Check out the box scores from Tuesday night. In the interesting fact department, every single home team won. It’s the first time in the history of Major League Baseball that every single home team won on one night. As for Wednesday, we are going to delve into only the late games since there are a limited number of early games. Below are my DraftKings picks for Wednesday, August 5th, 2015. As always, remember to check your players to make sure they are in their MLB starting lineups before lineups lock.
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Game Notes
- The weather looks great for the evening games. There may be a slight delay in New York for the Mets-Rockies game, but it is a long shot that happens. Chances are the game goes off without a hitch.
- If you noticed the pitchers that are due to take the mound on Wednesday night, the only reaction you can give is ‘wow.’ Just, wow.
- John Danks is on the mound for the White Sox. That means that you should think about stacking hitters on the opposing team- the Angels.
- Three games have opened with Vegas projected over/under odds at seven runs. That is absurd. The Rockies/Mets, Pirates/Cardinals, and Nationals/Dodgers are all games and teams you should probably avoid with positional players. Especially in cash games and double ups.
DFS Pitchers to Consider for DraftKings
Clayton Kershaw, LAD - $14,200
He is a pitching God. His price is insanely high, but you get what you pay for.
Jacob deGrom, NYM - $11,000
Somehow, deGrom and his 26.4% K rate have slipped slightly under the radar mainly because the entire Mets rotations is so good. The Rockies are bad on the road especially against solid pitchers. The only thing that scares me is that the Mets are eventually due for a loss given the law of averages. Fingers crossed that the loss happens on Thursday and not Wednesday night.
Danny Salazar, CLE - $10,500
I know it’s a lot of fake cash to dish out on two pitchers, but I absolutely love the deGrom/Salazar combination. Salazar is really hitting his stride and faces a Yankees lineup that has really struggled over the last week and a half. The power righty has 35 strikeouts in his last 35.1 innings pitched and the Yankees have struck out 34 times in their last 34 innings at the dish. Coincidence? I think not.
Jason Hammel, CHC - $8,500
Hammel is a phenomenal second option on a loaded slate of games for Wednesday night. The Brewers have been atrocious over the last couple weeks, as they have decided to play for the future. Much like deGrom, the only worrying factor is the law of averages that stacks immensely against the Cubs.
DFS Catchers to Consider for DraftKings
Salvador Perez, KC - $3,300
The Royals are a DFS force. Most of the players do not strike out often and they typically are cheap in value. Perez is one of the few Royals that has a platoon advantage over a left-handed pitcher. Though I may be infatuated with Tigers’ starter Daniel Norris in keeper leagues, I will surely exploit his not yet polished game.
DFS Infielders to Consider for DraftKings
FIRST BASE
Albert Pujols, LAA - $4,200
Pujols has been sub-par against southpaws this season, at least in terms of Pujols standards. However John Danks changes everything. Danks’s hard contact rate is extremely hard to ignore, and it plays into Pujols’ solid medium-to-hard contact rate against LHPs. The only problem is budgeting him into your lineup.
James Loney, TB - $3,000
If you spend for the pitching on Wednesday night, prepare to look for some value at the other positions. Enter James Loney. Though I am not in love with the Loney pick, he does have a nice matchup against fringe pitcher Matt Wisler. Loney is mostly a punt option and tournament pick. Actually the more I wrote about Loney, the more I want to scream. I’ll give his odds at 0.00001% that he gets rostered in any of my lineups.
Justin Smoak, TOR - $2,500
If Edwin Encarnacion sits again, then I love the Smoak pick. He has typically done well against right-handed pitchers for his career, and his gap power plays nicely in the Rogers Centre. Like Loney, Smoak makes for a great option if you are strapped for fake cash.
SECOND BASE
Johnny Giavotella, LAA - $3,100
When in doubt, stack against Danks. The second base position is looking really thin on Wednesday night and if you do not pay up for Brian Dozier or Ben Zobrist, which you should not, then you need to find cheap value. Giavotella tops the list against Danks.
Anthony Rendon, WAS - $2,700
It’s sac-religious and blasphemous to roster a player facing Kershaw. However Rendon is much, much better than his price tag. If you need any type of assurance, Rendon has three hits in 10 at-bats against the pitching God.
SHORTSTOP
Asdrubal Cabrera, TB - $3,400
It would be prudent to punt at the shortstop position on Wednesday night, as there are really no great matchups. Cabrera is the best of a bad situation. He owns a .526/.550/.694 slash line over the last week, which is pretty surprising. Cabrera is worth a flier in most leagues.
Erick Aybar, LAA - $3,100
When in doubt, throw out a right-handed bat against Danks in Chicago.
THIRD BASE
Matt Carpenter, STL - $4,600
Let me be clear when I say that I have a man-crush on Gerrit Cole. I truly do. I love the way he looks in his face when he is in the middle of his game. It’s like he has the eye of a tiger that is on steroids. That being said, Carpenter is straight fire right now. He owns a wRC+ of 250 and .532 wOBA over the last week and has two career home runs in 13 at bats against Cole.
Danny Valencia, OAK - $3,400
This all depends on how R.A. Dickey’s knuckleball is dancing. Unfortunately, that means Valencia is a tournament pick at best. Valencia’s home splits are solid this year. He owns a.351 AVG and 187 wRC+ at home this year. Although he is now in an Oakland uniform, most of that sample size was when he was with the Blue Jays terrorizing opposing pitchers in the Rogers Centre.
DFS Outfielders to Consider for DraftKings
Mike Trout, LAA - $5,500
If Mike Trout ever gets it together, he may be a really good major league player.
Lorenzo Cain, KC - $4,800
Cain is a cheaper play than Trout and offers nearly similar upside to boot. He owns a slash line of .357/.424/.605 against southpaws on the season and will get to tee off against a pitcher that lives in a van down by the river that struggles with control.
Gregory Polanco, PIT - $3,800
Michael Wacha is no slouch, but individual Pirates possess solid splits against the righty. Polanco has been on a tear over the last couple weeks and has seemingly found his groove hitting at the top of the lineup. His 262 wRC+ is third among all qualified outfielders over the last week.
Nick Markakis, TB - $3,500
For those of you that visit this article routinely, you will most likely notice that I put in Nick Markakis quite a bit. Well, it just so happens that he has good matchups on Wednesdays. The veteran left-handed bat has hit .429 in 14 career at-bats against Jake Odorizzi with a homerun. Markakis also owns a .417 wOBA over the last week with a career .293/.366/.447 slash line against right-handed pitchers.
DFS Q&A with Max Petrie @ 6 PM on 8/12
Leave your question here and then come back at 6 PM when Max answers everything. For our regular MLB & Fantasy Baseball Chat, click here.
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