DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Wednesday 5/30/18
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 Pitchers
Max Scherzer ($13,900 on DraftKings): Here we are again with Max Scherzer. The best pitcher on the slate in a great matchup against the Baltimore Orioles, who not only strike out at a 24.2 percent clip, but they struggle to generate offense. They have a team weighted on-base average of .296 -- 27th in the Majors -- and their wRC+ of just 84 puts them 26th. Scherzer leads the slate with a 38.2 percent strikeout rate in 2018, and his 0.91 WHIP and 2.76 xFIP are both third-best on the slate.
James Paxton ($11,700): In his three starts since his no-hitter, James Paxton has had one stinker, another complete game shutout and a game where he had 11 strikeouts in 7 innings. He's been one of the most reliable pitchers this season and is taking on a Texas Rangers team tonight that strikes out the second-most in the Majors, at a 25.8 percent clip. This is a great matchup for Paxton as he has put up a 32.7 percent strikeout rate, 0.96 WHIP and a 3.15 xFIP to this point in 2018.
Low-Priced Pitcher
Ross Stripling ($7,300): Ross Stripling has been marvelous over his last two starts. He has gone at least 6 innings, allowing just 1 run and picking up a combined 19 strikeouts. He's also entering a nice matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies, who possess the second-lowest implied run total (3.28) on the slate. Additionally, the Phillies' 25.3 strikeout rate is the fourth-worst in the Majors and combined with Stripling's solid 29.6 percent strikeout rate this season, he could be in for a big game.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Mike Trout ($6,000): There was never a question, but Mike Trout is just further cementing himself as the best player in baseball with the insane season he is having. In just 55 games, he has put up a 4.5 WAR, smacked 18 home runs, picked up 12 stolen bases and has an insane 20.1 percent walk-rate. All but the stolen bases lead the Majors, which is standard for Trout at this point. He'll be taking on Mike Fiers, who has a 4.92 xFIP, 43.9 percent fly-ball rate, 34.1 percent hard-hit rate and an 88.4 mile-per-hour average exit velocity, all of which play perfectly into Trout's power numbers.
Ozzie Albies ($5,200): Ozzie Albies has been much better than anybody would have anticipated this early into his career, and most of his damage has come against left-handed pitching. Tonight, he'll be taking on New York Mets' lefty Jason Vargas, a pitcher that has been horrible this season. A 2.16 WHIP, 4.82 xFIP, 37.5 percent hard-hit rate and 22.2 percent home run to fly-ball rate doesn't give much encouragement on his side. Albies, on the other hand, has tuned up lefties with a .458 wOBA and a .328 isolated power (ISO).
Mitch Haniger ($4,000): Texas Rangers' left-handed pitcher Matt Moore will be coming off the DL to start against the Seattle Mariners. Moore has been terrible this season giving up a 47.4 percent hard-hit rate and a 90.8 mile-per-hour average exit velocity, both of which are the worst on the slate. Additionally, he has a horrific 2.02 WHIP, 5.70 xFIP and follows it up with being unable to strike anybody out (15.7 percent strikeout rate). Mitch Haniger has been crushing lefties this season -- with a .444 wOBA and .232 ISO -- so this is a great matchup in his favor.
Value Hitters
Eric Hosmer ($3,900): Eric Hosmer and the San Diego Padres are hosting the Miami Marlins, who will be tossing Jose Urena onto the mound. Urena has been hit hard this season with a 41.9 percent hard-hit rate and an 89.6 mile-per-hour average exit velocity. Hosmer crushed righties last season with an elite .400 wOBA and a good-not-great .193 ISO. He's not a huge power guy, but he can definitely knock some runs in.
Matt Olson ($3,700): Matt Olson was a righty masher last season, and although the numbers aren't there in 2018, his .439 wOBA and .434 ISO from 2017 are encouraging. He'll be taking on Nathan Eovaldi, who will be making his first start since August 12, 2016. Targeting a pitching coming off his second Tommy John surgery in his first game back should be solid and he wasn't that great against lefties before his injury. In his career, Eovaldi has given up a .344 wOBA and a .433 slugging percentage to those hitting from the left side of the dish.
Wilson Ramos ($3,300): Wilson Ramos has been solid this season, putting up a .306 AVG, hitting 7 home runs, knocking in 26 runs and averaging 7.4 DraftKings points per game. He's also been good against lefties with a .367 wOBA and a .188 ISO. He'll take on lefty Sean Manae, who has been solid on the surface this season, but there are concerns with his form as he unraveled a bit last game. He went just 3.2 innings giving up 6 earned runs and, based on his 3.97 xFIP, 38.3 percent hard-hit rate, 23 percent line-drive rate and 89.2 mile-per-hour average exit velocity, it didn't come as a big surprise.
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.
