Only four days remain until the rosters expand to 28 for September, and with a few highly-touted but untested prospects set to earn their MLB debuts, fantasy players are in for a slightly bigger selection of value options.
For now, though, we’re stuck with classic 26-man rosters. That still leaves us with plenty of intriguing players for tonight’s five-game featured DFS slate on DraftKings, especially with one likely playoff team represented in four of the five matchups.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $100K Relay Throw [$25K to 1st].
RP Jason Alexander, Houston Astros vs. Colorado Rockies, $8,000
There’s actually some risk to picking against the cellar-dwelling Rockies, who are on pace to finish with the worst run differential in MLB history: they’ve had an above-average offense since the All-Star break. But Colorado has struggled mightily over the last five games, being shut out thrice, and it has been the league’s worst road team this season thanks to the extremely hitter-friendly nature of Coors Field. The Rockies’ 164-point home-road OPS difference should be more than enough to make up for Alexander’s comparatively poor performance at Daikin Park, where he’s averaged 3.7 fewer FPTS per game.
But Alexander has been in stellar form as of late, pitching to a 1.93 ERA in 28.0 innings over his last five starts (18.8 FPTS per game), and in that small sample size, his average fantasy output is better than anyone’s on the slate but Logan Webb ($10,000) and American League Cy Young contender Garrett Crochet ($12,000), making his $8,000 a bargain. The sinkerballer is excellent at inducing ground balls, helping nullify a (relative) strength of Colorado’s offense.
1B Spencer Horwitz, Pittsburgh Pirates at St. Louis Cardinals, $3,600
Despite a mediocre Pittsburgh offense, Horwitz has put together some stellar performances as of late, recording double-digit fantasy points in three of his last five games and four of his last eight. Plus, he has a good track record against St. Louis this season, averaging 9.7 FPTS per game in six games. He’s been an above-average hitter against right-handed pitchers this season and completely unplayable against lefties.
Thankfully for him, the Cardinals are starting a righty in Miles Mikolas ($5,700) who has the second-cheapest DFS salary of anyone on the slate and has struggled mightily since the All-Star break, posting negative fantasy output in two of his last four outings and just 1.85 FPTS in another. Mikolas has been particularly awful against southpaws this season, allowing an .847 OPS against them, and while Horwitz hasn’t done a great job generating hard hits this season, Mikolas has done a horrible job avoiding them.
OF Jhostynxon Garcia, Boston Red Sox at Baltimore Orioles, $2,000
Garcia had a quiet MLB debut against the New York Yankees last Friday, walking once and striking out thrice (two FPTS), and he’s only earned two more plate appearances since, walking once and striking out once (two FPTS) against the Yankees on Sunday. But The Password is in the lineup again tonight, so if he does anything with his opportunity, it’ll be good value for his $2,000 salary. Red Sox fans shouldn’t be overly concerned: Roman Anthony ($4,900) had a hitless debut as well and is now one of the best players in baseball.
Cade Povich ($6,200) is a much kinder matchup for Garcia than Max Fried was last Sunday. Baltimore’s left-hander has just a 5.44 ERA this season, including a 6.22 mark in 10 home appearances (nine starts), and he got shelled in his most recent outing, giving up six runs (four earned) in 4.1 innings (8.9 FPTS). Garcia posted a .930 OPS against left-handed pitchers in the minors, and Povich has bounced back and forth between the minors and majors over the last two seasons. The Password will figure it out sooner rather than later.
