Sunday Night Baseball this week is a great series finale between the Dodgers and the Braves in Atlanta. Coming into the series, the Braves were starting to show signs of turning things around after a slow start, going 9-3 in their previous 12 games. The Dodgers rolled in red hot, and have taken the first two games of the series to extend their winning streak to seven in a row. Can the visitors finish the sweep in Atlanta or can the Braves salvage the last game? Let’s look at some overall strategy for the Dodgers vs. Braves MLB DFS.
The pitching matchup for Sunday Night Baseball is a matchup of young righties as Dustin May ($11,600) faces Bryce Elder ($10,800). May is 1-1 with a 3.95 ERA, while Elder is 1-1 with a 5.33 ERA. Elder is coming off a couple of strong starts, though, including earning that win in his last outing, which came at Coors Field.
Let’s take a look at what to expect and how to attack this Dodgers vs. Braves MLB DFS matchup from a DraftKings Showdown perspective.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB Showdown $75K Sunday Night Slugfest [$25K to 1st] (LAD at ATL).
Dodgers vs. Braves DFS Showdown Strategy
Captain’s Pick
Freddie Freeman ($14,100): Former Brave and current Dodger Freddie Freeman has the hottest bat on the board this Sunday night. The lefty is hitting .338 on the season with six home runs, a .325 ISO, and a .457 wOBA.
He has hit safely in eight straight games after going 3-for-4 on Saturday night, when he was in my top targets. He blasted his sixth homer of the season in the Dodgers’ 10-3 victory and finished with 28 fantasy points. During his hitting streak, he is 14-for-29 (.483) with 13.75 fantasy points per game.
Elder has given up six home runs this season with three coming from both sides of the split. He walks more lefties than righties, so Freeman’s great plate approach should help him be a great play to build around again on Sunday night.
Hyeseong Kim ($4,500): If you want to stack multiple Dodgers’ stars in your lineup, including Freeman with other pay-up plays, one way to save salary is to use Kim as your Captain’s Pick play at the minimum salary of just $4,500. The Dodgers called up Kim on Saturday when Tommy Edman (ankle) was placed on IR. While Chris Taylor ($3,000) got the start at 2B on Saturday, Kim should get plenty of playing time while Edman is out.
Kim came over from the KBL this past offseason, but the Dodgers opted to let him start his MLB journey in Triple-A to work through some swing adjustments. In his 28 games with the Oklahoma City Comets, Kim hit .252 with five home runs and a .354 wOBA and went a perfect 13-for-23 in stolen bases attempts.
Kim entered Saturday night’s game as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning, but I expect he’ll get the start on Sunday night and be a great contrarian way to start your roster build for Sunday night, leaving a hefty $9,100 average to spend on the UTIL spots in your lineup.
How much salary cap space does Kim leave you? You can include May, Shohei Ohtani ($10,000), Mookie Betts ($9,000) and Freeman as your utility plays and still have over $5,000 left for your final spot if that’s the way you want to build.
UTIL Plays
Dustin May ($11,600): I covered May in my top starting pitcher prop bets for Sunday night, and I think he’ll also be a great utility play against the struggling Braves. May had 20.9 fantasy points in his first start against Atlanta this season and has very strong splits against lefties this season, allowing them to hit just .194 with 17 strikeouts in 70 plate appearances. Since so many of the Braves are lefties, May should be able to step up and post a strong return on this salary in a UTIL spot.
Teoscar Hernandez ($8,600): While he comes much cheaper than the other big bats in the Dodgers’ lineup, Hernandez has outproduced Ohtani, Betts, and even Freeman over the last 10 games. In his last 10, Hernandez is a red-hot 18-for-44 (.409) with five doubles, four home runs, 16 RBI and an average of 15.8 fantasy points per game.
Eli White ($4,400): The Braves right-handed hitters are actually where I’d look for options from Atlanta, and White is a great way to save some salary and still get good upside. The 30-year-old is hitting .308 with a pair of home runs and a pair of stolen bases to average 6.1 fantasy points per game this season. That average is extremely skewed, though, from his early-season action as a pinch hitter or defensive replacement. He is averaging 12.3 fantasy points in his last nine games since getting regular time as a starter and has at least eight fantasy points in eight of those nine games.
Fades
Bryce Elder ($10,900): Paying over $10,000 for Elder in any format is always going to be a hard sell for me since he gives up so much hard contact. The fact that he’s facing a Dodgers’ lineup that looks absolutely stacked right now makes him even riskier. Unless you’re just trying to be different on purpose, there’s no reason to play Elder.
I’m also passing on the Braves’ left-handed hitters like Matt Olson ($7,600), Alex Verdugo ($5,400), and Michael Harris II ($6,800) who are on the wrong side of May’s strong reverse splits.
THE OUTCOME
The Dodgers were the the best lineup on paper coming into the season, and they’re playing like it during their winning streak. The Braves could still turn around their season, but they need Ronald Acuna Jr. (knee) and Spencer Strider (hamstring) back in the mix before they have the talent to keep up with a team that’s as deep as the Dodgers.
The Dodgers have too many strong options in their lineup, and I love building around as many big bats as I can squeeze in around Kim in his first MLB start if he’s in the lineup. His ownership should be low enough to make him a great flier for GPP contests.
Final Score: Dodgers 8, Braves 2
