MLB

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Tuesday 6/4/19

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 ($11,500 on DraftKings): Stephen Strasburg is the most expensive pitcher on the slate for good reason as he has arguably the best matchup of the night. The right-hander had a superb 28.7 percent strikeout rate last season on his way to a 3.33 SIERA. This year, he's lowered his SIERA to 3.20 while upping his strikeout rate to 31.3 percent. He's got a home matchup against the Chicago White Sox -- a team that struggles at the plate. The White Sox have a 26.4 percent strikeout rate against right-handed pitching with a .306 wOBA in the split.

Blake Snell ($11,000): Another expensive pitcher who we absolutely have to consider is Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays. He, too, has a fantastic matchup as he'll take on a Detroit Tigers team that struggles against southpaws. Their 26.4 percent strikeout rate versus lefties is the 6th-highest while their .305 wOBA doesn't do them any favors, either, as it ranks 22nd. Snell is coming off a Cy Young season, and he's been even better in 2019, posting a 2.98 SIERA, 19.1 percent swinging-strike rate and 34.9 percent strikeout rate -- all of which are career-best marks.

Value Pitcher

Eduardo Rodriguez ($8,000): While the Kansas City Royals don't strike out that much against left-handed pitchers -- indicated by their modest 24.6 percent strikeout rate -- it is their 27th-ranked .282 wOBA that we are targeting. Eduardo Rodriguez does have some punchout upside, however, which his 26.4 percent strikeout rate from 2018 shows. He limited hard-contract to a very good 27.9 percent clip last season, and his 12.6 percent swinging-strike rate this year is a career-high clip.

Hitters to Target

High-Priced Hitters

Juan Soto ($5,500): While Soto's numbers against right-handed pitchers aren't as good as they were in his incredible rookie year (.401 wOBA and .231 ISO), they are still very close -- especially in the power department -- as he's got a .384 wOBA and .230 ISO in this split. He draws a solid matchup tonight against struggling White Sox pitcher Reynaldo Lopez. In 2018, Lopez was a disaster, giving up an 88.1 mile-per-hour average exit velocity and a 194-foot average batted-ball distance. This was in addition to his horrible 4.92 SIERA, a bottom-five number on the slate, and the Nats have a 5.17 implied total today.

Shin-Soo Choo ($5,100): Choo doesn't usually bring too much power, but this season he has been tearing a strip off of the ball -- especially against right-handed pitching. In 180 plate appearances against righties in 2019, Choo has put up an elite .414 wOBA and .278 ISO. His matchup against Baltimore Orioles' Dylan Bundy is a fantastic one. Bundy struggled to keep the ball in the park last season, and his strikeout rate against lefties this season is just 15.5 percent.

Trey Mancini ($5,000): On the other side of this matchup, the Orioles will take on Drew Smyly of the Texas Rangers -- a left-handed pitcher trying to resurrect his career. Smyly missed the entire 2017 and 2018 seasons, so there was a lot of rust to shake off after a disappointing 2016 campaign. So far this year, Smyly has allowed a nightmarish 55.9 percent hard-hit rate and 47.5 percent fly-ball rate. This is just 38.2 innings in 2019, so a very small sample size, but the struggles are real. Trey Mancini has smashed lefties this season with an elite .420 wOBA and .290 ISO in the split and can do a lot of damage in this spot.

Value Hitters

Khris Davis ($3,600): It's like Davis got hurt and everybody forgot how dominant he was to start the season. Davis has as much raw power as anybody in the Majors. This price tag for Davis' upside is just way too low in a matchup against Los Angeles Angels rookie Griffin Canning. Now, Canning has been solid since making his debut, but Davis can smash right-handed pitchers -- as his .374 wOBA and .315 ISO from 2018 demonstrate.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($3,500): Another way underpriced hitter compared to his upside, Guerrero hasn't been as good as we expected in the early part of his MLB career. But when looking at his minor league numbers, it is difficult to ignore the elite upside. Plus, his .354 wOBA and .222 ISO against righties this season is still pretty solid. He'll face Masahiro Tanaka of the New York Yankees -- a pitcher who has been decent this season but has always struggled with the long-ball. Tanaka gave up a 1.44 homers per nine last season and is allowing 1.32 homer per nine for his career.

Travis Shaw ($2,500): Coming off the injured list, Travis Shaw isn't a lock to be in the lineup, but the demotion of Keston Hiura gives him a much easier path to playing time. Shaw has an abysmal .284 wOBA and .157 ISO against righties this season, but in 2018, he was great in the split with a .374 wOBA and .285 ISO. His BABIP this season is an unsustainably bad .222 despite a decent batted-ball profile (37.6 percent hard-hit rate and 46.4 percent fly-ball rate). Getting Shaw at a bargain basement price is very intriguing. Pablo Lopez has been a roller coaster on the mound this season for the Miami Marlins, though he's got some quality numbers, and the run-scoring environment at Miller Park is great.



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.