While Major League Baseball tried to bring us a beautiful 12-game slate on Tuesday night, the weather didn’t cooperate. The Nationals-White Sox rainout yesterday forced the game to be moved out of the original scoring period, so we’re down to 11 games on the main slate. Don’t worry, though, the 22 teams in the player pool still offer plenty of great options to consider. Five of the 12 games on the main slate are divisional matchups, including a pair of contests from the NL West, including the Giants-Dodgers meeting by the Bay as they continue their rivalry.
There are several solid ways to attack Tuesday’s slate, but some strategies may require a large chunk of your salary cap space. To help you balance spending and afford to pay up for the superstars you want, these three bargain plays can help stretch your salary cap space. Each option has a very high ceiling compared to their very affordable salaries.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Relay Throw [$50K to 1st]
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SP Cal Quantrill, Colorado Rockies at San Diego Padres, $5,500
Can we really do this? Back a Rockies SP? At this salary and since he’s not at Coors Field, I’m making an exception to my usual “No Rockies Pitchers” policy for Quantrill. The 29-year-old righty is actually a product of the San Diego and Cleveland farm systems that crank out quality starters. He made it to the majors briefly with the Friars before they traded him to the Guardians, who moved him again this offseason to Colorado. In his eight starts this season, Quantrill has compiled a 2-3 record with a 3.94 ERA, a 5.02 FIP and 6.11 K/9. He has been better than those overall numbers in his last four starts, earning over 16 DraftKings points in three of those four outings with the one exception being a Coors Field matchup with the Astros. Since that outing, he has had back-to-back excellent starts against the Pirates and Giants earning 36.9 and 20.7 DKFP, respectively. He struck out nine in that road start in Pittsburgh and will be looking for similar success against his old squad on Tuesday. Since he typically pitches to contact, Quantrill is a high-risk play, but at $5,500 he leaves you plenty of salary to build around whatever stack you want. Even a mediocre outing at this salary would make him a great value, and he has gone at least six innings in five of his last six starts.
OF Heliot Ramos, San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, $2,800
Whether the Giants are ready or not, they’re going to have to go young in the outfield with Michael Conforto (hamstring), Jorge Soler (shoulder) and Jung Hoo Lee (shoulder) all landing on the IL. While Luis Matos ($2,000) had a homer on Monday and comes in as an attractive play at the minimum salary, I actually like Ramos a little better since he has been putting together a better season. After struggling in the MLB last season, Ramos started the year on fire in Triple-A, hitting .296 with eight home runs and a .411 wOBA. He added a pair of stolen bases in his 30 games as well. Since being called up, he has played six games and gone 7-for-21 (.333) with a double, a walk and a stolen base. He has multiple hits and double-digit DKFP in three of his last four games.
SS Romy Gonzalez, Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays, $2,400
The Red Sox are planning on moving Gonzalez around the infield to try and lengthen their lineup, which has dropped off sharply in production in the bottom third. The 27-year-old righty hit .333 with three homers and two stolen bases in his 10 games at Triple-A and has gone 5-for-18 (.278) with a pair of stolen bases in his seven games in the MLB. He missed almost a month with a sprained wrist but should continue to be a regular contributor now that he’s back. Originally, he was considered a key part of the plan to replace Trevor Story at SS. Since returning, he went 1-for-4 with a stolen base on Monday and 1-for-3 with a stolen base on Sunday, producing 8.0 DKFP in each contest. He may hit leadoff against lefties which will give him an even higher ceiling, but even against righties, he brings enough potential speed production to be worth a look at this bargain salary.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Relay Throw [$50K to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is z.thompson) 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 do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. 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.
