DraftKings contributors Steve Buchanan and Garion Thorne join The Sweat to give their favorite DraftKings value plays for Tuesday’s MLB slate.
Watch today’s entire episode of The Sweat below!
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Video Transcript
Steve Buchanan:
So, we’re going with the team that I desperately need to stop winning games. That is the Oakland Athletics. Having them at 79 and a half, the under, feeling a little sweaty, and we’re only at May 3, so they need to stop winning games.
But Chad Pinder should be getting the start tonight at lead off against the lefty. That’s when they’ve been using him so far this season as your leadoff hitter. Quite frankly, he’s actually been hitting for some decent power, for Chad Pinder. You look at his numbers against lefty so far: Only a .219 wOBA, that’s not good, only a 46 wRC+, that’s not good, but a .231 isolated power.
So, for him to get the start at leadoff at the bare minimum. He’s at $2K — you can’t get any cheaper than that. That’s like basically being free when it comes to DFS. So, for him to likely be in the leadoff spot tonight against Ryan Yarbrough ($5,600), who’s coming off the IL — I don’t expect him to be in there super-long. Maybe 70 to 80 pitches, so maybe we get four to five innings out of Yarbrough, unless the Athletics knock the ball off against him.
But, Pinder at the bare minimum in the leadoff spot, you literally can’t ask for any more than that.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Tuesday’s Pirates-Tigers game has been postponed due to inclement weather.
Garion Thorne:
I think there are two teams tonight that are really interesting for bargain-basement stacking opportunities, and one is obviously the Athletics because their entire lineup is less than $3,000 — aside from Sean Murphy, who also crushes left-handed pitching. But like Sheldon Neuse ($3,800) is gonna hit second and be less than ($4K). You’ve got like Christian Bethancourt ($2,000) who can’t really hit but sometimes hits lefty’s well. There’s just a lot of places to go there.
I think the other team is the Tigers, and they have some more expensive bats. But if you’re asking me to bet against Bryse Wilson ($5,500), I’m always going to bet against Bryse Wilson. That dude should not be pitching in the majors right now. Going back to last season, he’s got a 14% strikeout rate, (and) he’s got a FIP above 5.4. That’s just not major-league quality stuff.
So, I think there are many Tigers bats I like, but the one who’s really cheap and hitting in the middle of that lineup, with a lot of power and a lot of upside, is Spencer Torkelson, who’s just $2,600. I think he started his career like 0-for-15 or something like that. But since he got his first hit on April 12, he’s got a 123 WRC+. He’s probably gonna hit fifth tonight. He’s just a guy who should not be this cheap considering the mass amounts of power he has and how bad Bryse Wilson is in general. So, I think Torkelson is a really nice place to go to save a little money tonight.
Steve’s Pick: Chad Pinder ($2,000)
Garion’s Pick: Spencer Torkelson ($2,600)
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