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
Clayton Kershaw ($11,800 on DraftKings): This is tough because the price tag will make it hard for Clayton Kershaw to reach his value, as he does not have the strikeout upside that he had in previous seasons. He still has a solid 25.4 percent strikeout rate and 3.83 SIERA, though, both of which are among the best on the slate, but the matchup against the Miami Marlins could limit his upside again. Miami stinks in the sense that they have a .292 wOBA against left-handed pitching, which ranks 28th, but they have just a 22.0 percent strikeout rate in the same split that ranks 20th. Kershaw should go deep in this game, but the strikeouts may be limited.
Value Pitcher
Dillon Peters ($6,300): Dillon Peters is in a similar spot as Kershaw in the sense that he is facing a Pittsburgh Pirates team that has just a 23.0 percent strikeout rate against left-handed pitchers, which ranks 17th. In addition, much like Miami, they have a horrible .287 wOBA that ranks dead-last in the Majors. This is definitely what we want to see because Peters is not much of a strikeout pitcher with just a 20.5 percent strikeout rate. He's also not really a ground-ball pitcher, with a 41.7 percent ground-ball rate, so we want him to just survive this evening against a team that cannot hit lefties.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Ronald Acuna ($5,700): In his second season in the Majors, Ronald Acuna has been dominant. He has been especially great against left-handed pitching, which he has crushed to the tune of a .407 wOBA and .301 ISO. Tonight, he's going to take on a struggling New York Mets southpaw in Steven Matz. Matz has allowed a .320 wOBA and an even more awful .442 SLG against right-handed hitters. In addition, he's allowing a 39.5 percent hard-hit rate and a 33.5 percent fly-ball rate, which has resulted in a 18.2 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate.
Dan Vogelbach ($4,300): After an incredibly hot start to the season, Dan Vogelbach has taken a step back. However, his numbers against right-handed pitching speak for themselves. He has put up an incredible .379 wOBA and a .282 ISO against righties this season, which just shows the amount of power he brings to the plate. He's going to face the horrible Edwin Jackson — a pitcher that somehow wasn't horrible in his first start for the Detroit Tigers. However, Jackson's numbers this season are a nightmare as he has a slate-worst 5.69 SIERA while giving up a 42.6 percent hard-hit rate and a ridiculous 3.38 HR/9.
Value Hitters
Justin Upton ($3,800): It's still crazy how well Justin Upton does against right-handed pitching and just how poorly he produces against left-handed pitching. Anyway, he'll get a righty tonight as he takes on the Pirates' Chris Archer. Archer has struggled with a 39.6 percent hard-hit rate and a 40.5 percent fly-ball rate that's resulted in a horrendous 20.5 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate. In 2019, Upton has put up a .360 wOBA and .238 ISO, which for the price tag of $3,800, is certainly solid.
Miguel Cabrera ($3,600): In the twilight of his career, Miguel Cabrera is still an acceptable hitter against left-handed pitching — when the price is right. This is a pretty cheap price for him, as he takes on Seattle Mariners left-handed Marco Gonzales. Gonzales just put up 30.2 DraftKings points against the Tigers on August 3rd, but he's still a pitcher that has just a 17.5 percent strikeout rate, gives up a 22.7 percent line-drive rate, and has a 4.93 SIERA. Miggy has a pretty good .379 wOBA and .191 ISO that puts him in a decent matchup 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.