We have a nine-game slate tonight beginning at 7:05 p.m. EDT in MLB DFS, and for today’s lottery ticket we’re looking for Wednesday winners, especially in tournament play. That is not to say the names below won’t cut it in cash games. The studs will be heavily utilized, but this is a great night to zag before everyone zigs. The combination of value plays and big names as well as some affordable pitching lends itself to a high-upside play in either format. Let’s not waste any time and get these lineups in ASAP.
You can find previous editions to see how we are doing here.
***All prices listed are DraftKings***
Value Arms
It’s a tough night for pitching value. The cutoff of slam-dunk starters is way up near the top. Anyone else on the list has a chance to get shelled. The safest play of the night, unsurprisingly (given the hefty price tag), is Zack Wheeler. In cash games, you almost have to play him because everyone else is going to, as well. Gotta keep up with his point potential against the Cubs at Wrigley. The last few days has seen the ball flying out of the park in Chicago’s North Side, but the weather has changed and will be blowing in this evening. I’ve got my eyes on other value, though, in order to save extra money for bats in what should be a run-scoring evening.
Antonio Senzatela – at Arizona ($6,600)
The Diamondbacks are still struggling, whether at home or on the road. They are 24-63 with just 14 of those wins coming at home. In amassing that record, Arizona has scored 362 runs. While that isn’t as anemic as other teams, it still ranks in the bottom third of baseball.
Senzatela has a terrible looking line, but that’s going to be the case with most of the pitchers in Colorado, save guys that will find themselves on other teams after the deadline. He’s 2-7 with a 4.58 ERA and 1.40 WHIP on the season, though he’s run into plenty of stiff competition in the NL West. In his last two starts, however, the righty has pitched to a 3.00 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 12 innings against the likes of the Cardinals and Brewers. Each of those teams have more firepower than the Diamondbacks.
Alex Wood – vs. St. Louis ($8,500)
Wood is closer to the top of the food chain as far as price goes, but without breaking the bank in a favorable matchup. The Cardinals have had trouble putting the bat on the ball, and Wood gets them at home in pitcher-friendly Oracle Park. Wood should have no issues carving up the Cards in this matchup and is a nice (and more frugal) alternative to Wheeler. For the season, the San Francisco starter comes in 7-3 (3.89 ERA, 1.19 WHIP) with 81 punchouts in 76.1 innings.
Value Bats
Ryan Mountcastle, 1B – vs. Toronto ($3,500)
There’s not a lot to love in Baltimore, but the 24-year-old is one bright spot. In the last month of games, he’s put the ball over the wall six times with 17 RBI and 25 runs scored. That taken him to 14 bombs on the season, and against the hard-throwing Hyun Jin Ryu, I think he golfs another one out tonight.
Starlin Castro, 3B – at San Diego ($2,600)
This has absolute top-shelf value potential. There are a lot of great plays at third base tonight (see: Kyle Seager, Manny Machado, Justin Turner) and I like the contrarian route of going inexpensive here. With multiple hits in four of his last seven contests, and a nine-game hitting streak to build on, there’s nothing not to like about his matchup with Chris Paddack. The Padres might be expensive tonight for his strikeout upside, but make no mistake, he is not having a good season. Castro’s ability to put the ball in play consistently gives him a chance to build on his last 13 games, in which he’s hitting .396 with 10 RBI to boot.
Tyrone Taylor, OF – at New York Mets ($3,100) *7 innings
“You better call Tyrone”. He’s been my DFS secret weapon on more than one occasion this season. The only issue is making sure you check in after lineups are released so that you know he’ll be out there. Taylor’s numbers are nothing to raise eyebrows (he’s batting .236 and is a big fan of the strikeout), but he’s a matchup nightmare that has a ton of lift with the lumber. Coming in riding a six-game hitting streak (batting .316 during that time), he’ll get to face reliever-turned-starter Robert Stock. Stock has yet to pass four innings in any appearance this season (including Triple-A) and will likely serve as an opener. In one appearance so far this season, Stock was crushed by the Cubs. Taylor and the Brewers will be looking to tee off after facing Jacob deGrom in game one of the doubleheader. Tyrone is going yard tonight.
Stud Finder
Value found, time to load up on big guns. There are a lot of similarly priced players in this slate, but based on matchups here are some favorites. There’s a lot of remaining budget, based on the players chosen above.
Omar Narvaez, C – at NYM ($5,000) *7 innings
Marcus Semien, 2B – at Baltimore ($5,500)
Fernando Tatis Jr. SS – vs. Washington ($5,900)
Yordan Alvarez, OF – vs. Oakland ($4,700)
Bryce Harper, OF – at CHC ($4,600)
It should be noted there is also tremendous stack potential for the lineups of the Toronto Blue Jays and Washington Nationals. While I love Harper tonight, I’m avoiding most other players in the Philadelphia/Chicago game thanks to the inbound wind conditions.
Best of luck with all your lineups tonight. Keep mixing and matching, and let’s hit a jackpot.
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