RADIO
Tuesday night was a doozy. Gerrit Cole and the beautiful-looking Yankees stack wiped out a ton of lineups as the NYY/ATL game got postponed shortly after lock. Young star Lucas Giolito is establishing himself as a true ace this year and did the appropriate thing by twirling a 13 strikeout no-hitter (nearly a perfect game) against the hapless Pirates. Lastly, the Giants have now won seven straight after a Donovan Solano walkoff homer sent the Dodgers packing in the 11th inning. We have a large 10-gamer on tap for Wednesday on DraftKings, with enough viable pitching options and hitter stacks to really go a lot of different ways.
I'll be going through some of the best plays at each position on DraftKings with a GPP/tournament lineup build in mind. That's not to say that these players won't work in cash-game lineups, but we're looking to provide high-upside plays for the most part (it's more fun that way, anyway). As a reminder, it is best practice to stack 3-5 hitters from the same team for DFS purposes, so try to envision how the games will play out and build your lineups from there. Utilizing unique lineup combinations (i.e the nine, one, two, and three hitters) is another great way to differentiate.
In this article, I'll be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for the DraftKings main slate on 8/26/2020. The lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options and value plays. You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for sites like FanDuel and other sports too. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me on Twitter @kringstad19
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DraftKings DFS Starting Pitchers
Sonny Gray - SP, CIN vs MIL ($8,800)
Gray has pitched very well this season, coming into the game with a 4-1 record, 2.21 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 2.68 GIP, 2.74 xFIP, and a 34.9% K%. His strikeout rate leads the slate (and ranks fourth in the MLB among qualified pitchers), while his other metrics come in slightly behind the much higher-priced Jacob deGrom and Clayton Kershaw. He actually leads the slate with a 1.3 WAR, for what that's worth. His curveball and sinker (via statcast), which he combines to throw 47.8% of the time, both have PutAway%'s north of 30.0% and xBA's of .185 or less this season. The Brewers have been one of the year's bigger letdowns offensively as they rank 28th in wRC+ (80), 28th in wOBA (.292), 28th in batting average (.213), 27th in SLG% (.371), and 23rd in ISO (.158). They come into Wednesday fourth in the league with a 26.4% strikeout rate. Three of their top hitters (Yelich, Hiura, and Smoak) all have strikeoeut rates of at least 30.5% in 2020. Gray has scored at least 27.9 DK points in four-of-six starts this year and he's in a prime spot to put up a huge number again tonight, at what is a very palatable price tag.
Dinelson Lamet - SP, SD vs SEA ($8,600)
Another moderately-priced pitcher with a high strikeout rate in a positive matchup? Sign me up. You can pair these two sub-$9,000 pitchers on DraftKings and then do pretty much whatever you want with your hitter stacks, as there should be plenty of value to come by on a 10-game slate. Lamet has been really solid this year and, like Gray, it's a bit of a wonder why his price tag isn't reflecting that. He holds a 1.89 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 2.99 FIP, 3.77 xFIP, and a 34.1% K%. His 4.6 H/9 and .180 batting average against both lead the slate. His slider, which he throws 51.4% of the time, generates an insane 48.1% Whiff%. What makes Lamet even more appealing, though, is his matchup against the Seattle Mariners, who are projected to score just 3.3 runs. They come in with the 10th highest strikeout rate at 24.3% and rank 23rd in wRC+ (90), 26th in wOBA (.298), and 24th in ISO (.150). There's just not enough punch in the lineup to scare us off, and this has the looks of an explosion spot for the young hurler.
Other options: Jacob deGrom (NYM vs MIA) $11,000, Clayton Kershaw (LAD vs SF) $10,200, Kevin Gausman (SF vs LAD) $6,400
DraftKings DFS Infielders
Matt Chapman - 3B, OAK vs TEX ($5,700)
Chapman is the highest-salaried third baseman and comes in as the sixth most expensive hitter overall, but he's worth it on this slate. The defensive-stud is hitting .240/.289/.560 with nine home runs, 22 RBI, and 21 runs scored on the year. He has added nine doubles and three triples to his line. He strikes out at a high clip and rarely walks, but he holds a .320 ISO and Allard is a pitcher we want to get some bats against. He finds most of his power off of right-handed pitchers historically, but he had the same OPS against both sides in 2019 (.848) and actually had a higher slugging percentage (.513) against LHP than he did against RHP.
Ryan O'Hearn - 1B, KC vs STL ($2,500)
O'Hearn is projected to hit in the four or five slot with the platoon-advantage and is a really cheap power option against what looks to be an appealing pitcher to target hitters against. Hudson, through two starts, has a 5.40 ERA and is giving up 2.2 HR/9 to go along with a slate-worst 8.0% Soft% and 52% Hard%. 24 out of 27 of O'Hearn's career homers have come against RHP as he has worked in a platoon role and though he hasn't hit well lately, he has had success off of Hudson with a single and a double in his two at-bats.
Kolten Wong - 2B, STL vs KC ($3,300)
Wong was a popular choice last night and he should be popular again tonight, though his ownership may dip a bit after he went 0-for-3 with a walk. He should be leading off again for a team projected to score 5.1 runs, which means he's still far too cheap relative to his expected production. He's not having a great year at .241/.353/.293 over 69 plate appearances, but he hit .285 with 11 homers and 24 steals last season. Even if he's not hitting well, his OBP (.353) remains on the high side and that will work against Jakob Junis, who has the some of the worst metrics on the slate.
Other options: Thairo Estrada (NYY vs ATL) $3,100, Jason Kipnis (CHC vs DET) $3,100, Freddie Freeman (ATL vs NYY) $5,400
DraftKings DFS Outfielders
Mark Canha - OF, OAK vs TEX ($5,000)
The A's cleanup hitter has been very productive at the plate recently, averaging exactly 12 DK points per game in his last seven games played. He gets the platoon-advantage against Rangers' southpaw Kolby Allard, who has struggled to a 5.25 ERA (with a high 57.1% FB%) this season. Canha has hit .444/.560/.722 with three steals against LHP this season, though that's skewed due to a limited sample size of just 25 at-bats. He is currently at career-high's in both launch angle (22.9) and Sweet Spot % (38.6%). He's crushing opponents' fastballs at a .358 average with all three of his homers coming off the pitch, while Allard throws his fastball 41.9% of the time. He's pricey, but he make a lot of sense as a one-off or as a cog in an A's stack.
Victor Reyes - OF, DET vs CHC ($2,800)
Reyes' salary peaked at $3,600 on 8/18 but has dropped back to super-value territory for Wednesday's slate. The 25-year-old is in his third MLB season and he's hitting .267/.308/.419 with two homers and five stolen bases on the year. He has hits in five straight games, including a home run and three doubles, so it's unclear why his price keeps dropping. Cubs pitcher Jon Lester has been supurb on the surface, but his underlying metrics are awful, which seems to perpetually be the case with him. It may be starting to unravel for him, though, as he's been thoroughly rocked for 18 hits, 13 runs, and a whopping SIX homers in his last two starts (CWS and MIL). Take your shots on the Tigers pieces in this spot.
Trent Grisham - OF, SD vs SEA ($3,900)
Grisham is affordably-priced as the leadoff hitter with the platoon-advantage against Taijuan Walker. Walker has been solid this year with a 4.00 ERA in what is likely a make-or-break season for him, but his 4.95 xFIP and 5.23 tERA more accurately reflect the type of pitcher he is. His 7.4% SwStr% is the third-lowest mark on the slate and he gives up an above-average amount of homers at 1.7 HR/9, including allowing three solo bombs in his last start. Grisham has a monster 51 DK point game as he mashed three taters on 8/22 and is hitting for a .377 wOBA and .241 ISO on the season.
Other options: Marcell Ozuna (ATL vs NYY) $4,500, Matt Kemp (COL vs ARI) $2,700, Brandon Nimmo (NYM vs MIA) $3,500
DraftKings DFS Stacks
The Oakland A's and Chicago Cubs are the top offenses to stack tonight, though an argument can be made for the Tigers, Cardinals, and even the Rangers as they're all in great spots against exploitable pitchers. The Royals are also worth considering as an uber-cheap stack against the struggling Dakota Hudson.
Good luck in your DraftKings contests and make sure to give me a follow on Twitter!
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