MLB

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Tuesday 5/28/19

David Price is underpriced in a solid home matchup. Which other players should you consider tonight?

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

Rich Hill ($10,800 on DraftKings): Pitch count will always be a concern with Rich Hill as he has just one of his five starts throwing more than 90 pitches. The 39-year-old is coming off a fantastic 2018 season in which he put up a 27.4 percent strikeout rate, 7.5 percent walk rate and a 3.57 SIERA. He'll take on a New York Mets that has a 26.8 percent strikeout rate against left-handed pitching — the fifth most in the Majors. Even if he cannot get to 100 pitches, he should pitch five-plus innings to be eligible for the win, even though Mets have had success hitting lefties.

David Price ($9,400): Another left-handed pitcher in a solid matchup is David Price. His opponent — the Cleveland Indians — have just the 14th most strikeouts against left-handed pitching. While they strike out at a 24.3 percent clip, their .293 weighted on-base average (wOBA) as a team is tied for the fifth-lowest in the Majors. Price is coming off a season in which he posted a solid 24.5 percent strikeout rate with a 3.82 SIERA. While his 1.28 HR/9 innings is a bit concerning, he was able to allow hard-contact at just a 32.2 percent rate which is acceptable.

Value Pitcher

Marco Gonzales ($6,900): This is certainly not an easy matchup for Marco Gonzales as the Seattle Mariners host the Texas Rangers this evening. Gonzales is coming off a very successful 2018 season in which he had a not-so-threatening 21.1 percent strikeout rate, but his 4.7 percent walk rate and 44.9 percent groundball rate were very good. In addition, he posted a 3.81 SIERA which is among the best on the slate. For this price, it is tough to ignore that the Rangers have a 28.8 percent strikeout rate against southpaws, which is the second-most in all of baseball.

Hitters to Target

High-Priced Hitters

Eduardo Escobar ($5,700): This is a very expensive price for Eduardo Escobar, with his price tag being inflated due to his Coors Field matchup. However, he has had plenty of success against right-handed pitching as indicated by his .351 wOBA and .250 isolated power (ISO) in 2019. In addition, this switch-hitter put up almost identical numbers in 2018 with a .351 wOBA And .255 ISO. The Colorado Rockies bullpen has been pretty terrible with a collective 4.50 SIERA — the fourth-worst mark in the Majors. So even once right-handed Antonio Senzatela is out of the game, Escobar can use his switch-hitting capabilities to smash both-handed pitchers. He has a .417 wOBA and a .282 ISO against lefties this season.

Trevor Story ($5,500): On the other side of this Coors Field matchup, Trevor is coming into this matchup with solid numbers right-handed pitching. In 2019, Story has a .366 wOBA and a .268 ISO against righties which is pretty solid and he's taking on a right-handed pitcher in Merrill Kelly of the Arizona Diamondbacks — one that has struggled this season. In the early part of 2019 — his first in the Majors — Kelly is giving up a brutal 40.8 percent hard-hit rate and a 37.0 percent fly-ball rate which has led to a 12.5 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate.

Javier Baez ($5,000): Javier Baez has been solid against right-handed pitching this season with a .352 wOBA and a .225 ISO. Last season, Baez brought even more power against righties with a similar .361 wOBA but an even more impressive .263 ISO. He'll face Houston Astros' rookie Corbin Martin — a pitcher that has just 12.2 innings under his belt in three starts. He has one elite game with 27.6 DraftKings points but followed that up with two disappointing starts in which he could not crack 4 DraftKings points. So we'll see which Corbin Martin shows up tonight, but Baez is in an elite spot.

Value Hitters

Matt Olson ($4,000): Since returning from injury, Matt Olson has a .243 AVG, five home runs and, a .812 OPS. These numbers are relatively close to his career numbers, but it is his splits against right-handed pitching that hasn't been very good this season. In 2018, he was great with a .353 wOBA and a .249 ISO, however, in 2019, those numbers have dipped to a concerning .311 wOBA And a .163 ISO. Luckily, he'll face Nick Tropeano — who the Los Angeles Angels are using as a bulk reliever — and he was horrendous last season. He gave up a 43.4 percent hard-hit rate, 40.6 percent fly-ball rate and an 89.4 mile-per-hour average exit velocity which led to an abysmal 18.0 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($3,700): He has certainly had a bit of a roller coaster of a rookie season, as one would expect from just about every other rookie hitter in the Majors. However, there was so much hype around Vladimir Guerrero Jr. that plenty of people are disappointed in his season so far. Perhaps rightfully so. However, his upside is just too high for the lowly $3,700 price tag on DraftKings. He has a solid .354 wOBA and .230 ISO against right-handed pitching, which he will face for his first at-bat (most likely) against Ryne Stanek. Then once left-hander Ryan Yarbrough takes over, things could get dicey as Vladdy has just a .182 wOBA And .042 ISO against lefties in the Majors. However, it is just a 25 plate appearance sample size so take that with a grain of salt.

Jesus Aguilar ($2,900): Let's be honest, Jesus Aguilar has been horrific this season — especially against left-handed pitching. He has a horrific .249 wOBA and a .167 ISO against southpaws, which is certainly a concern. However, in 2018 he was absolutely dominant. He put up a .389 wOBA And a .267 ISO which we would be more than happy with. Another reason for Aguilar's price tag, other than his struggles, is the evolution of Martin Perez. He has been dominant this season, but Aguilar certainly has the upside that makes this price tag an absolute bargain.



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.