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Happy Wednesday, Rotoballers! We are already halfway through the final month of the regular season, and the playoff picture is starting to become more evident by the day. The Giants won the first postseason berth of the season on Monday night, but the White Sox and Brewers boast double-digit leads over their division rivals and could be spraying champagne by the weekend. As mid-week schedules usually do, we've got some day and night games on the docket. However, this article will only focus on the 10 evening games starting with the 7:05 pm Eastern matchup between the Cubs and Phillies.
The pitching depth is spread all over the place, with 20 arms occupying the slate. It starts at the top with Julio Urias ($10,500) and goes allllll the way down to Scott Kazmir ($5,000). One pitcher I am actively avoiding is Jose Urquidy ($10,000). Since returning from a two-month stint on the IL, he's thrown 7 1/3 innings over two starts. Houston is prioritizing working him back up to full strength for a potential playoff run, and you'll be rolling the dice if you roster him on Wednesday.
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on 9/15/2021. The lineup will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options and value plays. You can also check out today's FanDuel MLB DFS lineup picks and read more DFS advice and lineup picks for other sports too. It’s also important to monitor injury news and today's MLB starting lineups. If you have any questions or comments, find me on Twitter and ask away.
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DraftKings DFS Starting Pitchers
Julio Urias - P, LAD vs. ARI ($10,500)
Julio Urias deserves to be the most expensive (and highest-rostered) pitcher on the slate. The Dodgers' southpaw is putting together a masterful run of DFS performances and sees a weak-hitting Diamondbacks lineup in Los Angeles on Monday. Urias scored at least 21 fantasy points in each of his last four starts while compiling a 1.14 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, and a 28.3 percent strikeout rate. Meanwhile, Arizona seems just to be playing the season out. Over the last month, the Diamondbacks have put up a putrid .169 ISO to lefties and a mediocre .255/.329/.423 slash line. Urias should have no problem mowing through this lineup as he looks to make it five games in a row with 21 or more fantasy points.
Ranger Suarez - P, PHI vs. CHC ($7,200)
I thought about Huascar Ynoa ($8,900) for this SP2 spot, but he's almost worthy of a low-end SP1 recommendation. Therefore, we will move a bit down the list and go with the riskier Ranger Suarez going against the Chicago Cubs. It's been a bit of a wild ride for the Phillies lefty, but recently, he's lowered his walk rate and boosted his strikeout rate for some exciting DFS results. Over his last four games, Suarez produced a 1.17 ERA and 1.04 WHIP with a 27.5 percent strikeout rate and low-for-him 6.6 percent walk rate. Now, he will see the Cubs and their free-swinging lineup. Since Aug. 18, the Cubs strike out 28.8 percent of the time to southpaws, and that's enough to offer Suarez a DFS-viable ceiling on Wednesday's schedule.
Other options: Joe Musgrove at SF ($9,500), Huascar Ynoa vs. COL ($8,900), Scott Kazmir vs. SD ($5,000)
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DraftKings DFS Infielders
Yasmani Grandal - C, CWS vs. Janson Junk ($5,100)
I'm not usually a fan of spending up at catcher, but there's always an exception to the rule. And with the way Yasmani Grandal has been playing since his return, he is that exception. The White Sox backstop has been back for 14 games and is slashing .426/.541/.872 with 12 runs, three doubles, six home runs, 18 RBI, and 11 walks to seven strikeouts. Outside of Salvador Perez, there's not a better hitting-catcher in the game.
Frank Schwindel - 1B, CHC at Ranger Suarez ($3,400)
This is a tough one because Frank Schwindel isn't the only Cub I'm recommending tonight despite also supporting Ranger Suarez as my SP2 pick. The reasoninging behind this is because I believe both those players can have good games without destroying Suarez's chances of providing valuable numbers. As for Schwindel, he's sporting a 1.258 OPS in his last 10 games with six extra-base hits (four homers) and 12 RBI. Yet, DraftKings refuses to price him up despite his phenomenal second-half performance, and I'm not going to turn it down because I like the opposing pitcher.
Jose Altuve - 2B, HOU at Kohei Arihara ($5,100)
Alex Bregman - 3B, HOU vs. Kohei Arihara ($4,400)
The Alex Bregman pricing continues to boggle the mind, but if I can snag him and Jose Altuve for $9,500, I'm just going to say thank you for the early Christmas present. Altuve is a perfect high-priced option at second base, coming off a great week and a half of performances. The 2017 AL MVP is 14-for-36 (.389 batting average) in his last nine contests with 13 runs, five doubles, two home runs, and six RBI. He's collected multiple hits in five of those nine games, and I don't imagine him running into any trouble accomplishing that feat again versus Kohei Arihara.
Bregman has been great since his return to the diamond. In September, he leads all qualified third basemen in weight on-base average (.440) and batting average (.386) while being the runner-up with 12 RBI. With Altuve getting on-base multiple times and Bregman scorching the ball (five extra-base hits this month), this Astros mini-stack has the potential to be devastatingly effective on Wednesday night.
Gleyber Torres - SS, NYY at John Means ($3,500)
I love using statistics to back up my DFS calls, but sometimes you've got to throw caution to the wind and trust your gut. That's exactly what my Gleyber Torres recommendation is based on. It's been a tough season for the Yankees infielder, as he's fallen down the batting order, and now his defense is moving him from shortstop to second base. However, a trip to Camden Yards has the potential to fix all that. It's a home away from home for Torres. Who can forget his outstanding record in 2019, where he bashed Baltimore's pitching for 13 home runs in 18 games and led to some of the best home run calls in recent memory.
BTW, the Orioles feed when Gleyber homers has become mandatory listening. pic.twitter.com/x6a0ENbf0Z
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 23, 2019
DraftKings DFS Outfielders
Bryce Harper - OF, PHI vs. Alec Mills ($5,900)
I'm trying to offer an outfielder at three different price points tonight, and I'm starting with the high-priced slugger named Bryce Harper. He's been unstoppable most of the season and is firmly in the conversation to win his second National League MVP award. In 2021, the Phillies outfielder slashed .307/.420/.612 with 32 home runs and 72 RBI in 123 games. Six of those home runs and 10 RBI have come in his last 10 contests when he is rocking a 1.469 OPS. Harper is completely locked in at the moment and is feasting on bad pitching any chance he can get. He's pricey, but he's one of the few bats that can carry you to the green line by himself.
Adam Duvall - OF, ATL vs. Antonio Senzatela ($4,700)
If you can't get all the way to Harper, Adam Duvall is a perfect consolation prize. He's locked in as the fifth hitter for the surging Braves and is collecting extra-base hits like I used to collect Pokemon cards. Over his last 10 games, the Atlanta outfielder has an extra-base hit in nine of them with two doubles, a triple, and six home runs. In addition, it's seen his slugging percentage spike to .868 and contribute to a massive 1.193 OPS. He's enjoying playing for an October contender, and he'll have an excellent chance to continue his extra-base-hitting ways versus Antonio Senzatela on Wednesday.
Ian Happ - OF, CHC at Ranger Suarez ($3,700)
Ian Happ completes the trio of differently priced outfielders as a sub-$4,000 option, possibly the one I like the most. As I said with Frank Schwindel above, just because I recommended Ranger Suarez doesn't mean Happ can't also have a good game. I think many people will attack this Cubs lineup, but I can't shake the feeling they will be a good contrarian stack. Like Duvall, as mentioned earlier, the Cubs outfielder is racking up the extra-base hits. He's collected three doubles, a triple, and four home runs in his previous 10 games and added seven runs and nine RBI to his fantasy potential. Happ is up to 12.1 fantasy points per game in those 10 games, and we will gladly take another dose of that to round up our offense.
DraftKings DFS Stacks
- Houston Astros at Texas Rangers (Kohei Arihara, RHP)
- Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (Merrill Kelly, RHP)
- Contrarian stack: Chicago Cubs at Philadelphia Phillies (Ranger Suarez, LHP)
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