DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Wednesday 6/5/19
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
Charlie Morton ($11,600 on DraftKings): Charlie Morton was quite good last season and has continued the success with the Tampa Bay Rays this season. He has bumped his strikeout rate up to 30.4 percent from 28.9 percent, which is significant when you consider his career mark is a horrific 19.5 percent (though it is obvious he made a significant change to his approach after 2015). He has one of the best matchups possible, as the Detroit Tigers strike out at a 26.3 percent clip against right-handed pitching — the third-highest in the Majors.
Chris Sale ($10,600): Considering his turnaround, it seems odd for Chris Sale to only be priced as the fourth-highest pitcher on the slate. Well here he is and he is coming off a 2018 campaign in which he posted an absurd 38.4 percent strikeout rate which is more than three percentage points higher than the next-best on the slate. In addition, he leads the way with a 2.27 SIERA from last season. He'll take on a Kansas City Royals team that strikes out at a 24.8 percent rate against left-handed pitching — the 10th most — but it is their 28th ranked wOBA of .283 that is most intriguing.
Value Pitcher
Martin Perez ($7,400): Martin Perez was having a pretty good season until it came crashing back down to earth in his last start against the Rays. However, there was a reason he had been pitching so well this season and that was the offseason development of his cutter, a pitch he never had in his arsenal before. He's throwing it over 30 percent of the time this season and finding plenty of success. Hoping for a bounceback tonight, he'll take on an Indians team that doesn't strike out that much against lefties with their 23.1 percent strikeout rate but they have a 25th ranked wOBA of .292.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Austin Meadows ($5,800): Austin Meadows' dominance continues this season. He has torn a strip off the baseball — especially against right-handed pitching. His .467 wOBA and .316 ISO are not only elite, they are among the best in baseball -- surrounded by names like Christian Yelich and Cody Bellinger. He'll take on Tigers right-handed Spencer Turnbull -- a pitcher that has given up a 36.8 percent hard-hit rate, 33.1 percent fly-ball rate and a .323 wOBA against left-handed hitters throughout his career.
Mookie Betts ($4,800): Even though he is a right-handed hitter, Mookie Betts has been much better against right-handed pitchers this season. He has put up elite numbers including a .406 wOBA and .234 ISO against righties, and he has a solid matchup tonight. He'll take on Kansas City Royals right-hander Jake Junis -- a pitcher who has had plenty of issues. In 2018, Junis gave up a 41.0 percent hard-hit rate and a 37.1 percent fly-ball rate which led to an abysmal 16.2 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate.
Renato Nunez ($4,600): Talk about a power streak. Renato Nunez has 8 home runs in his last 14 games including a four-game streak at the end of May. He's put up a .392 wOBA and an incredible .319 ISO against southpaws this season and considering the Texas Rangers also have a terrible bullpen, he makes for an interesting play. Mike Minor had a 4.27 SIERA last season and with a 37.9 percent hard-hit rate, 44.9 percent fly-ball rate and a 194 foot average batted-ball distance, it is no surprise that he gave up a 1.43 HR/9.
Value Hitters
Shohei Ohtani ($3,800): It seems to me that Shohei Ohtani is still getting his groove back since coming off Tommy John surgery. He destroyed right-handed pitching in his first year in the Majors with a .433 wOBA and a .344 ISO but so far this season, he has only put up a .301 wOBA and .182 ISO. Hopefully that changes sooner rather than later and tonight seems like a great time to change it against Oakland Athletics' Daniel Mengden. In 2018 Mengden gave up a 40.3 percent hard-hit rate and 38.5 percent fly-ball rate along with an 89.0 mile-per-hour average exit velocity which all took a part in his 12.7 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate.
Matt Olson ($3,800): Another player that has missed time this season with an injury is Matt Olson. He also seems to be struggling against right-handed pitching, with just a .285 wOBA and a .194 ISO, however last season he crushed righties with a modest .353 wOBA but quite powerful .249 ISO. Tonight he'll face Felix Pena of the Los Angeles Angels -- a right-handed pitcher that also struggled with the long-ball. He gave up a 40.1 percent hard-hit rate and 33.3 percent fly-ball rate which led to a 13.3 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate.
Kyle Schwarber ($3,500): I guess we will continue the trend of rostering players that are cheap due to some 2019 struggles but with plenty of success in 2018. Kyle Schwarber is just another one you can add to that list as he hit right-handed pitchers to the tune of a .353 wOBA and .261 ISO last season but has just a .304 wOBA and .205 ISO this season in the same split. His matchup isn't great tonight though, taking on German Marquez. The only number that is really worth targeting from Marquez was his not-so-great 23.0 percent line-drive rate from 2018. This number could get him into trouble when you factor in his 37.3 percent hard-hit rate and 88.9 mile-per-hour average exit velocity.
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.
