DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Monday 5/13/19
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
Jose Berrios ($9,400 on DraftKings): It's certainly an interesting slate tonight with just six games, but Jose Berrios stands out as the top play of the day on the mound. The Los Angeles Angels do not strike out much, ranking first with just a 15.8 percent strikeout rate. In 2018, Berrios has a solid strikeout rate with a 24.5 percent clip and leads the slate with an elite 3.9 percent walk rate. Tonight's matchup may not seem ideal on paper, but Berrios is unlikely to get lit up in this kind of spot as the Angels roster does not look that scary outside of their ability to avoid punchouts
Value Pitcher
Reynaldo Lopez ($6,800): Reynaldo Lopez has a solid strikeout rate of 23.9 percent, but there are still a lot of concerns with his stats across the board. However, there are plenty of reasons to believe that he could be a sneaky-good play at this price. He's taking on an Cleveland Indians team with a 24.2 percent strikeout rate against right-handed pitching. Additionally, they have struggled with just a .286 weighted on-base average (wOBA) in the same split -- the third-worst mark in all of baseball. If you're paying down on the bump, Lopez makes a lot of sense.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Rhys Hoskins ($5,400): Rhys Hoskins is a reverse-splits guy. He's a right-handed hitter who does much better against right-handed pitchers. In 2018, Hoskins smashed righties for a .380 wOBA and .288 isolated power (ISO). In 2019, those numbers are even better as he's posting a .432 wOBA and .324 ISO in the split. His matchup tonight against Freddy Peralta is an elite one. In limited innings this season, Peralta has given up a 43.4 percent hard-hit rate and 46.3 percent fly-ball rate -- resulting in an 18.9 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate.
Dan Vogelbach ($4,500): Dan Vogelbach has finally become mainstay in the Majors, and he's earned his spot by doing so much damage against right-handed pitchers. His numbers are otherworldly -- a .423 wOBA and.348 ISO versus righties. He'll take on Oakland Athletics right-hander Mike Fiers -- a pitcher coming off an insane no-hitter. Other than that game, Fiers has struggled this year with an abysmal 41.4 percent hard-hit rate and 43.7 percent fly-ball rate. Vogelbach is a great anchor to a stack or an enticing one-off play.
Value Hitters
Khris Davis ($4,000): Khris Davis' price continues to plummet, and now may be the perfect time to pounce. While Davis' numbers are slightly better against righties in his career (.356 wOBA and .270 ISO) than against lefties (.348 wOBA and .268 ISO), his matchup against rookie left-hander Yusei Kikuchi is a decent one. Kikuchi doesn't really strike many batters out as his lowly 19.8 percent strikeout rate would indicate, and his 4.19 SIERA is worse than his 3.54 ERA. Additionally, his .259 BABIP indicates he has been getting a bit lucky and should see some regression. Davis could have a big game in this spot.
Travis Shaw ($2,600): Travis Shaw absolutely destroyed right-handed pitching last season with a fantastic .374 wOBA and .285 ISO in the split. Those numbers have plummeted this season as he's got a horrendous .280 wOBA and 158 ISO with the platoon advantage. Tonight, Shaw has an interesting matchup with Aaron Nola, who has struggled with walks this season, giving up a 9.0 percent walk rate. In addition to that, Nola has allowed a not-so-great 1.66 homers per night. This game is in Philadelphia, a stadium that ranked eighth in park factor last season, and on a night with limited options, Shaw could pop a dinger at a cheap price and at lower ownership.
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.
