During the regular season, Wednesdays are often travel days for Major League Baseball and many teams play “getaway” games on Wednesday afternoon. This Wednesday, though, most of the action is under the lights, setting up a very nice 10-game slate for the main contests on DraftKings.
The main slate gets underway at 7:10 p.m. ET and includes 20 teams in the player pool. Exactly half of the 10 games are divisional contests, highlighted by the marquee matchup between the Guardians and Royals, who are battling for control of the American League Central. Cleveland won the first two games of the series to open up a 5 1/2 game advantage over Kansas City.
With 20 teams in play this Wednesday, there is definitely no shortage of good options to consider. Check out my top studs and values from across Wednesday’s slate analyzed below:
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PITCHER
Stud
Charlie Morton, Atlanta Braves vs. Colorado Rockies ($8,200) – While there are some higher-priced arms on the slate to consider, they all have significant risk factors. Instead, paying less for Morton and spending up for top bats makes more sense on Wednesday night’s slate.
The 40-year-old veteran has gone 7-7 in his 24 starts this season with a 4.26 ERA, 4.64 ERA and 9.2 K/9. While those numbers are slightly down overall from last year, he has been finding much more success lately. In his last four starts, he racked up 28 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings while working into the sixth in each start and averaging 18.8 fantasy points per outing. He has at least six strikeouts in each of those starts and allowed three runs or fewer in six of his eight starts since the All-Star break.
Morton’s recent form sets him up well for this great matchup with the Rockies. Without the help of Coors Field, the Rockies are one of the worst offenses in the MLB. On the road, they have the second-worst team batting average and the second-worst wOBA, and they also have the second-lowest team wRC+, which takes into account Park Factor. Chris Sale shut the Rockies out to start the series and Morton will look to pick up where he left off on Wednesday night.
Value
Tylor Megill, New York Mets vs. Boston Red Sox ($7,200) – Megill and the Mets start the day just 1/2 game behind the Braves for the third and final NL Wild Card spot. Megill will make a second start filling in for Paul Blackburn (hand), while Christian Scott (shoulder) is also on the road to recovery. While he isn’t likely to stick in the rotation, he did have success against the White Sox last Saturday, earning 21.75 fantasy points in 5 1/3 innings.
Throughout his career, Megill has brought a high ceiling with good strikeout potential. He has 61 strikeouts in his 52 1/3 MLB innings this year, along with 54 strikeouts in 40 innings at Triple-A. Megill is only 3-5 with a 4.82 ERA in the majors this year, but his 3.89 FIP indicates some of that has been a little unlucky.
He’ll get a good matchup against the scuffling Red Sox offense that has scored the third-fewest runs in the MLB with the third-worst wOBA over the last 14 days while also posting the third-highest K%. Megill’s strikeout upside is enough to cover a few mistakes, and he has great upside as the Mets look to close out the home sweep of the Sox.
INFIELD
Stud
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers at Los Angeles Angels ($7,000) – The Dodgers are in a great spot against Griffin Canning ($5,000), who is 4-12 with a 5.19 ERA and 5.17 FIP this season. He has let lefties post a .357 wOBA against him and given up 25 home runs overall. Lefties in the Dodgers lineup are a strong play, which obviously includes Shohe as he continues his push to the 50/50 club.
Whether you prefer playing Ohtani at 1B or OF, he brings an immensely high ceiling. Ohtani has seven home runs and 13 stolen bases just in his last 19 games and is up to 44 homers and 46 stolen bases on the season. He has produced at least 16 fantasy points in four of his last five games and is averaging 16.1 fantasy points per contest over his last 16 games. While he does cost more than any other hitter, he has put up such huge numbers that he’s often been worth building around, especially on a slate where pitching can be found a little cheaper.
Stud
Francisco Lindor, New York Mets vs. Boston Red Sox ($5,900) – While Ohtani likely has the NL MVP award wrapped up, Lindor has been putting on a push of his own over the last month as he carries the Mets into the playoff race. He homered and stole a base on Tuesday to finish with 30 fantasy points. Over his last 10 games, he averaged 13.6 fantasy points per game with five homers, a .333 batting average and a .474 wOBA. Like Ohtani, Lindor has been a regularly recurring character in my picks over the past month and consistently turns in big games from the top of his team’s batting order with a great combo of power and speed.
Value
Brendan Donovan, St. Louis Cardinals vs. Milwaukee Brewers ($3,500) – Donovan matched his career-high with his 11th home run on Saturday and comes into Wednesday’s game riding a nice hot streak in the middle of the Cardinals batting order. Getting a cleanup hitter in a decent lineup at only $3,500 is a nice option, especially at 2B, where there aren’t a ton of run-producing options. Over his last nine games, Donovan is hitting .351 (13-for-37) with five extra-base hits and a .405 wOBA. He will also be on the much stronger side of his splits at home against righty Colin Rea ($7,900) on Wednesday.
Value
Kyle Manzardo, Cleveland Guardians at Kansas City Royals, $2,700 – Manzardo is an exciting young prospect for the Guardians, who struggled in his first stint with the club but looks ready to contribute this time around. Manzardo was added when rosters expanded on Sunday and went 2-for-4 with his first two MLB home runs. He went 0-for-3 Monday but bounced back with a big game Tuesday, going 3-for-4 with a double. He showed plenty of power potential with 20 homers and a .409 wOBA in Triple-A this season, and he remains very affordable for this matchup against Seth Lugo ($8,700), who has been excellent for the Royals this year but seems to be wearing down in his last few outings.
OUTFIELD
Stud
Brent Rooker, Oakland Athletics vs. Seattle Mariners ($5,800) – While the A’s continue to struggle, they have a couple of very legitimate bats at the top of their order in Rooker and Lawrence Butler ($4,200). Rooker has hit an even .300 since the All-Star break with 12 homers and a .399 wOBA, and he has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games while going 16-for-41 (.390) with four homers, a .498 wOBA and an average of 13.3 fantasy points per game. The Athletics could be a good source of value as they face a struggling George Kirby ($9,000), who has allowed 21 runs on 30 hits, including seven home runs over just 20 innings in his last four games.
Stud
Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks at San Francisco Giants ($5,300) – Carroll showed huge fantasy upside in his rookie year last year but was a mess most of this season. Fantasy owners were waiting for the 24-year-old to figure it out, and it sure looks like he has. He comes into Wednesday’s matchup in San Francisco on a 13-game hitting streak during which he has gone 19-for-53 (.358) with six home runs, three stolen bases, a .475 wOBA and an average of 15.0 fantasy points per contest. He has five multi-hit games in his last seven contests and stole multiple bases on Tuesday to produce 22 fantasy points.
Value
Mickey Moniak, Los Angeles Angels vs. Los Angeles Dodgers ($3,000) – Moniak was the top overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft but has struggled to be consistent throughout his time in the MLB with the Phillies and Angels. He has had occasional hot streaks, though, and just put together a big August. During that month, he hit .359 with six home runs and a .469 wOBA. He started September with a pair of 0-for-4 performances, but he brings very good upside for an option at only $3,000 in what should be a matchup where the Angels can score some runs against Bobby Miller ($7,300).
Value
Seth Brown, Oakland Athletics vs. Seattle Mariners ($3,000) – Brown has also been a streaky player with a high ceiling, and he’ll bring a high ceiling on Wednesday if Kirby continues to struggle. Brown has multiple hits in five of his last six starts and went 3-for-4 with his 13th homer of the season on Tuesday. He finished with 22 fantasy points in that game and has averaged 10.5 fantasy points per game over his last 10 contests while hitting .361 with a 53.6% hard-hit rate, per Statcast. Brown can also slide to 1B if that works better in your roster construction.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Bat Flip [$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.
