DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Thursday 6/13/19
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
Matt Boyd ($10,700 on DraftKings): Matt Boyd has been an absolute beast this season and hasn't shown many signs of slowing down. Looking at the numbers, there doesn't seem to be many (if any) signs of regression in the future. His 3.08 ERA lines up similarly to his 3.20 SIERA, and a .301 BABIP is right where it should be. He leads the slate with a 30.5 percent strikeout rate, and his SIERA is tops among guys throwing tonight. In addition to that, he is rocking an elite 4.4 percent walk rate. Boyd has been a machine, and his matchup against the Kansas City Royals is a good one.
David Price ($9,700): With Boyd leading the slate in almost everything, David Price is right behind him in several stats. Price's 29.4 percent strikeout rate is third behind Boyd's and Jacob deGrom's, and his 3.42 SIERA is second only to Boyd. He has a great matchup against a Texas Rangers team that tends to be a much more free-swinging team against left-handed pitchers. The Rangers have a 26.9 percent strikeout rate versus southpaws, which is the third-most in all of baseball. Texas does have some pop, but their strikeout issues give Price plenty of upside tonight.
Value Pitcher
Jack Flaherty ($7,300): This is a bit of a tough one. The talent is there for Jack Flaherty, but he has struggled a bit this season. While his 25.7 percent strikeout rate is solid, his 40.9 percent hard-hit rate and 25.6 percent line-drive rate are not. He has an average matchup tonight against the New York Mets -- a team that sits pretty much in the middle of the pack in strikeout rate and wOBA. The cheap price tag for Flaherty in a relatively neutral matchup is worth the risk as your SP2.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Luke Voit ($5,100): Right-handed hitter Luke Voit has been great against right-handed pitching this season, with a .384 wOBA and .249 ISO in the split. The New York Yankees first baseman has stepped in a big way with all of their injuries. He's got a dreamy matchup against Chicago White Sox right-hander Ivan Nova. So far this season, Nova has a horrendous 4.92 SIERA, the second-worst on the slate. Nova is allowing a 25.7 percent line-drive rate while striking out just 14.4 percent of hitters.
Franmil Reyes ($4,700): The hitter-versus-pitcher matchup isn't perfect as Colorado Rockies right-hander Jon Gray has been solid this season and possesses swing-and-miss stuff. But Gray is giving up a 38.5 percent hard-hit rate in 2019. That's great for Franmil Reyes, who has been smashing right-handed pitchers to the tune of an elite .316 ISO. Coors Field is a great place to take full advantage of Reyes' power.
Ian Desmond ($4,400): On the other side of the Coors matchup, we have a cheaper hitter in Ian Desmond, who, if he starts, will be an economical way to get exposure to the Rox. He has crushed left-handed pitching this season, posting a .397 wOBA and .329 ISO in the split, and San Diego Padres are going with lefty Matt Strahm. Strahm has given up a slate-worst 47.2 percent hard-hit rate and 42.3 percent fly-ball rate -- not the kind of numbers you want to bring with you in to Coors.
Value Hitters
Anthony Santander ($3,800): While Marcus Stroman's 16.5 percent line-drive rate, 56.5 percent groundball rate and 27.0 percent fly-ball rate are all great, his 3.31 ERA versus his 4.55 SIERA point to some regression coming. Stroman struggles getting strikeouts -- just an 18.3 percent strikeout rate on the season -- and his 8.1 percent walk rate isn't great, either. The sample size for Anthony Santander against right-handed pitching is small this season -- just 17 plate appearances, resulting in a .484 wOBA and .357 ISO -- but the switch-hitter has been batting second against righties lately with some decent power behind him in the lineup.
Paul Goldschmidt ($3,600): Paul Goldschmidt will be taking on New York Mets right-handed ace Jacob deGrom, so it's a rough matchup, but the price for Goldy is so ridiculously low that he is absolutely worth looking at. Goldschmidt has put up a respectable .345 wOBA and .170 ISO versus right-handers this year -- definitely not bad enough to warrant a price this low, despite the tough matchup. You're betting on Goldschmidt's proven track record of success here.
Enrique Hernandez ($3,400): Enrique Hernandez is best to use against left-handed pitchers as he will sometimes leadoff in the split. We are hoping for that tonight as he has put up a solid .351 wOBA and .210 ISO against southpaws this season. Taking on aging Chicago Cubs lefty Jon Lester is a solid matchup for Hernandez. Lester has really struggled getting opponents to whiff on his stuff, carrying a lowly 8.1 percent swinging-strike rate. In addition to that, Lester's 40.0 percent hard-hit rate isn't going to do him any favors against a great Los Angeles Dodgers lineup.
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.
