The Monday, September 23 DraftKings fantasy baseball slate features four games. Get a head start on the competition by checking out the best MLB DFS stud and value picks for each position.
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PITCHER
Stud
Hunter Brown, Houston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners ($9,000) — All of the stats support Brown as the top pitcher on Monday’s small slate. Seattle’s offense has a 28% K-Rate, .151 ISO, .306 wOBA and 105 wRC+ against right-handed pitching. They can score but they can strike out. Brown is striking out almost 10 hitters per nine innings and maintains a 3.52 xFIP — best on the slate — and 49% ground Ball Rate. Brown’s only blemish is his Sep. 11 start vs. the A’s. It looks worse than what it was. Errors and sixth-inning runs were the culprits.
Val
Hayden Birdsong, San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks ($5,000) — The Giants no. 1 prospect (No. 46 MLB Prospect) will squeeze two more starts into this season. He needs the reps. Birdsong suffers from the same problem as many other 2024 prospects making their debuts. The kids have great stuff and can strike out anyone (10.2 K/9), but they’re wild. Control issues result in walks (5.5 BB/9) and short outings — four strikeouts in three innings vs. Arizona on Sep. 11. This is a tough matchup, but it’s not tough enough to justify a $5,000 salary on a four-game slate.
INFIELD
Stud
Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. San Francisco Giants ($6,000) — In a perfect world, Marte is the only D-Back that does damage and it’s against the bullpen. That’s wishful thinking. Birdsong doesn’t have to be perfect at his price on a small slate. Marte with Birdsong is fine. Marte has homered in three straight games. His game log reads: 26, 32 and 18 DKFP.
Stud
Trea Turner, Philadelphia Phillies vs. Chicago Cubs ($5,700) — Stick to stars on small slates. There’s enough value to take Turner. The Phillies’ shortstop has scored over 16 DKFP in three of the last four games. The Cubs are starting an opener. That means plenty of bullpen innings. The Cubs bullpen ranks in the bottom third of the league (4.11 xFIP) and has been worse over the last 30 days (4.21 xFIP).
Value
Mauricio Dubon, Houston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners ($2,700) — OF Yordan Alvarez ($5,600) got injured on Sunday. Dubon took his place and scored a run after a walk. Dubon is a cheap piece of a red-hot Astros lineup. Houston has scored seven or more runs in each of their last three games. Dubon recorded multi-hit games in two of those three games.
Value
Triston Casas, Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays ($3,900) — Boston’s former no. three prospect has struggled to follow up his standout rookie season. Since returning from injury in the middle of August, Casas has a .290 wOBA and .125 ISO with a 37.4% K-Rate. It’s a four-game slate. SP Chris Bassitt ($8,000) struggles with left-handed hitters (.372 wOBA, 1.6 HR/9, 4.84 xFIP and 41% Hard Contact Rate).
OUTFIELD
Stud
Jarren Duran, Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays ($5,500) — As mentioned above, Boston’s left-handed hitters are on the MLB DFS radar on Monday’s fantasy baseball slate. Duran has a .264 ISO, .387 wOBA and 150 wRC+ against right-handed pitching. He’s scored 15 or more DKFP in two of the last three games.
Stud
Kyle Tucker, Houston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners ($5,800) — The Astros are hot because Tucker is hot. Tucker registered two four-hit games in the weekend series with the Angels. He scored 27 DKFP on Friday and followed with 29 DKFP the next day.
Value
Jake Meyers, Houston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners ($3,200) — Is anyone on the Astros not hitting? Meyers scored 18 DKFP on Friday and 19 DKFP on Saturday. The matchup isn’t great but Meyers is cheap access to a hot offense.
Value
Heliot Ramos, San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks ($4,000) — The Giants’ bats are never appealing. Taking hitters against SP Eduardo Rodriguez ($6,500) is appealing. E-Rod may have worked his way back to form. His last two starts were great. However, even a healthy E-Rod is a slightly above-average pitcher at best. Ramos has a .373 ISO, .490 wOBA and 222 wRC+ in 117 plate appearances vs. RHP.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is greenflagradio2) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skills and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
