Fantasy Baseball Picks: Top DraftKings MLB DFS Lineup Strategy for Dodgers vs. Giants Showdown on September 4

This week’s Saturday night Showdown contest on DraftKings is the second game in a huge series between West Coast rivals, as the San Francisco Giants host the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oracle Park. The Giants have led the NL West for most of the season, but the Dodgers caught them to enter the series tied before the Giants pulled out a 3-2 win in extra innings on Friday.

The Dodgers will look to level the series and pull even at the top of the division by getting a win Saturday night. After sending 11 pitchers to the mound Friday, they’ll start Julio Urías ($16,500 CP; 11,000), and the Giants will counter with a bullpen game led by Jay Jackson ($6,000 CP; $4,000) with Sammy Long ($14,400; $9,600) a candidate to pick up multiple innings out of the bullpen. Urías has gone 15-3 with a 3.17 ERA and 3.41 FIP in his 26 starts, while Long has only pitched 10 games, going 2-1 with a 5.63 ERA and 3.71 FIP. Jackson will be making his first MLB start, but he probably won’t log many innings since he has not thrown more than two innings in an appearance this season. DraftKings Sportsbook has set the over/under at 8.5 runs, while the Dodgers are favored at -170 on the Moneyline.

Which players are specifically set up for success in this matchup? 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

Julio Urías ($16,500 CP) - Urías has posted a 9.56 K/9 rate this season and averaged 19.9 DKFP per start. He has over 18 DKFP in four of his past five starts and has at least one strikeout per inning in four of those five starts as well. He posted 17.2 and 21.4 DKFP in two starts against San Francisco in late July, allowing just two runs over 12 ²⁄₃ innings and striking out 10.

The Giants’ offense hasn’t been nearly as intimidating as the Dodgers’ has been, and it has only averaged 2.2 runs per game over the past six games. If you’re looking at going with a starting pitcher, Urías is more well-established than Long but is also the better option overall. Urías has gone at least five innings in 11 straight starts, while Long has only reached five innings once in his past six appearances.

Justin Turner ($12,600 CP) - Turner is well-known for mashing lefties, so he could be a good play if Long pitches most of the innings in this contest. This season, though, his splits haven’t been as lopsided as they have been recently. He does still have an impressive 45.2% hard-hit rate against southpaws, though, indicating he may have just been unlucky with his .262 BABIP against southpaws this season. He has hit eight of his 21 homers against southpaws and put together a .226 ISO and .353 wOBA on the season. Turner comes into this important game with good form as well, having hit safely in four straight games coming into Saturday. He also has a solid 127 wRC+ over the past two months. As you look to potentially attack Long with Dodgers batters, it makes sense to lean toward right-handed hitters, since righties have hit .297 against Long with four home runs and a .382 wOBA.

Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB Showdown $10K Extra Inning [$2K to 1st] (LAD vs SF)

Value Plays

Chris Taylor ($7,000) - Taylor has been another one of the best Dodgers’ bats against lefties, hitting .303 against southpaws this season with a 37.2% hard-hit rate, a .258 ISO and a .392 wOBA. He has been one of the healthiest Dodgers all year and has played 128 games while bouncing around all over the infield and outfield. He has 19 home runs, 13 stolen bases and a .355 wOBA overall, which has helped him average a solid 8.4 DKFP per game. Taylor has cooled off a little bit lately, but he’s still a very nice option at only $7K since he can contribute with either speed or power, especially when facing a southpaw.

Darin Ruf ($5,200) - After spending three years in the KBO, Ruf has returned to the Majors and had success with the Giants. Last year, he had a .241 ISO with five homers in 40 games, and he has built on that success this season, hitting .279 with 14 homers, a .256 ISO and a .400 wOBA over 102 games. The majority of Ruf’s success has come against lefties, including eight of his 14 home runs. Against southpaws, the 35-year-old is hitting .274 with a .305 ISO, a .418 wOBA and 166 wRC+. Taking on Urías should be a great situation for Ruf to find success, and he also comes as such an affordable flex play that he opens up lots of salary for other flex spots.

Fades

Corey Seager ($9,400) - Long has held lefties to a .138 average and .180 wOBA while giving up no home runs to left-handed hitters all season, so if he works most of the innings, Seager, Max Muncy ($9,000) and Cody Bellinger ($5,600) will be in a tough matchup. Seager and Muncy have put up decent numbers against lefties this year, but Bellinger has continued to struggle overall, especially with hard-throwers. Bellinger is only hitting .125 with one home run, a .069 ISO and a .197 wOBA against southpaws this season, so I’ll be totally staying away from him in this matchup and downgrading the rest of the lefties in the Dodgers’ lineup.

The Outcome

The Dodgers definitely have the advantage on paper in this matchup with Urías looking good lately and a lineup that should be able to produce runs against the Giants’ bullpen. With both bullpens heavily used Friday, the starting pitching advantage will be even more important in this matchup. Building around Urías or Turner as your captain makes sense while Ruf, Taylor and other bargain hitters on the right side of the splits can bring Kris Bryant ($10,400), Mookie Betts ($10,000) and other big bats into play as flex options as well.

Final Score: Dodgers 8, Giants 3

Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB Showdown $10K Extra Inning [$2K to 1st] (LAD vs SF)

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