Tonight’s MLB featured slate on DraftKings features just five games, with one in Denver. There will still be some cold weather to deal with, but there are no weather issues in the forecast. While we grind into the second full week of MLB it’s easy to get fixated on small sample sizes, but that’s what we have to work with in April. I’ll look beyond the early numbers to dig up some value plays to help you free up some salary in order to build your lineups. Let’s go!
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Pitcher
Andrew Triggs (OAK): $7,700 @ LAA
Gerrit Cole (-258) will carry heavy ownership on tonight’s slate, and for good reason, he has a fantastic matchup and really should be in your lineup. Last week, on a three-game slate, roughly 20-30% of lineups didn’t have Max Scherzer. Those lineups were not in the money. I recommend playing Cole and pairing him with Triggs (-108) who is the safest of the other limited pitching options available, making a sound fit for cash games. He had a strong first start and has dominated these Angels bats with his only blemish coming on a Mike Trout homer, so we can give him a break there. He’s not a big K guy, but he’s coming off a shortened season in which he only made 12 appearances with two of those being wins against the Halos.
Other Notables
- Sal Romano (CIN): $5,800 @ PIT (GPP)
Catcher
Carlos Perez (CLE): $2,200 @ COL
After suffering a myriad of injuries at the catcher position, Perez should get the nod tonight for the Braves. This is a golden opportunity…a $2.2k backstop playing for the road team in Coors Field. It’s likely to be a little chilly in Denver, but you still have to like that price tag for a guy who’s guaranteed 3 plate appearances, assuming the Braves can make it through a game with the same catcher.
Other Notables
- Brian McCann (HOU): $3,400 vs. SD
First Base
Marwin Gonzalez (HOU): $3,700 vs. SD (also OF eligible)
Gonzalez will get playing time as long as the Astros can play him pretty much anywhere on the field. He gives us flexibility with roster construction on DraftKings as well, where he’s OF eligible. I think he offers more value at the 1B tonight as there are some decent cheap outfielders available for us today. Playing both he and McCann (above) is a great start to an Astros stack as Houston is heavily favored and both of those guys are launching flyballs frequently to start 2018 making me think one of them goes deep today.
Other Notables
- Kendrys Morales (TOR): $2,900 @ TEX
Second Base
Scooter Gennett (CIN): $3,400 @ PIT
Scooter has shown a propensity to smash right-handed pitching lately. He absolutely mashed them last season to the tune of a .261 ISO. He’s one of many hitters who changed his approach at the plate last season and saw success. Looking at the matchup as a whole, Gennett carries a career .346 wOBA and 115 wRC+ against RHP. Chad Kuhl struggles against lefty bats too, posting a career .371 wOBA and a 5.14 xFIP while issuing over 25% more walks to lefties.
Other Notables
- Jed Lowrie (OAK): $3,100 @ LAA
Third Base
Matt Chapman (OAK): $3,500 @ LAA
Chapman is my favorite hitter as one of the hottest hitters in baseball at a very affordable price. There’s also a chance he’ll have lower ownership than he should given he’s likely to bat seventh for the A’s. He went deep again last night, giving him three long balls in the last week. Both his average and his ISO vs. RHP are .400 or higher with all his HRs coming against righties and his hard hit rate is excellent. He’s a strong play in all formats tonight.
Other Notables
- Adrian Beltre (TEX): $3,100 vs. TOR
Shortstop
Elvis Andrus (TEX): $3,500 vs. TOR
Andrus is another hitter who has displayed some nice batted ball data to start the season. I feel that hard contact and exit velocity are an excellent sign of how someone is seeing the ball over a recent small sample size like we have to start 2018. The Rangers have been batting him in the cleanup spot and I don’t think that’s a bad idea with his improved hitting metrics from 2017 carrying over into this season. He should be priced higher, take advantage.
Other Notables
- Yangervis Solarte (TOR): $3,400 @ TEX (also 2B eligible)
Outfield
Nomar Mazara (TEX): $3,300 vs. TOR
Like his teammate, Mazara is showing improved batted ball data in the same departments as Andrus. Any five of the 1-through-6 in the batting order make for a sneaky stack today. Stacking Mazara with the two Rangers listed above could pay major dividends on a slate where most will gravitate to Coors bats. Texas is implied to score just 4.2 runs, but they have a very hitter-friendly umpire behind the dish tonight and that’s a nice pairing with a low-owned stack.
Steve Pearce (TOR): $3,400 @ TEX
Pearce has been leading off for the Jays recently and if that’s the case again tonight, he’s someone you should consider. His price has come up a bit due to his new role, but he’s feasted on lefties for ten years now carrying a respectable career .229 ISO, .358 wOBA and 125 wRC+ against southpaws. Pearce also let down the owners who rostered him last night, so recency bias may cast a favorable dip to his ownership that we can capitalize on.
Gerardo Parra (COL): $3,600 vs. ATL
If Parra should start and hit in the 6-hole versus Anibal Sanchez, the former AL ERA leader turned gas can is simply a shell of his former self. If you’re looking at Rocks bats like many will be, don’t be afraid to go down to Parra. When given the opportunity, he’s made the most of it for Colorado with a .364 wOBA at home vs. RHP last season and a career .326 mark. Besides, it’s always nice to have some sort of exposure to a Coors Field game.
Other Notables
- Matt Joyce (OAK): $3,100 @ LAA
- Shin-Soo Choo (TEX): $3,200 vs. TOR
- Josh Reddick (HOU): $4,000 vs. SD
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Josh Dalley is a DFS correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, follow him on Twitter @JoshDalley72.
