DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Wednesday 6/26/19
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
Patrick Corbin ($10,600 on DraftKings): Patrick Corbin has brought the Washington Nationals about as much as they could have hoped for this season. He has put up a solid 26.6 percent strikeout rate to go with an elite and slate-best 16.9 percent line-drive rate and acceptable 4.04 SIERA. Tonight he has a solid matchup as a left-handed pitcher as he takes on the Miami Marlins. They haven't struck out very much against southpaws as their 20.5 percent strikeout rate sits way down at 24th, but their .274 wOBA in the same split is second-to-last in the Majors.
Matt Boyd ($10,000): The "surprise ace of the year" award goes to Matt Boyd. He's been incredible this season with a 30.1 percent strikeout rate and a 4.9 percent walk rate. And in fact, his 3.61 ERA is probably a bit inflated considering he is rocking a 3.35 SIERA. Tonight presents Boyd with an elite upside opportunity as he takes on a Texas Rangers team that leads the Majors with a 27.6 percent strikeout rate against left-handed pitchers. With an 18th-ranked wOBA (.312), there is little concern in this spot.
Value Pitcher
Framber Valdez ($6,900): He has three starts this season, and two were fantastic while one was forgettable. While most of his time has been out of the bullpen this season, there is still plenty to get excited about. He has an elite 60.2 percent groundball rate and 18.6 percent line-drive rate with a 4.11 SIERA. While his 38.3 percent hard-hit rate and below-average 21.8 percent strikeout rate need improvement, there is reason to believe he should be able to get his strikeout rate up. He had a 30.5 percent strikeout rate in AA last season which hopefully means we will see an improvement on his MLB rate over time.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Yordan Alvarez ($5,200): In his very short time in the Majors this season, Houston Astros rookie Yordan Alvarez has been dominant. Although he has just 45 plate appearances against right-handed pitchers, the numbers he's showing are extremely encouraging with a .472 wOBA and ridiculous .450 ISO. The power is unbelievable and a matchup against Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Dario Agrazal is a great one as he is making just his second career start in the Majors.
Kris Bryant ($4,500): Dallas Keuchel didn't look great in his first start of the season for the Atlanta Braves and his second one doesn't prove to be an easy matchup to help him bounce back. Kris Bryant has crushed left-handed pitching this season and will be looking to take advantage of Keuchel — a pitcher still trying to shake off the rust. Bryant has put up a ridiculous .453 wOBA to go along with a .436 ISO — numbers that are utter dominance.
Shohei Ohtani ($4,500): Playing only as a designated hitter, Shohei Ohtani has been solid and has been getting even better as he gets back up to speed in 2019. While we can talk about how long-term his dual-threat as a pitcher and hitter will be crazy valuable down the road, but for now we can just enjoy his play at the plate. This season against right-handed pitching he's put up a .333 wOBA and .224 ISO. Those are already solid numbers, and there's room for improvement considering his .433 wOBA and .344 ISO from 2018.
Value Hitters
J.T. Realmuto ($4,000): The Philadelphia Phillies have been a huge disappointment this season and J.T. Realmuto certainly falls into that group of players that has not lived up to expectations. However, he has still done plenty of damage against left-handed pitching as indicated by his .349 wOBA and very nice .260 ISO. He's going to face Jason Vargas just a couple days after controversy in the New York Mets organization. Vargas has stunk this season with a 5.27 SIERA and 39.1 percent hard-hit rate while producing a brutal 10.1 percent walk rate.
Khris Davis ($3,900): After coming out of the gate firing, Khris Davis god hurt and has slowed down considerably. His numbers against right-handed pitching specifically have been brutal this season with a .303 wOBA and .182 ISO. When you consider his .374 wOBA and elite .315 ISO from 2018, there is a lot of reason to believe he can improve as this season continues on. Tonight against St. Louis Cardinals' Adam Wainwright seems as good a time as any with his 42.8 percent hard-hit rate and 22.7 percent line-drive rate.
Robinson Cano ($3,200): Robinson Cano is certainly in the twilight of his career at 36 years old, but he can still be a productive fantasy producer — especially when he's priced down this low. He has a respectable, but not great, .313 wOBA and .182 ISO against right-handed pitching this season. His matchup tonight is a good one, even without the power he used to have, as Nick Pivetta has struggled to keep the ball in the park. He is giving up a 43.3 percent hard-hit rate and 41.4 percent fly-ball rate which has led to a slate-worst 25.0 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate.
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.
