DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Tuesday 5/8/18
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
Corey Kluber ($13,600 on DraftKings): He is the most expensive pitcher on DraftKings tonight, but Corey Kluber certainly has the resume to back that up. In terms of 2017 numbers, he paces the slate with a 34.1 percent strikeout rate and 2.68 skill-interactive earned run average (SIERA). Furthermore, his walk rate of just 4.6 percent is also elite and tied for tops on the slate. He is facing a Milwaukee Brewers team that is middle-of-the-pack in terms of strikeout rate at 23.4 percent (13th) but ranks 27th in team weighted on-base average (wOBA) at just .299.
James Paxton ($11,000): James Paxton is fresh off of a 16-strikeout game, an outing in which he got a no-decision. This was his third double-digit strikeout game in his last five starts. He's had a nice carry over from 2017, when he posted a 28.3 percent strikeout rate and 3.45 SIERA along with a very good walk rate at 6.7 percent. He's going to take on a Toronto Blue Jays team that has been a bit of a surprise. They don't strikeout very much, just 22.8 percent of the time, which puts them 16th most in the Majors. However, if Paxton brings his A-game, then there is plenty of upside here.
Low-Priced Pitchers
Rich Hill ($7,300): Rich Hill is coming off a stint on the disabled list, so be sure to check for a pitch limit. He doesn't typically rack up the pitch count too high anyway, but with his 30.1 percent strikeout rate in 2017, he can rack up the strikeouts very quickly even on a limited pitch count. He's going to be facing a pretty swing-happy team in the Arizona Diamondbacks as they have struckout the fifth-most in the Majors (25.6 percent).
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Mike Trout ($6,300): You are going to have to find some other cheap options to fit in the Coors Field players, but it will be hard to ignore Mike Trout in this hitting environment. He is second in the Majors with 12 home runs this season, and in 2017, he absolutely destroyed right-handed pitching. He put up an elite .450 wOBA and .359 isolated power (ISO) off righties last season and has just continued that into this year. As expected from a Colorado Rockies pitcher, Jon Gray hasn't been great at home, giving up a .344 wOBA and .455 slugging percentage against right-handed hitters. This is a great spot for Trout to crush.
Rhys Hoskins ($4,900): The power that Rhys Hoskins displayed against left-handed pitching in 2017 was beastly as he put up a .407 wOBA and .439 ISO in the split. He's going to be facing Derek Holland, a pitcher who struggled in 2017. He put up an abysmal 5.57 SIERA last season, the worst on the slate, a 195 foot average batted-ball distance and an 88.3 mile per hour average exit velocity, both of which are bottom-five on the slate.
Manny Machado ($4,900): Manny Machado has dominated so far in 2018, putting up a .346 average, 1.054 OPS and 9 home runs to go along with 27 RBIs and 17 runs. He had a down 2017 season by his standards, but it still saw him post a .345 wOBA and .244 ISO against left-handed pitching, which is what he will be facing tonight in Danny Duffy. In his career, Duffy has given up a .336 wOBA to right-handed bats, so he could be in for some trouble against Machado.
Value Hitters
Robinson Cano ($3,700): At a pretty cheap price, Robinson Cano is in an interesting spot. He's taking on Marcus Stroman, who has struggled this season. Stroman has a horrific 7.52 ERA and has given up 4 or more runs in all but one game this season. Cano has done well against right-handed pitching. In 2017, he hit righties to the tune of a .373 wOBA and .208 ISO.
Anthony Rendon ($3,700): Anthony Rendon is another hitter who seems mispriced tonight. He has played in just 17 games this season and has logged only three games since coming off the disabled list. The Washington Nationals are taking on the San Diego Padres on the road tonight and will be up against Clayton Richard. In 2017, Richard was pretty bad, giving up a 35 percent hard-hit rate and recording a meager 17.6 percent strikeout rate. Rendon, on the other hand, smashed left-handed pitching last year, racking up an elite .461 wOBA and .346 ISO.
Justin Bour ($3,300): Considering Justin Bour is taking on a right-handed pitcher, this price is just way too low. In 2017, Bour smashed righties with a .384 wOBA and .252 ISO. He's facing Jen-Ho Tseng, a right-handed pitcher with just six MLB innings under his belt. His numbers in Triple-A this season have been poor -- 8.04 ERA with a 5.71 FIP -- but he had a better showing in Triple-A last year (4.25 FIP). Regardless, Bour is in a great spot at a bargain price.
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.
