We’ve got a 12-game slate for Friday’s MLB action.
Let’s find some studs and values for your MLB DFS lineups on DraftKings. This article was written before lineups were announced.
Make your DraftKings MLB DFS picks here: MLB $125K Bat Flip [$25K to 1st]
PITCHER
Stud
Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners vs. Athletics ($9,500) — This is a tricky slate for pitching, as holes can be poked at all price levels. At the top end, I like Blake Snell in a vacuum, but the Washington Nationals have been one of the best hitting teams against left-handed pitching. Can Snell get there? Absolutely, but you’re paying top dollar for lots of uncertainty. Therefore, I’m going down to Gilbert, who is not as good as Snell, but is $1,500 cheaper and has a much better matchup. I think he can score in the same range as Snell. On the road, the Athletics are seventh in strikeouts, 29th in ISO, dead-last in wOBA and 29th in wRC+. Gilbert has been better on the road than at home, but that’s primarily been due to the 19 home runs allowed. The xFIP is 3.55, much lower than the 4.53 FIP and the Athletics have been inept away from Sacramento.
Value
Zebby Matthews, Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox ($7,600) — The season-long numbers are gross for Matthews, but he looks to have figured out some things recently. Over the last six starts, the FIP is 3.48 compared to 4.6 on the season. The K-BB% is 4.5% higher, the barrel rate is 3% lower and the groundball rate is 7% higher. Zooming in a little closer, Matthews has allowed only one earned run in each of the last three starts while pitching 8.1 and seven innings in the two most recent outings. The road had not been a friendly place, but he went into Sacramento and limited the Athletics to one earned run while striking out seven in seven innings. Now, he just faced Chicago last week and dominated, allowing one earned run in 8.1 innings with five strikeouts. This game will also be on the road, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Matthews gets lit up because the White Sox do have tons of power. That said, I have no faith in the other cheaper options. A ringing endorsement I know.
INFIELD
Stud
Kazuma Okamoto, Toronto Blue Jays at Kansas City Royals ($4,000) — Okamoto has 28 home runs, 73 runs, 78 RBI and a stolen base in 550 plate appearances. The average exit velocity is 90.5 mph, launch angle is 20.2 degrees and the barrel rate is 13.3%. Against left-handed pitching, the wRC+ is 135 with a .258 ISO. The strikeout rate is 27.1%, though, but Daniel Lynch IV only has a 17% strikeout rate against righties. The FIP is 4.43 while the K-BB% is 6.8.
Value
Miguel Rojas, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Washington Nationals ($2,600) — Another day, another left-handed pitcher going up against the Dodgers, which will make three straight contests. And we know what to do with Rojas when there’s a lefty on the mound. Yup, we play him because he’s cheap and will hit in the heart of the order. Against left-handed pitching this season, Rojas is slashing .320/.363/.492 with a 133 wRC+, .172 ISO and 11.1% strikeout rate. Jackson Kent has only pitched 19.1 MLB innings this season, so the sample size is small, but the FIP is 5.55 with a -6 K-BB% against righties.
OUTFIELD
Stud
Jo Adell, Cleveland Guardians vs. Detroit Tigers ($4,000) — Adell has a 90.1 mph average exit velocity and 77.2 mph bat speed! Against left-handed pitching, he’s slashing .314/.361/.600 with a 165 wRC+ and .286 ISO. JP Sears is allowing an average exit velocity of 90.4 mph. Against righties, the slash is .284/.337/.455 while the FIP is 4.95. The HR/9 is 1.71 against righties.
Value
Taylor Trammell, Houston Astros vs. Arizona Diamondbacks ($3,000) — Trammell definitely has issues getting bat to ball, as the batting average is .207 while the strikeout rate is 30.8%. The barrel rate is 12.4%, though, while the bat speed is 76.4 mph. Against right-handed pitching, the wRC+ is 95 with a .169 ISO while all seven home runs have been hit. Merrill Kelly was awesome last start, putting up 30.2 FPTS, but a broken clock is right twice a day. On the season, Kelly is allowing an average exit velocity of 90.2 mph with a 12.1% barrel rate. Against lefties, 18 home runs have been served up while the FIP is 6.48 with a 0.5 K-BB%.
