Today is the final day of this COVID-shortened 60-game regular season. There are 14 games on this slate as all games, except Detroit Tigers vs. Kansas City Royals, will start around 3:00 p.m. ET. For this article, you get a couple of high-priced pitchers ($8,500+) and a couple of value picks. For hitters, we will go with one high-priced pick ($4,500+) and one value pick from each position. Let’s get into it for the MLB DFS Season Finale.
*All prices are DraftKings
Be sure to follow all of our MLB DFS coverage throughout the playoffs.
Pitchers
Aaron Nola ($10,600) at Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays are locked into the first seed in the American League. They may be resting some of their starters as the Wild Card Round starts on Tuesday. The Philadelphia Phillies need a win and some help to make the playoffs. Nola will take the hill. He has been hit in his last two starts, but still has elite strikeout upside. He has put up at least a K per inning in every start this season including four of his 11 starts in double-digits. Nola needs 10 Ks to reach 100 for the season and 15 would give him the National League lead.
Marco Gonzales ($8,800) at Oakland Athletics
Gonzales is enjoying the best season of his career. He is 7-2 with a 3.06 ERA. Even more impressive than that, and why we should be riding with him today, is his 59/6 K/BB rate. Even with an “off” game for Gonzales, as he had against the A’s last week, he still put up 16.1 DK points. The floor is high for the 28-year-old lefty which makes him a great play in cash games. A win could be in the cards as well with the Seattle Mariners facing Frankie Montas and his 6.32 ERA.
Pitchers
Seth Lugo ($8,200) at Washington Nationals
The New York Mets right-hander is completely stretched out after starting the season in the bullpen. He pitched 6 1/3 innings in his last start and threw 95 pitches. Expect more of the same against the Nationals today. As a starter, Lugo has an impressive 35/6 K/BB rate in 25 IP. Aside from his awful performance against the Phillies on Sept. 17, Lugo has been excellent. The Mets will be facing Austin Voth who has pitched well in his last two starts but doesn’t like facing New York. The Mets have a solid .837 against the Nats righty in his career and have scored 10 runs on 18 hits and seven walks in 15 2/3 innings against Voth.
Nick Pivetta ($5,900) at Atlanta Braves
This is bargain-basement shopping but sometimes that’s what we need to do especially in tournaments. Pivetta looked pretty sharp in his first start for the Boston Red Sox, throwing 96 pitches over five innings and striking out eight. He will definitely be low-owned as he is facing the dangerous Braves lineup. Atlanta has the second seed in the NL locked up so they may decide to rest a few of their big bats. As with all of the pitchers mentioned, the strikeout upside is there. If Pivetta can navigate through the Braves bats, we know he can throw at least five innings. He is definitely worth a dart throw.
Catchers
Gary Sanchez ($4,500)
The Yankees catcher is batting a paltry .151 this season. Despite that lowly number, Sanchez may be starting to see the ball better. He had two hits on Friday and three walks for the first time in his career yesterday. Sanchez has also been much better at home, sporting a .792 OPS at Yankee Stadium.
Wilson Ramos ($3,000)
Ramos has had a disappointing season overall. Although, he has been hitting lately going five for his last 12 with a double and a home run. He will want to finish the season on a strong note facing his former team and hoping the Mets pick up his 2021 option.
First Base
Luke Voit ($5,400)
Spend the money on the presumptive Major League HR champ. Voit has been excellent all season and has seven HRs in his last eight games at home. The floor is absolutely undeniable here and even the upside is there with Voit’s power and the Yankees lineup. Don’t overanalyze this.
Jared Walsh ($4,400)
The kid has been raking. He bats in front of the best player in the world which is a plus. Walsh also destroys righties. He has hit eight of his nine HRs against right-handers and that is in just 69 PAs…nice. Walsh has only gone hitless in two of his 21 September games. In those games, he has an extra-base hit in 12 of them and an RBI or a run in 16 of them. If that doesn’t scream floor, I don’t know what does. Lock him in.
Second Base
David Fletcher ($4,800)
Let’s go with the guy who bats in front of Walsh for a little stack. He has three multi-hit games in a row going 8-14 in that stretch. With the Los Angeles Dodgers likely rolling with Brusdar Graterol as an opener with Dustin May following him up, Fletcher and Walsh get to face two guys who don’t miss bats. That is a good thing, especially for cash games.
Joey Wendle ($3,700)
The Rays versatile infielder is currently on a seven-game hitting streak, going 12-25 with two HRs and two SBs as well. He may also find himself in a better spot in the lineup as he did yesterday leading off. Ride the hot hand for this price.
Third Base
DJ LeMahieu ($5,500)
Another Yankee and small stack if you spend up and pair him with Voit. The floor is absolutely there as DJ has been one of the best hitters over the past two seasons. There is no reason to leave the Major League leader in batting average off your squad. As with his teammate, don’t overthink this. If you can afford them, then get them in.
Ke’Bryan Hayes ($3,900)
With the way the Pittsburgh Pirates rookie has been destroying the ball this season, I’m surprised at his price tag. He has a 1.088 OPS and his hitting .370 with 13 XBHs in just 90 PAs. The Cleveland Indians are rolling with opener Cal Quantrill today. Hayes avoids the top Cleveland pitchers and gets to put an exclamation point on his brief rookie campaign.
Shortstop
Trea Turner ($5,400)
Here is another player to spend up on. He has done some major damage this year and can get you points from anywhere. Turner leads the NL in hits (76) and triples (4). He also has 15 doubles, 11 HRs, and 12 SBs. The man just fills up a stat sheet.
Nick Ahmed ($3,700)
The Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop has been hitting well as of late. In his last eight games, he is 9-27 with a double, triple, and a HR. He faces lefty Kyle Freeland tonight who he has had some success against going 7-24 with two HRs and only one strikeout.
Outfield
Bryce Harper ($5,700)
Harper’s lucky number seems to be five lately. In his last three games, he has five runs, five RBIs, five hits, and five walks. After losing the last two to the Rays, look for Harper to put the team on his back today. He is my Home Run Call and I’ll go as far as to say he hits two.
Charlie Blackmon ($4,800)
Here is a great mid-priced outfielder to get in your lineups. Blackmon is doing his usual damage this season albeit with a little less power. He gets to face Madison Bumgarner today. He absolutely owns the Diamondbacks lefty. Blackmon is 16-43 with a couple of HRs in his career against MadBum.
Andrew McCutchen ($3,700)
Cutch is at a great price to pair with Harper. He had four hits yesterday and three hits on Wednesday. Look for his veteran presence to show up today as the Phillies need a win to have any hope of playing in the postseason.
Good Luck Everyone!
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