John Lepore | August 7th, 2019
The baseball season is a grind. It’s every single day. We will approach DFS the same way and be winners at the end of the season even if we have our hot streaks and slumps. Every day there are safe bets that flop and values that hit big, but we need to stick with our strategy in evaluating and playing. Let’s take a look at what we have today.
Locks
Gerrit Cole – He has been absolutely dominant this season but especially recently. In his last five starts, he is 4-0 with a 2.12 ERA and a 46/9 K/BB rate. At home, he has been particularly great going 8-2 with a 0.879 WHIP and a ridiculous 113/16 K/BB rate. He will be facing a Colorado Rockies team who is in last place in the NL West and are abysmal on the road as an offense slashing .227/.284/.386 and striking out at a rate of 27.3%.
Tyler Alexander – I would take a flier on the kid on the mound for the Detroit Tigers. In four starts this year he has an impressive 18/2 K/BB rate. He is pitching at home against the strikeout-prone Chicago White Sox so there is solid upside there especially when his price is only $5,900 on Draftkings.
Stacks
Chicago Cubs – The Cubbies are facing Homer Bailey at Wrigley. We all know how bad Bailey has been (5.20 ERA, 1.455 WHIP). Add to that the success the trio of Anthony Rizzo, Jason Heyward, and Kyle Schwarber has had. Combined they are 20-56 with three HRs and a sweet 10/5 BB/K rate against the Oakland righty.
Barrels
Josh Donaldson – The Bringer of Rain is 6-18 with three doubles and a HR in his career against Martin Perez. He also has a nice 4/3 BB/K rate against the Minnesota lefty. Perez, after starting the year looking like a new pitcher, has gone backward. On May 23rd he owned a 2.95 ERA. It currently stands at 4.58 and he has given up eight HRs in his last four starts.
Andrew Benintendi – Although there are probably a few Red Sox players you could put here, I’ll go with Benny. He is 3-5, all doubles, against Glenn Sparkman. Benintendi has also been very good at Fenway this season with a .911 OPS and 33 XBH in 225 PAs and in his last 25 games he has a robust .958 OPS. Lefty vs. Righty? Check. At home? Check. Wind blowing out? Check, at 12 mph. I’ll take that play to the bank.
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