After seeing their bats cool off for just a moment, the San Diego Padres broke out for eight runs in a win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday and will hope to keep that momentum going into the weekend against a Los Angeles Dodgers team that has lost just two games all season. Walker Buehler ($11,000) and his 1.50 ERA will stand in their way; he’ll duel a bullpen headed by starter Ryan Weathers ($9,000). Without further ado, let’s get into how to construct your DraftKings lineups for Friday night’s Showdown contest.
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Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres
Captain’s Picks
Corey Seager ($15,600 CP) - It’s hard to pass up the man who is clearly the best hitter in this Showdown. Seager has a ridiculous 59.5% hard-hit rate this year, which has led to a blistering .430 xwOBA. Considering we don’t have a whole lot to go off with the Padres, seeing as Weathers should only last a few innings, it’s hard to play the splits game with the Dodgers’ lineup. With that, we should just take the best hitter, hands down.
Justin Turner ($14,700 CP) - If Seager is the best hitter on the Dodgers, then Turner isn’t too far behind. He’s gone for a whopping 14.1 DKFP per game this year, and is fresh off a homer in last night’s game. Her also is hitting .467 with two homers in 15 at-bats against lefties, and while Weathers won’t really last long here, we do know Turner will face a lefty at least once. I’m not in love with taking Buehler against a very capable Padres lineup, so I’m going to opt for one of the Dodgers’ hitters. If I’m spending coin, it’s going to be one of these two.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB Showdown $10K Extra Inning [$2K to 1st] (LAD vs SD)
Value Plays
Jake Cronenworth ($7,400) - There might not be a hitter I love more than Jake Cronenworth. Did you know his contact rate is 98.9%? Let me say that again. 98.9% of pitches he’s swung at have resulted in contact! He’s very good at this, coming off a contact rate of 85.3% in 2020, and so far this season he’s struck out just 6.3% of the time. He doesn’t make the most hard contact, but he still has pop, and he’s also managed 8.4 DKFP per game despite not homering yet this season. That speaks to just how productive he is at the plate. I’m always a fan of rostering a guy I know isn’t going to strike out, and who is going to give me a really great chance at points each of the four times he steps to the dish.
Zach McKinstry ($6,800) - Speaking of guys I really like, we need to talk about McKinstry. He’s a neat little player, who has gone for multiple hits in two of the last four games, and who just clubbed his third homer of the season two nights ago. He has hit .267 against lefties and .318 against righties this season, so I’m not concerned no matter who he manages to face by the time Los Angeles gets to the bottom of the order. I think he’s a legitimately good hitter, and though he’s not going to hit too high in the order, he rarely gets cheated at the plate.
Fades
Eric Hosmer ($9,400) - The tall lefty is just 1-15 lifetime against Buehler with five strikeouts, and while he’s hit the ball hard this season, I’m willing to read a little into this batter-versus-pitcher line considering Buehler throws hard, and handling velocity has been an issue for Hosmer at the plate in recent seasons. The price is just too high here, and if I’m going to spend this much money, there are many other exciting options. Let people roster him because he had a couple doubles against the Pittsburgh Pirates and pivot elsewhere.
The Outcome
I didn’t mention either pitcher, but I still don’t know if this game features a ton of runs. It’s hard to doubt the Dodgers’ offense at this point, so I won’t do that against the Padres’ series of bullpen arms. On the other hand, I don’t think Buehler will be dominant, but I don’t think the Padres will touch him up here.
Final Score: Dodgers 6, Padres 4
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB Showdown $10K Extra Inning [$2K to 1st] (LAD vs SD)
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