MLB

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Wednesday 4/24/19

J.D. Martinez draws a premium matchup against the Tigers' Tyson Ross. Who else should you consider tonight on DraftKings?

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

Justin Verlander ($10,500 on DraftKings): Justin Verlander has far and away the best strikeout rate on the slate. His 34.8 percent rate is seven percentage points higher than second-best Walker Buehler. In addition, Verlander leads the slate with a 2.63 SIERA and 4.4 percent walk rate. He does have a somewhat difficult matchup against a Minnesota Twins team that is third in the Majors with a .357 weighted on-base average (wOBA) against right-handed pitchers, along with a 18.0 percent strikeout rate (second) in this split. Still, Verlander has the highest upside because of his strikeout ability.

Eduardo Rodriguez ($9,000): Eduardo Rodriguez certainly has his ups and downs, but there is enough strikeout upside with him that he can sometimes get himself out of the earned runs he tends to allow. His 26.4 percent strikeout rate from 2018 is encouraging, and his matchup against the Detroit Tigers is a juicy one. Detroit has a 29.1 strikeout rate against left-handed pitching this season, and their .298 wOBA ranks 19th in the Majors. While E-Rod's 8.1 percent walk rate isn't great, it should not get him into much trouble against a team that strikes out as much as the Tigers do.

Value Pitcher

Jordan Lyles ($7,400): This is an interesting spot for Jordan Lyles, as he and the Pittsburgh Pirates host the Arizona Diamondbacks. Over his last two starts, he has put up 26.5 and 33.1 DraftKings points (DKpts), going six innings in each and striking out at least 16 batters in the process. Last season, Lyles had a modest 22.6 percent strikeout rate with an elite 17.1 percent line-drive rate and very good 45.6 percent groundball rate. He did allow a lot of hard contact, as shown by his 39.1 percent hard-hit rate, but that is not uncommon for pitchers that allow the high rate of groundballs that he does.

Hitters to Target

High-Priced Hitters

J.D. Martinez ($5,200): We're still early enough into the 2019 season that sample sizes are small and looking at 2018 numbers are a viable option, and in 2018, Martinez mashed right-handed pitching. He put up an insane .434 wOBA and .315 isolated power (ISO) against righties and takes on Tigers right-hander Tyson Ross, a pitcher that struggled last year. Ross gave up very few fly-balls with his 27.6 percent rate, but when he did, they often left the park as his 14.0 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate would indicate. He also had a paltry 19.2 percent strikeout rate and slate-worst 9.8 percent walk rate.

Alex Bregman ($4,800): Alex Bregman is another right-handed pitcher that crushed right-handed pitching in 2018. His .390 wOBA and .243 ISO are among the league leaders and he has continued his righty-righty dominance into 2019. This season, he's off to an incredible start with a .432 wOBA and .228 ISO against righties. He'll take on Minnesota Twins' Kohl Stewart, a young pitcher with just 36.2 innings to show for in the Majors. However, in his limited innings he struggled with his command, which could get him in a lot of trouble against an elite Houston Astros lineup.

Jose Abreu ($4,800): The Chicago White Sox have been on everybody's radar during this series against the Baltimore Orioles, but they laid an egg last night after dominating on Monday. Tonight, they have another interesting matchup against Orioles left-hander John Means. He's had six appearances this season with only two being starts, so he is not really stretched out to go very deep, and with the Orioles' horrendous bullpen, there is reason to believe that once Means is out of the game the White Sox can go off again. But if Means is off early, Jose Abreu had plenty of success against lefties in 2018 with his .380 wOBA and .260 ISO. The damage could be done before it reaches the bullpen.

Value Hitters

Luke Voit ($4,200): Luke Voit was absolutely elite against right-handed pitching in 2018, as he hit them to the tune of a .429 wOBA and .301 ISO. While those numbers have come down considerably in 2019, with his .368 wOBA and .268 ISO, they are still solid numbers for a player that is taking on a right-hander in Felix Pena who gave up a ton of hard contact last season. The Los Angeles Angels starter's 40.1 percent hard-hit rate and 88.3 mile-per-hour average exit velocity could get him into trouble tonight, particularly against a bat like Voit.

Enrique Hernandez ($3,900): For most of his career, Kike Hernandez has been a platoon player, usually finding his way into the lineup against left-handed pitching. While that has been the case for some of 2019, he is certainly getting more opportunities against righties. But it makes sense, as he has been way more successful against southpaws in his career. He has a .366 wOBA and .231 ISO against lefties in his career with just a .289 wOBA and .161 ISO against righties. He faces Cole Hamels tonight in Chicago.

Chris Davis ($2,700): This is kind of hilarious. After setting the MLB record for plate appearances without a hit, Chris Davis has been pretty good over his last 10 games. Though it's just 29 plate appearances, he has put up a .310 average with two home runs, eight RBI and just nine strikeouts. He is a cheap option that's just begging to be rostered in a killer matchup. At home, the Orioles are taking on Ervin Santana, who has given up a .330 wOBA to lefties throughout his career.



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.