Wednesday’s MLB slate is already in full swing, leaving just a handful of games in the evening window for DraftKings DFS contests. However, there are still five matchups to draw from which means fantasy baseball players can select their options from 10 available teams. There are certainly some fun names to watch for, so let’s dive in.
Check out these three must-start players for Wednesday’s MLB DFS lineups.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $150K Bat Flip [$50K to 1st]
SP Jeffrey Springs, Athletics @ Nationals; $6,800
There aren’t an excess of top-tier pitchers on this slate that’s headlined by Spencer Strider, George Kirby and Michael Wacha. Instead of spending big, I’m targeting Jeffrey Springs as one of my must-starts for two reasons. For starters, the lefty averages 14.0 FPPG, tied for third-most in the lineup pool. In his most recent outing, Springs posted 27.7 points with another 19.9 and 21.2 points in two of his three prior outings.
Springs’ ERA doesn’t look great at 4.14, but he posts a 1.17 WHIP and generally limits hard hits with a 75th-percentile average exit velocity. The Athletics take on the Nationals, a team that slashes just .239/.301/.368 against left-handers while ranking 26th in OPS since the All-Star Game. Options are somewhat slim, but Springs would probably be a sleeper pick for tonight regardless, especially at this price.
OF Christian Yelich, Brewers @ Braves; $4,800
Christian Yelich came out of the All-Star break on a slump but has snapped out of his funk lately. The lefty bat averages 8.8 FPPG this year but bumped that tally to 10.7 FPPG in his last 10 contests while slashing .282/.404/.462 with 13 runs, eight RBIs and a pair of homers in that span.
There’s much to like about Yelich in tonight’s matchup. The Brewers are one of baseball’s top teams, so the run and RBI and potential typically looks great for the team’s batters. They face the Braves and starter Spencer Strider tonight, who’s still a talented pitcher but hasn’t bounced back to elite form this season. Yelich bats .278 with an .870 OPS and 19 homers against right-handed pitching, so the splits are more than encouraging for this outing.
3B Manny Machado, Padres @ Diamondbacks; $5,600
This star infielder ended July on a scorching-hot note with double-digit fantasy points in seven of his last eight games before the month’s conclusion. While Manny Machado slowed down a little bit over the last week, he tallied 17 points last night and recorded at least one hit in 12 of his last 13 contests.
Machado averages 8.9 FPPG this season with 12.0 FPPG over his previous 10 outings. In that span, he slashes .415/.478/.610 with seven runs, nine RBIs and a pair of stolen bases. Tonight, he gets the better of his splits against Diamondbacks right-hander Anthony DeSclafani who makes a spot start. With a 5.56 home ERA, he could be vulnerable to this Padres lineup, meaning Machado could keep his excellent play going in this matchup.
