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The top daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on September 18th, 2019. Austyn Varney's MLB DFS analysis and sleepers for building optimal DFS rosters.
Welcome to Wednesday baseball over on DraftKings. While football is in full swing, DraftKings has continued pouring out these huge tournaments. The $250 GPP is featured, but they have a ton of different price ranges worth considering.
It's a fun slate, with a few games in the morning and the main slate at night. There's 10 games to touch on and we have to make sure we nail pitching. There will be some great starts today, so we'll need to make sure we get that right. Let's dive in and take a look at a top play from each position!
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on 9/18/19. The lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options and value plays. Be sure to also check out all the MLB Rosters for today's slate. You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for sites like FanDuel, and other sports too. .
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DraftKings DFS Starting Pitchers
Gerrit Cole - HOU vs. TEX - $12,800
Gerrit Cole is in a tier of his own on this slate and in baseball. While guys like Scherzer, Verlander, and Kershaw have more experience, nobody is shutting guys down like Gerrit Cole. He’s striking out 12+ batters per nine innings and combining for a .221 wOBA allowed. It doesn’t get any better than that. This Rangers team strikes out at a 26% clip, but they can hit homers. Expect Cole to have mother seven solid innings and for the Astros to get an easy win. He’s expensive, but the easiest play on the board.
Aaron Civale - CLE vs. DET - $9,100
It doesn't even matter who the pitcher is at this point. As long as it's not one of the worst pitchers in baseball, you can target them against the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers have found a way to be worse than the Marlins, sporting a .278 team wOBA and ranking 30th in the league. Civale has been great since coming up from the minors, holding both lefties and righties under a .270 wOBA. He strikes out close to eight batters per nine innings and this Tigers team is mostly right-handed. Civale is affordable as an SP2 in both cash games and tournaments.
DraftKings DFS Infielders
Daniel Vogelbach - SEA @ PIT (Agrazal) - $4,000
The issue we run into with Daniel Vogelbach is that he strikes out a ton. 26% of the time to be exact. However, the Mariners face off with Dario Agrazal, who wipes those concerns away. Agrazal strikes out just four batters per nine innings at 10%. Vogelbach is extremely dangerous when putting the ball in play and he shouldn’t have any issue with that here. Vogelbach has a great shot of going deep tonight.
Cavan Biggio - TOR @ BAL (Bundy) - $4,500
There isn’t all that much to love at second base. Dylan Bundy has definitely turned things in the right direction this year, but he’s far from perfect. In fact, he’s given up a .347 wOBA to opposing lefties and only strikes out just over seven per nine. Biggio is swinging as hot of a stick as you can, and this ballpark is an upgrade from the Rogers Centre. Let’s hope we can get Biggio under 10% again.
Eugenio Suarez - CIN @ CHC - $4,800
Believe it or not, Eugenio Suarez has the second most home runs in baseball at 47. He’s quietly been one of the more impressive hitters in all of baseball. Against southpaws, he’s posted a .407 wOBA and has hit 10 home runs in just 115 at-bats. Jon Lester is no slouch, but he’s turning into just that with a .338 wOBA allowed to righties. He doesn’t have the same strikeout stuff he’s used to and he’ll have trouble putting Suarez away. The Reds aren’t a great team stack, but Suarez is a great one-off.
Jorge Polanco - MIN vs. CWS (Santiago) - $4,900
Shortstop is another position that leaves plenty to be desired. You can pay up like always, but there isn’t much good value before lineups come out. We’ll take a look at Jorge Polanco, who’s facing off with Ivan Nova at home in Minnesota. Nova is terrible against everyone, allowing a .350 and .358 wOBA to each side of the plate. However, he’s only pitching one inning as the opener before Hector Santiago comes in. I’ll make an under-the-radar-call and say Polanco takes one deep tonight.
DraftKings DFS Outfielders
Nelson Cruz - MIN vs. CWS (Santiago) - $5,200
Nelson Cruz is a guy you plug in every time against a lefty. Hopefully the name of Ivan Nova and him being a righty will keep a few people off of him. Nova is pitching just one inning and left-hander Hector Santiago will follow. Cruz has blasted lefties to a .471 wOBA this season and has hit a home run every eight at-bats. There’s no rhyme or reason I can give to fade Nelson Cruz tonight. If you can afford him, Nelson Cruz is my favorite hitter on this entire slate.
Trey Mancini - BAL vs. TOR (Buccholz) - $4,900
Trey Mancini is on fire and now the Orioles draw Clay Buccholz. He’s legitimately one of the worst pitchers in baseball and is a guarantee to allow at least three or four homers in every single start. Mancini dominates both lefties and righties, sporting a .417 combined wOBA on the season. Camden Yards is where he does most of his damage and it makes sense why. The Orioles are projected for over five runs tonight and it’s not hard to see why with Clay Buccholz on the mound. Good luck tonight and please do reach out with any questions!
Things change quickly as lineups come out. If you have any questions, hit me up on Twitter @VarneyDFS and I'd be more than happy to help.
