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The top daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on September 22nd, 2019. Austyn Varney's MLB DFS analysis and sleepers for building optimal DFS rosters.
Welcome to Sunday baseball! The NFL is kicking off at 1 PM today, but so is baseball! DraftKings is still giving us big tournaments and the edge remains with a ton of fresh money on the sites. You have options no matter your price point, and the prize pools are all still huge. This is a fun slate. Runs will be scored and plenty of pitchers will have solid outings.
We'll be looking for the best play at each position. I'll be putting together a value article as well, so make sure to check that out as well. Let's dive in and find a top play at each position.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings on 9/22/19. The lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options and value plays. Be sure to also check out all the MLB Rosters for today's slate. You can also read more DFS advice and lineup picks for sites like FanDuel, and other sports too. .
DraftKings DFS Starting Pitchers
Yu Darvish - CHC vs. STL - $11,600
The Cubs are in dire need of a win at this point and it will be on the shoulders of Yu Darvish. He’s been playing the best baseball of his Cubs career, striking out 14 and 13 in back to back games. He now gets a Cardinals team that’s middle of the road against righties and strikeout 22% of the time. It looks like Verlander will be the chalk on this slate, and while he’s a bit safer than Darvish, I don’t think the Astros will stretch him all the way out at this point. Darvish will go over 100 pitches if pitching well and Madden will get all he can out of Darvish after the bullpen has blown it back to back nights.
Reynaldo Lopez - CWS @ DET - $7,400
Reynaldo Lopez is extremely unreliable and up and down, but this is the best match-up he can possibly have and if there’s ever a time for his ceiling to poke through it’s here. The Tigers rank dead last in baseball against righties with a team .280 wOBA and 25% strikeout rate. We’ve seen Lopez go for seven innings and strikeout 10 before, so it really just comes down to whether or not he can locate his pitches. We’re hoping for five or six dominant innings, but there is upside for a lot more.
DraftKings DFS Infielders
C - Tom Murphy - SEA @ BAL (Means) - $4,200
When the Mariners face off with a lefty, Tom Murphy brings a big bat to the lineup. He’s sported a .400+ wOBA against southpaws on the season and is averaging nearly a home run every 12 at-bats. The Mariners face off with John Means today, who’s given up a .336 wOBA to opposing right-handers. There’s a reason Murphy is priced up. He’s proven himself as a real threat when in the lineup against a lefty.
1B - Freddie Freeman - ATL vs. SF (Webb) - $4,700
With the Braves holding an expected run total of six, Vegas obviously expects Logan Webb to struggle on the road here. He’s had trouble with both sides of the plate on the season, giving up a combined .368 wOBA. Freeman is the heart of this Braves lineup and he’ll be involved in at least a couple of those runs one way or another. Against righties, his wOBA remains over .380. Logan Webb has looked reverse splits a bit, but the 25 inning sample size is nowhere near enough to judge that.
2B - Whit Merrifield - KC @ MIN (Perez) - $4,300
Whit Merrifield flies under the radar on most slates as the Royals really aren’t too exciting of an offense. They face off with Martin Pérez today, who’s always had some HR Issues with righties. He’s only getting worse and worse at this point and his combined wOBA is up to .341. The Royals are a team I like today that will go completely un-owned. I’m a believer that if Martin Pérez these guys can hit a ton of home runs. Whit, Soler, and Dozier are a great mini stack on all sites.
Renato Nunez - BAL vs. SEA (Gonzalez) - $3,900
Marco Gonzales is already a bit shaky with the long ball, and now he moves to Camden Yards. Renato Nunez is back in the lineup and he’s been a lefty masher all year long. He’s fallen off a bit of late, but is still sporting a .339 wOBA against lefties with double digit home runs. The Orioles can put up a ton of runs, and they’re very rarely popular. This is another slate where you can get a low-owned Orioles stack in Camden Yards at an affordable price.
Alex Bregman - HOU vs. LAA (Rodriguez) - $5,400
Jose Rodriguez will get around 50 pitches before Jose Suarez takes over in this one. It’s really all semantics against this offense who’s going to rough up whoever is on the mound. If you’d like to know, Rodriguez is actually pretty good, but he’s also been very lucky. Jose Suarez on the other hand, has been one of the worst pitchers in all of baseball against opposing righties. They’re all pretty expensive on DraftKings, but rightfully so. Vegas expects another six plus runs and you know generally where the production is coming from. Bregman has been great against both sides of the plate, posting a .382 wOBA on the season with 38 home runs and a 13% strikeout rate. Bregman is safe with a ton of upside.
DraftKings DFS Outfielders
Giancarlo Stanton - NYY vs. TOR (Tepera) - $4,000
Stanton has been good since returning from injury, and he’s still too cheap. Make sure he’s in there as this is a day game, but he should be after homering last night. Ryan Tepera isn’t very good himself and the bullpen will follow after just a few innings. It’s always tough to predict bullpen games, but it’s clear to me that I’d rather have Stanton than any Blue Jays bullpen arm and I’m willing to take my chances that he connects on one at that price on DK.
Jason Heyward - CHC vs. STL (Mikolas) - $3,900
Jason Heyward is too cheap on DraftKings for a guy that should be leading off. Mikolas has struggled with lefties all season long and the Cubs have hit him around a few times themselves. Heyward has sported a .356 wOBA against righties and he’s only gotten better as the year has aged. I don’t love this entire game for offense, but I don’t mind taking a flier on a cheap Jason Heyward.
Things change quickly as lineups come out. If you have any questions, hit me up on Twitter @VarneyDFS and I'd be more than happy to help.
