Happy Wednesday, RazzFam! Another middle of the week DFS menu full of salty and sweet selections from MarmosDad is here for you today! We’re officially over 25% of the way through the season, so a lot of you full-season players are probably having a look at standings and seeing where you can make some trades to move up in categories. Hopefully, you’ve been on the good side of the injury bug, and the minor league call-ups have also been in your favor. In our DFS lineups, injuries and call ups play an even bigger factor each day, as I outline for you all below.
This Wednesday is similar to the other midweek peeks that I’ve done since early May. We have a 15 game slate to select from today, with game one’s first pitch at 1:10 PM ET (Washington at New York Mets AND Kansas City at Cleveland). There are some afternoon games to consider and a lot of evening games. Our final matchup of the night is Pittsburgh at the Los Angeles Dodgers starting at 8:10 PM ET.
As I mentioned earlier, there are a couple of picks today that are recent call-ups, or rookies, as well as one corner infielder that should benefit from a teammate’s recent IL assignment. I’ll try to give you a few obvious picks that line up high on Hittertron, Streamonator, or the 7 day player rater, as well as a few less pricey options to round out your squads with today! As always, make sure to double-check (especially with the value plays) that all of the guys are in the lineups depending on matchups.
And lastly, like I said last week, just a reminder that a lot of the notes that I take and share here are influenced by Rudy’s Streamonator and Hittertron, as well as the DFS tools available right here on Razzball. As a side note, Rudy’s draft software is well worth the buy next spring too! You can access all of this information, by signing up for Rudy’s tools using the DFSBot link below.
New to DFS? You can start playing right now on FanDuel and put our picks to the test. If you’re scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFS Bot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray, it helps support your Razzball team!
Jeffrey Springs, SP: (DK) $6,200 – Well, last week I went with a pitcher against the Texas Rangers, and not only did (Glenn) Otto proceed to drive the bus through a potent Angels lineup, but my SP pick that faced him had a paltry 3 strikeouts less than two weeks after throwing a no-hitter! Did I learn my lesson this week…? Of course not! As they say, hope Springs eternal, (there’s that English degree working overtime), and today’s first SP pick is no different. After starting the year as a reliever and missing some time to that pesky Covid IL, Springs was employed as an opener (or a follower?) at the end of April. As he gradually increased his pitch count, Springs was eventually slotted into the rotation. Over his 4 starts, Springs has a 2.21 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, and a 19:4 K:BB, while topping out at 80 pitches in each of his last two. Here’s hoping that Springs can keep it tightly coiled against the Rangers today, go deeper into this game, and at least match the 6-7 strikeout output from each of his last two starts.
Garrett Whitlock, SP: (DK) $7,000 – At the risk of giving away my age here, does anyone else hear the voice of the Dino-bot from the 1980’s Transformers cartoon every time they read or hear this guy’s name? “Me Whitlock! Me here to throw hard sinkers and get Red Sox win! Me no afraid of Hunter Greene and 103 MPH gopherball!” No? Nobody? Right. Awesome. Well, Whitlock has been another one of these relievers-turned-starters in the same vein as Springs, and he’s enjoyed a lot of success so far this year as a result. He had a rough start on May 21st against the Mariners, so I wouldn’t blame you for going with a bigger arm here in Justin Verlander, Carlos Rodon, or Carlos Carrasco, but Whitlock still has more K’s than IP (44:38.2), and has only 11 BB in 11 appearances. For a cheaper price tag, I’d take a chance on Whitlock today if I went elsewhere for the bigger bats. Autobots? Transform…and roll out…the strikeouts!
MJ Melendez, C: (DK) $3,600 – Well, sooner or later this recommendation is going to go from a no-brainer to a value, to a chalk play. When I first wrote about MJ Melendez, it was just after his call-up when he had a $2000 DK price tag. Then, he was priced at $3,100 two weeks later. Well, at $3,600 this week, the good news is that he’s trending in the right direction even if it means you have to set aside a few more of your precious DraftKings dollars to roster him. With the injury to Salvador Perez, Melendez had a clear path to playing time and did not disappoint. In the 10 days that Perez was out (May 18-27), Melendez started each game, hit 3 HR, and had 7 RBIs. He’s slugging nearly .500 (.494) on the year and started in RF Monday night – a clear indication that even if he’s not getting ABs at C or DH, the Royals want him in their lineup. I’d say that even against a LHP in Konnor Pilkington, you should want him in your DFS lineup too.
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B: (DK) $6,000 – Au Shizz! Paul Goldschmidt is a man on a mission! On the 7 day player rater, Goldschmidt is the top rated 1B and the 5th best hitter over the last week in MLB. Hitting 4 homers and building up a 1.520 OPS definitely helped beef up that ranking, but over the last month, he’s been just as consistent. 10 homers and 12 multi-hit games is more than some pretty good Shizz, and that’s also pretty good for the DraftKings DFS point totals. He may be widely owned in games today, and he is one of the pricier plays, but I wouldn’t fault you for slotting him in at 1B and expecting more of the same today.
Nolan Gorman, 2B: (DK) $2,700 – Having two Cards as two of the first three hitters here could backfire as St. Louis faces Yu Darvish today, but at $2,700 Nolan Gorman is at too good of a price to pass up. Gorman has been sizzling hot over his last 3 games with 7 hits in his last 10 AB. Throw in 2 homers and the fact that he’s started all of his team’s games against RHP and I think he’s an excellent low-priced plug-and-play for this matchup. This could be the start of a nice run for one of the Cardinals top prospects.
Nico Hoerner, SS: (DK) $3,300 – This is another one who has been hot the past week, as ‘little Nico’ Hoerner is the 4th 2B/SS listed on the 7 day player rater. Hittertron is not as high on Hoerner today, but I assume that’s because he’s still listed as facing Brandon Woodruff. Woodruff landed on the 15 day IL on Monday and is out until mid-June, so it looks like Hoerner is facing a different arm today. Based on the rotation, we know it won’t be Andy Ashby (pitched Monday night) or another newly gilded Brewer arm in Eric Lauer (last night). Since the Cubs announced that Hoerner would no longer be sitting in a corner and instead would be their starting SS, he has hit a home run, had 3 SB, and has hit in 3 of the last 4 games that he started. Not bad for another lower-priced option that has full-time PT and can provide stats across the board.
Edwin Rios, 3B: (DK) $4,000 – Calling back to the mention up top of rookies and increased playing time due to injury, Edwin Rios fans can be thankful for Max Muncy’s recent trip to the IL. Although Muncy is due back early next week from elbow inflammation, it shouldn’t affect Rios’s playing time today. Anyone with some background information on Rios knows about his potent bat and big power potential. Rios has hit safely in 7 of his last 9 games (all starts), and sports a .692 SLG% against left-handed pitching this year. He will always get his fair share of strikeouts, but hitting in the middle of a stacked Dodgers lineup against Jose Quintana means that power potential could show up in a big way for your DFS lineups tonight.
Taylor Ward, OF: (DK) $5,000 – A lot of the prospect hounds will tell you they expected this Taylor Ward breakout, but I don’t know if a lot of those victory laps are legit as Ward is breaking out now…at age 28. I told a buddy from our home league last night that this feels a lot like the Cedric Mullins explosion from last year as far as a player coming from relatively low expectations to produce at a surprisingly good clip. All I know is, with apologies to Mrs. Salinger, this spring, I was feverishly pedaling on a bicycle built for two with Justin Mason in the Bradley Zimmer breakout race. I think I can speak for us both when I visualize the ”Oof!” gif on that one. As for Taylor Ward, he was out for a week as he nursed a shoulder injury, but seemed to be feeling better on Sunday night when he had a double and a homer in an 11-10 loss to Toronto. He may not have the speed of Justin Mason’s favorite Cedric Mullins (1 SB in 3 attempts), but with a .359/.472/.709 slash line and 10 homers in 119 AB, I’d say the breakout is for real.
Yordan Alvarez, OF: (DK) $5,400 – In this Houston / Oakland matchup, I wouldn’t fault you for going with a cheaper OF in Kyle Tucker at $5,000 or even Michael Brantley ($4,100). But Yordan Alvarez figuratively, (and literally at 6’5”), stands above the rest here in sheer power potential and the ability to put up some huge numbers today against Cole Irvin. Alvarez has 14 homers on the year after adding two on Monday night against this same A’s club. He’s had 3 multi-hit games over his last 4 games, and his Statcast page has more red circles than the back of the slowest player in a paintball war. His HardHit%, xSLG, xwOBA are all at 100, while his Barrel% (98) and Avg Exit Velocity (99) are pretty close to perfect too. This is your big bat if you’re looking for a boost to your DFS numbers today.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
The only places that look to have a low chance of rain are Detroit (15% forecast for today as of last night), and Philly (10% chance).
Doing Lines In Vegas
I’m leaning on the +120 Moneyline today for Tarik Skubal and the Tigers over Bailey Ober and the Twins.
As another shout out to the Salinger clan, San Francisco is at +100 over Philly today. At the least, a Rodon vs. Nola matchup looks like a good possible play for the under of 8 total runs.
Best of luck in the DFS plays today! If you have any questions, shoot me a note on Twitter @MarmosDad!
