RADIO
Welcome back, friends, to another edition of split-slate Wednesday. I don't have the best news about the split, unfortunately. There are four early afternoon games that make up the Early Slate, and 10 under the lights for the Main. Was hoping for a 6-8 split, but we'll have to wait for another time to see that wish come true. Anyways, the 10 game Main slate looks interesting. There are only two pitchers in double figures for salary, and a lot of others that should probably be stacked against rather than considered. There's much to discuss.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for FanDuel on 8/15/18. The lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options and value plays.
You can also read more DFS lineup picks for DraftKings and other sports too. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me up on Twitter @kpLuch.
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FanDuel DFS Pitchers
Zack Wheeler - SP, at BAL ($10,000)
After a rough start out of the gate, Zach Wheeler has been a strong pitcher this season and particularly great of late. It's reflected in the price, certainly, but I don't think it's risen to a point where he can't hit value comfortably and potentially exceed it thanks to his strikeout prowess. His SIERA now sits below 4.0 and he's posted a good 11.2% SwStrike rate to go with a 23.8% strikeout rate. In the second half of the season, he's been even stronger as that K% rises above 27% and he's allowed an opponent wOBA of just .190. He gets a negative park shift today, but the upside is high as this Orioles lineup strikes out at a high clip and they don't feature many left-handed bats. Between he and Gerrit Cole, Cole may have the slightly safer points floor (though he has been disapoointing by relative standards his last two starts) but I don't think Wheeler is too far behind that safe floor, and I like his ceiling more tomorrow. He's my top GPP option and a solid cash one, too.
Kevin Gausman - SP, vs MIA ($7,200)
If you're dipping your toe in the GPP waters tonight, I think Gausman is worth a few shares for a handful of reasons. First off, with so many subpar pitchers on the slate, I expect there to be a lot of offense. In that respect, I think you'll need to have a few premium bats and/or exposure to the premium offenses tonight and Gausman's low salary would allow you to make a pretty looking lineup. Secondly, we know he has pretty good stuff and has the ability to rack up 7+ punchout games (he's had five since May), even though he mixes in a few low ones which makes the K/9 mark for the season look just okay at 8.06. We can accept that variance in tournaments, though, especially on a night like tonight where high upside arms are scarce. Of course, the Marlins offense is pretty punch-less as well, and their projected lineup tonight has a 23.7% K rate and a really low wOBA split that is currently .262. This is the type of matchup to take the Gausman risk on.
FanDuel DFS Infielders
Ryan Zimmermann - 1B, at STL ($3,600)
Righties haven't had huge success against Austin Gomber in the small sample he's thrown in the majors (in regard to wOBA, ISO, etc) but he has allowed a 40% hard hit and a 40% fly ball rate to righties in that stretch. I like Zimmermann's chances tonight, especially as we've seen a lot of extra-base hits from him in the past week. He comes into tonight's action with a 52% hard hit rate in his last 10 games and a .453 wOBA and .300 ISO against southpaws in the 2018 season.
Jason Kipnis - 2B, at CIN ($3,400)
I like that Kipnis can give us middle-of-the-order exposure to one of the hottest offenses in baseball (implied run total of 5.5) going up against a rookie pitcher and a taxed bullpen. Kipnis has collected five hits over the past three nights and has a 42% hard hit rate over the past two weeks. He splits are just okay on the seaosn (.308 wOBA, .159 ISO) but those are brought down a bit by a terrible April and May start.
Justin Turner - 3B, vs SFG ($3,600)
It looks like Derek Holland's nice little (see also: surprising) run of positive starts has ended. He's allowed a 47% hard hit rate over his last two starts and the Dodgers have an implied run total of 4.7 tonight in Los Angeles. I think Turner is too cheap here, considering his prowess against southpaws and the lineup context. For the season, he's posted fantastic splits - .435 wOBA and a .231 ISO.
Xander Bogaerts - SS, at PHI ($3,600)
The Red Sox have a pretty attractive 4.7 run projection and Vince Velasquez has been giving up a ton of hard contact of late, so the top and middle of the Red Sox lineup is well on my radar. Bogaerts won't break the bank, hits in the five spot and and has good righty-righty splits. This season he's posted a .350 wOBA and a .211 ISO, along with a 38% hard hit rate over the last three series.
FanDuel DFS Outfielders
Curtis Granderson - OF, at KCR ($3,100)
In his 60+ innings of work this season, opposing starting pitcher Burch Smith has been lit up by left-handed batters to the tune of a .401 wOBA and a .595 slugging percentage. As such, that makes Granderson out of the leadoff spot an awesome value at this price, with definite power upside. For the season, he's rocking a .200 ISO split and enters the game with a 50% hard hit rate over the past week.
Ronald Acuna - OF, vs MIA ($4,400)
This kid is something, huh? He's on an unreal heater right now and I'm not going to quit him - especially in tournaments - until he cools off. Besides, the price isn't even that steep, as we're lucky his price was set before he went off for two more home runs last night. Anyway, the matchup is a good one and he's over a .400 wOBA and close to a .300 ISO split. The hard hit rate in the past two weeks sits at 55% as well.
