DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Tuesday 8/27/19
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
Walker Buehler ($11,000 on DraftKings): Walker Buehler has been one of the best pitchers in the Majors this season. He's put up an elite 29.2 percent strikeout rate along with an absolutely incredible 4.4 percent walk rate. In addition to that, he has a 3.43 SIERA and is allowing just 0.97 homers per nine. He's got a premium matchup this evening against the San Diego Padres, a team that strikes out at a 26.5 percent clip against right-handed pitching. Furthermore, they have just a .303 wOBA in the split, which ranks 25th.
Andrew Heaney ($9,800): He may not be a pitcher that stands out tonight on a slate as loaded as this one is for pitching, but Andrew Heaney certainly has an elite matchup. In his last start, Heaney took on these same Texas Rangers and was simply dominant. He went 8 innings, putting up 14 strikeouts and an astonishing 45.6 DraftKings points. He's the eighth-most expensive pitcher tonight, and he carries a 29.0 percent strikeout rate into a date with the most strikeout-heavy team against left-handed pitchers (26.2 percent). Heaney's upside is incredible, and he comes in at a bargain compared to some aces on this slate.
Value Pitcher
Adrian Houser ($5,000): Over his last five starts, Adrian Houser has put up 18-plus DraftKings points four times. He has a respectable 24.7 percent strikeout rate with an elite 54.9 percent ground-ball rate for the year. He has put up six-plus strikeouts in three of his last five starts. He'll face a St. Louis Cardinals team that has a 16th-ranked 22.7 percent strikeout rate against right-handed pitching along with just a .310 wOBA, which ranks 22nd. The price for Houser tonight is ridiculously low given his form and matchup.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Rafael Devers ($5,800): The Boston Red Sox's best hitter against right-handed pitching this season has been Rafael Devers. Now he gets to take on a pitcher in Rico Garcia who will be making his first career start and doing so in the most hitter-friendly park in the bigs -- Coors Field. Devers has absolutely smashed right-handed pitching this season, putting up an incredible .413 wOBA and .277 ISO in the split. Getting to face a rookie in Coors Field, Devers should feast.
Freddie Freeman ($5,200): Freddie Freeman has had plenty of success against right-handed pitching over his career, and this season is no different. He has put up a ridiculous .423 wOBA and .298 ISO against righties in 2019 and will take on Zack Godley for most of tonight's game, with Godley expected to be the bulk guy for the Toronto Blue Jays. Godley has given up a 39.9 percent hard-hit rate and 36.6 percent fly-ball rate while issuing a 10.5 percent walk rate. Godley's 5.31 SIERA is the second-worst mark on the slate.
Aaron Judge ($4,500): Aaron Judge isn't crushing right-handed pitching this season like he did last season, but he continues to destroy left-handers. With an absolutely elite .464 wOBA and .311 ISO in the split, the matchup against Yusei Kikuchi this evening is certainly a good one for Judge. On the season, Kikuchi has given up a 37.1 percent hard-hit rate and 36.1 percent fly-ball rate, which has resulted in an astonishingly brutal 19.6 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate. Kikuchi is coming off a complete-game shutout, and that may could some people's vision of how poor Kikuchi has really been this season.
Value Hitters
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($3,900): After coming out of the gate a bit slow, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been quite dominant as of late. Since July 1st, Vladdy has put up a .442 wOBA and .257 ISO -- numbers closer to what we would have expected out of him this season. It certainly took him time to settle in, but this has been real fun to watch lately. This is a pretty tough spot, though, against Mike Soroka, but Soroka doesn't strike out many hitters with just a 19.7 percent strikeout rate.
Nick Senzel ($3,800): Nick Senzel has been good this season against left-handed pitching. He's put up a .372 wOBA and .225 ISO against southpaws, and Senzel also brings some speed as his 13 stolen bases on the season would indicate. His matchup is an interesting one against Caleb Smith -- a left-handed Miami Marlins pitcher with an elite strikeout rate but struggles elsewhere. He's giving up a 41.6 percent hard-hit rate and 50.0 percent fly-ball rate, so while Smith's ability to generate whiffs makes the Cincinnati Reds a scary stack, Senzel is a decent one-off play.
Brandon Dixon ($3,600): The Detroit Tigers are pretty terrible, which is unfortunate because they have one of the best matchups on the slate. Cleveland Indians right Adam Plutko has been pretty brutal this year. He has a slate-worst 5.38 SIERA, and although his 33.6 percent hard-hit rate is actually decent, he also carries a 48.2 percent fly-ball rate, 2.21 dingers per nine and a slate-worst 14.8 percent strikeout rate. Brandon Dixon isn't that great, but his fantastic matchup and .206 ISO are at least interesting enough to float the idea of using him or other Tigers.
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
