We’re you bored the past four days? It’s okay. Answer honestly. This is a safe space. Thankfully, the slowest week in North American sports is over. On Friday night, baseball is back in a big way on DraftKings with an 11-game featured slate.
You’ve waited long enough, so let’s not drag this out. Let’s find some studs and values.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $250K Bat Flip [$50K to 1st]
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PITCHER
Stud
Hunter Brown, Houston Astros at Seattle Mariners, $8,400 – It’s Brown who will kick off this battle for the top of the AL West. The RHP has been in quite the groove lately, a stretch of good results that actually began back on May 28 in Seattle. Brown allowed a single earned run across six innings that night, striking out nine and picking up 26.5 DKFP in the process. Including that outing, Brown’s maintained a 2.29 ERA with a 27.7% strikeout rate in his past nine starts. Considering the Mariners own MLB’s highest strikeout rate as a team over the last 30 days (30.0%), I’d expect Brown to have another quality performance to begin the season’s second-half. The fact he’s only priced around $8K is a bonus.
Value
Sean Manaea, New York Mets at Miami Marlins, $7,600 – At 32, Manaea is what he is at this point in his career. His ERA is going to hover around 4.00, his walk rate is going to be a smidge higher than you’d like and he’s going to average about a strikeout per inning. For all intents and purposes, he’s a wonderful backend starter on a competitive team and, in DFS, he’s a great value option in the right matchup. Tonight is one of those matchups. The Marlins have been atrocious against LHPs in 2024, entering play on Friday with league-worst marks within the split in both ISO (.101) and wRC+ (70). Manaea posted 28.2 DKFP in his last outing. The man has some upside.
INFIELD
Stud
Matt Chapman, San Francisco Giants at Colorado Rockies, $5,000 – While Chapman’s been much better against LHPs this season, don’t overthink this spot. The veteran has 98th percentile bat speed (76.5), 91st percentile average exit velocity (92.2) and an 81st percentile barrel rate (11.8%). His expected wOBA on batted ball events is .420. The man just plays his home games at the wrong park. In Colorado against a low strikeout rate arm like Cal Quantrill ($6,000) are the exact conditions you want to pay up for Chapman.
Stud
Vinnie Pasquantino, Kansas City Royals vs. Chicago White Sox, $4,700 – It hasn’t been an amazing season for Pasquantino, who is still chasing the highs of his rookie campaign in 2022. However, after a slow start, the 26-year-old did put together a big month of June, with an .832 OPS and a 126 wRC+ across 111 plate appearances. He’ll look to start the second-half off with a bang in an opposite-hand matchup against Chris Flexen ($6,700). Flexen has been haunted by LHBs in 2024, conceding 2.50 opponent home runs per nine within the split.
Value
Zach Neto, Los Angeles Angels at Oakland Athletics, $3,700 – It’s been under the radar on a bad Angels squad, but Neto is quietly having himself a nice sophomore campaign. He’s on pace to go 20/20 and, since May 1, he’s in possession of a .206 ISO and a 117 wRC+. Not bad for a 23-year-old shortstop with a decent glove. Neto has also clearly been at his best when getting the opportunity to face an LHP. In 55 plate appearances within the split, he’s batting .385 with a 162 wRC+. JP Sears ($6,300) and his 5.01 xFIP should be the perfect matchup.
Value
Seth Brown, Oakland Athletics vs. Los Angeles Angels, $2,600 – Brown’s 2024 is really interesting. When he was outrighted to Triple-A in June, I think a lot of people assumed his career was over. Instead, Brown hit .403 with seven home runs in 16 games and earned a re-call to the big leagues. Last Sunday, in just his fourth contest back, Brown hit a pair of long balls in an 18-3 drubbing of the Phillies. He’s a solid left-handed bat with power and he’s red-hot. That’s enough to be viable in a matchup with Griffin Canning ($5,800), who is surrendering 1.93 home runs per nine to LHBs.
OUTFIELD
Stud
Brandon Nimmo, New York Mets at Miami Marlins, $5,200 – Nimmo didn’t make the NL All-Star team, but he’s been hitting like one since the beginning of June. In 162 plate appearances within this span, Nimmo is slashing .294/.377/.559 with a .266 ISO and a 166 wRC+. He’ll get a chance to add to those figures on Friday against Edward Cabrera ($6,600), who happens to own an 8.15 FIP versus LHBs in 2024. That’s what’ll happen when you’re surrendering 3.38 home runs per nine within the split.
Stud
Brenton Doyle, Colorado Rockies vs. San Francisco Giants, $5,000 – You’d be forgiven for not paying too much attention to the Rockies, but have you seen Doyle’s numbers so far in July? He’s got eight home runs in just 45 at-bats. That’s a .644 ISO. That’s a 304 wRC+. Obviously we’re dealing with small samples, but we’re also talking about an asset that is slashing .346/.407/.588 with a .242 ISO at Coors Field for the season as a whole. On Friday, Doyle draws an opposite-hand matchup with Kyle Harrison ($7,300). Doyle owns a .375 expected wOBA versus southpaws. All the numbers line up.
Value
JJ Bleday, Oakland Athletics vs. Los Angeles Angels, $3,700 – Bleday has gone cold at the plate in July, but after a week to recalibrate, I’m fine tossing the former fourth-overall pick in some lineups. Bleday has been good against RHPs in 2024, with a .734 OPS and a 112 wRC+ within the split. However, his viability on Friday is way more about the presence of Canning. As mentioned above, the 28-year-old right-hander has struggled with LHBs all season long, as he’s allowed lefty opponents to slash .288/.358/.517.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $250K 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.
