DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Helper: Wednesday 6/12/19
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.
*Editor's note* Edwin Jackson was a late scratch this afternoon, and the Blue Jays will open a bullpen game with right-handed reliever Derek Law instead.
Pitchers to Target
High-Priced Pitcher
Mike Soroka ($10,900): Mike Soroka has been a beast this season. He has reached 14 DraftKings points in each of his 10 starts — including 5 in which he has put up at least 24 DraftKings points. In addition, he has an elite 1.38 ERA — though his .219 BABIP and 3.81 SIERA show that he is clearly playing above his head so far. He doesn't have a great strikeout rate at just 21.9 percent, but he has allowed just an 0.14 HR/9. He has a pretty neutral matchup against a Pittsburgh Pirates team that has a .315 wOBA against right-handed pitchers which ranks 15th.
Joey Lucchesi ($9,600): Joey Lucchesi has been pretty good this year with his 24.4 percent strikeout rate and elite 15.4 percent line-drive rate. In addition, he has a very good 6.6 percent walk rate for such a young pitcher. His control has been great so far in the Majors and his matchup tonight is one of the best you can get. He'll take on the San Francisco Giants and while their 15th ranked 23.7 percent strikeout rate isn't that appealing, their .271 wOBA is dead last in the Majors.
Value Pitcher
Brandon Woodruff ($7,600): Although the matchup may seem tough on paper, the Houston Astros are banged up which bodes well for Brandon Woodruff. The Astros are without George Springer, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa — three of their best hitters. Woodruff has put up an elite strikeout rate at 29.5 percent this season and is rocking a cool 3.50 SIERA which is the second-best on the slate. The Astros don't strike out much against right-handed pitchers, but given the injuries, that number should certainly increase.
Hitters to Target
High-Priced Hitters
Trey Mancini ($5,000): Edwin Jackson should not be in the Majors any longer. He has been getting absolutely shelled this season with an abysmal 46.8 percent hard-hit rate and 36.7 percent fly-ball rate which has led to a laughable 27.6 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate. In addition, he has a slate-worst 5.35 SIERA and horrific 14.4 percent strikeout rate. Trey Mancini has brought some power against right-handed pitching with his .360 wOBA And .231 ISO, but you really don't need much to take advantage of Jackson.
Nelson Cruz ($4,800): He is almost 39 years old, but Nelson Cruz still destroys left-handed pitching. In the early part of 2019 and in just 40 plate appearances, he has managed to put up an insane .443 wOBA And .424 ISO against southpaws. He has a great matchup tonight against Seattle Mariners' left-hander Tommy Milone. In 2019, Milone has managed to give up a horrendous 43.9 percent hard-hit rate and a 24.6 percent line-drive rate which could certainly cause him some trouble tonight.
Fernando Tatis Jr. ($4,700): San Diego Padres rookie Fernando Tatis Jr. has been very good this season against right-handed pitchers. He has put up a .384 wOBA And .277 ISO against righties, showing that he is fitting right in at the Major league level. He's got an intriguing matchup against San Francisco Giants' Shaun Anderson. Anderson is in his first season in the Majors, but his 13.3 percent strikeout rate is really ugly and it doesn't help that he is giving up a 39.6 percent hard-hit rate and 29.0 percent line-drive rate. The Padres aren't great, but this is a great matchup.
Value Hitters
Nick Markakis ($4,100): You aren't going to expect a lot of home runs from Nick Markakis, but he can get on base and with the hitters around him, he should be able to rack up the points in a small-ball aspect. He has a .406 OBP along with a .379 wOBA and then a not-so-great .187 ISO. This isn't necessarily a great matchup as he takes on one of the top pitching prospects in baseball in Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Mitch Keller. Keller has an elite strikeout rate in the minors at 30.2 percent in Triple-A this season.
Cesar Hernandez ($3,600): There isn't very much power in Cesar Hernandez' game, but he still puts up a respectable .346 wOBA And .184 ISO against right-handed pitching. Due to his lack of power, he may not be able to take full advantage of some of Merrill Kelly's struggles. Kelly has given up a 39.7 percent hard-hit rate and 34.9 percent fly-ball rate which has led to a 13.8 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate. His 4.87 SIERA is among the worst on the slate as is his 18.4 percent strikeout rate — this is a solid matchup for Hernandez at this price.
Rowdy Tellez ($3,500): Rowdy Roddy Tellez had a solid rookie season against right-handed pitching as he put up an elite .503 wOBA and .400 ISO in 50 plate appearances. Of course, those numbers were expected to come down, but it was not expected that they would come down to a .273 wOBA and .172 ISO. We want him to get back on track and Baltimore Orioles' right-hander David Hess seems like a good place to start. He's giving up a 43 percent hard-hit rate and slate-worst 48.5 percent fly-ball rate which has resulted in a 21.1 percent home-run-to-fly-ball rate in 2019 — second-worst on the slate.
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.
