The MLB Playoffs are underway and we are focusing on the DraftKings Showdown contest for Game 1 of the ALDS between the Athletics and Astros, which takes place on Monday at 4:07 p.m. ET.

Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: MLB Showdown $35K Extra Inning [$10K to 1st] (HOU vs OAK)

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Showdown Strategy

Houston Astros

Coming back from Tommy John surgery, it was an up and down season for Lance McCullers ($15,000 CP/$10,000). At times he looked as good as ever, while at other times he looked like a pitcher coming off a long layoff. It was tough to get consistency out of McCullers, but the good news is that his velocity is still good and that he finished the season on a high note. In his final three starts of the regular season, he had 24 strikeouts and averaged 27.07 DKFP. With that in mind, McCullers is my favorite choice for Captain.

Starting for Oakland, Chris Bassitt ($11,000) had a really strong season. With that said, he’s much better against righties than lefties. He allowed a .260 wOBA to right-handed hitters and a .324 wOBA against left-handed hitters. Looking for bats to roster from Houston, I am looking for some lefties and, fortunately, we have some cheap left-handed bats to roster.

The first name that stands out is Michael Brantley ($6,000). After a strong regular season, he oddly closed the year out by getting priced way down in all contests. Brantley had a 134 wRC+ in the regular season, his best mark since 2014. He had a strong showing in the Wild Card round against the Twins and averaged 10 DKFP.

The other two bats that make for good plays are Josh Reddick ($4,600) and Kyle Tucker ($7,000). For value, we can’t do much better than Reddick in this contest. He’s one of the cheapest projected starters. As for Tucker, he was one of the higher upside bats for the Astros in the regular season. He had a career-best 125 wRC+ while showing power and speed upside. In 58 games, Tucker hit nine homers and stole eight bases.

Oakland Athletics

Of the starters in this game, I prefer McCullers, although this doesn’t mean that Bassitt isn’t worth considering. He’s the most expensive player in this contest and averaged 18.2 DKFP in the regular season. The issue I have is that his underlying numbers don’t support his ERA. Bassitt had a 2.29 ERA but it was held up by .276 BABIP and an 85.6% strand rate. His 4.46 SIERA is a bit more indicative of his true talent level. Since Bassitt only struck out 7.86 hitters per nine innings, his upside is a bit hampered. He’s fine because pitchers always are in Showdown, although I wouldn’t roster Bassitt at the expense of playing McCullers.

In the regular season, McCullers was a reverse splits pitcher. He was terrific against lefties and allowed a .338 wOBA to right-handed hitters. I assume the field will mostly look to the Oakland lefties, but the righties might make more sense. This is especially true if the righties will have less ownership.

Marcus Semien ($8,200) wasn’t as good this year as he was last year, but he still flashed some upside and hit eight homers. He also closed out the Wild Card round against the White Sox in a big way. In the final two games, Semien averaged 14 DKFP and reached base four times.

One of the top hitting catchers in baseball, nobody on Oakland hit right-handed pitching better than Sean Murphy ($7,200) this season. He put up a 139 wRC+ against righties and there might not be a young catcher in baseball with a brighter future. Murphy picked up a hit in every game of the Wild Card round and hit a homer in the decisive Game 3.

Robbie Grossman ($5,800) is one of the top value bats in this game. At a cheap price, he usually hits in the middle of the Oakland lineup and has power upside with eight homers in the regular season. Jake Lamb ($5,600) is one other cheap hitter that we can consider rostering from Oakland. Despite a weak performance in the regular season, Lamb doesn’t cost much and he does have a 30-homer season on his resume.

The Outcome

The Astros are underdogs today and underdogs in the series, which I don’t totally agree with. For good reason, Houston has a negative stink on them from the sign-stealing scandal, but we can’t forget how much talent is on this team. With a wealth of experience, I think this team has gotten overlooked since the start of the playoffs. The Astros should have been favored against the Twins and they should be favored to win this series. I can’t imagine the outrage online if Houston wins another World Series.

Final Score: Houston 5, Oakland 3

Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: MLB Showdown $35K Extra Inning [$10K to 1st] (HOU vs OAK)

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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is gehrenberg) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.

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