RADIO
Thursday was Opening Day. Friday is Lefty Day.
Ten left-handed pitchers take the mound in the 11-game slate. When building your DFS lineups, it’s important to note which players make specific appearances, or get boosted in the lineup, when a southpaw is on the hill.However, be aware that as soon as the lefty leaves the game, the LHP-hitter specialist could exit the game, too.
Here are recommended starts and lineup picks for DraftKings on Friday, March 30. Feel free to post questions or comments to me on Twitter @CharlieSideHstl as MLB lineups are released.
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DraftKings Starting Pitchers
Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals ($12,700)
It’s a good news, bad news situation for Mad Max.
Good news = The Nationals play early, in a two-game slate, so you don’t have to try and construct a lineup with his expensive salary. The second-highest price of a starting pitcher in that group is $7,200 (Ivan Nova).
Bad news = If you only play in the featured nine-game slate, you won’t have the luxury of using one of the most consistent DFS pitchers in the game.
Dallas Keuchel, Houston Astros ($11,800)
It will surprise most DFS players to see Keuchel at the top of the player pool salary in the main slate. However, last season, Keuchel was 3-0 with a 0.96 ERA in three starts at Globe Life Park in Arlington. In that span of starts, he struck out 22 Rangers in 18.2 innings of work.
The defending World Series champions were hot out of the gates on Opening Day. George Springer led the game off with a home run and Texas didn’t get on the board until the ninth inning. The Rangers also struck out nine times, including four by Robinson Chirinos.
Kyle Hendricks, Chicago Cubs ($9,900)
Even if you include Scherzer, Hendricks and the Cubs are the strongest favorites on Friday (-220). Yet, Hendricks is only the fourth-most expensive pitcher in the ticket.
In 2017, Hendricks had a rough start to the season. Though he went 2-1 in five starts, Hendricks compiled a 4.18 ERA in 28 innings of action (22 strikeouts). It wasn’t until the second half of the season where he returned to his 2016 dominance. During the final 13 starts last year, he produced a 2.19 ERA and punched out 72 batters in 78 innings.
Hendricks had some rough postseason starts, but he’ll look to continue the regular season momentum against a team that walked six times on Thursday. Hendricks hasn’t walked more than two batters in a regular season game since August 31st.
Alex Wood, Los Angeles Dodgers ($10,400)
It was quite a season for Wood in 2017. He won a career-high 16 games in only 25 starts (84 percent win rate), finished with a career-best 2.72 ERA, and struck out 151 batters in 152.1 innings of work. If Los Angeles didn’t have a guy by the name of Clayton Kershaw in their rotation, Wood might’ve been the ace.
Unfortunately, some of his worst starts came at the hand of the Giants. Wood was 2-0 against San Francisco in the record book, but his 4.00 ERA was second-highest on his list of opponents from 2017 (6.75 ERA vs. Atlanta in two starts). That could cause some concern for DFS players.
DraftKings Infielders
C - Gary Sanchez, New York Yankees ($4,700)
The Yankees/Blue Jays game has one of the highest over/unders of the slate (nine total runs). While most will flock to Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton (especially after his two-HR game on Thursday), stick with the slugging backstop. Sanchez producd a .249 ISO against right-handed pitchers in 2017.
1B - Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks ($5,000)
Goldy + home field + opposing LHP = must-start. Last year, that combination of splits produced an ISO of .328, OPS of 1.123, and walk rate of 23.9%. Plus, he isn’t even the most expensive first baseman of the group. Take advantage of his reasonable price tag and high upside.
2B - Javier Baez, Chicago Cubs ($4,300)
Chicago has some players in their lineup who crush left-handed pitching. Surprisingly, the highest ISO of the bunch goes to Baez (.266). That’s 0.80 points higher than his ISO against righties. The Cubs will have one of the highest projected run totals of the slate and Baez is an easy way to gain access to that lineup.
3B - Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies ($4,600)
Much like the move to add Goldschmidt, early-season pricing is the best way to take advantage of hitters who have high ceilings without paying top dollar (yet). Yes, the humidor will impact the totals in Arizona, but it’s not like Arenado is hitting pop flies. Arenado accumulated 37 home runs last season (11th-most), but only produced a 44.9 percent fly ball rate. His 21.1 line drive percentage was second-highest among those who’s fly ball rate was the same, or higher, than Arenado's. He went deep on Thursday and could easily do it again.
SS - Carlos Correa, Houston Astros ($4,900)
Vegas pegged the Astros/Rangers game with the highest over/under in the slate (9.5 total runs), with Houston as strong favorites in the matchup (-180). Correa led the current group of Astros with a .239 ISO against right-handed pitchers. With a salary under $5K, it’s easy to pull the trigger on that position.
DraftKings Outfielders
Austin Jackson, San Francisco Giants ($2,900)
Believe it, or not, but it is possible to stack your DK lineup with studs like Correa, Goldschmidt, and Arenado and still have room in the budget for quality pitching. This is how.
Jackson compiled a .221 ISO against southpaws last season. I mentioned in the opening statement that hitters who specialize against lefties might get pulled when said pitcher is removed. Thankfully, the price tag will mitigate any risk that comes with a batter who could only see two or three plate appearances.
Khris Davis, Oakland Athletics ($4,100)
Davis won’t get the same recognition Goldy does for his proficiency of hitting lefties, but he probably should. Last year, Davis was an equal opportunity masher (.238 ISO vs. lefties and .293 ISO against righties). However, his strongest split is against southpaws, while playing in the friendly confines of Oakland Coliseum. When those two situations combine, Davis delivered a .379 ISO. Yes, please.
Andrew McCutchen, San Francisco Giants ($3,600)
I don’t want to go crazy picking too many batters against Alex Wood, but it’s not a bad contrarian play. Cutch leads the active Giants with a .360 ISO against left-handed pitchers from 2017. The price tag is way too low and McCutchen should have no problem hitting value.
