Friday has arrived — what better way to kick of your weekend than with some action on the baseball diamond? DraftKings’ main DFS slate includes an offering drawn from 13 MLB games, so fantasy players can take their pick from almost the entire league’s rosters when building tonight’s lineups.
Here are three must-start players for Friday’s MLB DFS lineups.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Extra Inning [$50K to 1st]
SP Nathan Eovaldi, TEX Rangers vs. ATL Braves; $9,600
Did someone say “stud?” One of the most shocking All-Star snubs this season, Nathan Eovaldi just keeps throwing gem after gem. The right-hander boasts a fantastic 1.58 ERA and 0.85 WHIP which would rank first and second among all MLB pitchers if he’d tossed just a few more innings to qualify for the stat leaderboard. Eovaldi also delivers plus-value in strikeouts with 94 over his 91 innings of work, so there’s plenty working in his favor for fantasy purposes. His 21.5 FPPG ranks first among all pitchers on the slate tonight but the 35-year-old comes in at fourth on the salary sheet. The Rangers face the Braves tonight, so the matchup looks good against a team which falls 20th in batting average and 19th in strikeouts.
3B/OF Jose Ramirez, CLE Guardians @ KC Royals; $5,800
The Guardians aren’t a very good baseball team this year, but Jose Ramirez is determined to keep his franchise in the playoff hunt regardless of the talent around him. The former MVP candidate slashes .295/.370/.527 overall with 62 runs, 56 RBIs and 21 homers while playing like a menace on the basepaths with 31 stolen bags, third-most in the entire MLB. He averages 10.2 FPPG but Ramirez is on a particular tear as of late with an eye-popping 16.3 FPPG over his last 10 contests with 13 or more points in five of seven games post All-Star. The Royals’ Michael Wacha may not look like the greatest matchup, but that won’t matter if Ramirez keeps playing at such a high level. He’s a nice option for tonight’s lineups at a cheaper price point than some other elite players.
1B Nick Kurtz, Athletics @ HOU Astros; $4,900
Rookie Nick Kurtz currently looks just as hot at the plate as Ramirez, if not even better. The Athletics haven’t given fans a ton to be excited about on the year, but the first baseman shows the makings of a real future star. Kurtz slashes .288/.360/.622 with 51 RBIs and 19 home runs in just 233 at-bats, and while he strikes out more than you’d like to see, the fantasy production still looks great. The 22-year-old averages 9.6 FPPG but that mark sits at 16.8 FPPG over his last 10 appearances while batting .500 with a 1.653 OPS. That doesn’t even seem possible, but Kurtz also hit double-digit fantasy points in all but one game since the All-Star break. The Astros have one of the league’s top-performing collections of pitchers even despite their injuries, but Kurtz is hot enough to still get his numbers.
