This Friday night, 28 of the 30 MLB teams are in the player pool for fantasy baseball’s main slate on DraftKings. The only two teams not available are the Reds and Pirates, who start before the contest lock time of 7:05 p.m. ET. Friday’s slate definitely doesn’t lack quantity or quality in terms of matchups. The Orioles and Astros headline the early wave in a potential AL playoff preview, while the Padres and Mets meet in a critical NL Wild Card series in the late wave.
With so many options to choose from, every dollar of salary cap space is important. If you find yourself short on salary after spending up on the stars you want to build around, check out these three cheap players who offer high ceilings at their low salaries.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Rally Cap [$50K to 1st]
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SP David Festa, Minnesota Twins vs. St. Louis Cardinals, $7,100
Festa is part of a young Twins rotation carrying the load this summer while ace Joe Ryan (triceps) works his way back from injury. The 24-year-old righty has shown good strikeout upside and a high ceiling even though he has not worked especially deep into games yet. His fantasy upside is mostly a result of his swing-and-miss stuff that has enabled him to rack up at least six strikeouts in five of his last six MLB starts. He produced over 15 fantasy points in four of his five starts since his most recent call-up and showed his high ceiling with a start in Chicago that earned him 30.9 fantasy points against the Cubs.
In his five starts since returning to the Twins, the rookie is 1-1 with a 2.38 ERA, 3.34 FIP and 12.3 K/9. He has gotten through five innings in three of his last four games and has shown enough upside to be a good option against the Cardinals, even though he probably won’t get to 100 pitches as the Twins keep a close eye on his workload. The Cardinals did win their last two games against the Brewers but have scored three runs or fewer in seven of their last 10 games. Festa’s strikeout upside in this matchup is enough to make him my top bargain arm on Friday.
OF Jesus Sanchez, Miami Marlins vs. Chicago Cubs, $3,300
Sanchez brings plenty of power potential whenever he’s in the heart of the Marlins’ batting order, and he gets a great home matchup this Friday night against Kyle Hendricks ($6,100) and the Cubs. Hendricks has allowed 19 homers this season, and 12 of them have been hit by left-handed hitters like Sanchez, who has a .304 batting average and .379 wOBA against the Cubs’ veteran starter.
Sanchez came off the bench in the Marlins’ last two games since they faced left-handed starters, but he should be back in the lineup for this matchup with Hendricks. In his previous eight starts, Sanchez went 9-for-32 (.281) with two home runs, a stolen base, a .363 wOBA and an average of 9.8 fantasy points per game. Playing Blanco this Tuesday isn’t just chasing those points, though. This year, most of his fantasy value has come from his excellent upside on the basepaths, where he has 22 stolen bases in 27 attempts. He has also played well against left-handed pitching with a .308 batting average, three homers and a .365 wOBA against southpaws. He will be on the good side of those splits against Tyler Anderson ($8,200) on Tuesday night, and he usually serves as sort of a “second leadoff” hitter out of the ninth spot in the order. If the Royals can keep up their recent offensive surge, Blanco should be able to be very involved if he can get on base with the top of the order coming up after him.
2B Will Wagner, Toronto Blue Jays vs. Los Angeles Angels, $2,300
Wagner has impressed since he arrived in Toronto as part of the Yusei Kikuchi trade, and the 26-year-old lefty continues to be a great fantasy option at 2B at barely more than the minimum salary. Before the trade, Wagner hit .307 with a .392 wOBA in Triple-A over 70 games for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, and he kept right on rolling with the Buffalo Bison, hitting .400 with a .496 wOBA in seven games.
Since his promotion and MLB debut, he has gone 11-for-29 (.393) with three doubles, five RBI and a 56.5% hard-hit rate, per Statcast. His exit velocity has been excellent, and he has settled into the middle of the Blue Jays order against right-handed starting pitchers. The Angels will send righty Jack Kochanowicz ($5,000) to the mound on Friday, who has allowed 16 runs on 27 hits with a 1.65 WHIP over his four MLB starts. He has let lefties hit .366 against him, so Wagner and the other Blue Jays lefties have a good chance to thrive on Friday.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Rally Cap [$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.
