DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Thursday 9/6/18
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
Stephen Strasburg ($8,600 on DraftKings): It is a three-game slate tonight, so options are limited. Stephen Strasburg stands out among the small crowd with a 28.2 percent strikeout rate, 1.19 WHIP and 3.11 xFIP. This is far from an easy matchup as Strasburg takes on the Chicago Cubs, a team that brings plenty of pop and is starting to get healthy. The Cubbies have a modest 21.4 percent strikeout rate, which ranks 21st. Strasburg has had some troubles with his 23.6 percent line-drive rate, so he is far from a safe play, but nobody is safe tonight.
Low-Priced Pitcher
Anibal Sanchez ($7,500): Again, this short slate leads to some fun options, but Anibal Sanchez has actually been decent this season. He has a 24.0 percent strikeout rate, 1.09 WHIP and 3.84 xFIP -- all of which are solid. Additionally, he has a 28.0 percent hard-hit rate and 17.7 percent line-drive rate, both of which lead the slate. Sanchez is taking on the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have a 23.8 percent strikeout rate, the seventh-highest in the Majors, which gives him some upside.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Jose Ramirez ($5,300): As is usually the case when the Cleveland Indians are facing a right-handed pitcher, Jose Ramirez is an elite play. His price is quite low considering his dominance in this split. He has an elite .428 weighted on-base average (wOBA) and .341 isolated power (ISO) against righties, the wOBA being the sixth-best among all hitters with at least 50 plate appearances against righties. He's taking on Toronto Blue Jays' Sam Gaviglio, who has slate-worst marks in WHIP (1.43) and xFIP (4.02).
Ronald Acuna ($5,000): Zack Greinke still has plenty of name value, and while his 1.05 WHIP and 3.32 xFIP are both great, there are other numbers that are concerning and worth targeting. He has a 40.6 percent hard-hit rate, 23.5 percent line-drive rate and a 15.8 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate. On a short-slate in which Greinke could see some solid ownership, it is awfully appealing to go after those numbers with Atlanta Braves bats. Ronald Acuna has had plenty of success against righties this season, with a .390 wOBA and .289 ISO in the split, and could be lower owned given the name of his opposing pitcher
Value Hitters
Kris Bryant ($4,100): Kris Bryant has had some injuries this season and hasn't been great, but this is an incredibly cheap price for a player of his caliber. In 2018, he has just a .336 wOBA and .137 ISO against right-handed pitching, but in 2017, he crushed it with a .397 wOBA and .249 ISO in the split. He's taking on Strasburg, who was mentioned above with a 23.6 percent line-drive rate, so if Bryant can square one up, he could have a big day.
Billy McKinney ($3,600): Billy McKinney has been great for the Toronto Blue Jays in his 50 at-bats this season. He has put up a .360 average, 1.081 OPS, 3 home runs and 10 RBIs. His splits against righties are elite with an incredible .446 wOBA and .283 ISO, numbers that put him near the top in both categories, although the sample is very small. He's taking on Chicago Cubs' righty Kyle Hendricks, who has struggled with a 3.89 xFIP and has the worst strikeout rate on the slate at just 19.9 percent. Hendricks' contact numbers are pretty good, but with how McKinney is seeing the ball, the Jays' leadoff man is worth a dart throw.
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.
