RADIO
Typically, Wednesdays will feature early day games and night games giving DFS players plenty of options to no pay attention at work and at home. With so many two-and-two interleague series this week, a good amount of games on Tuesday were played during the day, leaving Wednesday as a primarily evening slate. Rotoballer is here to help you out on your evening games, and we won't even try to hack into any team's personnel files in order to gain that advantage. Below are my DraftKings picks for Wednesday, June 17th, 2015. As always, remember to check your players to make sure they are in their MLB starting lineups before lineups lock.
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Game Notes
- After what has seemed like a week of rain, every game this evening should start as scheduled under a hot sun. From Washington to Atlanta to Kansas City, conditions are ideal for the ball to travel.
- There’s one team and one team only that tops the stacking strategy list. Jon Niese will start against a Toronto team that is absolutely pummeling lefties- 134 wRC+, .192 ISO and .379 wOBA on the year. Niese himself has not done well in interleague games as he owns a 4.91 ERA in 91.2 innings. And Toronto will be playing in the Coors Field of Canada.
- It may seem like Brett Oberholtzer is a prime stacking suspect at the Coors Field of America, but the Rockies are in the bottom five of most offensive categories against LHP on the season. Stacking Rockies tonight may not be the best of options.
- Felix Hernandez and Madison Bumgarner will square off in a pitcher’s duel in Seattle. King Felix is the slight favorite but he has looked awfully poor his last few starts out while Bumgarner has not improved upon his strikeout numbers. Perhaps it is best to stay away from either of these pitchers in double-up games.
- The Pirates have win six straight while the White Sox have dropped five in a row. In terms of picking a winner, the win probability is greater for the White Sox. But that John Danks character will toe the mound for Chicago.
DFS Pitchers to Consider for DraftKings
Clayton Kershaw, LAD - $12,900
Don’t mess around tonight. Kershaw is the favorite and is beginning to show signs of coming around to Kershaw standards. He has hit double digit strikeouts in four of his last six starts while yielding only three earned runs in his last 28.2 IP.
Johnny Cueto, CIN - $10,000
Owners that don’t go with Kershaw can certainly find value with Cueto. He’ll face a Tigers team that has struggled at times against power right-handers. Despite him squaring off against a red hot David Price, Cueto should get some run support as Cincy is a much more dangerous squad at home.
Carlos Martinez, STL - $8,400
C-Mart offers phenomenal value as the second pitcher in most double-up games. He is starting to limit his walks and his high-90s fastball has been quite devastating at times. Minnesota has been reeling for two weeks and it appears they may have run out of gas.
Ubaldo Jimenez, BAL - $7,200
Should a DFS player decide to go cheap with a second pitcher or just wants to throw out a different tournament lineup, then one might want to consider Jimenez. His 4-3 record is meh, but that 3.19 ERA leads the Baltimore staff. He has also improved his command to the tune of an 8.78 K/9 and 3.19 BB/9. Plus, he’ll be facing the Phillies. Take almost anyone when they are pitching against the Phillies.
DFS Catchers to Consider for DraftKings
Russell Martin, TOR - $4,600
Get used to seeing a lot of Blue Jays as recommended plays. Martin’s only downside is his incredible price at such a not-so high scoring position. Martin is clearly the best option available at the position but it may be best to find value elsewhere.
Matt Wieters, BAL - $4,300
Wieters has been hitting the ball off the cover since he returned from the DL. In 30 plate appearances, Wieters owns a .407 ISO and .432 wOBA and he will be facing a pitcher in Kevin Correia that has historically been hit by good hitters.
Miguel Montero, CHC - $3,300
A cheaper and perhaps stronger play for this evening is Montero. Dude has been red hot over the last week and will square off against a hittable Shaun Marcum. Lefties own a .383 wOBA when facing Marcum.
DFS Infielders to Consider for DraftKings
FIRST BASE
Paul Goldschmidt, ARI - $5,800
Come on, bro. He’s facing a lefty.
Chris Davis, BAL - $4,500
The beauty of DraftKings is that there are no negative points for players getting out. That means a lot when Davis is in the box as his .232 AVG and 32.4% K rate have probably caused his price to drop in FanDuel. No problems rolling him out in DraftKings.
Mark Reynolds, STL - $3,200
Reynolds is another hit-or-miss option but he has actually been fairly consistent since his insertion into the starting lineup on a regular basis. He will be hitting in an RBI-producing slot in a lineup that will be teeing off against a soft-tossing left-hander.
SECOND BASE
Scooter Gennett, MIL - $3,400
Gennett is coming off his second homerun of the year and although he has been awfully terrible most of the season, he is averaging one more DraftKing PPG over his last ten games than his yearly average. He will also take the platoon advantage over Joe Blanton, who hasn’t started a game since 2013.
SHORTSTOP
Jose Reyes, TOR - $4,700
Though Reyes has been better at the plate from the left side, he is still getting on base at a strong rate and he should score at will with all those left-mashing bats behind him. Maybe he’ll get a swipe in as well.
Xander Bogaerts, BOS - $3,200
Bogaerts has one of the largest platoon splits on this list. His 144 wRC+ against lefties contrasts sharply with his 88 wRC+ against righties while he is getting on base nearly forty percent (.397) of all plate appearances. Bogaerts makes for a solid value play at the short position.
THIRD BASE
Josh Donaldson, TOR - $4,700
You will have to pay up at the hot corner for Wednesday’s games. Donaldson has been absolutely destroying left-handed pitching, especially at home where he is hitting .481 with a 25.0% HR/FB rate. Don’t try to get cute.
Manny Machado, BAL - $4,800
The only player that deserves to possibly get a start over Donaldson is Machado. Manny has been hot over his last seven games as he has 13 hits in 32 plate appearances with 4 HR, 8 RBI, 12 R, 1 SB and only two strikeouts.
DFS Outfielders to Consider for DraftKings
Bryce Harper, WAS - $5,700
If you can afford the punishing outfielder, consider it an automatic homerun and guaranteed several times on base. That’s how good he has been against RHP.
Jose Bautista, TOR - $5,100
For a while it looked like Joey Bats may have been hurting from that nagging shoulder injury. Worry not, though, because he is back with a vengeance. He has five hits in his last five games including two long balls. He’ll be facing a very hittable Niese with the platoon split.
Josh Harrison, PIT - $4,500
With the Pirates facing a right-hander, Harrison looks to get the start in place of Gregory Polanco out in rightfield. Harrison has looked very good over the last couple weeks. Since June 7th, he has 16 hits in 39 plate appearances with four runs scored and three stolen bases. Should the guys behind him get some hits, Harrison could have himself a nice multiple-run game.
A.J. Pollock, ARI - $4,400
Like his teammate Goldie, Pollock crushes left-handed pitching and he’ll be facing a very hittable Hector Santiago.
Chris Colabello, TOR - $3,400
With his price and his overall production against LHP, .513 wOBA and 237 wRC+, Colabello is about as must have in every lineup as there are in the majors.
DFS Q&A with Max Petrie @ 6PM on 6/17
Leave your question and come back at 6pm when Max answers everything. For our regular MLB & Fantasy Baseball Chat, click here.
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