With a big MLB slate on Friday, it’s a great time to get in on some DraftKings fantasy baseball action. Below, we take a look at tonight’s main slate, which locks at 7:05 p.m. ET.
Set your DraftKings lineups here: MLB $150K Relay Throw [$50K to 1st]
Pitcher
Stud
Carlos Carrasco, CLE vs. PIT, $10,400 - Pitch counts are a concern for a lot of pitchers tonight. With most of the playoff spots decided, we could see a lot of pitchers get limited work. This isn’t an issue for the Indians since they are still jockeying for playoff positioning. Carrasco should get a full workload against the Pirates, who have the lowest wRC+ in the league against right-handed pitching.
Value
Jose Urquidy, HOU at TEX, $7,100 - In hindsight, I wish I blindly rostered pitchers against the Rangers all season. They have a historically bad offense and rarely have a game with much offensive output. Texas is the lowest-scoring team in baseball and only have a 63 wRC+ against right-handed pitching. Even though Urquidy has only been mediocre this season, I am not sure it matters against the Rangers. This team doesn’t score against anybody.
Catcher
Stud
Travis d’Arnaud, ATL vs. BOS, $4,800 - The Braves are a team we want exposure to since they have the highest team total of the day. A former top prospect, d’Arnaud is having the best season of his career with a 147 wRC+. He’s also reached base in every game since Sept. 8th.
Editor’s Note: Braves 1B Freddie Freeman and C Travis d’Arnaud are not in the lineup for tonight’s game vs. the Red Sox.
Value
Kevin Plawecki, BOS at ATL, $3,400 - Plawecki is currently putting together a solid season. He rarely strikes out and his contact skills are the main reason he has a 117 wRC+ this year. There isn’t a ton of power upside here, but it’s typically tough to get homers out of the catcher position. Plawecki has a .320 batting average and his high floor for a cheap catcher is what interests me.
First Base
Stud
Freddie Freeman, ATL vs. BOS, $5,400 - Freeman is likely closing in on a MVP season. He has a 183 wRC+ and is getting on base in nearly half of his plate appearances. Freeman has also done his best work in the final month of the season to push the Braves to an NL East crown. His production has increased in each month, peaking with a 213 wRC+ in September.
Value
Anthony Rizzo, CHC at CHW, $4,300 - The Cubs as a team are much too cheap today. Even though Dylan Cease has a 3.52 ERA, his peripheral numbers don’t back it up. He has a 5.92 FIP and is getting lucky with a low BABIP and high strand rate. Rizzo has homered in two of his last three games and I don’t think this is a particularly tough matchup.
Second Base
Stud
Jose Altuve, HOU at TEX, $4,700 - Baseball fans are likely not thrilled that the Astros are finally getting healthy and starting to hit just in time for the postseason. Houston scored 12 runs last night and is in another good spot tonight. Altuve is coming around at the plate after a slow start to the season and scored 28.0 DKFP with a homer on Thursday.
Value
Jon Berti, MIA at NYY, $2,400 - It is tough to find a viable cheap second baseman tonight. Most of the players are expensive and, of the cheap options, most of them aren’t good hitters. It’s gone under the radar that the Marlins actually have a good offense against left-handed pitching and Berti is bringing production at the bottom of the order. He has a 117 wRC+ and he scored 15.0 DKFP last night.
Third Base
Stud
Jose Ramirez, CLE vs. PIT, $5,600 - Ramirez has gone nuts over the last month. He’s propelled the Indians up the standings, putting them in position to make a playoff run after it looked like they might miss the postseason. Ramirez has six homers in the last eight games is now the frontrunner to win the AL MVP. He’s scored at least 16.0 DKFP in four of his last five games.
Value
Eugenio Suarez, CIN at MIN, $3,400 - Suarez is a boom-or-bust option. He isn’t having quite as much success as he had last year when he hit 49 homers, but the power upside is still there in a big way. Suarez is among the NL leaders with 15 homers and he’s hit a home run in two of his last three games. The downside is that he probably busts if he doesn’t hit a long ball.
Shortstop
Stud
Adalberto Mondesi, KC vs. DET, $4,800 - Mondesi is having a terrific recent run to save his season. After struggling to get on base for the first 40 games, he’s improved his contact skills lately and, due to his ability to steal bases, this is leading to a ton of fantasy upside. In his last 15 games, Mondesi has swiped 11 bases.
Value
Willi Castro, DET at KC, $3,400 - Castro is on a good run and his price hasn’t adjusted at all. He homered last night and has at least a dozen DKFP in three consecutive games. He’s reached base in 12 of his last 13 games and has a 154 wRC+ for the season. At just 23-years-old, he’s silently having one of the biggest breakouts of the 2020 season.
Outfield
Stud
Ronald Acuna, ATL vs. BOS, $5,900 - I want as much exposure to the Braves as I can get because of their implied run total. Atlanta shouldn’t have issue scoring runs against Chris Mazza ($5,600) and his 5.40 ERA. After injuries plagued Acuna at the start of the season, he’s closing strong and has a 179 wRC+ in September. He’s also riding a modest five-game hitting streak.
Value
Michael Brantley, HOU at TEX, $4,000 - I can’t figure out why Brantley has been so cheap for so long. He has a 138 wRC+, which is his best mark since 2014. Brantley is staying healthy and having one of the best years of his career. He picked up a pair of hits last night and his price actually went down.
Set your DraftKings lineups here: MLB $150K Relay Throw [$50K to 1st]
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