Congratulations. You’ve made it to another Friday.
I’m not quite sure how you’ll celebrate, but may I suggest building a few lineups for DraftKings 12-game MLB featured slate? It’s fun. I swear.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $222K Bat Flip [$50K to 1st]
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PITCHER
Stud
Sean Manaea, New York Mets vs. Colorado Rockies, $8,600 – This is the most expensive Manaea has been since mid-April, but the left-hander will be worth it on Friday night. Manaea has been fantastic in his last five starts, pitching to a 1.57 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP across 28.2 innings of work. It’s a span where the veteran has struck out 27 and surrendered just a single opponent home run. Spoiler alert: I don’t anticipate the Rockies will be the lineup to end Manaea’s recent run of success. Colorado’s offensive woes away from Coors are well established and, over specifically the past two weeks, the Rockies own baseball’s lowest wRC+ (71).
Value
Tyler Anderson, Los Angeles Angels vs. Seattle Mariners, $7,900 – It’s been an interesting season for Anderson. On the one hand, he’s pitched to a sterling 2.81 ERA and was named an All-Star last week. On the other, he’s outperforming his ERA estimators by almost two full runs. Still, the veteran LHP had his best start of 2024 his last time out, throwing eight scoreless innings against the Cubs with 10 strikeouts. Meanwhile, the Mariners have possessed baseball’s highest strikeout rate all year long and that hasn’t changed in the past two weeks, where they sit with a massive 30.9% mark. Anderson has some clear upside and he remains relatively cheap.
INFIELD
Stud
Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves at San Diego Padres, $5,100 – I’ve probably written up Olson 10 times this season and it’s never worked, which says a lot about how disappointing this campaign has been for the 30-year-old. After leading baseball in home runs in 2023, Olson enters play on Friday with just a .317 wOBA and a 103 wRC+. Blah. However, he’s left-handed, which is enough to be viable against Randy Vasquez ($6,200). LHBs are slashing .431/.477/.667 off of the Padres’ RHP so far in 2024.
Stud
Brice Turang, Milwaukee Brewers vs. Washington Nationals, $4,800 – Turang is in the midst of a very nice season. Not only do his 29 stolen bases sit second in the league, but Turang is hitting .283 with a 114 wRC+ against RHPs. Any way you slice it, he’s a vital part of any Brewers stack you might create — and tonight is certainly a time to consider such a build. Jackson Rutledge ($6,900) has been re-called from Triple-A to start this evening for the Nationals. Rutledge sports a 6.66 ERA in the minors in 2024, along with a career 6.86 ERA at the MLB level.
Value
Nolan Gorman, St. Louis Cardinals vs. Chicago Cubs, $3,900 – It’s hard to believe Kyle Hendricks ($5,700) is still starting games in 2024, but here we are. The RHP has struggled quite a bit in his 11th seasons, pitching to a 7.53 ERA across 63.1 innings of work. More specifically, Hendricks has been absolutely crushed by opposing LHBs, as the veteran is surrendering an eye-popping 2.56 home runs per nine within the split. That’s where Gorman comes into play. Gorman has elite power when he’s actually able to make contact, something that shouldn’t be an issue on Friday with Hendricks’ 10th percentile whiff rate (19.4%).
Value
Brooks Lee, Minnesota Twins at San Francisco Giants, $3,800 – Lee’s price continues to climb and why not? It’s only a 35 plate appearance sample, but the top prospect has been incredible in his brief time with the Twins, hitting .364 with a 164 wRC+. Tonight, he and his teammates will square-off with the left-handed Kyle Harrison ($7,300). In the minors, the switch-hitting Lee tended to be more dangerous versus RHPs, but Minnesota as a whole has caused opposed LHPs nightmares, leading the AL with a 126 wRC+ as a team. Harrison’s got a 5.00 FIP over his last five starts. Things could get ugly at Oracle Park.
OUTFIELD
Stud
Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers vs. Washington Nationals, $5,800 – Yelich looks like the guy that used to be a perennial MVP candidate. There’s no other way to say it. The veteran is hitting .329 with a 163 wRC+ — the highest mark he’s produced since all the way back in 2019. He’s also red-hot to begin July, with three home runs and a .513 wOBA in 10 games. In other words, Yelich is going to eat Rutledge alive. It’s worth noting that Rutledge has struggled against LHBs in his cup of coffee at the MLB level, conceding a .454 wOBA within the split over his career.
Stud
Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins at San Francisco Giants, $4,700 – Buxton’s been a different player since the start of June, slashing .324/.372/.604 with a .279 ISO and a 173 wRC+ in his 121 plate appearances. Buxton has also destroyed left-handed pitching all season long, managing a .317 average and a 164 wRC+ within the split. Minnesota is going to put up some crooked numbers this evening and Buxton will likely be in the middle of it all.
Value
Lars Nootbaar, St. Louis Cardinals vs. Chicago Cubs, $3,800 – Nootbaar’s hit the ground running since his return from a lengthy IL stint, collecting three hits and a home run in his first three games back with the Cardinals. For the season as a whole, Nootbaar remains an analytics darling, with a 52.1% hard hit rate and a .368 expected wOBA. The man can hit, and he’s another inexpensive LHB to stack against the floundering Hendricks.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $222K Bat Flip [$50K to 1st]
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
