Fantasy Baseball Picks: Top DraftKings MLB DFS Lineup Strategy for Athletics vs. Mariners Showdown on July 24

This week’s featured Saturday night Showdown contest on DraftKings is an AL West matchup featuring the Oakland Athletics visiting the Seattle Mariners. Both of these teams are chasing the Houston Astros and are also lined up to be right in the heart of the Wild Card chase. Oakland actually has the second Wild Card spot coming into play on Saturday with the Mariners trailing them by 3 ¹⁄₂ games. The two teams have split the first two games in this four-game set, with the Athletics winning 4-1 on Thursday followed by the Mariners winning 4-3 on Friday night. Both teams are also 6-4 in their 10 most recent games, so expect another close, competitive contest.

The Athletics will give the ball to established starting pitcher Chris Bassitt ($16,500 CP; $11,000) but the Mariners will counter with emerging star Logan Gilbert ($14,400 CP; 9,600) who is having a very impressive rookie season. The Athletics are slightly favored on DraftKings Sportsbook at -125 and the over/under is set at 7.5 runs.

It’s an interesting pitching matchup that includes some intriguing fantasy plays, so let’s take a look at how to construct your DraftKings lineups for Saturday night’s Showdown contest.

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Captain’s Picks

Logan Gilbert ($14,400 CP) - While Bassitt is more established, he’s also much more expensive, and I love the value available by pivoting to Gilbert. The 24-year-old righty has made 11 starts for Seattle this season, going 4-2 with a 10.33 K/9 rate, a 3.50 ERA and 3.91 FIP. He has won each of his two most recent starts, beating the Angels and the Yankees, striking out 17 in 12 ¹⁄₃ innings. He also had success against the A’s earlier this season, allowing four runs while striking out nine in 10 innings.

Gilbert’s early success has been built around his excellent slider and high-90s fastball. He has allowed just one barrel over his past four games and just an 18.6% hard-hit rate, per Fangraphs. Gilbert should be a nice play at this price with great strikeout upside and a high ceiling.

Ty France ($12,000 CP) - France has come out of the All-Star break swinging a hot stick with multiple hits in five of his seven games since the break. He has gone 12-for-28 over that span with two doubles and a home run along with a 36.0% hard-hit rate. France has at least 12 DKFP in four of those seven contests, and he has a 3-for-5 personal history against Bassitt. France has been hitting in the third or fourth spot in the lineup on a regular basis, and he’s a nice affordable Captain who still allows you the flexibility to get both SP or other high-priced flex plays on your roster as well.

Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB Showdown $8K Extra Inning [$2K to 1st] (OAK vs. SEA)

Value Plays

Mitch Moreland ($5,600) - Veteran lefty Moreland was out of the lineup Friday since the Mariners started southpaw Yusei Kikuchi. Moreland should return to the lineup against Gilbert, though, and has been a nice, solid bat in the Oakland lineup. He has hit safely and produced at least 7.0 DKFP in four of his past five games. He has also already hit seven home runs in his 62 games, so there is still a little power in his bat, and he is a nice sub-$6K play in this matchup.

Kyle Seager ($8,600) - Seager is one of the better Mariners bats to target since Bassitt has struggled at times against lefties. In his 125 innings, Bassitt has given up 13 home runs, and 11 of those have come against lefties, who have a .283 wOBA against him this season. Seager has hit three homers in his past nine games, averaging 8.1 DKFP over that span. He has a hit in four straight games and can be a solid mid-range target.

Fades

Matt Chapman ($9,200) - Normally, I’m a huge fan of playing Chapman, but the 28-year-old has been scuffling this summer. In his 16 games this month, Chapman is just 11-for-61 (.180), although he did hit a home run on Friday night. This month he only has a .066 ISO and .236 wOBA, so I think there are much better options around the same price point. I’d also probably stay away from colder bats Ramon Laureano ($7,800) and J.P. Crawford ($7,600) except as differentiators in GPP contests.

The Outcome

This should be a very solid pitching duel and I expect it to be a low-scoring contest. Gilbert is more of a strikeout threat and a better play at his salary, so I will probably build around him while stacking some left-handed Mariners bats as well. The A’s best hitters since the break have been Matt Olson ($10,600) and Mark Canha ($9,400), but they’re pricey to build around. Ultimately, I think this is a one-run game decided late, and that the Mariners pull out a close win at home.

Final Score: Mariners 3, Athletics 2

Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB Showdown $8K Extra Inning [$2K to 1st] (OAK vs. SEA)

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