Drew Smyly has 41 Ks in just under 35 IP this season with a tidy 2.60 ERA

Wednesday offers a very interesting slate as there are 15 games scheduled but seven offered on a 12:35 slate and seven offered for a 7:05 slate. We are going to focus our research today on the seven-game late slate.

Some of the matchups I will be looking to exploit are Baltimore right-handed batters vs. C.C. Sabathia, Tampa Bay right-handed batters vs. Alex Wood, and Houston bats vs. home run prone Phil Hughes.

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Pitchers

Drew Smyly (TB): $10,900 vs. LAD
Smyly is finally becoming that ace that the Rays had hoped for when they acquired him last year. In five starts this year, Smyly has pitched 34.2 innings with 41 strikeouts and 2.60 ERA. Besides his first start of the year, Smyly has had at least 23 DraftKings points in each of his last four starts. Don’t let the fact that the Dodgers smashed around lefty Matt Moore last night scare you away from Smyly tonight. He has incredible strikeout upside and is as good a cash play as there is on this slate.

Mike Leake (STL): $7,400 vs. PHI
There are a few things that I like about Leake today. He is coming off two bad outings against the Nationals and on the road against the Padres. What that should mean is low ownership for a pitcher that can go seven innings, can give you five-to-six strikeouts and most importantly can get you the win against a not-so-great Phillies team. In the range of 15-to-20 DraftKings points is pretty reasonable from Leake. He is a much safer play than Carlos Rodon at the same price.

Also consider:

• Jose Fernandez $11,200 vs. ARI

Catchers

Curt Casali (TB): $2,900 vs. LAD
This slate does not offer a ton of talent at the catcher position, so I am looking for a matchup to punt and hope for the best. In this instance, I will pick on Alex Wood and his 4.82 ERA. Wood has been extremely inconsistent this year and faces a Rays team that hits left-handed pitching very well. Casali homered off Scott Kazmir last night so hopefully we can get the same results against Wood today.

Also consider:

• Russell Martin $3,100 vs. TEX

First Base

Justin Bour (MIA): $3,200 vs. ARI
Rubby De La Rosa‘s past two starts have been fantastic and most people would stray from throwing batters at him. But if you look at his first two starts he couldn’t make it out of the fifth inning in either of them. The Marlins have a good, young offense that hasn’t seemed to fully click yet but can put up runs in bunches when they do. Lefties are hitting .289/.365/.501 against De La Rosa, and Bour has a wOBA of .346 against right-handed pitching making this a juicy matchup for him. Edwin Encarnacion is enticing for $800 more, but he has struggled of late and we can’t keep chasing Toronto hitters who are not hitting. Bour has great upside for an extremely cheap price.

Also consider:

• Edwin Encarnacion $4,000 vs. TEX

Second Base

Logan Forsythe (TB): $4,500 vs. LAD
Forsythe versus left-handed pitching at this point is a must-play. Forsythe is hitting .400/.444/.760 versus lefties compared to .292/.395/.492 against righties. Forsythe has also been hitting at the top of the lineup lately which has generated more at-bats. We love more at-bats in DFS. With limited quality options at second, Forsythe is the first guy I am locking in when I start my lineup construction.

Also consider:

• Jose Altuve $4,800 vs. MIN

Third Base

Manny Machado (BAL): $4,500 vs. NYY
Machado has shown no signs of slowing down this season. He is hitting .350 for the year with seven home runs and has hit safely in his last five games. C.C. Sabathia has given up three runs in every start this year and now faces an Orioles team who has been better than average against LHP this season. Fire up all right-handed Orioles with confidence.

Also consider:

• Evan Longoria $4,400 vs. LAD
• Josh Donaldson $5,000 vs. TEX

Shortstop

Carlos Correa (HOU): $4,600 vs. MIN
Correa has not played well this year and yet his price has not dipped at all. He hasn’t homered since the second game of the season and is hitting .258. The problem is we know what Correa is capable of as he hit 22 home runs in 99 games last year. The last thing you don’t want is to be off of him the day he does break out of his slump. Other nights I would say find a better option or completely punt the position, but Correa offers the best upside of any shortstop on the slate against a pitcher who is prone to giving up a lot of runs, including the long ball.

Also consider:

• Xander Bogaerts $4,400 @ CWS
• Aledmys Diaz $3,500 vs. PHI

Outfield

Mark Trumbo (BAL): $4,300 vs. NYY
Coming into last night, Trumbo had scored at least two DraftKings points in all but one game this season. ONE GAME! He is as reliable of a cash play as they come and has huge home run upside. Just ask Luis Severino, as Trumbo knocked two more home runs last night. All six of his hits against lefties this year have been for extra bases and five of them have left the yard. Besides Toronto, the Orioles have the second highest expected run total for this slate.

Adam Jones (BAL): $4,000 vs. NYY
Starting to see a trend here with the Orioles? Jones is a perfect buy-low candidate today as he has surpassed five DraftKings points three times in his last 12 games and hasn’t homered since April 16. An Orioles’ stack should be popular, but Jones’ $4,000 price tag might scare some people off of him which should make him lower owned then some of the other Orioles.

Colby Rasmus (HOU): $3,700 vs. MIN
Rasmus is only hitting .233 on the year, but he smashes right-handed pitching. All seven of his home runs have come against righties. Phil Hughes allows a lot of contact and Rasmus has a 60% flyball rate the last two weeks with a 91 MPH exit velocity. In other words, if Rasmus connects with a ball it’s going to leave the park.

Also consider:

• Giancarlo Stanton $4,900 vs. ARI
• Jose Bautista $4,500 vs. TEX
• Christian Yelich $4,000 vs. ARI
• Preston Tucker $3,100 vs. MIN
• Brandon Guyer $3,300 vs. LAD

My Lineup

• SP – Drew Smyly
• SP – Mike Leake
• C – Curt Casali
• 1B – Justin Bour
• 2B – Logan Forsythe
• 3B – Manny Machado
• SS – Carlos Correa
• OF – Mark Trumbo
• OF – Adam Jones
• OF – Colby Rasmus

Check out our DraftKings MLB Lineup Optimizer

Jamison Malasko is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Jamison, check out his archive and follow him @TheRealJaymo21.