It’s Monday — what better way to fight the stress of a new work week than relaxing with some MLB baseball this evening? There’s plenty of action on the diamonds today and the main DraftKings DFS slate begins at 7:10 p.m. EST with a player pool drawing from eight games. Are you ready to play some fantasy baseball?
Check out these three must-start MLB DFS picks for today’s fantasy lineups.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Knuckleball [$50K to 1st]
SP Bryan Woo, SEA Mariners @ MIN Twins; $9,600
This pick isn’t exactly cheap, nor will it come with a great degree of differentiation from a ton of other players’ lineups. However, Mariners hurler Bryan Woo ($9,600) brings top-end fantasy production at just a slightly cheaper cost than today’s priciest pitcher, Spencer Schwellenbach ($9,800).
Woo averages 19.4 FPPG this season across 14 starts. The right-hander’s numbers are nearly just as good as those from last season as he boasts a 3.12 ERA and elite 0.94 WHIP overall, keeping runners off the basepaths. He’s not an amazing strikeout pitcher, but Woo does have 78 punchouts in 89.1 innings with an incredible 5.57 K/BB with very impressive control, walking just 14 batters overall. Opposing batters hit just .213 off the righty this season and he faces a Twins lineup ranked 21st in AVG on the year. The matchup looks solid and Woo’s got the talent to shine regardless.
OF Ronald Acuna Jr., ATL Braves @ NY Mets; $6,400
Everyone knew how great Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr. ($6,400) was prior to major injuries over the last couple of seasons, but did anyone see him rounding back into form this quickly? He averages 11.9 FPPG thus far and brings an elite ceiling along with an already-amazing floor.
In his first 96 at-bats since returning, Acuna slashes .396/.504/.698 with an OPS of 1.202. Yes, the sample size still looks fairly small in the grand scheme of things, but the guy is playing out of his mind right now. He’s tallied five extra-base hits, 29 runs, 15 RBIs, and eight home runs thus far with no signs of slowing down. While he’s only stolen two bases as he continues working his way back up to full speed, Acuna’s bat is way too hot to leave out of lineups — especially against the Mets’ Paul Blackburn ($6,300) with his 6.92 ERA and 1.69 WHIP across four appearances.
C Cal Raleigh, SEA Mariners @ MIN Twins; $6,000
I keep coming back to the well over and over when writing this column, but Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh ($6,000) is the gift that just keeps on giving. There’s just no other option at catcher who brings the scoring pop to lineups that Raleigh does with his 11.4 FPPG, a full 4.1 points greater than the production of the next-closest at the position.
Raleigh slashes a career-best .276/.383/.659 with 14 extra-base hits, 55 runs, 66 RBIs, and a league-best 31 homers. He’s pacing for the most home runs by a catcher in MLB history, so his offensive upside remains immense at a position where top-tier hitters are uncommon. The matchup looks good too as righty Bailey Ober ($7,600) pitches for the Twins with a 4.54 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 1.59 HR/9, and a 27th-percentile barrel rate.
