MLB

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Thursday 5/30/19

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

Hyun-jin Ryu ($11,200 on DraftKings): Over his career, Hyun-jin Ryu has continually improved his strikeout rate. Although his career mark is 22.2 percent, his 2018 clip of 27.5 percent and this year's mark of 25.6 percent strikeout rate are really nice numbers. He has been completely dominant this season -- though he's gotten a bit of luck. He has an incredibly elite 1.65 ERA, though his 2.82 xFIP shows that is an inflated number, mostly due to a .259 BABIP. He's got a boom-or-bust matchup against the New York Mets -- a team that strikes out at a 26.2 percent clip against left-handed pitching but does have a solid .340 weighted on-base average (wOBA) against southpaws.

Carlos Carrasco ($9,500): This is a much better matchup for a pitcher here as Carlos Carrasco will face the Chicago White Sox. Carrasco was solid in 2018 with a 29.5 percent strikeout rate and 15.3 percent swinging strike rate. He did give up a 38.9 percent hard-hit rate a year ago, so it is good to see that he can get hitters to whiff at a significant rate. Luckily the White Sox struggle against right-handed pitching. Their 26.8 percent strikeout rate in the split is the second-worst in the Majors and their .305 wOBA ranks 22nd.

Value Pitcher

Yusei Kikuchi ($6,800): He's had some solid games, and he's had some stinkers. All-in-all, Yusei Kikuchi has been decent as a starter in the Majors, even though he leaves us wanting more on some occasions. He has a very uninspiring 19.0 percent strikeout rate, but his 18.1 percent line-drive rate and 45.6 percent ground-ball rate are both great. Kikuchi has also had really nice control, sporting a 5.7 percent walk rate. His strikeout rate is capped even more in tonight's matchup against the Los Angeles Angels as their 16.9 percent strikeout rate is the lowest in the Majors. But if you're wanting to pay way down, he isn't a bad route to take.

Hitters to Target

High-Priced Hitters

Josh Bell ($5,700): Josh Bell has been incredibe this season and is not showing any signs of slowing down. Bell is a switch hitter, but he has been way more successful against right-handed pitching this year. Not that he isn't bad against lefties, it's just that his numbers against righties are among the best in all of baseball. He has been able to put up a ridiculous .479 wOBA and .403 isolated power (ISO) against righties this season and will take on Milwaukee Brewers righty Chase Anderson this evening. Anderson struggled last season, giving up a 36.3 percent hard-hit rate and a 44.2 percent fly-ball rate, which led to a brutal 15.4 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate.

Joey Gallo ($5,600): Speaking of hitters who smash right-handed pitching, enter: Joey Gallo. This season, Gallo has completely turned a corner with his hitting, and it has made him one of the best overall hitters in baseball. He was always a power guy, hitting at least 40 home runs in each of his last two seasons. However, those came with .209 and .206 batting averages. This season, he has a much improved .278 average and sits seventh among hitters with a 2.7 WAR, per Fangraphs. His strikeout rate is still very high (35.3 percent), so his average is likely to come down eventually, but he's got a .428 wOBA and .368 ISO against right-handed pitching, so you'll take two strikeouts if it also means a home run.

Dan Vogelbach ($4,800): This makes it three straight guys who maul right-handed pitchers as we get to Dan Vogelbach. He has crushed righties to the tune of a .435 wOBA and .362 ISO in his first season in the Majors as a regular in the Seattle Mariners lineup. He'll take on Felix Pena of the Los Angeles Angels. In 2018, Pena gave up a horrendous 40.1 percent hard-hit rate and an ugly 88.3 mile-per-hour average exit velocity. These two numbers contributed to his ugly 13.3 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate. In addition, Pena gave up a 24.1 percent line-drive rate, and this is a sublime spot for Vogelbach.

Value Hitters

Jose Ramirez ($3,900): How many times am I going to fall into this trap? Well, keep giving me a cheap Jose Ramirez, and I will continue to go back to the well. He wasn't out of this world last season against lefties (.344 wOBA and .203 ISO), but it was certainly better than his 2019 numbers (.328 wOBA and .131 ISO). The matchup is great as White Sox will have left-hander Manny Banuelos on the mound. Banuelos has given up a 35.8 percent hard-hit rate and a 36.9 percent fly-ball rate this year, and it's a game in which the underwhelming Cleveland Indians offense could have a big day.

David Freese ($3,900): David Freese pretty much plays only against left-handed pitchers, and he's been relatively solid in that split. Against lefties this season, Freese has put up a .359 wOBA and .190 ISO. He'll be facing Jason Vargas tonight. Jason Vargas struggled last season, and while his 21.2 percent line-drive rate and 34.7 percent hard-hit rate from this year aren't terrible, the Los Angeles Dodgers carry a 5.21 implied total, and Freese is a cheap way to get exposure to them.

Jorge Soler ($3,800): Jorge Soler is having a pretty good season with the Kansas City Royals. He's facing a resurgent Mike Minor in this one. While Soler's .283 wOBA and .164 ISO this season against left-handed pitching aren't all that good, he has a .333 wOBA and .191 ISO in the split for his career. The matchup isn't great as Minor has been good, but Soler gets a park boost tonight in Arlington and could pop one.



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.