Well, we’re finally here. The last day of the MLB regular season and, as such, the final day of regular season DFS lineups from your friendly neighborhood DFS writers. I’m happy that the final day lands on a Wednesday so that I get one more kick at the can (insert Astros joke here) before the postseason begins, but kind of surprised that we’re here already. It seems like April wasn’t all that long ago.
One guy whose bat definitely seems ready for the postseason is somewhat of a ‘cult hero’ out west – Cal Raleigh (DK: $4,400). “Big Dumper” is dumping the hurt on opponents lately with three homers and a .680 SLG% in his last 30 PA. The call here from Mariners’ radio guy Rick Rizzs isn’t exactly Vin Scully/Kirk Gibson, but I’m sure Seattle felt the shivers when said catcher with the ‘spacious backyard’ sent their team to the postseason for the first time in 21 years…
Here is Rick Rizzs's call of Cal Raleigh's drought-busting home run. He's been waiting decades to do this, and delivered. pic.twitter.com/kmMIR91KVG
— Mariner Muse (@MarinerMuse) October 1, 2022
Pretty awesome stuff. That said, for DFS today, I can see if you’d rather go with a cheaper alternative at catcher – I almost wrote up the equally hot Shea Langeliers, or rookie Guardian backstop Bo Naylor – but if Raleigh catches (or DHs) tonight, he could dump another couple of XBH at home against the Tigers.
For the last hurrah, there is a full slate of 15 games to play, all starting around 4:00ish ET. Things begin at 4:00 PM ET with Shohei and the Angels at Oakland, then finish up at 4:20 PM ET in LA (of course) with the Dodgers hosting the Rockies. Don’t forget to bring the Doritos for that one.
But for one final time this year, I want to give props to Rudy and the tools that make the engine at the Razzball station chug along the figurative tracks all year long. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if you haven’t literally bought into the tools package that we have available here, you’re definitely at a disadvantage for DFS and for your season long leagues. Check it out in the spring for your early drafts!
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 DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray, it helps support your Razzball team!
Shohei Ohtani, SP – (DK: $10,900) – I don’t think there’s another SP1 that makes this list, especially since the talk out of New York is that DeGrom won’t be starting the Mets game today. The Ohtani pick kind of speaks for itself and I’m sure you don’t need much convincing seeing as he’s on the road against a barely-above-the-Mendoza-line Oakland offense. The 18 game hit streak doesn’t play here, but the 11.9 K/9 and 2.65 xFIP certainly do. When you add in the fact that Ohtani struck out 10 A’s at home in his last start, history looks very capable of repeating itself. At 161 IP, Ohtani only needs to pitch one inning to qualify for the league leaders in pitching, but I can’t see Anaheim pulling him early in this one as he’ll get plenty of time to rest his arm after today.
Louie Varland, SP – (DK: $6,800) – I was all set to run with Drew Rasmussen, (and even had a great title lined up), but of course, things changed and they announced Yonny Chirinos as the starter. PIVOT! After looking for both a pitcher with some upside and a cheaper alternative to save some dough after Ohtani, we land here. It’s a sea of mediocrity and question marks with the pitchers today, so I’m going with the rookie that has thrown 126.1 innings with 117 hits allowed and 146 K’s in the minors this year. He’s been up for 4 starts with the Twins and is only averaging 6.86 K/9, but the White Sox have been worse at home (36-43) and Varland is a cheap enough play to roll the dice.
Nathaniel Lowe, 1B – (DK: $3,700) – This shouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone that’s been paying attention to my stuff all season long. I’ve been a top cheerleader for the Rangers first baseman since early February (trust me you don’t want to see any of that in a traditional cheerleading outfit). I mentioned before how, in Tampa, Lowe’s swing and prospect status was compared to a young Freddie Freeman. This year he proved some doubters wrong. I don’t understand how a guy with his numbers is still below $4K, but that just presents a buying opportunity for DFS. Give me the athlete formerly known as Nate at home against Domingo German with a good possibility of adding to that 74/27/76/.301/2 line.
Whit Merrifield, 2B – (DK: $3,200) – Merrifield has been on a hot streak of his own the last couple of weeks going hitless just once since September 21st. In 44 PA over that stretch, Merrifield has 4 HR, 8 XBH, and is swinging to a .463 AVG. As long as he’s producing, I can’t see the Jays moving back to Biggio or Espinal at 2B for today or for the postseason game(s) coming up this weekend.
Josh Jung, 3B – (DK: $2,600) – I almost went with the lukewarm Longoria here (DK: $3,600), but instead let’s head back to Texas for another guy I’ve written about in the recent past. Jung started out his MLB career on a high with hits in 8 of his first 10 games. The rest of September has not been as good as Jung is dragging a 38% K rate along with his .207 average. Not exactly great selling points, BUT… at this price, he’s worth a gamble to hit some deep balls against Domingo German’s barely below average 10.2 HR/FB%.
Oneil Cruz, SS – (DK: $5,600) – Speaking of rookies with the ability to hit a ball a long way, there aren’t many that have put up numbers like Oneil Cruz has this season. The exit velocity numbers have been well documented and for good reason. A 100 statcast exit velo, coupled with a 98 percentile sprint speed is what makes you do the blinking guy gif for Cruz. The 4% whiff percentage is the part that makes those blinking eyes tear up. But DFS is all about the hot hand, and it’s certainly been here for the last week. Cruz has multi-hit games in 5 of his last 7. Take him at $5,600 today and hope for some power/speed to fill the FPTS.
Aaron Judge, OF – (DK: $6,500) – They have to keep him in the lineup today, right? I had written this part up before he blasted #62 last night, but it’ll be interesting to see what happens with the Judge this afternoon. Does he play today’s game and try to push that average above Arraez’s for the triple crown, or do the Yankees play it safe and rest their best OF ahead of the first-round bye for the playoffs? It’s a big gamble today, and really pricey, but you know what he’s capable of if he is in the lineup.
Taylor Ward, OF – (DK: $4,600) – I wrote up two more OF here today in case you don’t want to risk playing Judge. The running joke with Ward is that if the season were only two months long, he probably would’ve been an MVP candidate. The drop in production over those warm summer months was not good for fans of Ward, but since September 22nd the Anaheim OF has batted .419 with 4 HR, 5 doubles, and a steal for good measure! DFS is all about small sample sizes and riding the hot hand, and this one is definitely that! For what it’s Werth, Ward is 3rd on the 7 day player rater.
Seiya Suzuki OF – (DK: $5,600) – Seiya is the 19th ranked hitter on Hittertron today, and for good reason. I went all the way back to September 1st for this one – .316, 4 HR, 12 runs scored, 6 RBIs. He’s also batting over .400 in the last week. The price tag is pretty lofty, so I wouldn’t fault you for going a cheaper route, (eg. $4,500 Teoscar Hernandez), but if you can fit him into your lineups he could find some success at Cinci today.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains…
Right around a 25% chance of rain in Baltimore (vs Toronto) and New York (vs. Washington) for the Mets game. Double check the radar or weather app before locking players from those games in.
Doing Lines In Vegas…
Last night’s over/under lines were trickling in while I edited everything.
The Yankees/Rangers looks like an over that could hit at 7.5 (providing everyone plays) at -150.
The Anaheim/Oakland game looks like an under at 7 with Ohtani vs an anemic A’s offense. (-120)
Finally, I just wanted to add a big thanks here to Rudy and Grey for allowing me to hammer your eyeballs once a week this season. It was very much appreciated. Also, a big thank you to Truss for taking a chance on yours truly to carry the DFS torch that is still close to his heart. I hope I did y’all some justice this year and would love to return in the spring if you’ll have me.
For those that are super disappointed to lose your old pal MarmosDad, fret not! I asked Truss if the hockey guys could use some help on that side of the site and offered my ‘DFS pen’, so I’ll be headed over there to help out Viz and JKJ with a DFS article ahead of each Saturday’s slate of NHL games.
Thanks also to all of you that have taken the time to read and/or comment on the DFS or other articles here this season. I really appreciate it!
As always, best of luck in the DFS plays today! If you have any questions, shoot me a note on Twitter @MarmosDad.
