5 Daily Fantasy Baseball Value Plays for 8/30/19

With production being highly variable on a night-to-night basis, daily fantasy baseball plays a bit differently than other sports.

An 0-for-4 dud from a chalky high-priced slugger is a lot more common than a total dud from a top-priced NBA player or even than a stinker from a top quarterback or running back.

That means that it's not uncommon for value plays to end up doing the heavy lifting in carrying your lineup. The fact that they can be the difference between a good and a great lineup isn't much different than other sports, but value plays being able to make up for a whiff on a high-priced play completely is somewhat unique.

Let's get right into it and take a look at the top value options on today's slate.

JD Davis, OF, New York Mets ($2,800)

J.D. Davis has been in this article everyday for about a month now. After another home run last night, which put him at three consecutive games with a homer, Davis has a .337/.398/.654 slash line in his last 31 games along with nine home runs and six doubles. He’s been consistently great when getting every day playing time and he will remain in my lineups until his price is drastically moved up.

Tonight, Davis faces Philadelphia Phillies starter, Aaron Nola. Nola certainly represents a very tough matchup for Davis, but Davis has proven he can still produce against tough matchups over the span of this hot stretch.

Hanser Alberto, 2B, Baltimore Orioles ($2,800)

Hanser Alberto against left-handed pitching has been one of the more dominant platoon splits in all of baseball this season. His .407 average in 183 plate appearances versus lefties has been a pleasant surprise for a bad Baltimore Orioles lineup, and has led to Alberto hitting lead-off when facing southpaws.

Starting tonight for the Kansas City Royals is left-handed pitcher Eric Skoglund. Skoglund was abysmal in Triple-A this season. His 6.04 ERA over 73 innings is bad enough, but it came with just 48 strikeouts in that span. Skoglund just isn’t very good, his career ERA in the majors is 5.90, and he doesn’t possess a swing-and-miss pitch. Alberto should be in line for a great night against Skoglund and the bad Royals bullpen.

Nick Solak, 2B, Texas Rangers ($3,000)

After another multi-hit game last night, Nick Solak's price jumps from $2,400 to $3,000 today, and if he stays hot this may be the last time he’ll be in this article.

Solak now has a 1.018 OPS through his first ten career games, and given the kind of numbers he was posting in the minors, it isn’t too surprising to see him excelling. Solak had 27 home runs and a .894 OPS in 477 plate appearances this season in Triple-A.

Tonight, Solak will face Marco Gonzales. Against lefties, Solak is 5-for-12 with two doubles and in the minors. Solak also had a .879 OPS in Triple-A against left-handed pitching. With Solak recently getting five straight games hitting fifth, before hitting fourth last night, there’s confidence Solak will be in the middle of the lineup, and at just $3,000 that’s really good value with what Solak has shown so far in his young career.

Jake Cave, OF, ($2,300), C.J. Cron, 1B, ($3,000) Minnesota Twins

By far my favorite value of the night, with the recent injuries to various Minnesota Twins hitters, Jake Cave has started to see consistent playing time and has completely taken advantage.

Cave has started 13 of the last 15 games for the Twins, in that span he has a 1.376 OPS with five home runs. This streak has been very luck-based, as he’s still striking 36% of the time during this stretch and has a .652 BABIP during this period, but his matchup tonight has me believing Cave can stay hot.

C.J. Cron is here because his price is fairly cheap and he gets to face Edwin Jackson tonight. He’s continued to show the power breakthroughs from a year ago are mostly legitimate, and after homering in back-to-back games entering tonight, he may be starting to get hot.

Pitching for the Detroit Tigers tonight is Edwin Jackson. Jackson has been awful in every sense this season. His 8.70 ERA/7.58 FIP across 49 ⅔ innings is laughably bad, as is 17 home runs surrendered in that time span. He’s honestly been fairly lucky to have a 5.48 ERA since joining Detroit, and this Twins lineup should be put in a position to dominate Jackson and the Tigers tonight.

James Kohout is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, James Kohout also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username jt2115. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.