly-ball rate which has led to a brutal 18.2 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate.
Trey Mancini ($5,000): The power that Trey Mancini brings to the table is very intriguing tonight against Detroit Tigers' Ryan Carpenter. He has just 36.1 innings in the Majors for his career, but in the limited sample he has given up a 38.1 hard-hit rate and a 33.1 percent fly-ball rate which led to a hilariously bad (and completely unsustainable) 29.5 home-run-to-fly-ball rate. Now that numbers you can probably throw out altogether, but it just goes to show how bad he has been in these 36 innings. Mancini has smashed left-handed pitchers this season with a .411 wOBA and a .270 ISO.
Christian Walker ($4,300): Christian Walker hasn't really done much in his career considering he is 28 years old with just over 300 career plate appearances. However, in the early part of 2019, he is getting a solid shot as a regular contributor and against right-handed pitching, he has brought some power. While his .339 wOBA isn't that great, his .248 ISO is solid. With a matchup in Coors Field tonight, that is the power we like to see. He'll face Rockies' right-hander Jeff Hoffman — a pitcher that, in his career, has given up a 34.1 percent hard-hit rate and a 36.6 percent fly-ball rate which has led to a 13.7 home-run-to-fly-ball rate.
Value Hitters
Matt Adams ($3,800): Matt Adams is a platoon player at this point in his career and almost exclusively plays against right-handed pitching. He still brought plenty of power in this split last season with a .343 wOBA and a .253 ISO against righties despite his struggles this season. His matchup against Atlanta Braves' Kevin Gausman isn't necessarily the easiest, but he does struggle to keep the ball in the park sometimes. He has given up an 88.8 mile-per-hour average exit velocity and a 33.5 percent fly-ball rate which led to a 13.7 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate this season.
Dexter Fowler ($3,700): First things first, you cannot expect too much power from Dexter Fowler. While his .351 wOBA against right-handed pitching is solid, his .147 ISO is nothing to write home about. He has a matchup against the struggling Aaron Nola of the Philadelphia Phillies — a pitcher that has given up a 36.0 percent hard-hit rate and 28.9 percent fly-ball rate which has led to a 19.6 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate this season. He has been getting a bit unlucky, though, as his .362 BABIP and 4.12 SIERA (compared to a 4.53 ERA) would indicate.
Kyle Schwarber ($3,700): This may be a bad play considering it is a lefty/lefty matchup, but so far this season Kyle Schwarber has been pretty solid against left-handed pitching. This is certainly only a play you want to use in a Chicago Cubs stack rather than some sort of bizarre one-off, but Schwarber has a .385 wOBA and a .172 ISO against southpaws in 2019. He's taking on Wade Miley who doesn't strike anybody out as indicated by his lowly 2018 numbers. He had an ugly 14.8 percent strikeout rate and unappealing 4.66 SIERA last season which is great for Schwarber.
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.