Felix Hernandez ($12,300) takes the mound against the Rays at the Trop today. He’s an expensive but worthwhile starter against a team that hasn’t exactly been an offensive powerhouse this season. While the Rays have only struck out at a 17% clip against right-handers, King Felix has been as good as they come. A 9.00 K/9 coupled with a BB/9 under 2.00 and a 53% ground ball percentage are real pretty peripherals. Throw in the 0.30 HR/9 (3rd lowest in the majors) and I can’t see the Rays solving him. They didn’t exactly pound rookie Roenis Elias yesterday, either. Clayton Kershaw is the other big money play at pitcher, but I’ll lean away from Coors Field for over $12K.
If you are new to DraftKings, use our promo link to get started. New players that click on that link will get a free contest ticket with a first time deposit (only new users eligible). The winner of the contest gets entry into our $500k Showcase with a $100k top prize. Also, if you haven’t tried the DFSBot via Rudy, check it out: it compares projected values to actual DFS prices for the day. Here are some of today’s other picks for DraftKings contests on 6/8/2014…
C.J. Wilson, SP: $10,700 – If spending $12,000 on a pitcher doesn’t float your boat, perhaps C.J. Wilson does. He’ll face the White Sox, who sport a 23.9% strikeout percentage against left-handed pitching. That’s the fourth highest in baseball.
Henderson Alvarez, SP: $7,800 – Alvarez doesn’t have flashy numbers, but he makes a good value play to pair with one of the more expensive arms. He’s coming off a CGSO against the Rays, and he draws the Cubs. As a team, the Cubs are rocking a 72 wRC+ against right-handers, which is dead last in baseball. wRC+ is a metric based off of wOBA (every DFS player’s favorite stat).
Ian Kinsler, 2B: $4,800 – Kinsler is hitting .421/.477/.842 with four home runs and two steals against John Lackey in a decent sample size of 38 at bats. It should also be noted that Lackey continues to struggle with holding baserunners. He’s allowed the fourth most steals in baseball this season, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kinsler get the green light today.
Jay Bruce, OF: $3,400 – Bruce had a pitiful May, but he’s starting to show signs of life in June including a slam and legs in yesterday’s win over the Phillies. He’ll have the platoon advantage against David Buchanan (R), who just isn’t a very good pitcher. Bruce is worth the gamble at under $4K. Give Todd Frazier ($4,300) some love today, too.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Things look real iffy in Pittsburgh for the Brewers/Pirates game, where there’s a 50-70% chance of thunderstorms all day. There’s also a good chance (40-60%) of bad weather in Colorado for the Rockies/Dodgers match-up. Less of a risk, but worth mentioning, is the 30% chance of storms in Texas for the Indians/Rangers game. That one is significant since it has the highest over/under of the day (10).
Doing Lines In Vegas (4-13)
Let’s take the under today for SEA@TB (6 1/2).
