The first round of All-Star voting returns came back yesterday, and to nobody’s surprise, both Shohei Ohtani ($6,700) and Aaron Judge ($6,600) led their respective leagues in voting and will participate in the summer showcase. Plenty of their teammates also rank high at their respective positions, a testament to how talented — and how popular — the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees are.
With a 14-game featured slate for tonight’s DFS contest on DraftKings, you’ll have no shortage of options for filling out your lineup. Here are two pitchers, three infielders, and three outfielders I’m targeting.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Rally Cap [$50K to 1st]
PITCHER
Stud
Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers, $10,000 – Gilbert had his first poor outing of the season his last time out, when he gave up four runs and eight hits in five innings (14.45 FPTS), but given that he’s recorded 20 or more FPTS in five of his eight starts this season, he’s well worth his salary. That blow-up can largely be attributed to facing the Chicago Cubs, who have among the best offenses in the league. Texas doesn’t; although the Rangers have been about league-average by OPS this month, they rank third-to-last overall and have been worse offensively at home than on the road.
Value
Tomoyuki Sugano, Baltimore Orioles vs. Tampa Bay Rays, $6,500 – A lot of the other pitchers around Sugano’s price point are here because they’re capable of blow-up performances; for Sugano, who’s only given up more than three runs on one occasion this season, that isn’t really the case. Sugano’s here because he’s failed to make it out of the fifth inning in any of his last three starts, even if he wasn’t horrendous in any of them. The Rays tend to chase frequently and swing frequently on pitches within the zone while whiffing at a below-average rate, so he should be able to get through at-bats quickly. In turn, that should lead to more longevity, even if Tampa Bay does have the league’s highest batting average on balls in play and Baltimore a below-average defense.
INFIELDER
Stud
Jazz Chisholm Jr., New York Yankees vs. Athletics, $5,100 – Though the Yankees’ offense has slumped mightily over the last few weeks, Chisholm hasn’t been a major part of that problem; over his last 10 games, he’s slashing .341/.386/.561 (9.2 FPTS per game), and he went deep last night for the fourth time since his return from injury at the start of the month in a 16-FPT performance. I also like his ceiling against Mitch Spence ($6,600), who’s just acclimating to life as a starter, and more generally against the Athletics, who have had easily the league’s worst bullpen this season. Chisholm has posted an .851 OPS against right-handed pitchers this season.
Stud
Drake Baldwin, Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies, $4,100 – Baldwin has regained his form somewhat since a brutal slump that encompassed most of the end of May and the start of June, and although he’s hitting just .233 over his last 10 games, his plate discipline and power have meant that he’s produced a solid 7.5 FPTS per game across that span. He’s also been much better at home than on the road, with a 1.052 OPS (7.5 FPPG) at Truist Park and a .664 OPS (five FPPG) elsewhere. Phillies starter Mick Abel ($7,700) is coming off of a three-inning outing in which he gave up four solo home runs (-2.85 FPTS).
Value
Willy Adames, San Francisco Giants at Chicago White Sox, $4,000 – I picked Adames in this space in Tuesday’s column as well, but San Francisco’s marquee acquisition is finally starting to see the ball well. Over his last 10 games, he’s slashing .314/.390/.400 (7.3 FPTS per game) with two multi-hit games in his last four, making him well worth his $4,000 DFS salary. I expect Adames to keep the good times rolling against the White Sox’s Aaron Civale ($6,300), who struggles mightily to strike people out and gives up tons of pulled fly balls. Those tendencies should help mitigate Adames’ two most glaring weaknesses, his 21st-percentile strikeout percentage and his ninth-percentile launch angle sweet-spot percentage.
OUTFIELDER
Stud
Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs at Houston Astros, $6,000 – I don’t know if I’ve ever picked PCA in one of these columns, which my colleague Dan Johnson must be gravely disappointed in. But PCA has been as consistent as they come, recording at least one hit in six straight games, and his OPS over his last 10 games (.947) is actually higher than his season-long mark (.863). The 23-year-old has a favorable matchup today against Brandon Walter ($8,700), who gave up seven runs in six innings (4.9 FPTS) in his most recent outing and gives up many hard hits. Plus, Walter relies mostly on off-speed stuff and has been worth negative-one bases advanced above average this season, so Crow-Armstrong could pick up his 25th stolen base of the season.
Stud
Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers vs. Colorado Rockies, $4,900 – To get it out of the way, Yelich has been awful against southpaws this season, which wouldn’t naturally make him the greatest fit against Kyle Freeland ($5,500). But Freeland has been unimpressive at best, posting a third-percentile expected batting average and a 25th-percentile average exit velocity, and he rarely incudes whiffs and strikeouts, mitigating Yeli’s biggest weakness. Just look at the former MVP’s form in his last 10 games: .429/.467/.690, with two homers and 15 RBI’s (13.4 FPTS per game). That’s prime Yeli stuff, and he’s a valuable fantasy asset even if he takes a slight step back against Freeland.
Value
Hyeseong Kim, Los Angeles Dodgers at Kansas City Royals, $4,000 – Kim’s salary precipitously dropped from $5,000 to $4,000 prior to tonight’s game, and I get why there’s skepticism: Kansas City is starting lefty Noah Cameron ($8,100), and Dave Roberts hasn’t typically started Kim against lefties. Still, Kim barely got any playing time in the last series, so maybe it’s time for Michael Conforto ($2,800) to get the day off. There’s a solid chance that this play will end up being a complete zero if he doesn’t play, but given that his salary is so much lower than it usually is, I think it’s worth the gamble.
