Welcome back to another edition of our MLB Value Plays for 5/24/17 on DraftKings. We will be offering up a pitcher under $8k, as well as a hitter at each position, and three in the outfield, that are priced $3.5k or below. A new feature to my value play article this year, we will be keeping track of how many home runs we can provide to our readers.
Last week was another absolute bust in the home run category. It also was from the starting pitcher position as well, as Joe Biagini was demolished by the Braves. Poor guy. The hitting, in general, was just bad. I hate to have to sit here and say that, but ultimately, you’ll have that in baseball.
Value Homers: 5
Let’s get things started!
Check out today’s MLB Moonshot contest at DraftKings 
Pitcher
Tyler Chatwood (COL): $6,900 @ PHI
Yet again, pitching below $8k just isn’t really appetizing to me. It’s a stretch to use Tyler Chatwood tonight. Honestly, I’d rather just pay up for Sale or maybe Severino.
If you do need to go with a cheap SP2 on DraftKings, Chatwood has some merit. He’s shown that he has the ability to put up some decent outings this year. The Phillies seem really down in the dumps right now, and I’m all for kicking a team when they are down. I think Chatwood could surprise some people tonight.
Catcher
Derek Norris (TB): $2,800 vs. LAA
I don’t love the idea of Derek Norris tonight, but at the same time, I think we can make a case for using him.
On the year, Ricky Nolasco is allowing a .375 wOBA, 41.9% fly ball rate and 43.2% hard contact. I am not going to be shocked if one or more of the Rays take him deep, and I think they make a nice stack to boot. Norris could end up coming through here.
First Base
Matt Adams (ATL): $3,500 vs. PIT
Trevor Williams is not a good pitcher. Bad things are going to happen to him tonight. With or without Freddie Freeman, the Braves are a team that can just manage to score runs.
Adams is going to be seeing regular playing time due to the Freeman injury, and I think that will do very big things for him. He has a ton of power upside, and that is the vast majority of the reason we have him in the lineup tonight.
Second Base
Yangervis Solarte (SD): $2,800 @ NYM
Solarte didn’t come through when he was in this position last week, but we are going back to the well for two reasons. First, this position is not good at all under $3,500. Second, he gets to go against Robert Gsellman.
Gsellman is going to be one of those tough decisions you have to make. The Padres are always a popular option to use pitchers against, but he has just been so bad. I think the Padres will score a few runs on him, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see Solarte being a part of it.
Third Base
Jedd Gyorko (STL): $3,400 @ LAD
Rich Hill isn’t a bad pitcher, but I don’t think he’s a lock down pitcher either. Again, this position doesn’t have a lot of options under the $3,500 mark.
Meanwhile, Gyorko’s price is very low considering how he’s been pretty good up to this point. I don’t know if we can trust him to hit for average all year, but I do think the power is sustainable. I could see him putting together a nice stat line tonight, and he has a great price to boot.
Shortstop
Tim Beckham (TB): $2,900 vs. LAA
I already broke down why I like righties against Ricky Nolasco above with Derek Norris. I just want to reiterate the fact that I can see the Rays coming through with a nice game here and I would expect them to be a lower owned stack tonight.
Beckham might not be great, but he’s still doing better than he was a year ago. His price is very affordable, and he makes a ton of sense when you are trying to fit someone like Chris Sale into your lineups. He’s got the power to get it done, but can otherwise find his way on base.
Outfield
Chris Young (BOS): $3,600 vs. TEX
I know I’m cheating here by $100, but I think you’ve come to expect that from me at least once a week. I think this one will be worth it, though.
We haven’t got many chances to use Chris Young lately, with the Red Sox at full strength and all. It is tough to say whether or not we will get to use him tonight, either. I would assume that we will as he is a lefty-killer, and left-handed pitcher Martin Perez is on the mound. It’s worth noting here that Perez isn’t very good.
Joc Pederson (LAD): $3,400 vs. STL
Pederson has been bad overall. There is no reason to sugarcoat it. There was a lot of hope that he would be able to take a step forward this year, but thus far, the results have been, well, bad. There is still a lot of baseball left to play, though.
Mike Leake isn’t a bad pitcher. His stats show a guy who isn’t likely to get beat up. Regardless of all of that, at least a few times each year, good pitchers will be way off their game. You can’t predict that. Most of what I bring forth in this article is statistically based, but this is more of a gut call than anything else. I can see Pederson getting ahold of one tonight, and having a strong game.
Ben Gamel (SEA): $3,300 @ WAS
Tanner Roark profiles as another one of those good but not great pitchers. The thing about those pitchers is that they end up getting touched up a little bit each time they take the mound. I think the Mariners will be able to do that tonight.
Gamel hasn’t been on top of his game as of late, but he also hasn’t managed to leave his owners empty handed. He does have some power upside, but look for him to get on base and to get around to the plate. I think he’ll be able to do that tonight and makes a solid tournament option.
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Nicholas Volinchak is a correspondent at FantasyPros. You can find more of Nicholas’ baseball work at Research Fantasy. To read more from Nicholas, follow him @researchandwin.
